Shifter Magick (27 page)

The next time she woke, Andrew was sitting in the corner across from her. Her hands were still free from the shackles and the pain across her chest had subsided.
It was late. He brought a lantern so he could see her in the dark cell.

“Thirsty?” He asked her.

Kera nodded, unable to protest being weak at this point. She would have just been lying to herself if she tried.

Andrew brought over a water bottle and poured it slowly into her mouth.

Kera swallowed until her stomach cramped.

“You almost killed yourself trying to shift in these restraints.” He told her. “If the cuffs hadn’t been small enough for your wrists to slip through you would have split your sternum and bled out. I’ve
tightened the collar so if you try to shift now the extra mass around your neck will suffocate you so don’t think you’ve accomplished anything with that stunt.”

“Let me go.” She whispered.

“No.” H
e answered. “I do like you this way better though.” He motioned to her naked body before him.

“I’m cold.” Kera wasn’t above begging if it would get her clothes or a blanket. “Why are you doing this?”

“Tell me how you shocked me with your skin.” He demanded. Andrew stood up and began to pace the small space. “You were defenseless just like you are now but your shocked me and read my mind. You have powers like Luke don’t you?”

“No.” Kera whispered. “I don’t know what happened.”

Andrew kicked her in the stomach. His boot made
an impression on her skin.

T
he dirt scrapped against her body as she slid against the floor.

“I didn’t want to do that.” He said quickly.

Kera gasped her breath. “I’ll go home.” She begged. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Andrew growled. “Liar.” He kicked her again. “You would go right to Madd
ox and have him kill me. I will
never let you go.”

“No, please.” She whispered.

He reached down a
nd squeezed her neck. “Do it.” H
e taunted her. “Shock me like you did before.” He waited
and then laughed.

Kera wished she knew how she did it the first time.

A knock sounded at the door and Andrew froze.

They both sniffed the air at the same time.

“Andrew?” Nick said from the other side.

Andrew stood up slowly.
“How did you find this place?” H
e called out.

“Followed you.” Nick said. “I want to help. You can’t do this by yourself now that Markus and his brothers are plotting to take her from you.”

Andrew opened the door and let Nick in. “
F
igured.” He said.

Kera watched Nick assess the situation. He looked at Kera and blanched.

“It’s not like when you were here.” Andrew told him. “I don’t use the tools.”

Nick laughed without humor. “What are you trying to accomplish by raping her? She looks like she hasn’t eaten in days. For a shifter you know that is a torture all itself.”

“I haven’t raped her.” Andrew scoffed. “You know I don’t do that type of thing. She just needs to be broken like you were so we can move forward.”

“Watching what he did to me really fucked you up didn’t it.” Nick asked.

Andrew sneered. “He tried to make you into the man I already was.”
H
e turned and looked at Kera. “You aren’t here to help me are you? You want to try and save her from this fate.”

Nick smiled sadly. “No, I’m here to restore Jason to power and Maddox to his rightful place as heir. You may have the upper hand on me, but you have nothing on him.”

“You’re betraying your father.” Andrew whispered harshly.

“I’m saving her and keeping the world from unspeakable evil. You and my father are heartless bastards who deserve to keep each other’s company in hell.”

“NO,” Kera yelled as someone came up behind Nick and hit him upside the head. Nick fell to his knees.

“I
t’ll be easy to do the same to Maddox.” Markus said. “I’m sorry about what happened yesterday Andy. I had a little too much grey goose.”

“This is how you build yourself in my good graces.” Andrew shook Markus’s hand. “Now get him out of here and let’s secure this place until we find out how bad he compromised us.”

“Yeah.” Markus looked over at Kera and smiled. “Wouldn’t want anyone finding you.” Nick groaned when Markus struck him again to make sure he was out. He dragged him out the door.

Kera felt lightheaded. The excitement caused her blood to pump through her veins at an increased pace. She knew she was malnourished
and possibly weak from blood loss. If she wasn’t found soon she would die from this. Now that she knew Maddox was alive she didn’t want to die.

She moved her arms, clinched and unclenched her fists to make sure everything worked. She was weak but she wasn’t broken. “He’ll find me here.” Kera told Andrew. “He’ll follow your scent one day and find where you have been keeping me.”

Andrew laughed. “No.” he shook his head. “He couldn’t find Nick when we were
younger. T
here is no way he will find you.”

All she needed was for him to unhook her collar. She would find the strength to run. “Nick said he was here for a reason. Maddox will follow his scent.”

Andrew went white as her words sunk in.

Kera nodded. “Unhook me.” She told him.

He laughed bitterly. “Nick just got you killed.” He shook his head. “Damn him.”

“No.” Kera whispered as he knelt before her. “Let me go.”

Andrew fit his hands below her collar and applied pressure. Kera grabbed his arms and began to pull, trying to pry his arms off of her. His strength outmatched her.

Fang came forth and tried to get free. As she shifted the collar pressed into her neck and stopped any air from reaching her lungs.

Andrew was the last thing she saw before her vision blurred and her heart stopped.

Maddox stood in the woods, his nose was in the air as he continued to try and pinpoint the different scents that were filtering trough trees. In his ear was a CIA style ear piece that he was using to communicate with his team.

“Nick just turned off his com.” Daniel said.

