The last box was empty, all the chili was gone, and Fallon was ready to go get Brody. “We’re all done. Right?” Fallon asked as she sat down on the steps to pull her boots on. She didn’t really care if they were done. Somehow they managed to stay off any personal topic, and she knew the topic was coming if she didn’t sneak out, like now.
Fallon wasn’t much of a talker. She was a much better listener.
“Oh, you can’t leave yet. We hardly got to talk.” Jamie pouted.
Well, there went her easy out, but she should have known better. “What about?”
“I have a confession to make,” Jamie whispered conspiratorially.
Fallon forced a smile. She didn’t want to ditch Jamie, especially if she wanted to talk about herself. She nodded. “Shoot.
“I uh… I’m sort of having a fling with Preston. And since he’s up here, and you have history with him, I felt I should warn you before Preston could surprise you.”
“I see.” Fallon sighed and tried to think of a non-bitchy response. She didn’t always hate Preston. Hell, she didn’t even hate him now. There was a time he was fun to hang out with, but sleeping with him sort of messed that up. “I just hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. You know how he can be.”
“It won’t be weird?” Jamie sat down beside her. “I know he screwed up with you.”
“Seriously, Jamie, I never had a claim on him, good luck. I just don’t want to see you hurt,”
Then again, Jamie knew a person’s true emotions, and managed to avoid sticky situations most of the time.
“Good.” Jamie grinned.
Jess marched over to stand right in front of the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at Jamie. “You slept with Preston after what he did to her?” Her fury filled gaze landed on Fallon. “Tell her what he did.”
“That was forever and a day ago, and Jamie knows. She’s an adult. She can make her own decision. Besides, having a naked play-date with Preston is safer than her moving her ass up here when the Dales are just around the corner. Not to mention that Malachi is back in the ringleader position. I don’t know why you’re freaking out over something as simple as a booty call.”
“Yeah.” Jamie glared back at her sister. “We’re not serious. He’s not all bad, and neither of us wants more than a good time. Besides, he’s too all over the place with work, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Fine.” Jess leaned against the wall. “If he hurts you, Fallon and I will put the hurt on him. You know we will.”
“I know Fallon will.” She giggled. “I’m not so sure how you’re going to stand up against fireballs and the like.”
Fallon gave Jess a pointed look. “He also has three blades like mine now.”
Jess and Jamie both turned her with wide eyes, and simultaneously asked. “You inked him again?”
“Yes, and he even played nice. I think he made friends with Brody.” Fallon shook her head. After the bullshit Preston pulled when they showed up at the shop, she just didn’t understand. She didn’t hear what they discussed after she went to her station but they seemed cool with each other by the time she came back out, which was weird.
Jamie breathed in deep and let it out slowly. “I bet I know. Preston has the biggest crush on you. He’s such a little boy about it.” She giggled. “He was mean to you because he wanted you back, and knew you would never ever let him back in your bed.”
“Please, he didn’t want me. He wanted…” She frowned and looked over at Jamie. If she was going to be friends with Preston again, she should play nice, “Whatever, if you’re… uh… sleeping with him, I won’t bad mouth him.”
“I will,” Jess exclaimed. “He cheated on Fallon with Natalia.”
Fallon shook her head. “Actually, it was a misunderstanding. I called Natalia and cleared that night up because I just didn’t believe Preston. That was all Natalia, not him. For the record, I wasn’t even seeing Preston. He was just a couple drunk fucks.”
Jess glared back at her. “Really? So, now you’re defending him? What about the last time you did work on him?”
Fallon pushed her fingers though her hair. “Jess, that’s water under the bridge. We cleared things up. Preston and I are cool.”
“Don’t be mad Jess,” Jamie pleaded. “You both are mated and can have all the hot monkey sex you want. Me, I need someone to tide me over until I find someone. You figure out who my soulmate is yet?”
“No. I haven’t. Sorry, sis.”
“You knew Fallon was going to hook up with Brody two years ago. How come you can’t get a read on me?” Jamie pouted.
“See, Jess, Jamie’s only into Preston for the sex.” Fallon giggled. “Although, how do you not know about her and Preston?”
Jess groaned. “I was hoping I was just having nightmares.”
“Have you seen anything bad between them?”
“No. Just that they don’t last. Their fling ends amiably. He even hurts a little when Jamie kicks him to the curb.” Jess grinned a little.
