Charity Received (30 page)

Her gaze locked with Faith’s, and she didn’t know how to interpret the other woman’s demeanor. She stood apart from Bale, her hands thrust in the back pockets of her jeans as she slowly rocked on her feet. Was she angry over Charity’s pregnancy? Upset? Would Faith even speak to her? Charity was the first to glance away, her stomach a jumble of nerves.

“Chari?”

Charity was surprised by Faith’s soft whisper and turned to find the vampire standing a couple feet to her right. “Hi, Faith.”

“Congratulations, Chari. I’m so happy for you.” Uncertain how she should respond or if she even should, she let Faith pull her into a hug.

“Are you?” she asked, deciding to get it all out in the open. Ignoring the possibility that Faith might have a serious problem with her being pregnant was something that, left unaddressed, could make life among the Grigori quite uncomfortable.

“I’m mad as hell. It should have been me.” Faith laughed, then gave a gentle smile.

“But I’m not giving up. I’m going to give that baby a playmate if it kills me.” They hugged again, and Charity hoped with all her heart that Faith would get her wish.

A not-so-very-discreet cough saved her from having to respond, but Charity wasn’t any happier to deal with the owner of the cough than she was with Faith’s inability to have children. Charity rolled her eyes at Faith, drawing a chuckle from her.

She moved from Faith’s embrace to find Jet glaring at her. “Can we get on with this?” he growled.

“That is a good idea.” Remy’s focus was centered on where Thomas crouched before the cage, whispering softly to the wolf within. The members of his pack stood guard around him, viewing the brethren with a healthy dose of mistrust.

Thomas seemed unfazed, though. In fact, he paid no attention to any of Kash’s brothers. Instead he was trying to communicate with the other male. At first she couldn’t determine if he was having much luck, but as Thomas’s frustration grew, so did his scent.

“Something is preventing my brother from shifting, and his thoughts are too chaotic to comprehend. I will have to try to force him to shift. If I can wrest control away from whoever is doing this, Trent might be able to provide us with enough information to find the bastard.” Thomas growled, eyeing the crowd until he spotted Remy.

Charity whipped around to look at the wolf more closely. Until that moment, she hadn’t been aware of the male’s identity and was saddened to learn it was Thomas’s little brother. Trent had been only a pup the one and only time she’d ever had contact with him, but she remembered him fondly.

“Will this affect Charity in any way?” Kash demanded.

For a moment, Thomas remained silent, studying her mate. Then he shook his head.

“Maybe if I was trying to force him into taking on his wolven form, but I don’t see how commanding Trent to shift from wolf to human should affect Charity or the pup she carries.”

Charity watched Kash swing his attention to Zeke, then focus back on Thomas when Zeke gave a slight nod, and she elbowed her mate in the abdomen. She didn’t need Zeke to confirm Thomas’s truthfulness. And she certainly didn’t need anyone making decisions for her. She was quite capable of determining the safety of her child on her own.

Kash ignored her jab, his eyes on O’Malley. “Pup?” he pretty much snarled at the alpha shifter.

Thomas cocked his head, a look of confusion wrinkling his brow. “Yes. I scented the pup as soon as Charity entered the room.”

Kash stared down at her, a look of horror settling on his face. “Pup?” he repeated, panic lacing that one word.

Smiling gently, she cupped his cheek and opened her mouth to reassure her mate, but Thomas beat her to it. “What we shifters call our young. But really, who knows what crossbreed mutt you two have produced.”

She wanted to hit the smug bastard, but his words gave her pause, and placing a hand across her abdomen, Charity wondered about the child she and Kash had created. Would she be a shifter? An angel? Both? The thoughts tripped over themselves, and she might have given voice to them if Kash hadn’t reacted first.

“You son of a bitch,” he snarled, lunging for Thomas.

“Kash,” Charity cried, reaching toward him, hoping to grab hold of anything to prevent her mate from attacking Thomas. Not that the bastard didn’t totally deserve it, but she wanted the O’Malley alpha to get the information from his brother and leave.

“That’s enough,” Remy bellowed, and Charity watched with fascination as Kash seemed to freeze in midstride, his arm poised to strike Thomas. “Charity, do you have anything to add to these proceedings?”

