The Siren Job (Stolen Hearts Crew Book 1) Page 15

  A snort. "Doesn't matter who, just matters..." A beeping sound. Metal detector wand, close to Luxe's comm.

  Fuck.

  "Aha. Got it." A squeal of feedback, a crunch, and silence. Horrible, horrible silence.

  Roc and I exchanged a look of defeat.

  “Fuck.” Roc laid his head down on folded arms.

  That was when I knew we were good and truly fucked.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Alex

  One look at Kit’s face and I knew. I just knew.

  “Is he…?” I felt my lip quiver.

  Kit reached his hand out and cupped my shoulder. “No. He’s breathing. We could hear it. She’s got him locked up in her safe room at the mansion.”

  My head swam. It should have been me. The thought echoed in my head, over and over. A million miles away, arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a gentle hug. I buried my face in Kit’s neck, breathing in the soothing scent of fresh air and pine. How he smelled like that in the middle of Los Angeles defied logic, but I was in no condition to ask questions.

  He guided me into the hideout and sat me down in a folding chair. I let him steer me like an empty doll, a mindless robot. I had nothing left inside me. Just that one thought, spinning through my head.

  It should have been me.

  I felt like I should have been crying. A normal girl might have. Instead, I felt a burning rage simmering in my gut, threatening to blow.

  I wasn’t the only one. Feral was pacing like a caged animal, rubbing the back of his neck and emitting a low growl that raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

  “We call in the Batshit Boys. Blow a hole in the place, haul him out.” Rage and desperation seeped from his words.

  Roc leaned against the surveillance table. “I’m not willing to have that many bodies on my hands. Chaos and Livewire are bad enough on their own. Bob almost took out a city block last time. There’s no guarantee they wouldn’t take the whole mansion down, Luxe and all.”

  “Bob?” My brain clutched at the distraction for dear life. “His street name is Bob?” A spurt of hysterical laughter wrenched itself out of me.

  I saw Cory and Kit exchange uneasy looks. Even Roc looked a little queasy.

  “We don’t joke about Bob,” Roc said quietly.

  I swallowed hard at their grim expressions. “Oh. Sorry.”

  Feral resumed pacing. I resumed blaming myself.

  I could have stopped this.

  I could have saved him.

  If I wasn’t so fucking stupid…

  “You couldn’t have stopped this, Alex.” Roc’s voice snapped me out of my reverie.

  “The fuck I couldn’t have. If I’d had your number, if I’d had my phone, if…”

  Roc dropped to a knee in front of me and locked eyes with me. “That’s a lot of ifs. The fact is, you didn’t have the information you needed, and you tried your damnedest to get to us in time to save Luxe. That’s all any of us could have asked of you. That’s more than any of us could have asked of you, after this morning.” His gaze dropped.

  “About that…” I said.

  “Kit told me. He told me what you heard. How I sounded.” He shook his head. “I’d have run, too. And while I don’t appreciate being eavesdropped on, I had it coming.” He met my eyes again. “I haven’t been straight with anyone about the client. And you all deserve better. I realize that now. Now that Luxe…” His jaw clenched. “My team has been putting their lives on the line for these jobs, and they deserve to know.”

  “Deserve to know what?” Feral said, gripping the edge of a table in his powerful hands, knuckles white with strain. He looked ready to flip it. “If you held back something that could have saved my brother, so help me I’m going to…”

  “No.” Roc rose and faced the enraged fighter. There was no trace of fear on his face. He was tranquil as a monk. I have to admit, I was impressed. Feral had half a foot and half again his muscle mass on him.

  Feral’s eyes narrowed to slits. He leaned in menacingly. “No what?”

  “No, I did not hold back information that could have saved Luxe.” Roc crossed his arms and stood his ground. “I would never endanger you willingly.”

  “How about unwillingly?” Cory spoke up from his perch across the room, straddling the back of a chair. I could see bruising along his jaw, marring his ghost-pale skin.