Fallon smiled at Jamie. “Good luck, Jamie. Love you two, but I’m out. I’m just going to go sneak over to Slater’s and surprise Brody.”
“Fine. We’ll have to do a girls night sometime soon.” Jamie slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug.
“Deal. See you both soon.” Fallon hopped up and squeezed Jess before she hurried for the door.
“You could just call him. There are at least two acres between here and there. He’d come get you,” Jess said.
“But then I couldn’t get some fresh air, or surprise him.”
“Be careful,” they both called as the door shut.
Funny, she was older than both of them by almost twenty years. What was the worst that could possibly happen between Jamie and Slater’s? The walk was only a couple acres, and the evening air was so much better than all of Jamie’s fancy smancy candles burning all night. Fallon’s sense of smell was normal. So if it was too much for her, she didn’t understand how Jamie, a werewolf, could stand the candles.
By the time she stepped onto the side of the road, she felt the presence of a vampire and werecat nearby. She shook off the concern. They were in Edenton, and even though neither were common there, she had already run into one vampire and a couple of cats. Besides, the vampire wasn’t a Shadowstalker which would give her reason to worry.
Someone covered her mouth and dragged her into a vehicle that was tucked into the trees at the side of the road, one she hadn’t noticed. Fuck, why the hell hadn’t she paid attention?
She was thrown into the van and rolled away from her abductor, to the other side of the empty space. The door was thrown shut with a slam and the tires squealed. She pushed herself into a crouch and saw Isaac across from her, and he looked pissed.
His long dark hair was stringy. He was filthy, like he hadn’t had a shower in days. There was a crazy gleam to his gray-green eyes. What the hell had Malachi done to him?
“Let me out,” she said coldly.
He lunged at her, knocking her to the ground, and crawled on top of her. “No, you’re mine!”
Fallon slammed her fist into his skull before he pinned her arm down.
“Get off, Isaac.”
“Plan to, red.” He dropped his face to her neck and sniffed her. “Now why does my little slut smell like a wolf?”
What the hell? He’d never called her names, not even when she walked out on him.
“None of your fucking business,” she snarled, raking her nails down his shoulder and arm as she struggled to get free. His hands were under her shirt, going for her breasts. Pissed, she head-butted him. There was a crunch and she grinned savagely, hoping she broke his damned nose again.
“You’re mine, you’ll always be mine.” He bent down to kiss her, and she could taste his blood.
She bit his lip and tore with her teeth until he screamed and jerked away.
“Why are you fighting?” He gripped her wrists, yanking her arms over her head. His grip was so tight she knew she would be bruised.
“I should have walked away before we ever got started. There were a thousand times I should have left, but finding you cheating was the last straw.” Her tone dripped with acid, and she wished like hell she could throw the bastard off her.
“I love you,” he whispered, rage burning in his golden tiger eyes.
Shit, she needed to get out of there and fast. If Isaac shifted, she knew he would infect her. She needed to distract him, to keep him talking, until she could figure out a plan. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have gone to someone else. I know it wasn’t the first time either.”
He shifted her wrists into one massive hand and turned her face to the side to bellow in her ear, “You. Are. Mine. Until last night we were still connected. Let me guess. You’re fucking a new wolf?” He forced his knee between her thighs and pushed her legs open. “I can fix that.”
She heard the jarring pop the same time she felt her leg pull free of the joint. Agony washed over her, and she nearly blacked out while he tried to get her pants open.
“Fuck you,” she screamed and fought past the pain. Crying out, she wrenched one hand free and took a mana-blade that she slammed into his side as deep as she could. He rolled away and she sliced him open from ribs to pelvis.
She tried to get up but pain ripped through her whole side as her vision started to gray out. With a cry, she flopped back down and pulled herself to the door. Nothing ever hurt as bad as she did just then, and she lost all control. The crackle of electricity filled the van, and sparks danced off her skin, causing strange shadows to play on the walls.
When she looked back, she saw Isaac slumped against the wall, trying to push his intestines back inside. He was in worse shape than she was. She tried for the door again.
A roar ripped through the van, vibrating all the way to her bones. “You’re mine!” She scooted further away and heard a thump. Then his hand wrapped around her ankle sending a new jolt of pain as he yanked. The smell of singed fur filled the air and his cry of pain rattled her, but Isaac let go and fell back with a thud.