“Damn it.” Maddox cursed. “Pull up his location and direct me to it.”

“North one hundred yards and moving east fast. I think he knows where he’s going.” Daniel chimed in.

Maddox began to run. 

“Jason just found Rayland. He needs my help”

“No Daniel. I need you to keep eyes on Nick.” His heart began to pound in his chest, wolf wanting to get free and take over the run.

“He’s fifty feet north and over one hundred yards east. He’s stopped now Maddox. You’re on your own.” Daniel severed the connection.

Maddox cursed and turned east. The hill was much steeper.
It would be easier to shift but he could afford to lose the equipment in his jacket. They had all agreed not to use the phones before ten o’clock. It was nine thirty now.
Otherwise
they could compromise
each other’s stealth. Maddox cursed at their lack of training. The meeting had gone on for three hours of arguing about how this infiltration
would ensue. No one had any training in war. Never had they needed it. The wolves were always at the top of the food chain and they were family. What did they need war for?

Everything was political. They learned how to get jobs that would put them in a position to keep secrecy and to have power and connections in case anyone found out about them.

Maddox slowed to a stop when he smelt Markus’s trail. He hadn’t expected to smell the wolf this far away from where Nick said he spotted Rayland last. He closed his eyes and listened. He couldn’t hear anything with the way the mountain was sloped. Everything was uphill and the sounds were flowing from the valley and stream below.

Markus’s trail faded and picked back up many times before Maddox picked up Nick’s scent along with it. He abandoned the older trail and ran full speed to the fresh scent. His heart raced in panic when he smelled fresh blood.

He passed a large bolder and found Markus leaning over Nick.

“What have you done?” Maddox roared.

Markus turned to him with wide eyes. “No.” He dropped a large rock and raised his hands. “I found him like this.”

The lie was plain as the night he stood in
. Maddox looked down and saw blood flowing from Nick’s head. Maddox shifted in that instant. His wolf came out full force and went for Markus’s neck. He didn’t waste any time to torment him. The kill was quick.

His jaw released
his
distant cousin’s dead body and shifted to direct his attention back to Nick.

His heart was still beating. The blow to the head would have killed a human.

“
Good thing
you have a hard head.” He murmured
as he checked Nick’s vital signs
.
He picked up his clothes and quickly dressed, making sure he hadn’t lost the cell phone. There was no finding the ear bud that he lost during shift.

A gust of wind chilled his skin and brought a smell from below that caused his heart to stop.

He smelled death and decay and subtle hints of Kera’s natural scent mixed in. Maddox struggled to remain standing as his knees weakened.

He absently followed the smell until he came to a structure that looked like it could have been a crypt. The heavy door was ajar and Andrew’s scent was slowly fading making him think he just missed him.

Maddox pushed the door open
.

He
fell to his knees
.

It took him a few minutes to realize he was screaming in rage. Then a few moments after that he pried his eyes open
. I
f she had to endure it, he should have to see it.

He failed her.

Kera lay before him on the floor. Her
naked
body lay gaunt and caked with dirt and dry blood. There
were remnants
of an old meal being feasted on by scavenger bugs. He blinked back tears
as he crawled over to her. Her neck was blue with harsh bruises under a thick metal collar that was bolted to the floor.

He reached out and broke the lock with his hand and felt the warmth from her skin on the metal.

His scream this time was utter agony.

He’d just missed her last breath. He had been only feet away, wandering aimlessly through the woods searching for Markus when all along he should have been trying harder to look for her. He would have never guessed they would be on this side of the mountain. If he hadn’t cut himself off from Nick and Andrew
all those years ago,
he could have stopped Andrew way before this moment.

Maddox took of his long jacket and laid it over her. His hands clinched into fists. She deserved better than this. He pulled off his shirt and hovered over her small form afraid to touch her.

Afraid that her skin would feel lifeless and cold.

He was afraid that this was real when it shouldn’t be.

In the distance, he heard footsteps.

“You didn’t deserve this.” H
e whispered to her. Then
,
taking great care, he pulled his shirt over her head and down her small shoulders. He bit back rage when he had to lower his coat to cover her breasts and bruis
ed stomach with the thin cotton. He lowered her head gently on the ground and reached in the arm holes to pull her delicate wrists through. Her skin was cooling and lifeless. It felt void of the energy he had come to expect when he touched her.

That broke him.

Inside he couldn’t take the pain. The animal
and the man
began to plan his vengeance. They would pay for this. Everyone who kept him from finding her. Everyone that allowed such a person to run about killing and torturing people.

Andrew would pay.

Maddox would make sure of that.

He pulled the other arm through and lifted her against his chest so he could pull the jacket over her in time for everyone to arrive.

“Maddox,” H
is father came up behind him slowly and put a hand on his bare shoulder. “Let me take it from here.”

Maddox pulled Kera into his arms and rested his forehead on hers. His chest began to shake with uncontrollable emotions. “I love you.” He told her. His throat closed up making it impossible to continue. He pressed his cheek against hers and pulled he
r closer to him so she was cradled in his arms.

She felt so small and light. Her life had seemed so large
.
Maddox felt her legs against his side. He absently rubbed them as if he could warm her with his body heat alone.

She shouldn’t feel cold.