lightning witch 02 - lightning legacy (10 page)

The near nothingness began to change into a more city-like landscape. I happened upon a pawn shop and I got a little over two thousand dollars for the coin. I did have a thought that I should have kept the coin, but the usefulness had been spent as the spokes on the wheel were gone and the wolf's head had also disappeared for good. It was nearly two ounces of gold and with gold prices high, it was a good deal. They did, however, think I was out of my mind for only having shorts on. I told them I was getting ready for a polar bear dip. Their looks remained horrified. I went to a Walmart and bought clothes and a prepaid phone.

Now, what? I honestly had no idea. It wasn't that I had no idea where she was. I mean not really. Mitch would have kept her in his place in Atlanta. For some reason my inner beast bristled at the thought that she was there. The idea felt wrong. Almost as though I was missing something. Then a crazy idea popped into my head. I could always call Mitch. Okay, the idea was insane, but I could gauge him, see if there was anything I could pick up from the conversation. It was completely unexpected, that’s for sure. I knew Mitch well enough to know that it was possible to goad him into saying things he wouldn’t normally. I picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hello? Mitch Saldana’s phone.” The voice was low and smooth.

Who the hell had Mitch’s personal cell phone?

“Who is this?” I said in a perplexed tone. Then I heard a groan of pain.

“This is Mark, and you are?” He was clearly annoyed.

"This is Reid. You have my mate." I was snarling, but I couldn't help it. I could just picture Mark's craggy face as I was fighting his alpha.

“Oh, for the gods' sake. Did Delaney get to you already?” His tone went from annoyed to rushed and quiet. He sounded as though he was whispering into the phone. I was taken aback. Then the full force of his words hit me like a train impact.

"Get to me? I only just got out last night. Where the hell is she?" And why would you tell me, I wanted to add, but I didn't want to dissuade him from giving me any information. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might beat its way through my chest.

“I should have known there was an issue when the guards didn’t make their last check-in call,” he said in a distracted tone.

"Dammit, Mark, where is she?" I was nearly yelling into the phone, but I didn't care. I glanced around the nearly abandoned park, and there was no one in sight, nor could I scent anyone. This whole conversation wasn't going like I thought it would.

"She got out last night. Listen, I don't have much time. Mitch will be up in a few hours. He hurt her and I wasn't okay with it. I helped her get out. I don't know where she went." I put my hand on the back of the bench and clenched the rough wood. I closed my eyes. Out of that whole statement the words, "He hurt her" hit me like a physical punch to the gut. My vision went red, and my hearing went completely out. He had hurt her, and I wasn't there to protect her. I was only a moment from turning and losing myself to the rage. My muscles distended and I could feel myself slipping both physically and mentally. There was this annoying buzzing noise that I needed to remember. I kept hearing it and trying to remember why it was important.

“Reid, did you hear me?” Mark’s voice seemed to bounce me back.

"What?" I snarled, trying to focus on his tone. My own words were garbled.

“Look, there is a ton of the pack here. I can’t talk long. I didn't know where you were so I didn’t know where to tell Delaney to go. But I gave her bleach to help with the trail. We can’t move until Mitch wakes. I slipped him a silver mix to slow his healing and help her get further.” His words were coming faster now and growing more panicked.

“Why did you help her?” I questioned. Did he have an underlying motive?

"Because she was kind to me when she had no reason to be, and she took the pain that was meant for me." His voice was pained.

“Mark, thank you. Where do I go? Did she tell you anything?” Now my tone matched his panicked one.

“No. All I can say is she’s not in Atlanta. I can’t talk though. Mitch will be conscious in a number of hours. I did what I could to help her." I was about to thank him, but I heard the telltale click of an ended call.

I dropped my head and raised my hand to rub the nape of my neck. My head was spinning from all of the information. Had Mark helped Delaney? Why? Had he lied? His words sounded true, but after having been fooled by Mitch in the past, I had little trust left for anyone. I’d no idea where she would go. My heart leaped. She had gotten herself to safety. My chest swelled with pride at the knowledge that my female was strong. Like another blow, Mark’s words reverberated through my mind. He had hurt her. Hurt her so much that Mark feared for her and felt the need to step in. The rage in me swelled and nearly spilled over. I would kill him. But, when I did, I would do it so it would be slow and oh so painful. The beast stirred.

Shit, my thoughts were everywhere. I needed to focus on Delaney and how to know where she was. She had no family. Not anymore. I heard a strange squeaking tweeting noise. I peered around and my eyes settled on a pair of strangely marked birds. They were a deep blue, nearing on black with white markings on their wings. They were small birds. Unlike a chickadee or sparrow, these birds had this half-squawk, half-tweet thing going on. The birds were making enough noise that they could set off a car alarm. The pair sat perched about twenty feet away, behind the bench I was sitting on. I couldn’t concentrate with these crazy birds fighting over a scrap of bagel. And yet, the infuriating birds grew louder. Did they have a death wish? I got up and stormed over to the pair. As soon as I neared, they flew off, leaving behind their query. Just before I walked off to contemplate where Delaney could have gone, the item the birds were fighting over caught my eye. It wasn’t food at all. It was, in fact, a scrap of paper. I bent down to pick it up and scanned the paper. It looked to be a scrap of a travel magazine or National Geographic. On one side there was part of what looked like an article about Ancient Greece or maybe Rome. I scanned the paper further. I flipped the scrap and saw a picture of a coastline. There were no markers to identify where this coast was. I flipped back to the article. I tried to read the small section I could see..

“This section of land once thought to be … Though both works suggest that the ancient city lay on the coast … Most historians agree that the Great War could have been in the twelfth, thirteenth, or fourteenth centuries BCE.”