Fallon slammed her hand into the door, and the metal shredded and curled outward as if to get away from her. She pushed herself out the door and shifted into a hawk, flying away. The explosion ruffled her feathers and she felt the heat at her back, but didn’t dare stop to look.
Malachi could be out there, or some of his mages. She didn’t want to drag them back to Brody or Jess, so she flew home and hoped she could find their house.
Her weight was off her leg, so the pain was a little better, but still ate at her awareness. Finding their house was tricky because she’d never bothered to fly around Edenton. Everything looked different from the sky.
She flew over the woods, in the direction she knew was home and looked for his garage because it was big enough to easily see from the air. She finally found it but circled around twice, looking for any sign of anyone or anything that shouldn’t be there.
When she couldn’t go on, she landed in a heap on the balcony and shifted back. Her whole side lit up with pain and she screamed, rolling to her side to get off her leg. Even that hurt, and she knew there was no way she was getting herself inside.
When Fallon shifted, her clothes and whatever else was on her person stayed with her. Her hands trembled as she pulled her phone from her pocket and she nearly blacked out when she barely shifted her leg.
Fallon took a few deep breaths until she was calm enough that she could manage a coherent sentence. She didn’t want to panic Brody.
* * * *
Brody heard Fallon scream, not with his ears, but in his head and it was no less urgent. A van door slammed and tires screeched. She was in trouble. He was up and on his way out the door before he even realized what he was doing. He heard the vehicle in his head and on the road, echoing out of time.
Slater caught him around the chest and swung him around, slamming him into the wall outside on the porch. Slater got in his face and pinned him with one arm. Brody didn’t fight, he was too disoriented by his and Fallon’s combined senses.
Slater had the phone pressed to his ear. “Jess, what the hell happened over there?” After a pause, he said, “Get over here now.”
He tasted blood and screamed. Pain exploded in his hip and Brody nearly fell to his knees, but Slater leaned into him, keeping him upright.
He gave Brody full eye contact. “Talk to me. What is it? What’s happening?”
“She’s hurt bad,” he cried, closing his eyes to get a sense of where they were going, and jerking in her direction while shoving Slater back.
“Calm down, Brody,” Slater told him calmly. Brody had to obey and the command pissed him off, especially when Slater ordered, “You’re staying here until we can figure out what the fuck is going on.”
He heard a sizzle, and all of his hair stood on end as if he had an extreme case of static electricity. Then he felt the burst of magic explode. He wanted to run, to catch them, but then he sensed the air, and the night sky. The smell of smoke nearly suffocated him but nothing was on fire. He could feel Fallon, but she was fuzzy, suffering and barely conscious.
At least she was moving away from the danger, but he didn’t feel any better. He needed to run to her, and he sensed she was heading home. Why didn’t she come to him? Why wouldn’t she come here?
Jess tore into the driveway, and parked right in front of the porch. Jess and Jamie both hopped out. Jess rushed up the steps.
“Why didn’t she call?” Brody whispered in horror.
Jess sighed. “She wanted to surprise you. I didn’t see anything until after she left.”
He just nodded. “I need to find her.”
Jess squeezed his hand. “She’s flying. I think she’s going home.”
“We should go. Now!”
“You’re staying here until we know for sure. Don’t argue.” Slater used his alpha magic again, and Brody was real tempted to deck him.
Slater was already calling someone else.
“Evening, Slater.” Robert said on the other end.
“Someone took Fallon. Jess says she’s flying. Brody says she’s hurt. Get your tracker out here now and find the sons of bitches, because my wolf is about to lose his shit.”
“We’re on our way.” He hung up.
“You hear that Brody? The mages have this. You’re going to chill, and as soon as we know something, we’ll go to her.”
Brody was incapable of words. He just clenched his jaw so hard it cracked. He should be out there, looking for her. He could still feel her. She was going toward their place.
Slater was already on the phone with Hayden, relaying the same information.
His vision grayed out and the world seemed to spin as a new wave of phantom pain spread through his hip, down his leg and up his side. He heard the ring and nearly dropped his phone as he scrambled to answer it. “Fallon, where are you?” He hated knowing there was nothing he could do to help her.
“Your… our house. Balcony. Shifting, going to stay put.” The phone went dead and he broke free of Slater, and ran for his truck.
