King of Darkness (28 page)

Like so many things, he had never thought of it before.

“Come on, Theresa, let’s get you guys home.” Eamon’s mate looked on helplessly as his body was secured in the backseat of the other vehicle. Thad urged her around to the front door and motioned for Lee to get Gary—who was shaky but mobile again, thank Heaven—into the other Land Rover that had pulled up.

“No, I want to stay with him!” The petite female dug in firmly and lunged, large belly first, toward the backseat where her mate’s body lay. It was not the time to argue, so Thad helped Theresa climb in. As he started to close the car door, there was an urgent gasp. “Oh, my God, he’s breathing!”

Abel came around the door with his stethoscope to check things out. “It may just be trapped air in his lungs leaving his body,” he said carefully. The stethoscope moved slowly under Eamon’s shirt, and then Abel pulled aside the ear buds and gave another once-over. “I guess I was wrong. It looks like he’s back!”

Immediately, he grabbed Theresa, who had let out a sob of gratitude and was trying to hug the large body of her male. “Easy, let’s get the two of you home to bed.” He gently eased the doors shut and went around front to drive the pair back to the estate.

Thad surveyed the area once more before heading to the remaining SUV. He turned to the three males who had ridden in the second vehicle. Again, someone was waiting for him to lead.

“I’ll ride with these guys back to the estate. You three backtrack and make sure there aren’t any more wizards around the property, then grab another car and head back out. Siddoh’s offline for the moment and so is Tyra, so you need to keep alert in case they call for backup.”

The three nodded and turned to head out in the direction from which Lee and Thad had come on foot.

Lee hopped into the driver’s seat and hit the ignition before turning to check the situation in the backseat. Gary was slumped over up front, so Thad had crammed himself into the cargo area. “How we doing back there?”

Thad glanced over. Levon appeared to be stable but not out of the woods. Levon’s mate, Ani, was stroking her male’s face as it lay in her lap. She had stopped crying. Her breathing was even and deep, her eyes unfocused. Shock would do that.

“I think we’re good,” Thad said. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“All right,” Lee concurred as he closed the car door. “Let’s rock and roll.”

***

There were times in life when you just had to acknowledge the ridiculousness of a situation. Tyra took form in a dark room, still reeling from the night’s events. Thad’s female and Tyra’s just-barely former lover were in danger. The man who had said the sweetest words any male had ever spoken to her was apparently her sworn enemy; her body was shot to shit from trying to teleport while she was invisible; and she was catching her breath while leaning up against a rack of… waterproof vibrators?

“Remind you of the good times we had?”

“Christ almighty!” Tyra’s head whipped around in the direction of the voice. As Siddoh materialized, his cocky grin seemed to lead the way like the Cheshire cat. She’d been so busy ruminating that she hadn’t felt his presence.

“Siddoh, what the hell is going on?” she hissed.

His eyebrows wiggled playfully while he lifted one of the packages to take a look. It was almost like he hadn’t heard her.

Almost.

“Hardly seems fair, though. There you are leaning up against the dildos, and here
I
am standing by a box of anal plugs.”

“Maybe you should put one in your mouth,” she said wryly.

Siddoh scoffed and then gave her an aggravating little pout. It was that same pout that had gotten her into bed so many times. Strangely, it didn’t affect her now. “All right,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s talk strategy.”

A weight lifted that Tyra hadn’t even realized was sitting on her chest. She had made the right decision in breaking it off with him. Siddoh had opened up to her more than to anyone else, but that would never be enough to sustain anything real. She needed the kind of connection that he could never provide. If only it hadn’t taken her a quarter century to figure that out.

“Great,” she said, clearing her throat softly. “I would love to hear why I’m cooling my heels in a room full of sex toys.”

“Well…” His arm gestured around the cramped space. “In case you haven’t guessed it, we’re in the old adult toy store on Eighth Street.”

“We couldn’t have done this in the tattoo parlor next door?”

