Consumed

Chapter 16

Katie sat on the cold wooden bench, her gaze on the too silent sea. Still and gray, the ocean seemed to hold its breath. The stone entrance to the underground headquarters stood behind her. Pine trees and dark forest spread out on either side and she tuned in to listen. No images, no hint of predators arrived on the soft breeze. The werewolves hid far away, probably waiting for the full moon.

She shivered, clutching her parka closer around her.

A woman’s irritated muttering echoed behind her. Light footsteps sounded as Cara made her way into the small courtyard to slide onto the bench. “Hi.”

“Why are you muttering?” Katie kept her gaze on the sea.

“Emma kicked me out of the lab. Something about chemicals I shouldn’t be exposed to since I have the virus.” Cara stomped a boot on the damp grass.

“How did you get outside?”

Cara tucked her hair into her jacket. “Talen did a full sweep and there’s no one near. Which is how I assume you got outside.”

“There are at least seven snipers in the trees on either side of us.” She sensed them and could probably guess their locations. “If Brent has healed enough to attack, it won’t be until the full moon so he’s at his strongest.” But truly, she didn’t care. A sigh escaped her. She and Cara had become close friends while training together to fight the Kurjans when they’d both stayed at Jordan’s ranch a decade in the past. Right now, Katie needed a friend. “I slept with Jordan.”

Cara coughed. “Wow. Did he, I mean, did you—”

“No. We didn’t mate.”

“Oh.” Cara tucked her hands in her thick coat. “I’m an empath, you know.”

“I know.”

“What’s wrong, then?” Cara grew stiller. “Oh God. It wasn’t ... bad ... was it?”

Katie snorted. “No, it wasn’t bad. Sex with Jordan was hot, fun, and I had three orgasms. Four if you count this morning before he left to train.” She kicked a pebble, watching it roll over the cliff. “He was very gentle.”

Cara gasped. “Oh no. Not gentle.” Sympathy coated her words. “In perfect control, determined to keep you safe?”

Katie turned to face her friend. “Yeah.”

“Oh honey.” Cara absently rubbed a permanent bite in the side of her neck. “Talen was like that after I had Garrett, and we weren’t sure if I could survive having the virus in my blood without a vampire baby inside me to counteract it.”

“What did you do?”

Cara’s smile held definite menace. “I challenged him. All those guys are pure Alpha—you challenge and they can’t help but respond.” She bit her lip. “He has even tried to mate me a couple of times.”

Yeah, Katie had discussed the issue with Emma in wondering if mating would cure her. But maybe Cara’s attempts were secret. “Really?”

“Yes. The brand is always on his palm now, and sometimes, during really ... ah ... energetic sex, the mark transfers to me again.” Cara blushed, and then sobered. “But the marking doesn’t stay. Never lasts. The virus is too strong.”

“Fucking virus.”

“Amen, sister.”

Katie stomped wet grass off her shoes. “Well, I guess I’ll need to challenge the big lion leader.”

Cara chuckled. “Up to you. But make sure you want what you’ll get. You let a guy like Jordan claim you, and there’s no going back.”

“I know.” Katie sighed, turning toward the dismal ocean.

“What else is wrong?”

Damn empath. Katie ground her heels in the grass. “For so long, all I wanted was Jordan. I don’t know if it’s been fighting werewolves for a decade, or if I’ve grown up, but ...”

“Ah. That when you got the guy it’d be happily ever after, holding hands, dancing through the tulips?”

Katie chuckled “Yeah. You know. Be the first lady of the feline nation ... throw parties, support my husband.”

“Being in the background isn’t your thing, huh?”

“Jordan is awesome. He’s enough to make anybody happy.” Katie bit her lip.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting more. With wanting to make your own mark ... and have the man of your dreams.” Cara nudged her with a shoulder. “Fight for what you want, Katie. It’s all you can do.”

Now Jordan might turn into a hairy beast she’d have to kill. If they could somehow save him, she still didn’t want to be in the background. She had a job to do.

One battle at a time. Even if they only had two nights together, Katie wanted all of him. “I want to mate him.”

“Then do it.”

Boots stomped on the ground behind them. They turned around to see Janie zip up her coat. “Mom? Stupid Garrett got all mad and threw Charlie across the room. He’s all bloody now from fangs.”

Cara jumped to her feet. “Who’s bloody?”

Janie rolled her eyes. “Garrett cut his mouth with his new fangs. Charlie is fine but will probably never kiss me again.”

Cara shook her head, clearly trying to make sense of the conversation. “You kissed Charlie?”

“Yeah. And Garrett’s fangs came in. Dork.”

Cara hustled toward the door. “Does your father know you kissed a panther?”

Janie snorted. “Considering Charlie is still alive ... no.”

Cara chortled, a small grin playing on her face. “We may need a tranquilizer gun. I’ll take care of it.”

“Funny.” Janie grinned.

Katie wasn’t so sure Cara had been joking. A dart gun seemed like a wise move.

Cara sobered. “I’m checking on your brother, and then we’re having a talk.” Muttering to herself, she disappeared from view.

