Tainted Souls: A Shadow Creek Novel Page 22

  Reaching the top of the Society's headquarters, Christopher stepped out onto the helipad. Glancing up, he shielded his eyes from the wind that whipped around as he came closer to the chopper. His grandson and his mate were waiting on board along with Alex and Lakota. Together they would fly to the Alaskan Territory where he would hunt down his own estranged mate and put an end to both their suffering once and for all.

  “Ready, sir?” Cade asked from the pilot seat as he climbed on board and buckled himself in.

  “As I'll ever be,” he replied calmly.

  Alex snorted from his seat opposite. “You hate flying. You always have.”

  Christopher swallowed. It wasn't a lie that he much preferred his two feet… or all four paws on solid ground. His eyes narrowed into thin slits. “How you know me so well, Alex.”

  “I do. And I know you won't find her.”

  Christopher leaned forward, aware that Cade could hear through the comm's despite the noise of the chopper. Maria was still his grandmother, even though he had yet to meet her. “I assure you, I will,” he replied with a stone, cold proclamation. “There is no hiding place. No rock to crawl under, no continent she can escape to. She will answer for her crimes, just as you have answered yours and justice will be served.”

  Alex laughed, the sound warped and the glare in his eye suddenly making him look unhinged. It lessened the burden slightly, knowing he would be ridding the world of another crazed fanatic just in time. At least, before Alex had a chance to kill and hurt anymore innocent human beings. His death, Christopher told himself, would be like putting an infected animal with no hope of recovery, out of its goddamned misery.

  §

  Seth was restless. He and his brothers were growing weaker by the day. The hemoglobin brought in donor bags was only just enough to keep the bodies of the human hosts they were in, ticking over. He and his brothers were split between three cells: Seth now shared his with Zach. Abel and his twin, Cain shared another, and Daniel was with Tyrone and Ruben. It had made it a little easier to live in the custody of the shifters now his brothers were with him again.

  Valerie was solitary. Although, Seth had not missed the coming's and going's of one particular shifter who would visit her almost every day.

  “Just a few more days, brother,” Zach said from where he lay above Seth on the top bunk flicking through a copy of Maxim. New beds had been brought in to accommodate them all.

  Seth stared up at the squares in the metal base of Zach's bed, imagining the back of his brother's head. Soon, the shifters would return with blood samples taken from their maternal females. While Seth was quietly confident in Madoc's plan, he couldn't help but wonder what the outcome would be for them. Would they become shifters? Or just another oddity?

  “Stop worrying. I can hear your brain turning over and over from up here.”

  “Are you not just a little skeptical?” Seth asked, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, ducking to miss hitting his head as he stood up.

  “A little. But it is better than living in someone else's skin.”

  The biometric scanner buzzed and the cell door opened. The big shifter they called Murphy stuck his head in. “You two, time for your walk.”

  Seth breathed in the fresh air as he and Zach walked in rotation around the training area. It felt good to stretch his legs, despite feeling weak. He ignored Murphy, standing guard with his semi-automatic coolly placed against his thigh. Seth wasn't about to run. He'd never make it. And besides, he got three square meals a day, a place to sleep, and the blood transfusion was the best chance he had his brothers had of survival without having to kill another human being.

  What would happen after the transformation took place was a worry to him. He glanced over to the big shifter keeping an eye on them, he knew Murphy was looking directly at him despite his eyes being covered by wraparounds. Things couldn't be any worse than they had been whether he became a shifter or not, he thought, trying to reassuring himself.

  “I think I've got a lead,” Jack Henderson said entering the Comm room at the Shadow Packs' compound. The rogues had all but crumbled during questioning with Murphy's mental persuasion and provided the name of their leader.

  “Super duper, let's have it then, chief,” Snow replied from behind his computer screen.

  Something about the description Gabrielle Robison had also given of the guy she'd followed sounded familiar to Jack. It had suddenly occurred to him where he'd seen the male before, but he wanted to be double sure.