“Too much activity. This place appears to be closed down, finally. Although they still have inventory.” Siddoh slid his gaze around the tiny room. “I’ll have to remember that for later,” he said with a chuckle.

“
Anyway
,” Tyra said with aggravation.

“Anyway,” he said. “Isabel is being kept upstairs in one of the ‘abandoned’ shithole apartments.” His hands rose into the air to perform a dramatic set of finger quotes. “There appear to be two others held in the room with her. All three are hog tied and apparently sedated. Also at least three wizards, including the fucker that brought her. Some sort of dusty, oblong circle out in the main room suggests that they’ve been using the place for ceremonial purposes, and the toilet doesn’t work.”

What? “You tried to use the bathroom?”

He laughed. “Nah, I shadowed one of them so I could get out of the place undetected. On his way out he stopped to take a piss in the bathtub. It was funny, that’s all.”

Leave it to Siddoh to find humor in a situation like this.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her. “Wait. They’re using an abandoned apartment in the middle of downtown to hold their ceremonies? This can’t be their base of operations, can it?”

“Dunno. I mean, we’ve theorized that they move around, so maybe they keep to disposable locations, as it were. It fits, if you ask me.”

“I guess so,” she said crossing her hands over her chest. “So can we move now?”

“Oh!” Siddoh snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. One of the dudes up in that apartment looks like one of us.”

“What?” Tyra blinked her confusion. “What the hell does that mean?”

“He’s got fangs.”

“Are you serious? How?”

Siddoh did a palms-up shoulder shrug. “Search me. It’s weird, though.”

“Not weird enough for that to be the first thing you tell me?”

He shrugged again. “I got distracted when I saw you cozied up next to all the personal massagers.”

“You’re such a pig,” Tyra sighed.

“Part of my charm, right?”

“No.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Now, why do you say we can’t move yet? Seems to me we ought to get up there and do a smash-and-grab before anyone’s the wiser, yeah?”

He shook his head. “No way. First off, Thad wants a piece of the action. He’s in charge now so that’s nonnegotiable. ’Sides, one or two of those dudes are really strong, Ty. We’re talking those evil vibes and whatnot that make you wanna throw up if you stand too close. I’m not kidding. We don’t know what they’re working with or how many more might be coming. Now I know you and I are good,” he said with another suggestive twinkle in his eye, “but Thad will have my ass if we don’t wait for backup.”

Tyra was back on the wizard with fangs. Had they recruited a vampire somehow? If so, were their homes in danger? Suddenly an alarming thought stopped her cold. “Oh, God. Siddoh, wait! You said they have a ceremonial circle up there. So they’re probably holding Isabel and those others to do surgery on them. Shit, we can’t wait. We have to get up there!”

His strong hand shot out to grab her wrist. “Not so fast, sweetheart. I get what you’re thinking, but we have to hang back. No one was being prepped while I was up there. We have some time.”

Her head shook fervently. “No, no. Bad idea. We can’t risk it.”

“
Good
idea, Tyra,” Siddoh said through clenched teeth. “Do not challenge me on this! This is a dangerous situation. We can’t afford mistakes. We need to wait for backup.”

“Uh-uh,” she said quietly, twisting her wrist out of his grasp. She may be tired, but she was still stronger than Siddoh. And she wasn’t willing to risk the wait. “Screw. That.”

“Tyra,” he said with warning in his voice, “don’t do it.”

“Go ahead and stop me, Siddoh.” His face contorted in a mask of rage as she faded into the background. Yeah, she was gonna hear about this later.

“Tyra, goddammit!” Siddoh’s hand swept to grab where she had been standing, but she was too fast for him. She would bet he was wicked pissed that she’d been able to absorb his power of invisibility now. He sure looked it. Smiling to herself, she teleported to the apartments upstairs.

“Fuck me running!” Thad smacked the door frame in the mansion foyer, where he’d come to grab more gear before heading back out. He rubbed his throbbing temples and thrust his cell phone into the pocket of his jacket.