Janie huffed out a breath, gliding forward to sit on the bench. “Great. Another sex talk.”

Katie laughed, sliding an arm around the girl. “So, your first kiss, huh?”

Janie blushed. “Yeah. The kiss was nice ... but I kept thinking of Zane.”

“Been there, done that, girlfriend.” If Katie could spare Janie from the Zane-crush, she’d do so in a heartbeat. “Don’t let a guy you may never see again ruin your happiness right now.”

“I’m psychic. I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but I will see him someday.”

The words sent a chill down Katie’s spine. “Things very rarely work out the way you think they will, sweetheart. Psychic or not. You know the future changes daily.”

“Yep.” Janie snuggled closer. “So, you and Jordan, huh?”

Katie stiffened. What? Could the girl smell Jordan on her? Wait a minute. Janie wasn’t a shifter, she couldn’t—

“Man, stop thinking so hard. You’re hurting my head.” Janie giggled. “Sometimes I just know stuff, remember? I mean, I don’t get images or pictures in my head, so don’t worry about that.”

Katie gave a strangled cough.

Janie kicked out her feet. “Though now I’ve seen a naked shifter, I kinda wonder if they all look so good.”

“What?” Katie froze. “I mean ... what?”

Janie rubbed her nose. “Charlie shifted when Garrett attacked him. Shredded his clothes. I gotta say, great body ... but penises are weird.”

Katie’s left eye began to spasm. “Uh-huh.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

Only if it had nothing to do with penises. “Sure.”

“What’s it like when the guy you really like ... actually likes you back?”

Katie bit back the sarcastic jibe about Jordan. Janie had so much longing in her young voice, Katie had to be truthful. “Well, at first you don’t believe it because it’s too good to be true. Then you don’t want to believe it because it must be a trick. Then you do believe it, but it turns out to be different than you’d always thought.”

Janie sighed, turning to the ocean. “Why is life so confusing?”

“Why indeed.” With a matching sigh, Katie followed her gaze, but the ocean provided no answers.

Jordan kicked the punching bag, sending it flying across the wide gym. Irritation had him snarling. Even with funds so low from the war, Dage should create a better fucking workout area.

He’d slept with Katie. Pivoting, he slammed a fist into a second bag. Told her he loved her. Jesus. The fact that she didn’t say the words back wasn’t lost on him. Another kick, and the second bag tore in two.

“Stop breaking things.” Conn strode into the room, hands in his faded jeans.

“Facilities suck.” Jordan grabbed a towel off the thick mat to wipe his forehead.

“Want to talk about it?”

Jesus, no. “Why don’t you go get your mate so you have something to do?”

“My mate has work to do in Ireland. I have work to do here.” Conn’s voice stayed even.

Guilt swamped Jordan. His shoulders slumped. Conn remained behind so he could either save him or kill him. “I’m sorry.”

Conn shrugged and leaned back against the wall, keeping his flak boots off the mats. “Right now you’re the least of my worries. Any chance the shifter headquarters in Western Virginia needs a visit from Talen?”

“We want to get rid of Talen?”

“A shifter kissed Janie.”

Jordan jerked his head. “She’s too young to kiss.”

Irritation swirled in Conn’s eyes. “She’ll be sixteen in a week. When did I become the voice of reason around here?” He kicked a medicine ball. The heavy leather crashed against the far wall and returned, zinging by Jordan’s head.

Jordan cracked a smile. “Reason suits you. Tell me the guy wasn’t a wolf shifter.”

“Nope. Feline. Panther.”

“Well, that’s okay then.” Jordan eyed his friend. His best friend. Tension lines cut into Conn’s face, his shoulders seemed stiff. The guy could use a brawl. Jordan opened his mouth to offer when Dage’s voice came over the speaker in the far wall.

“Conn, Jordan, get to control room one. Now.”

They didn’t pause. Loping into a jog, Jordan followed Conn through corridors and down three flights of stairs, deeper in the earth. If the king wanted to meet in his private control room, something was very, very wrong.

They arrived in unison with Kane, Talen, and Max, who had been Dage’s primary bodyguard until taking over Janie’s protection. The door shut, locks sliding soundly into place.

Tension and power filled the small room. A large table sat abandoned to the side, but nobody moved toward the various chairs. They stood by the control panel near the entrance. Jordan tucked his hands in his sweats, resting against the side wall. Silence pounded around them.

Dage punched in keys on the panel and two men took shape on a large wall screen.

“Jesus,” Conn breathed.

Caleb Donovan, a vampire prophet, and Kellach Dunne, a witch enforcer, barely held each other up, leaning against a black stone wall.

Blood cascaded from Caleb’s eyes and nose. It flowed out his ears to mat in his long brown hair. He opened his mouth to speak. Blood poured out. He staggered, and Kell shoved them both against the wall.

Kell’s head swiveled. The flesh on his face flayed open from inside, veins and shards of bone sticking out through the flowing blood. His black eyes were a mottled red.

Caleb spit out blood. “Demons attacked. We lost—” He bent over, a rattling cough shaking his huge chest. Kell held on to him, then helped him to straighten.

