Illusions (Night Roamers) Book Four (18 page)

Her eyebrow arched.
“Friends?” 

He sighed. “You’
re right. I can’t have friends. I’m the leader of my pack. The Alpha. My lycan need to respect and obey me at all times. Any weakness could be used against me by someone trying to take my place. If I had friends, it would make me vulnerable.”

“
That sounds like a lonely existence,” replied Anne softly, thankful that she wasn’t him or even a lycan.

“I’m never alone,” he replied. “And, I don’t expect you to understand our way. I enjoy my life and have no regrets.”

“None?”

He smiled.
“There are a few. But, they won’t be around much longer.”

The meaning behind his words gave her the chills. Someone was definitely going to die.
She just hoped it wasn’t her children. Or her.

When they reached the park, Victor’s cell phone began to ring.

“It better be Drake,” he muttered, pulling out his phone. He swore as he answered it. “Yeah?”

Anne listened as he spoke. His words were clipped and the agitation in his voice grew as the conversation went one. 

“I don’t care. Find out what’s happening. Yes. I agree. This is totally unacceptable. No.”

As he went on, he turned his back to her
and continued.

Anne glanced
toward the edge of the park, which led to a small forest. She decided that if she couldn’t get her feet off of the ground, she might at least have a chance in the woods. Regardless, her life was hanging on a string, and the moment Dr. Shepard found out the truth, she’d be a very dead woman. At least this way, she’d have a chance.

“Dammit! I’m not going to say it again – find them!” he barked into the phone.

She took a deep breath and began to run.

Nikki

I began to get restless, hiding in the barn. Martin had been inside for more than thirty minutes, and I was beginning to get agitated.

“Dammit,” I whispered, biting my nails, whi
ch were so hard, they wouldn’t give. Frustrated, I began to pace as random thoughts flooded my mind.

Was he okay or was
he now her prisoner, too? Or… what if this was a set-up and Nathan was fighting off Celeste at this very minute?

I groaned, not knowing what to do.

My cell phone began to vibrate. I pulled it out and looked.

Nathan.

“What?” I whispered.

“
It’s Celeste. Look, Martin sent us a cryptic message,” she replied. “He seems to be okay and said that he’s turning in for the night at the ranch. Said that everything is going well and not to worry.”

“Turning
in
? How did he get Nathan’s phone number?”

“He must have my cell phone,” she replied.
“Anyway, I’m thinking that Martin is waiting for Faye to go to bed before he makes any kind of move.”

“O
h. Okay.”

“Where are you?”

“Close,” I replied, not willing to give her that much.

“Okay. Well, just
continue to wait wherever you are and don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself. If you do something stupid, you might put my brother in danger.”

At least she worried about someone.

“Not planning on it,” I said tightly. “How is Nathan? You haven’t sucked him dry, have you?”

She giggled.
“He’s doing pretty well, actually. He’s standing right here, still full of blood.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Sure.”

A second later he was on the line and I sighed in relief. “Good, you’re okay,” I said.
“The fact that she had your cell phone scared the crap out of me.”

“
I’m fine,” he replied. “No worries.”

Right. Easier said than done when it came to Celeste…

“Is she being good?”

“She’s being
… Celeste,” he replied. It sounded like he was grinning into the phone and my stomach clenched.

I sighed.
“She’s not trying to… you know…”

“
Don’t worry about me,” he said quickly. “Where exactly are you?”

“In the barn.
Don’t tell Celeste I told you that, by the way. Anyway, I’m waiting for Martin to send me some kind of signal from the house.”

“H
ang up the phone. Someone might hear you.”

“Okay.”

“Stay safe.”

“You too, Nathan. And don’t
you dare let your guard down around her.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m serious. She tried killing you. Twice. Don’t forget.”

“Believe me, three times is not the charm, Twerp.
Not with me.”

I grinned at hi
s old endearment. I missed the days of being just a simple twerp. “Promise?”

“I’m a fucking animal now, Nik,”
he joked and then roared like a lion. “Ain’t nobody going to get the better of me. Right, Celeste?”

I couldn’t hear what she said, but he laughed.

Suddenly a noise from outside drew my attention. An engine.

“Gotta go,” I whispered, hanging up.
I quickly flew up to the top of the loft and peered outside. Two men had just gotten out of a dark gray sedan and were walking toward the front door. They were both tall, somewhere in their thirties, and dressed casually.

“You think she’s there?” murmured the
taller of the two. He had spiky blonde hair and looked as if spent a lot of time at the beach. Definitely not a vampire.