  Jack unfolded the police sketch of the suspect. “We've already run it through our databases and got nada. Can you work your magic and see if you can find anything?”

  Snow took the sketch and examined the profile. “Holy crap… is that?”

  “Yeah, right under our noses the whole time.”

  “Jesus, wait until Cade finds out Aden Black is the head of the RFA and living so close to Kit...” His sentenced trailed off as he scanned and uploaded the image into his computer. His fingers got to work and the three screens lit up with streams of data. “Might take a while, pull up a pew,” he added.

  A few minutes and hundreds of faces later, the flickering images stopped.

  “Bingo!”

  Jack stared at the screen in surprise. “How the hell? He was squeaky clean, but damn, you've found him.”

  Snow grinned. “Oh, yeah, these babies don't come cheap.” He caressed the super hi-tech computer system with affection. “Aden might be clean on US soil, but his past tells us he was a naughty boy in the Motherland. Petty, juvie crimes mainly.”

  “His name is the same?”

  “Yeah, just looks different in Russian.”

  “Listen, get this info printed off for Fleet. We need to organize a raid on his address, even though I doubt we'll find anything. I'll let Kit's aunt and mother know,” Jack said as he opened the door to leave. “I'm just gonna make a quick visit to the cells.”

  Snow spun his chair around to face the chief of police. “Let me guess, you're going to see that vampire?” he assumed with a wink.

  Jack shot a glance back at the young shifter, but ignored the comment. Shit, was it becoming that obvious?

  “In over your head with that one.” Snow's voice trailed behind him as he marched down the corridor. He was in over his head. Jack was under no illusions that Valerie Dupont had gotten under his skin and into his dreams every night. In fact, he was beginning to wonder just how the hell he was keeping his shit together.

  The fact she was a vampire didn't register in his brain. Valerie Dupont was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and in his eyes, well, vampire or not, he was going to have her.

  When Jack reached her cell, she wasn't there. A fist punched him hard in the chest. Panic made his guts flip upside down. Where the hell was she? He paced back and forth and then headed out of the building in a jog. The moment he saw her pale skin and those dark orbs staring back at him, his whole body melted.

  Heaving a sigh, he walked over to join her in the training area, where she was walking.

  “Since when have the prisoners been allowed out?” he asked Murphy as he came up beside him.

  The tall shifter kept his focus trained on Valerie when he answered. “Couple of days.”

  “I can take it from here.”

  Murphy shook his head. “No can do, chief. Strict orders.”

  Jack knew it was pointless to argue, Murphy wasn't a shifter you could win an argument with. “Okay if I join her then?”

  “Do what you got to do, but make it quick, the sun's about to pierce that cloud.”

  Crossing the asphalt, Jack smiled at her as he came closer. She looked too thin, her pale skin washed out beneath the cloudy sky. How she must wish she could allow some sun on her face, to warm those cheekbones, he thought. But he knew the sun's rays were dangerous for her kind, out in it too long, and she would perish.

  “Hello, Jack.”

  Her French accent made him swallow the groan that tried to esca
pe from the back of his throat. “Feel's good to be out of that cell, huh?”

  Closing her eyes, she breathed a lungful of air and then exhaled. “Yes. Yes, it does.” When she opened her eyes again, she suddenly looked somber when she turned to him. “How long must I continue to be kept as a prisoner, Jack?”

  Thrusting his hands on his hips he met her gaze. “The truth is, I don't know. But trust me, I want you out of there too.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yeah.” The last time he'd been this close to her, she'd fed from him and he'd been delirious from the pleasure of it. He wanted nothing more than to have her out of that cell and somewhere he could see her privately.

  “Then help me, Jack. Please.”

  He looked over at Murphy. “We good to take a walk through the trees?” If they were shaded, he could keep her out of that cell a while longer.

  Murphy shrugged, uncommitted. “Sure. I'll be right behind.”