Nausea rolled in Jordan’s gut. The demons fought with mind control—misfiring neurons in the brain until the victim bled out or went stark raving mad. They could also force horrible images inside until the person couldn’t distinguish between reality and illusion. It was a miracle the two men were still functioning.

Caleb coughed blood. “Jase.”

Talen and Conn stepped forward as one, concern for their youngest brother obvious. “Where is he?”

“Demons.” Caleb fell to the ground.

Kellach swayed, blood pouring from his hairline and down his face. “I’m sorry.” Then he dropped out of range.

Jordan tried to stamp his temper down. Harsh breathing filled the control room around him. The men stared at the stone wall in the screen, and nobody moved.

Finally, an angry female voice echoed. “What the hell are they doing in here? Get them back to the infirmary, now.”

Rioting red curls and sparking green eyes came into view. Moira Kayrs, Conn’s petite mate and tough witch, took a deep breath. “The demons attacked a settlement outside of Durness in Scotland where Caleb, Kell, and Jase were providing support. We heard of the attack and arrived in time for these two, but Jase was gone. We’re going after him in an hour.”

“The fuck you are.” Conn stepped toward the screen. “Stay where you are until I arrive.”

Moira shook her head. “They hurt an enforcer, Conn. I’m an enforcer, too, as you well know.” She straightened her shoulders. “Have your people had any luck in finding a demon destroyer? Or five?”

Conn stepped closer to the camera. “No. My guess is they’ve all died out. The demons probably took care of anybody who could combat their mind games years ago.”

Moira bit her lip. “That doesn’t work with my idea of the world. There has to be an enhanced human somewhere who can beat the demons.”

Jordan had had his people searching the globe for a demon destroyer since the damn demons had entered the war. Enhanced females lived on earth with psychic, empathic, and other abilities ... women who could mate with immortals. One such group could actually mind battle demons. While he wished a person existed who could counter the demons’ cruelty, he was with Conn. The demons had taken them all out.

Moira sighed, turning her attention to Dage. “Ah, king. I guess I should give you the rest of the bad news.”

“Which is?” Dage’s tone remained even, but a sense of raw power cascaded off him.

“We just had our first confirmation of a Virus-27 infection in a witch. Female.” Irritation pursed Moira’s lips. “Conn, stop that growling.” She nodded to someone off-camera. “Apparently only vampires and demons with their extra chromosomes are safe from this bugger.”

Dage shook his head. “I figured since there hasn’t been an infection in your people in ten years, you were safe.”

Green power began to dance along Moira’s exposed skin. “We’ve kept very strong protocols in place—anyone who has followed them has remained safe. This woman, girl really, didn’t follow them. Somehow the Kurjans gained access to infect her. I’ll find out how.” Sorrow filled her eyes. “For now, I’ll go find your brother.”

“Dailtín”—Conn’s voice dropped to pure warning—“what is the constant reality we live by?”

Moira frowned, and then her green eyes warmed. “I do love it when you call me ‘brat.’ ” She sighed. “The world starts with the two of us ... and spirals out.” A pretty grin lit her face. “We’re a pair, Conn.”

He nodded. “So you’ll wait for me before heading into battle.”

She lifted her chin, the grin widening. “Then you’d better hurry, mate.” The screen went blank.

Dage yanked a gun out of his waist to toss on the table. Two knives followed. “Conn, I’ll teleport you to Moira right now. Talen, you take the jet—go directly to Durness.” He focused on Kane.

Kane settled his stance. “I’m going. Emma can handle the lab work here—there isn’t anything else I can do.”

Dage frowned.

“I’m going. I’ll sense him before any of you do—as you well know.” Kane’s voice stayed calm, but a hard core of determination echoed in the tone.

Jordan scratched his head. Most vampires had special powers, and he’d never wondered about Kane. Being the smartest person on the planet seemed special enough. Guess not. There was more to the scientist than he’d figured.

Dage nodded. “Fine. You go with Talen on the jet. Max, you’re in charge until I get back.” He turned toward Jordan. “I need you to protect headquarters and keep from turning into a werewolf.”

“I’ll do my best.” Jordan lifted an eyebrow at Max.

The massive vampire crossed his arms and nodded, his light brown eyes somber. He’d kill Jordan if necessary.

A chill swept down Jordan’s spine. Hopefully the protector would make sure Jordan was actually a werewolf before beheading him. “I’ll send for backup. We have soldiers we can call on.”

“Good.” Conn cleared his throat. “Jordan—”

“Me, too.” Jordan nodded. The right words to say good-bye to a lifelong friend didn’t truly exist. “Go. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“I know.” Emotion shot silver through Conn’s green eyes.

Dage reached for Conn. “Let’s go.” The two disappeared.

Kane retrieved the discarded weapons. “We need to hurry. Transporting Conn will seriously weaken Dage.”

Talen nodded and clapped Jordan on the back. “Good luck.”

“You, too.” God, he hoped they found Jase. The idea of the fun-loving brother being tortured by demons made Jordan’s head pound. And he hoped he’d beat the moon and see his friend again. Something told him it wasn’t going to be that easy.