  Roc’s jaw tensed. He drew a deep, calming breath. “Our client has us all by the balls. Kit, you know that better than most.” Kit nodded somberly. Roc turned his attention back to Feral. “He hired you, Luxe, and Cory, but do not doubt for a second that he has access to something you love or something you fear.”

  Cory snorted. “I don’t love anything but money, man. He’s got nothin’ on me.”

  Roc fixed him with a cold stare. “Then I’d ask myself very hard about what I fear.”

  I didn’t think Cory could get any paler, but somehow he managed.

  “What does he have on you?” Feral asked.

  Roc bowed his head. “Information. Information I need. If I get him the artifacts, he tells me who killed my pack. Maybe then I could find out who killed Emily.”

  Feral snarled. “So Luxe is in a tiny hole awaiting who knows what because of your dead wife?”

  “No.” There was a deadly edge to Roc’s voice. “Luxe is in a tiny hole because our client knows where your parents live, and how very fragile your father’s health is.”

  The fire in Feral’s eyes burned brighter. His breathing was hard, like it took every ounce of his will not to launch himself at Roc. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. “God fucking damn it.”

  “So the benevolent shifter who only wants to dispose of dangerous artifacts…?” I asked.

  Roc turned to me. “I still believe he wants to dispose of them. He’s obsessed. Terrified. He’s convinced that these artifacts will destroy the world, and he’ll do anything to get his hands on them.”

  “That’s all well and good, but what does this have to do with anything? We need to get Luxe back. Now. We don’t know why she’s keeping him alive, but it can’t be for anything good.” Feral shoved himself away from the table and resumed pacing.

  Keeping him alive.

  Keeping him.

  Feral’s voice resonated through my head. I felt the room retreating, the world slipping away from me.

  I was back in the clearing. The red soil crunched beneath my feet as I walked toward the bonfire. The mirror and idol were gone. In their place was a figure, bound at the arms and legs, gagged, writhing in the dirt. As I watched, the figure changed from a man to a large golden cat, then returned to human form. The bonds remained in place.

  The Soul’s Tears glittered in the firelight against my bare chest as I raised my hands high. A voice that was not my own began a guttural chant. The necklace burned against my chest, the same eldritch cold as the Elder Sign. The figure writhed in agony, groaning against the gag. His body glowed with an unholy light.

  A flash of blinding light.

  Only a pile of dust remained, blowing away in the breeze that swayed the purple grasses.

  Power swelled within me, filling every fiber of my being.

  I am power.

  I am eternal.

  I will have them all.

  None can resist.

  All will love me.

  Only me.

  Alex…

  “Alex!” Someone was shaking my shoulder. “Alex, honey, fight it. Come back. I can’t lose you too.”

  “Her necklace. It’s a ward. Press it into her…”

  I felt the burning again. My breath caught in my throat, then released in a cry of surprise and pain.

  Feral’s face was inches from mine. “Alex?” His hands gripped my shoulders.

  “Hi,” I said, my voice wispy and faint.

  Relief flooded his features. “Oh thank god.” He hauled me into his arms, nearly pulling me out of the chair. “I thought we’d lost you for good this time.”

 
“You were in some sort of trance,” Roc said. “The Elder Sign pulled you out.”

  “You were doing that glowing eyes shit, too,” Cory added. “It’s kind of badass-lookin’, but it freaks everyone out, so you might want to cut back on it.”

  “Fuck you,” I groaned. My head felt like squirrels had built a nest in it and were having a mad squirrel orgy.

  Roc went to a knee beside Feral. “Did you see anything? Anything that could help?”

  I looked at him, then at Feral’s hopeful face, then back to him.

  “We need to get Luxe back before the concert. Glory’s going to sacrifice him to enchant the entire arena.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “We’re locked out of the mansion. We’d be nuts to try to go back in. I just barely got hold of those cameras, and you can bet your ass that damned cybersecurity pro is going to lock us out the second she realizes what I used for a backdoor.” Kit slammed his laptop closed and leaned an elbow on the table, resting his cheek on his fist in resignation.