She shook her head, more concerned about Kash than she was the O’Malleys. What could she say, anyway? She’d never been alpha of a pack, so she could only guess how Thomas would reach his younger brother.

She rushed to her mate’s side, and his muscles rippled with tension under her fingertips. She could feel him fight against Remy’s compulsion, straining to gain his freedom, and her wolf reacted, wanting to force Remy to relinquish control. Claws sprouted from her fingers as fear spread through her, and she fought the shift.

“Remy, damn you. Release me!” Charity heard Kash shout, but his voice sounded far away, almost as if they were at opposite ends of a long tunnel. Then she felt her mate’s arms band about her tightly. “Do not shift, Charity,” he ordered.

His touch soothed the wolf, leaving Charity to struggle with the fear from her near miss. There had been no reason for her wolf to rise to the surface like that. She’d known Kash was in no danger. But when she’d felt his anger crash over her, the wolf had felt compelled to respond.

“Get them both out of here,” Remy barked.

Over Kash’s shoulder, Charity spotted Jet approaching and flashed him her teeth in warning.

“Bite me, lassie, and you will regret it,” Jet retorted, a daring gleam lighting his hazel eyes.

It was Kash who pulled back with a nod. “Come, chérie,” he said quietly. Grasping her hand in his, he led her from the room and across the bailey to the main residence, and much to her bitter disappointment, Jet trailed behind.

For the first time, Charity saw more of the main residence than just the foyer, dining hall, and library. Bale and Faith, Zeke, Arak, and Penny all had rooms on the second floor, but she was uninterested in seeing where they slept, so they passed through the foyer and stepped into the dining hall. Three doorways from there led to different parts of the abbey. The library she was familiar with. Kash explained that the one to the far right led to the entrance of Payens Tower, where Remy resided.

The doorway to the far left was the one Kash took. He guided her through the butler’s pantry and the kitchen, and came to a stop in a large entertainment room.

Beyond that, he explained, was the archway to Ridefort Tower, where Levi’s quarters were housed.

Kash dragged her to a plush black leather sofa and forced her to sit beside him. The focal point of the room was the sixty-five-inch flat-screen TV, with the couches and chairs layered around it for optimal viewing. Speakers appeared to be embedded into the ceiling and the walls around them. And on several of the shelves lining the sides of the TV were accompanying equipment, several of which were different gaming systems. The brothers were apparently quite serious about their entertainment.

“Would you care to watch a movie, chérie?”

Charity glanced around the room, then shook her head. “You mentioned where everyone sleeps except Jet.”

Kash brushed her hair from her shoulder and slipped his arm around her. The male was currently in the kitchen, fixing himself a sandwich, and probably wouldn’t appreciate Kash talking about him. So with a grin, he replied, “Right now Jet is not a permanent member of our enclave, so he has been camping out in the chapel. If Penny hadn’t moved into the spare room above, I guess he would have taken up there.” Kash shrugged. “But who knows for sure with Jet? He can give ‘odd’ a whole new meaning sometimes.”

“No kidding.” She rolled her eyes. “But what do you mean, ‘not a permanent member’?”

“Every enclave has between eight and ten members. Officially, Jet still belongs in San Antonio. Until Raym is dealt with, he is still considered Grigori, and we cannot be assigned a replacement. Our number must fall under eight before another will be transferred to us.”

“How many Grigori are left?”

Kash shrugged. “The exact number I do not know. Only Sam, our leader, is aware of that. My guess is there are about five hundred of us left.”

“That’s all?” she murmured, a sadness encompassing her that she knew she was picking up from Kash. The worry…the fear—that was hers. Immortality was just a myth. Even the immortal could die; only their deaths were bloody, painful. No dying in their sleep for her kind.

“Don’t, chérie,” Kash commanded softly. “You held no fear of demons before. Don’t begin now. Our only true threat is the untainted. And they no longer bother with the fallen. The ones Michael now commands hunt archdemons. They leave us be.”

“What of those like Raym?”

Kash gently cupped her face, but his eyes held a sorrow at the mention of his best friend. “He is the first and hopefully the last.”

Nodding, Charity forced her way into Kash’s arms, wanting to comfort him as much as she was looking for comfort herself. She clung tightly to him, wishing she’d never asked the question. She didn’t want to think about Kash’s vulnerability, nor did she like seeing him upset over something beyond his control. And Raym’s actions upset him almost as much as they did Penny.