“’Sup?” Lee had just walked up to the door, looking grim.

“We have to get out of here. Siddoh called, and apparently Tyra’s gone in ahead of us, lone-fucking-cowboy style.”

“Shit,” Lee muttered. “Well, I have more bad news. Eamon didn’t make it.”

“What?” Thad’s jaw fell open. “What happened?”

“Heart stopped again. Abel’s checking it out.”

“Fuck!” As Thad stood hands on hips, his chin dropped to his chest in frustration and defeat. He wanted to go comfort Theresa but they didn’t have time now. They needed to help Tyra and Siddoh before shit got crucial. They needed to get Isabel. The only good news in Thad’s call from Siddoh had been word that Isabel was, indeed, alive. Sedated, but alive.

“Jesus. All right. I’ll go see Theresa as soon as we get back. Send Ivy over to see if she needs anything in the meantime.”

“Already done.” Of course it was. “Gary’s resting up. Rena’s taking care of him. You know how Levon’s doing. I’ve got a vehicle ready to go.”

Thad nodded curtly. “Then let’s get the hell out of here before my sister does something stupid.”

“Thad!” Ivy was jogging toward him. He most definitely could not handle her bright and sunny disposition right now.

“Ivy, not now.”

Her head bobbled. “I’m sorry, I know you’re leaving.” She held up a stack of Post-it notes. “It’s just… I’m getting a lot of calls from folks trying to book appointments to see Isabel. I wasn’t sure what to tell them.”

Isabel? “Ivy, we’re not mated yet.” Damn, he hoped it was still just
not
yet
. “Her presence here wasn’t even announced.”

Ivy nodded and gestured down the hall. “She handled your office hours for you earlier. Cleared the room in no time flat. Everyone seemed to really like her. I guess word travels fast.”

Thad cursed. In all the confusion, he had forgotten that he was supposed to be receiving subjects earlier in the night. Isabel had handled the appointments? It was hard not to be impressed; he’d been dreading that part of taking the throne almost as much as he’d dreaded dealing with the Elders’ Council.

He shook his head. “Sorry, Ivy, but you’re going to have to hold them off for awhile. If you have to, say that she’s ill. I don’t want it to get out that she’s missing. Got it?”

Ivy scurried off, and Lee and Thad headed out into the night. They didn’t speak a word as they sped toward the downtown address Siddoh had provided, both of them lost in thought over the events of the evening and saddened by the loss of Eamon. The lights of downtown were a blur as they passed through the quaintness of Old Town and headed into the seedier side of Ash Falls. Lee pulled up in the alley behind Dick’s Ink tattoo parlor and killed the lights.

Lee looked to the building ahead of him. “This definitely it?”

“Yeah. Contact Team C and have them get down here. Tell them to stay hidden, in case we need backup. Also, call Brayden and have him ready in case anyone else is injured. Tell him to bring backup from the clinic if necessary. I’m going to assume Ty and Siddoh are already inside, so you and I should get up there and clear the room as fast as possible, if they haven’t already done so.” As he unbuckled his seat belt and cracked open the door, he turned toward Lee for a moment. “And Lee… thanks, man. Seriously.”

“You bet. Now…” The older male dashed off a quick text as he jumped from behind the steering wheel. He stopped abruptly beside Thad and stiffened his arms by his sides, focusing his power until a protective shield surrounded both of them. “Try to stay close to me so you don’t get your ass blown up, yeah?”

Thad’s nostrils burned from the odors left by the displaced and degenerate residents that had passed through the building’s dark, dank stairway before them. Old body fluids, drugs, alcohol, and even death assaulted his senses. His jaw clenched. Isabel didn’t belong in a place like this.

Thankfully, there was no current activity in the stairwell. The apartments had been condemned, and likely the only residents were out trolling for sex or drugs, or trading sex for drugs, or involved in God knew what other variation on those themes. The stairs groaned and creaked in protest under the immense weight of both himself and Lee as they moved swiftly but cautiously, weapons drawn.