  Feral growled and slammed his fist into a chair.

  “Her safe room is top of the line…” Kit continued, his eyes on Feral. I could see a flicker of fear in them, as though he was concerned that one false word could land that fist in his face. “Cory, if you could get in, you might be able to access the physical security, but there are biometrics on it and I don’t have…the…data…”

  Feral was watching him, eyes nearly black, fists clenched.

  “Take a walk, Feral.” Roc crossed his arms and glowered at him. “We’re not going to get anything done if you’re menacing the crew.”

  “I’m not menacing the crew,” Feral snarled, his voice barely human.

  “You’re about to flash-shift. I won’t have you losing control on my hacker for no damned reason.” Roc’s voice was level. “Take. A. Walk. Pace it out in the office if you have to. Just get the hell out of here and get yourself right.” A note of concern. “You can’t help your brother if you’re out of control. And you’re out of control. So go.”

  Feral swatted a handful of papers off the table and stormed out of the room.

  I jumped out of my seat and went to follow him.

  “That is your dumbest idea yet,” Cory said.

  I turned to glare at him. “His brother is in serious shit right now. He may not want someone to talk to, but he might really need someone to talk to. I’m going to at least make the offer.”

  There was a crash from outside the door, then loud crunching sounds. I seriously reconsidered my nurturing instincts.

  “Really, really dumb,” Cory insisted.

  “He has a point, Alex.” Roc spoke up. “He was seconds from flash-shifting…”

  “Flash-shifting?”

  “When shifters freak out really badly, sometimes we shift even if we don’t want to,” Kit said. “It mostly happens when we’re teenagers, but if we get our rage on, or get badly scared, sometimes we slip.”

  “And then?” I swallowed back a lump of fear.

  “Bad things. Especially with the larger predators. Think collateral damage. If you’re lucky, just property damage.” Kit’s words were punctuated by another crash from outside the door. “When the animal takes over, though… it can get ugly.”

  My heart warred with my brain.

  Is he worth getting shredded to bloody chunks over?

  Does he care enough about you to rein it in?

  Can he rein it in?

  I thought back to my first night at The Dorm. His warmth. His caring. His tenderness toward his brother.

  He’s not an animal.

  I turned and opened the door.

  I may have made the wrong choice.

  I stood in the front office of the hideout-slash-office suite. The furniture was bargain-basement generic office furniture. Cheap steel desks, a couple of archaic monitors with generic keyboards and mice, worn-looking rolling chairs, cups of pens, scattered file folders and papers. Someone tacked up a wall calendar next to the desk closest to the door. Kittens and puppies doing cute kitten and puppy things.

  The cat in the middle of the office was no kitten. A long, lithe black panther stood in the middle of the room, savaging a fallen office chair. Bits of foam drifted in the air like amber snowflakes. As his claws tore through the ratty upholstery, a primal part of my brain screamed That could be you in a couple minutes! Run! Run, you idiot!

  “Feral,” I said in the calmest voice I could muster.

  If he heard me, he ignored me. Long, sharp teeth closed around the arm of the chair and crunched down. I could hear the crackle of plastic as it shattered in his jaws.

  “Fisher.”

  That got his attention. He released the chair and turned lambent golden eyes on me. That little caveman voice inside me was shrieking and pissing its pants. Fortunately, I had a stronger bladder. I also saw something in those eyes that steadied me. I stood very still, watching him as he watched me.

  “I…” I faltered. “I can’t say I know how it feels, because I don’t. I can’t say it’s going to be all right, because it’s not a fair thing to say and is completely dismissive of your incredibly justified concern. I can’t say that you need to calm down, because I’ve only known Luxe for a couple days and I feel like something’s been ripped out of my chest.” I took a step closer to him. “All I can say is…” Fear welled up inside me, but not because I was walking toward an apex predator. I knelt down in front of him. “I care about you, Feral. A lot. And when you hurt, I hurt. I…I just didn’t want you to think that you had to be alone right now. If you didn’t want to.”