“You’re not driving, you’re too on edge.” Slater tore the keys from his hand before he could get the door open.
Brody didn’t argue, he didn’t think he could drive this freaked out. He jumped into the bed of the truck. Slater fired up the engine and took off as soon as the twins were in.
They arrived at his house in record time, and before Slater pulled to a stop Brody jumped out at a dead run. He sprinted around his house and climbed up to the balcony. He didn’t see her but he caught her scent.
It was mingled with bird, cat and a tiger? What the fuck? He turned slowly, taking a closer look. Beneath one of the two chairs he found a calico cat curled up. She was unconscious and her back leg lay totally wrong. He moved the chair out of the way and dropped to his knees.
With a gentle touch, he stroked behind her ears. “Fallon, is that you, baby?” he said softly. “I’m here.”
Had to be her because she opened the greenest eyes he’d ever seen and let out a pained mewl.
The bedroom door opened and Jess stepped onto the balcony with Jamie on her heels. Slater followed right behind.
“Shit,” Jamie whispered.
“Got to switch back, sugar” He ran his fingers along her jaw. “Got to see how badly you’re hurt.”
She did, and he was surprised to find her fully clothed, but he was more concerned that her leg was clearly not in the socket. Her hand wrapped around the back of his neck and she tried to pull herself into his lap with a sound caught between a whimper and a cry.
“Stop. Baby, stop. I don’t want to hurt you.” He moved so he could curl around her. He wanted to hold her still but offer comfort at the same time.
Fallon was pale, sweating, covered in blood and trembling uncontrollably. Brody looked back down at her leg and wanted to do something, but he was afraid to touch it.
“Just dislocated.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Hurts, but it could be worse.” She took a few shallow breaths and laid her head against his chest. “I had to fly to keep off it, and so they couldn’t track my scent.”
“Shh, shh.” He gave Slater a desperate look, but Slater was on the phone again.
“Jess, Jamie,” Fallon moaned. “You know how to fix this. Please, just put it back.”
“Lay her down on her back,” Jamie told Brody, and he shook his head. She gave him a tense smile. “Fallon will feel better afterward. She’ll still be sore, but better than this. You’re going to have to hold her shoulders down. Jess and I can deal with her hip.”
It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he did as they said. He lay Fallon back and sat behind her so her head was cradled in his lap, and then took her shoulders in a firm but careful grip. Jamie straddled Fallon’s stomach and placed her hands on her hips. Fallon cried out as her body shifted.
Jess put one hand on Fallon’s hip and the other on the leg and shoved the joint into place. There was a loud wet crack.
Fallon screamed until she passed out a few seconds later. That sound would give him nightmares for a long time.
The twins moved away. Brody pulled Fallon into his lap as gently as he could, and searched her body with tender hands. Her wrists were red and bruising. The blood wasn’t hers, but there was an awful lot of it. He hoped to God she killed whoever did this to her or he would take them apart himself.
Slater’s phone rang. “Got some news?”
“Yeah, found a burning van. Isaac and a vampire were in there.” Robert hastily explained. “The vampire is ash now, but we can’t find Isaac. His blood is everywhere. Fallon must have cut him open. We’re following the trail.”
“Keep looking, I think Brody wants a piece of that bastard.”
“Let me talk to him,” the mage said. Brody took the phone as Slater held it out. “I didn’t find any of her blood, but she nearly blew the van apart. Isaac’s in bad shape. He couldn’t have gone far.”
“Good,” he growled into the phone.
“How bad is she? I know she has to be hurting. She only blows things up when she loses control. That only happens when things get really bad and she loses her temper.”
“The bastard dislocated her hip. Says she flew back here. She stayed on the balcony because she was having a hard time getting up.” Brody took a deep, shaky breath. “I’m going to kill him,” he vowed.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that for a second. Should I send a healer her way?”
Brody looked up at Slater.
Slater shook his head. “Clint is already on his way to get Dakota. Simons is staying with Jolene and Jacob just in case. We’re getting the right people covered.”
Brody relayed the information.
Robert said, “Okay, I’ll call you if we can figure out where Isaac went.”
* * * *
Hayden was on the way to the scene of the crime. Slater called to fill him in on what he knew, which wasn’t enough. Someone took Fallon, most likely the Dales but there was no other information.