The paper was torn and cut off on the edges making the information sparse and broken.

"Though some historians and archaeologists agree that the site of the great city and the war itself are merely a legend, there is evidence … Trojan."

I shook my head at the paper and balled it up. I almost felt silly for getting so distracted by two birds and a scrap of a magazine. I tried to focus again on the problem at hand. Where would she go? No family, no friends. She wouldn't go to her apartment. That sucker was long gone. She would never go back to Mil's. Would she even go back to Savannah? I let out a long breath. I had no idea, and it was infuriating!

Just as I went to toss the ball of paper in my hand, I paused. I opened it again and smoothed the wrinkles out on my knee. The article spoke of a city and a war. Trojan. It was clearly the city of Troy. My eyes widened. I folded the paper and shoved it in my pocket. I nearly leaped off the bench.

I tilted my face to the sky and said, “Tricky god.”

Before heading south, I picked up the phone and dialed one more number. I prayed I remembered it correctly.

“Hello?” I nearly sighed at the slightly Creole voice.

“Oh, thank God. Monique? It’s Reid.”

"Oh, my gracious. Reid, I just spoke with Delaney. Michael, I mean Mitch, has her." Her tone neared distraught.

“She got away. But, listen. Are you up for a trip? I think we are going to need your help.”

She let out a deep breath. "This will be a betrayal to the Coven."

“Monique, please.” I was not above begging her.

"I didn't say no. The inner circle has lost their minds. Bernard has become increasingly mad. They have been forcibly breeding the witches on the reservation for the past three years. And …" Her voice cracked with emotion. "... Gods, things here are bad. They are gearing up for something, and they have to be stopped. Agree to help me with the Coven, and I’ll come to help you."

I groaned at the thought of yet more to do, but if we were going to protect Delaney and stop Mitch, we needed all the help we could get.

“Agreed. Listen, I have a pretty good idea where she's headed, and I want you to get there as fast as possible." I gave her the address, hoping I recalled it correctly. I needed to trust my instincts on this, and they were screaming that this was where Delaney would be going.

"I’m officially renouncing any connection with the Coven. I’ll help stop Mitch and, Reid …" Her tone turned serious, and it held a biting edge to it as she spoke her last words, "... I’ll kill him."

"Yeah, well, get in line," I quipped.

We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone and shoved it into my pocket. My ID card was long gone, so a plane ticket was out of the question. I would run there if I had to. I knew what I had to do. No matter how I got there, I had to get to her. My resolve steeled. I would get to her. I began walking south. With every step, I was one step closer to her. Closer to having my heart back.

PAIN RADIATED THROUGH
my whole body. I was a fucking alpha and should be healing after what that little cunt did to me. Yet, there I was, conscious, but my body wouldn’t allow me to wake. I could feel my nerves firing and my muscles contracting and relaxing as I was healing from the inside out. It struck me as odd as fuck that the process was taking this long. I was close to being able to talk. I could feel my skin beginning to heal now. Hours I lay there. Hours after that bitch did this to me. I tried to move a hand to my balls, which were still aching, both from being so turned on and from her knee connecting with them. My hand twitched. That small motion meant that I would be up and moving very soon.

My healing seemed to be slowed. But how? I tried to trudge through my fogged memories to what could have caused this. I had this niggling thought that I was trying desperately to ignore. It wouldn’t go away though. Then I pushed the thought to the fore. It had to be one of my own helping the witch. Who longed for death as much as to have done this?

“Alpha, would you join me for coffee?” Mark’s words played over again in my head. While at the time I saw nothing in them, now, as I played the conversation back, his actions did seem odd. He was nervous. The muscle near his right eye ticked. No, not Mark. I again tried to push the memory aside. He would never betray me. Now I was able to move my fingers at will.

Again my thoughts slid to Mark. After I called him to take a passed-out and beaten Delaney to her room, the look on his face, what was it? He was horrified. At the time, I thought he was afraid that I would do the same to him. Maybe it wasn’t fear. Had he let her out and she was protecting him? No. Why would she? Again, I dismissed the memories. I could now lift both hands from the bed. My skin felt tight over my chest as it healed. To say the process was painful would be a vast understatement.

Mark found me at some point, but I had no recollection of time. I was unconscious for quite a while. I was boiling with rage and as soon as I could get up from this fucking bed, I would lay waste to anyone and everyone that little bitch cared for. Reid was as good as dead. That thought alone helped speed up the healing. My eyes were open. I could move my head back and forth and even move my feet around. To pass the time, I thought of my goal. I told everyone this whole thing was about taking over the supernatural world and then the world of the humans. Really it was far more simple. It was about amassing power. My goal was about being the most powerful being and then slowly killing off anyone who stood in my way. And if that fucking meant killing a god, I would do it. I did want to rule the world, but not for the werewolves. I wanted to be the one with the power. I knew I couldn’t do this without Delaney. I thought I could possess her by threatening her, beating her or even seducing her. Now, it has become painfully clear that she would never bend to me. Now there was only one thing I could do.

I would need to kill Reid and then use her to take out the Coven. But as soon as I did that, I would have to kill her. And if it came down to it, I would kill her before taking out the Coven. While the prophecy stated that she would bring them down, I still had an ace up my sleeve. Something I’d told no one. I lifted my head off the bed and struggled to sit. After six attempts, I sat up fully. I was nearly healed. I reached for my cell phone to call the pack, but I could feel they were mostly already here. There were noises bellowing from below. Good, at least someone was doing their fucking job. I was so often the only one who did anything around here, it was refreshing that someone else did something right.