  Yeah, Jack figured he'd say as much. Still, it meant he got to spend some more time with her. He held out his hand, “Come on, let's go.”

  Her jade green eyes were wary as she accepted the hand he offered.

  “It's okay. I ain't gonna bite,” he smiled coyly. “That sure as hell better go for you, too.”

  He saw her lips tug up in one corner. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze he led her into the woodland. They walked quietly for a while, and Jack was happy that Murphy kept his distance. He had no idea what Fleet and the Society had planned for Valerie. She was free from the vampire King who had treated her cruelly. Valerie admitted she had been the one who had poisoned the Others with her venom, not because she wanted to, but because she had no choice. He saw no real reason why she should still be in held in captivity.

  Well, okay, she was a vampire, and shifters weren't meant to like them, let alone lust after them. They had been enemies centuries ago. He tried to ignore that and concentrated on the way he liked the feel of her hand in his. Albeit her skin was cool to his heat, her palms silky smooth to his callouses.

  “Listen,” he said, turning to face her. “I have an idea, but it's a long shot and I can't make any promises.” What he was going to suggest was way beyond crazy, and no doubt would be refused, but he had to try.

  Her eyes flared with hope. “What is it, Jack?”

  Jack stared into those deep, dark eyes, the light in them was dazzling. She was beautiful. From her hair to her skin, from her eyes to the delicate angles of her face. He laced his fingers through hers, placed his other hand on her hip watching her mouth fall open with the bold contact.

  “You could come with me… I'm going to France… it's work. But I really think we could use your help.” It sounded incredulous even as he suggested it. Damn, what the hell was he thinking? Whatever it was, it sure wasn't coming from his brain.

  “France?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it's an undercover assignment.”

  When she didn't say anything, he continued, “I'd have to get it cleared,” which was going to be near impossible. “But if I can, would you come?”

  She was quiet for a long time. He watched her closely, ran a hand through his hair, threw his hands on his hips as the silence stretched and became almost too much to bear.

  “Would I still be a prisoner?” she finally asked.

  Jack's lips drew into a thin line. “Well, technically yes, but the living accommodation would be a lot better.”

  Her gaze held a hard edge when her eyes met his. “I ran from being a prisoner, Jack. I never wanted to be imprisoned by four walls or by a man ever again.”

  “I don't want that for you, Valerie. I'm only trying to help. One step at a time?” If she proved herself trustworthy, then just maybe the Society would leave her alone.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Murphy who lingered behind before turning her attention back to him. “Alright, Jack. If you think you can do this for me, then I will take up your offer and help you.”

  Nodding he walked back to the lair with her, inwardly smiling at his luck. Now, he just had to get the idea passed by Fleet, and the very thought caused his moment of happiness to ebb away all too quickly.

  §

  In a small, dingy lock up on the edge of town, Aden glanced at the young rogue shifters sitting around the make-shift plywood table. Warden had been caught, bringing an end to their relationship, but Aden wasn't about to give up. He still wanted to put an end to the Society and their laws and he still wanted the money he was owed. One way or another, he was going to get it.

  He needed someone or something of importance to use as bait. The shifters had already proved they would do whatever it took to keep those they loved safe from harm, and they would protect human life at whatever the cost, too.

  “We need another target,” he said, blowing out a lungful of smoke from his cigarette. “Someone who matters. Something big.”

  The youngsters were edgy and restless in their seats. Understandable, Aden thought, two of their friends had been captured by the Society's shifters and were still being held, while Nix and his young brother had been killed. His eyes darted around the group of ten rogues that remained. They were strong and eager but naive. If he was to lead them, they would have to accept him as their leader. He didn't want to restrict their freedom. That would go against the very thing they were fighting for. Aden would only ask for their loyalty in return, they shared the same goal after all.

  “I have an idea...” a voice said from the other end of the table. Squinting, Aden sought out the rogue through the smokey air. It was Nix's best friend and now the eldest amongst the group.