The mages were going to be there shortly. Hayden had met Robert years before, and he was a good guy. Preston was a wild card, and had a reputation for being a playboy and a smartass.
His phone rang. He gritted his teeth as he looked at the caller ID. Dacia. Perfect. He didn’t have time for her shit, but he hit send, and growled into the phone, “What do you want?”
“Not coming into the bar?” Her high voice grated his last nerve.
“I have real work to do. You’re off the hook for now.” He hung up and hoped she’d leave him alone. After her little strip tease, he wasn’t sure what was going through that woman’s head. Even when she wasn’t trying to get at Brody, she was acting cagey. Something was up.
First, there was the report of something flying out of her yard a few nights back, before she tried to pick a fight with Fallon. Then he saw something that matched the description fly out of the parking lot when Malachi paid Fallon a visit. Just yesterday, she made an attempt on Fallon’s life.
Hayden had to wonder if she was working with the Dales.
There was just one flaw to that theory. Malachi was supposed to want Fallon to work for him, which meant she had to be alive. Fallon’s reasoning for letting Dacia walk made sense. He’d still rather have her locked up until the situation was resolved, but he couldn’t keep his eyes on her 24/7.
He pulled up behind a brand new Maserati of all things and rolled down his window as the mages climbed out. Hayden called, “May as well climb in. We can ride together.”
Preston climbed into the front, Robert into the back.
“Drive. I think they took the first left.” Preston pointed the direction, “I feel them over there. Not far.”
That was a joke. Right? “Feel them?”
“Yeah, I have a read on their energy, which is a lot more accurate than going by smell and whatever else wereanimals use to track.” Preston pointed again.
Fine, he’d play this the mage’s way. For now. “Do you know who attempted to take her?”
“Yeah. A weretiger named Isaac Monroe, and a vampire I’ve never encountered. The vamp was weak, maybe a year dead. I feel a trace of dark mages, but they’ve scrubbed the trail from there.”
Hayden shot Preston a look. “And how do you know this?”
“I’ve known Isaac for years, I know his signature. He was out here, they were pulled over by where we parked. I’m not making this shit up.”
Robert sighed. “Look, I know my partner can be a prick. But he is trying to help. Can you give him a break? He’s the best tracker we have.”
“Right. Of course,” Hayden muttered.
“There, look.” A van had plowed into a tree and was on fire. There was also a trail of blood leading into the woods.
Hayden parked far enough away that if the van blew, his SUV would be untouched. However, it looked like it had already blown apart. What was left of the side of the van was curled outward and smoldering. He climbed out and jogged to where the blood started and followed the gore into the woods.
Robert headed to the van, and Preston passed Hayden as he ran into the forest, following the bloody mess the weretiger left behind. They ran nearly a mile through the woods to the next road where it ended in a puddle of blood. It looked like Isaac’s legs gave out and he had tried to crawl away while his entrails dragged behind. There were hand prints in front like he tried to pull himself further. Then there was nothing.
“Shit.” Preston kicked at the road, and balled his hands into fists.
Brody had to be going through hell right now. Hayden wanted to serve Isaac up on a platter and let Brody have at him.
He closed his eyes and turned around slowly. He could only find the sharp scent of pain and coppery smell of blood, but no cloying sweetness of death.
Robert caught up, and stopped dead beside him. “Preston. Please, tell me she killed Isaac.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t. He was alive when they took him. Not sure if he can survive much longer though. The dark mages covered his tracks. I have no clue where they went. Fuck, I hate this.” Preston scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fallon’s energy streaked up into the sky from the van. That must mean she’s all right.”
“She shifted into a bird?” Hayden asked.
Robert nodded. “She can, and she’s resourceful. I’m sure she’s the one who blew the van open. She probably went home. I’ll just let Slater know what’s up.”
That was a relief. He didn’t know if Brody could handle losing a mate, not after Sarah. He wanted to get to the bottom of this. “I’m going to take a closer look. There has to be some sort of clue we can follow.”
Preston rolled his eyes. “You’re not going to find anything concrete. These mages know what they’re doing and how to block anyone from finding them. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with the bastards.” Preston started back the way they came. “Good luck.”
There had to be something the mages missed. Sure Preston could track magical energy and the dark mages may be able to cover the metaphysical evidence, but maybe they left something physical behind.