* * *

Kash had talked her into playing “Grand Theft Auto,” and that was how Remy discovered them—in a tug-of-war over whose turn it was to use the controller. His laughter filled the room, startling Charity. Her end of the controller soared from her fingers, the backlash catching Kash in the center of his chest.

“Oh shit!” she exclaimed, her hand flying up over her mouth.

Kash let the controller fall to the floor as he unconsciously rubbed the point of impact. Through the bond, Charity felt an echo of the sting and found herself mirroring his action. With a smile, Kash took hold of her hand and dropped a kiss on her palm. Then, entwining their fingers, he glanced over at Remy, who stood leaning in the doorway.

“How did it go?” Kash asked.

“Not so good, I’m afraid.” With a weary sigh, Remy stepped into the room and collapsed into a chair across from them. “O’Malley tried to gain control away from the warlock, but failed. The wolf did not survive.”

“Oh no,” she whispered.

“O’Malley was able to get one clear message from the wolf,” Remy added. “He said,

‘They are hunting the mate, and she must be protected with all honor.’”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Jet demanded from the doorway.

Remy ran a hand through his shortly cropped hair. “Damn if I know.” His gaze locked with Jet’s. “O’Malley thought it pertained to his pack and immediately started rambling about his Principal. I, of course, had to dissuade him of that notion quickly. The last thing we want or need is a sanctimonious angel in our faces. But as I was changing his memories, I did pull an image of two individuals from his mind. I believe while he was struggling with the warlock, they connected briefly. And what I saw tells me this has nothing to do with wolves and everything to do with us.”

Kash grew tense beside her, unconsciously digging his fingers into her shoulder.

Trying to ease the pressure, she placed her hand on his thigh and massaged gently with the hope of calming her mate. But it seemed to have the opposite effect. Kash dragged her closer and pinned her tightly to his side with his arm.

“Was it Raym?” he growled out savagely.

Remy fixed his gaze on Kash, those chocolate-colored eyes filled with sadness and rage. “Yes. One of them was Raym.”

“Son of a bitch.” Kash jumped to his feet. He ate up the distance to the TV and back as he anxiously paced the expanse of the room. As he turned in their direction, he looked at Jet. “Christ, I need a cigarette. Do you have any on you?”

Jet nodded, digging a red pack out of his jeans pocket. He tossed it to Kash, who retrieved one stick, then threw the pack back. With one end between his lips, he pressed the other against a finger, and within seconds, it was a glowing ember.

Charity watched in disbelief. “You smoke?” It was a disgusting, repulsive habit her shifter senses couldn’t tolerate. The smell was just offensive.

Kash glanced at the object between his fingers and shook his head. “I quit years ago.” Then he turned his back on her and continued to pace.

Charity opened her mouth to say more, but Remy shook his head. After casting a frown at him, she pinched her nose and began to breathe through her mouth to avoid the reek as much as possible.

“You said there were two. Who was the other?” Jet moved across the room, his gaze lingering on her, and stopped inches from where she sat.

“I can only presume it was the warlock. I drew his likeness.” Remy lifted his hand, and that was when Charity noticed the piece of paper clutched in his fist. “None of the others recognize him. What about you?”

Kash yanked the paper from Remy’s outstretched hand and studied the drawing for a moment. After shaking his head, he passed it to Jet. Charity peeked at the image in Jet’s grip, then concentrated on it. The male was familiar, but from where, she racked her brain to recall.

“I’ve seen him somewhere,” she said, and all eyes turned to her. One set—the beautiful pale blue gaze of her mate—was filled with terror. The cigarette slipped unnoticed from his fingers as he stalked to her side. Kash pulled her from the couch and held her at arm’s length.

“Where?” His voice was strained, as if he was forcing the words through dry, tight tissues.

“I don’t know,” she replied in a low voice. “Maybe Club Dominus, but I can’t be certain.” Fear clouded her senses, immersing her in its grip. Fear that Kash might run off half-cocked and get himself killed. And then there was the horror he was pushing into her system, the unbound terror that Raym might find a way to harm her.

“Would you be willing to let me search your mind? I might be able to locate the memory.”