“Don’t know,” replied the other guy, who had dark
, curly hair and was a little husky. He rang the doorbell. “I hope so, though. I don’t want to be the one to call Victor back to tell him we can’t find her. He’s going to be pissed.”

The other man grunted.

As I wondered why Victor was interested in Faye’s whereabouts, she opened the door.

“Victor sent us. To send you a message,” said the blonde.

Even in the darkness, I could see her scowl perfectly. She stepped out on the porch and closed the door behind her. “Fools, I have Celeste’s brother here. Don’t mention his name again. Unless you have a death wish.”

“That doesn’t scare me,” said the dark-haired guy. “In fact, I’m glad he showed up here. See, Victor wants Celeste terminated. We may as well do the brother, too. Since he’ll become a problem when he learns of her death
anyway.”

“No,” she snapped. “We made a deal. Celeste is very useful to me and I won’t give her up. I already told him that before.”

The dark-haired man shrugged. “I don’t know what kind of deal you made with Victor. All I know is that we were supposed to tell you to get rid of the girl. He doesn’t trust her. She’s nothing but trouble and needs to disappear.”

“I can handle her.”

“Then tell it to Victor,” he replied. “We’re just relaying the message.”

“Why couldn’
t he call me himself?” she replied. “Why did he send you two?”

“Victor doesn’t trust telephones,” said the dark-haired guy. “Not when it comes to something like this. He thinks the Feds might still be trying to pin something on him.”

She let out a weary sigh. “Very well, I’ll go and see him myself. Where is he? Still in Vegas?”

“Yeah. We just flew out from there ourselves. Anyway, you’d better move quick if you want to talk him out of it. He’s already sent someone to Shore Lake to get the job done. He just wanted you to hear about it first.”

“How considerate,” she replied dryly.

The dark-haire
d guy jingled his keys. “We’re taking off. You want us to do the brother?”

“No,” she snapped.

“You sure? We’d love us a little vampire flesh to get the blood pumping. It’s a pure adrenaline rush, man.”

“Not even a shape-shifter tastes as good,” joked the husky brunette.

“Unless they’re sharing your bed,” joked the blonde, eyeing her hungrily. 

She glared at them. “Do you really have to be so obnoxious?”

Just then, the door opened and Martin himself joined them on the porch.

“Everything okay, Faye?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied in a clipped tone. “They were just leaving.”

Martin sniffed. “Lycan?”

“That’s right,
vampire
,” replied the dark-haired man, smirking.

Martin smiled coldly. “Have a safe trip home.”

The other two men looked at each other, and from the tension in the air, I knew it wouldn’t take much to start an altercation.

“Yes,” said Faye, moving between the three men. “You should really get moving. You must have a plane to catch?”

“Not until this evening,” replied the blonde. “Which reminds me, we haven’t eaten. Let’s go find a diner or something, Joe.”

Joe smirked. “I don’t know, I’m kind of hungry for something much rarer t
han what’s being served in town.”

“There’s
a diner about ten miles north of here. Has
the
best steak and eggs,” said Faye. “They’re really to die for. Unlike… what you’re contemplating here.”

Joe threw his head back and laughed. “That was good
. Okay, we’ll leave. But, remember what we told you, Faye. It’s going to happen soon. So, if you want to do something about it, you’d better act quickly.”

She didn’t say anything.

The two men turned around and walked back to the car.

Faye and Martin watched them leave
and then looked at each other.

“Nice friends you have there, Faye,” said Martin
, leaning against the porch.

“Obviously they’re Victor’s men.”

“I figured as much. I should have just taken them out.”

“Then Victor would have known that I was involved.”

“What’s the difference? They’re going to tell him about me. He’ll put two-and-two together. Know that I’m Caleb’s son.”

“I’m not worried about that. They already know that Celeste is in my care and you showing up here shouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Does Celeste know that you have dealings with Victor?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “And there is no reason for her to find out. She wouldn’t understand.”

“But I do?”

Faye reached up and touched his cheek. “I’m going to try and help you destroy the man who killed your father. What else is there to understand?”

He sighed.

“Don’t tell her,” she said, smiling up at him. “I don’t want her upset.”

He stared at her incredulously. “You do really care for my sister, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she replied, stepping away from him. “Which reminds me, I have to leave for a few hours.”

His eyes widened. “Where?”

“Business,” she replied, opening the front door. “But, don’t worry, Godrick will be around if you need anything.”

Martin followed her inside and I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, nor did I need to. Faye was soon leaving and not only would it give me a chance to help rescue Duncan, but my gut told me that my mother was now back in Vegas.