  “Let me hear it, Jason.”

  The youngster cleared his throat. “The biggest target we could hit would be the heart of the shifting community.”

  Aden straightened in his seat, the rogue had his full attention. “Which is?”

  There was a long silence before Jason answered. “Silver Skies.”

  The rest of the group began to whisper and chatter, clearly unsettled by the idea.

  “Silence!” Aden bellowed, regaining the groups attention. “What is this… Silver Skies?”

  Nervously, Jason continued, “It's in the remote Alaskan territory. The maternal females, youngsters, and elders live there.”

  It was a little far fetched and the distance measurable… but it was perfect.

  “It's good, Jason. It's very good,” he praised the young rogue. “And you know the location of this place?”

  Jason hesitated and glanced around at his friends before answering. “I could get it.”

  Aden nodded, pulling the hunting knife from the sheath he wore on his hip, he palmed the handle his father had hand-carved many years ago. The elk-horn was smooth against his rough hands, the razor sharp blade shining below the dim light caught everyone's attention. Flicking his cigarette to the floor, he squashed it beneath the heavy sole of his boot into the damp mortar and stood up.

  “We are brothers in this fight. We stand together to free our kind from those who try to imprison us with their laws.” Aden angled the blade over his palm and cut deeply into his flesh, the blood oozed to the surface and flowed down his forearm in a steady stream. He held out the bloodied hand toward the group. “Who will swear their allegiance to me? Who will follow me in this battle?”

  Jason was the first to stand up. Moving around the table he stood beside Aden and accepted the blade. Cutting an identical mark into his palm, he offered it to Aden. “I will swear my allegiance,” he said, and they joined hands in a firm grip. Slowly, one by one, each rogue swore their loyalty to him.

  He felt a surge of power. Their blood mixed with his own, flooded his veins and he could suddenly hear their thoughts and their voices in his mind.

  They were his pack now, and he had just become their alpha.

  §

  He hasn't left a single trace, Jack thought as he paced the small keeper's cottage that had been Aden Black's home. The Russian rogue could be anywhere by now. Miles away. And he hadn'
t a goddamned clue where on the planet he'd gone.

  Snow was using his hi-tech computer system to check out security camera's and data at every airport, ferry port, train station and other forms of public transportation. But the truth was, Aden Black had slipped well and truly from their clutches. And to make it worse, he'd been under their noses the whole time.

  Frustrated, Jack ran his hand through his hair, his eye suddenly catching something glinting in between the floorboard close to where he was standing. Crouching down, he took a pen from his jacket pocket and teased the shiny object loose. It was a small key with the number 112 embossed into the metal.

  He examined it. Too small to fit the door, he looked around for any other possible thing the key could fit into. Ordering his men to straighten out the upturned cottage, he left them and walked across the front lawn to the McCoy's residence.

  “Chief Henderson, did you find anything?” Jo asked as she opened the door to greet him. Jack had told her their gardener was wanted for fraud. Better that, than the truth.

  “Ah, only this,” he replied, holding out the key in the palm of his hand for her to see. “Do you recognize it?”

  She shook her head. “No, most of the keys for this place are big and old.”

  He gave her a warm smile, happy to see her back to her healthy self again. “Thanks, Jo. My men are clearing up now, should be out of your hair in an hour or so.”

  Leaving the residence he headed back to the precinct and entered his office where his colleague Benjamin Silver was deep in paperwork.

  “W'sup boss?” the large protector asked as Jack walked through the door.

  Jack blew out a frustrated sigh and sank into his chair at his desk opposite. “Ah, didn't find shit. Except this key.” He palmed the small key from out of his jacket pocket and tossed it to his colleague.

  Benjamin caught it, his dark brown eyes studied it momentarily. “Looks like a lock-up key. I've seen the same kind in lost property before.”

  Jack jumped up from his seat. Of course, why hadn't he thought of that?