  My vision did something strange and swimmy. When it cleared, Feral knelt in front of me, his hands on his knees, his head bowed.

  “I’m sorry,” he began.

  “Don’t you dare fucking apologize,” I said. “He’s your brother. Your best friend. Your partner. I’d probably be ripping things apart too, if I had someone as close as that.”

  He looked up at me shame-faced. “I’m not a total savage, I swear. I’m just…”

  “Scared. Angry. Worried about someone you love.” I reached out a hand and placed it over his. “I’m not going to hold this against you. I doubt Roc or Kit will, either.”

  A hint of a smile. “And Cory?”

  “Fuck Cory,” I said with a smile. “Cory can bite me.”

  Feral raised a brow. “Can he?”

  I blushed hard. “Jesus. Ack. What? No!”

  A wry grin twisted his lips. “Protesting too much.”

  I gave him a playful swat. “Don’t be an ass.”

  He caught my hand and pulled me into his lap. I squeaked in surprise and sprawled against him.

  “You meant that?” He cradled me close, shifting to stretch his legs beneath mine. I could feel his breath on my neck, his lips whispering against my skin.

  "That you should stop being an ass? Yes." It was hard to be salty with his arms around me.

  He chuffed silently. "No. What you said about...us. What you said about me. And you."

  There was a raw vulnerability to his words that melted my heart. And my knees.

  "Yes," I whispered.

  "And Luxe too?"

  I felt a tightness in my chest. No man wants to hear that he's not your one and only. This will ruin everything.

  "Yes."

  The tip of his nose traced the side of my neck. A shiver of pleasure ran down my spine, warring with the tension in my shoulders.

  "Good."

  I blinked, unsure I'd heard correctly.

  "Good?"

  He leaned his forehead against my cheek. "We're good at sharing, Luxe and I. If you didn't... if you'd only wanted one of us, it could get awkward. Because I know how I feel about you. And I know how he..." There was a catch in his voice. He cleared his throat. "We both have some big feelings for you already, is what I'm saying."

  I reached up a hand and stroked his short black hair. He buried his face in my neck and wrapped his arms around me tighter. I felt moist
ure against my skin and wrapped my free arm around him. A tremor ran through his muscular frame. I ached for him, for his pain. He didn't sob or wail, but the tears were there, trickling down my skin. I closed my eyes and joined him.

  Luxe...

  That mischievous smile. Those sparkling blue eyes. The gentle teasing. That spark of life, of humor, of love...

  That thought stopped me in my tracks. Love? Not yet. Not now. Lust? Longing? But love?

  Not yet. But I could.

  If I get the chance.

  I choked on that thought. Tears burned my eyes and trickled down my cheeks.

  Feral pulled his face away from me and rubbed a rough hand over it. His ears were tinged pink. "I...um...I don't usually...Sorry."

  I wiped my eyes and smiled at him. "No apologies."

  He managed a small smile. "No apologies."

  He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. My breath caught in surprise. I accepted the kiss and returned it, slowly and tenderly. I let myself sink into it, the gentle contact soothing to the anguish in my heart.

  His fingers traced along my spine, sliding upward to run along the edges of my shoulder blades. His fingertips pressed into the tense muscles, gently kneading. I returned the favor, pressing my thumbs into the spot where neck meets shoulder, rubbing the rock-hard tendons.

  We lost ourselves in tender caresses and equally tender kisses for who knows how long. The horror and pain and fear fell away, if only for a moment, lost to Feral's embrace. I had a feeling that he needed it as badly as I did.

  "Alex," he whispered against my lips.

  "Hmm?"

  "They're probably wondering where we are."

  "Hrmph."

  He pulled away reluctantly. "We need to help them plan."

  "Right." I started to pull away.

  Feral's arms held me in place.

  "That means you have to let go of me," I said with a crooked grin.

  He buried his face in my neck again. "Don't wanna."

  "To the rescue?"

  He nodded, then released his hold. "To the rescue."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven