Stalked (Rogues Shifter #2) (24 page)

“Tell us where they are, Bridgett.” Looking terrified she nodded and gave us directions to a building in the woods only about 10 miles from our current location.

I turned to Liam, “I’m calling Garrett. Bridgett, you’re coming with us.” Garrett picked up instantly and I gave him the shortened version. He said he’d pick us up in five minutes, so during that time I grabbed a piece of bread and some cheese and handed it to Bridgett while I ate a piece of fruit. I sat on the ground next to her as we shared the water bottle.

She was trembling uncontrollably
. “Is he going to kill me and my dad
?” I glanced at Liam who was zoned out and mentally communicating with someone in Faerie. I shivered when his cold eyes focused once more on Bridgett.

I had to be honest.
“I can’t help your dad if he tortured these people.”
Her terrified expression made me wince. After the death of her mom, no one in Bridgett’s life had ever guided her in the right direction. Her father and his pack had used her, forced her to help them.
“I’ll do whatever I can to protect you.”

Garrett arrived and we got into the Saab, me in the front and Liam next to Bridgett in the back seat. His blade was drawn
, stretched across his lap. Bridgett couldn’t stop staring at it. I felt grateful to be traveling by car as one trip through the lines was enough for one day. Liam could have taken Bridgett on ahead, but I'd insisted that we travel together, feeling it was safer—especially for Bridgett.

As we drove toward the location that she’d desc
ribed, Garrett took my hand. I managed a small smile in his direction. I knew that he understood the rock-and-a-hard-place situation I was in. He sent,
“I’ll try to convince him not to kill her. But just try to imagine what
you
would feel if it was Ethan or Sinc held prisoner and tortured with silver chains for months.”

“That’s the problem, I understand completely. But I’m torn apart over Bridgett.”

Chapter Nineteen

After traveling on a narrow dirt road for a few minutes we caught sight of a brick building very similar to the one in my dream. Garrett hastily parked where the car would be partly concealed under a copse of leafy trees. When we’d all gathered together at the tree line, Liam turned to me and handed me a knife which had been strapped inside his boot. “Keep her here by the car. Keep her quiet.” He was his warrior self, having left behind the compassion of the healer in order to deal with his enemies. I’d done the same when I’d battled Antoine.

Liam was my friend, my teacher, and our fae ally.
However, there was a very good chance that he might decide to kill my
sister.

“Three weres will be down there guarding them.” Bridgett’s eyes were pleading for mercy as she offered Liam this small piece of information. Liam only nodded and turned to Garrett, motioning for them to move toward the building. They reached the metal door, opening it and going
silently down the stairs. I watched the door shut behind them.

“Jackie, let me
go, he’s going to kill me.” Her hands had been tied together with a strand of rope that Garrett had in the trunk. It could have been silver chain, which would have made her writhe in pain the way the fae prisoners did. "Cut the rope so I can get away." She tugged at my arm.

I watched her struggle with her bindings as my
heartbeat sped up. This was it. This was where I had to decide to support Liam, who might kill my sister, or Bridgett, who was involved in the torture and imprisonment of six fae allies. My shoulders sagged as I shook my head. I just couldn’t let her go free. Frustrated because I had to make this impossible choice, I reacted in anger. “Be quiet, Bridgett, or I’ll knock you unconscious.”
Garrett’s
life was at stake too. Plus the alliance with the fae couldn’t be broken.

I
caught the sound of another car driving up the road. I ducked both of us behind the Saab, knowing that the car would be visible if they looked up the hill. Unfortunately we had no other option.

I heard four car doors opening and shutting. I
held the blade against Bridgett's back to keep her quiet and peeked around the rear of Garrett’s Saab. Kent Brownlow and four other wolves including the young wolf from the club, Jason Garner, stood by his SUV. Kent sniffed the air and turned toward our hiding place, noticing the car and frowning. He signaled to Jason and another to circle around behind us and then walked straight toward us with the other two wolves flanking him.

There was no way to hide now
, so I sent to Garrett, “
Brownlow is here with four others. Stay below.”
I stood up and held the knife to Bridgett’s neck, keeping a firm grip on her shoulder and nudging her forward so he could have a good view. Holding Bridgett as a hostage might be the only way I’d survive this encounter. I was strong magically, but there were five of them, not counting the three downstairs. Of course, Kent didn’t need to know that I had no intension of hurting her. I kept my shield up and took in a large amount of ley line energy.

“We’re going to free the fae you have imprisoned here.”

“You look like you’re here alone, Melanie. Or should I call you Jackie?”

I didn’t want to tell him that Garrett and Liam were already busy downstairs. “If you know who I am then you know what I can do, Kent.”

“Dad, they’re going to kill us.” Bridgett was shaking so hard, I was afraid I'd cut her by accident.

I saw his features soften when she spoke so I tapped into the lines and read some of his thoughts. He knew I wasn’t alone and that he was probably a dead man. His main concern was how to save her life and I watched a plan form in his mind.

“Shut up.” He snapped at her. She stiffened and trembled even more. He took another threatening step forward and then his expression morphed to shock as he looked to my right. I smelled the scent of wolf blood and turned to see Jason Garner standing silently beside me. I’d never heard him come up behind me, which was unusual with my enhanced senses. He carried a bloody knife that glowed with power and was dripping with the blood of the other wolf he’d accompanied to circle behind us. He didn’t attack me. Instead, he seemed to be protecting us as he took a fighter’s stance and stared at Kent.

Only one thing would make s
ense. “Are you Brina?” I asked.

In response, his body shimmered and shifted into that of a lovely fae woman, dressed in fighting garb: breeches, boots and a loose top
tied at the waist.  Her platinum blonde hair floated in the air like Liam’s and her light amethyst eyes swirled with a golden power. Her face was grim as she took a step toward Kent, hatred as deep as Liam’s burning in her eyes.

Suddenly a peal of laughter echoed from the trees behind us. “Senora, you pop up in the most extraordinary place
s.” Angel walked gracefully to stand on my left, apparently ready to join in our defense. He must have suspected Jason’s true identity and followed the weres when he saw Brina leave with them. I was very glad to see him and gave him a quick grin.

“You have no idea
.”

Brina
glanced at the brick building. “Liam and Garrett are freeing them.” She nodded at me and then glared a challenge at Kent. He and his two remaining weres growled at us, their lips curling back in a snarl. I pulled up more power from the lines and could feel Angel doing the same as he traced a pattern with his left hand.

Bridgett’s knees were buckling and she was becoming a dead weight in my arms. I needed to get her out of the way before the fight started so I pushed her behind us, freeing up my hands. She landed hard on the ground and stayed there, trembling, too weak to shift again or even crawl away.

The door of the building sprang open and Liam led out six fae, shaky and ragged but still alive. They sat on the ground by the building, too weak to walk any farther, but now that they were unchained and away from the iron, they could access their unique magic and heal themselves. Garrett came up the stairs last and using his vamp speed, was instantly at my side, hissing and baring his fangs at Kent. Liam and Garrett were both covered with blood, but looked uninjured. The three wolves in the corridor below were probably not as lucky.

“Bridgett, did you rat us out?” asked
one of the weres next to Kent.

“They made me tell them. He was going to kill me.” Still tre
mbling in the dirt she nodded at Liam.

“You should
have let him,” snarled her packmate. She looked to her father to defend her, but he turned his head aside, so she curled up on the ground and whimpered. I listened in again to his thoughts and knew immediately what I had to do to save Bridgett. Kent had decided on a plan and I would help him carry it out, because we both wanted her to live. He hadn’t changed to wolf form because he wanted to die as a man, even though he’d be stronger as a wolf. Looking at Liam and Brina, there was no doubt that this would be his last battle.

I forced a message into Kent’s mind.
“Make the fae believe you and I’ll make sure she lives and is cared for.”
He whipped his head around and met my gaze. I backed up slowly and pulled her to the left forcing a message into her mind. “
Run to your father when I tell you to
,” I sliced open the ropes binding her hands.

Liam
's body flowed like mercury as he moved to stand between my group and Kent’s, his magical blade drawn and his eyes sparkling with flickering golden flames. “You imprisoned and tortured my people for money." He spit on the ground at Kent's feet, drawing growls from the two other wolves."The adult males in your pack will die because of your actions. My people are alive, barely, so we will not harm their families.

"
Kent Brownlow, I am Liam, Seelie fae of Cascade, son of Lord Caelen. I will kill you slowly in accordance with our laws. I promise you that Bridgett will die quickly and mercifully.” The words were formal, delivered with a steady voice, but Liam's obvious rage was evidence of his human half. The ground began to shimmer with magical energy. Liam had pulled in enough magic to make my eyes water. Holy shit.

Kent’s eyes locked on mine
,
pleading with me to live up to my promise.
“Run now
.” I shoved Bridgett in his direction. She ran to her father, sobbing. He folded her in his arms and closed his eyes, holding her tightly for a tiny moment, almost too short to see. His expression changed suddenly to a snarling rage and he yanked her away, twisting her body to make her look him in the eye.

“You useless piece of shit, I guess those beatings didn’t knock any sense into you. I told you I’d kill you
if you didn’t keep your mouth shut, and now we’re all going to die because of you.”

I watched anger flare in her eyes. "Did mom die because you were driving drunk? Is it true? Liam said that's what happened."

"So you're calling the dirty fae by his name, now? Yeah, that's what happened. You should have died with her."

He hauled his hand back and slapped her so hard that she went flying across the clearing, landing on the hard ground a
nd laying there without moving. There was a tear glistening in the corner of Kent's eye.

The sound of howling cut through the woods as eight wolves raced out of the trees surrounding us. Garrett turned to face the two directly behind him: his rage palpable in the magic he’d pulled up. Angel sent a bolt of fire out to meet a third and Brina’s blade made incred
ibly fast work of another two. I left Liam to deal with Kent and his two bodyguards as I turned to face the remaining three racing toward me. I moved with vampire speed as I slashed with the blade Liam had given me, to bring down the first two. The third managed to get behind me and bite my leg, forcing me down. He let go of my calf when I hit the ground and then leaped toward my neck, probably intending to rip out my throat. Instead, he suddenly stilled and collapsed on the ground next to me, no longer breathing.

I pushed myself into a sitting position
. Angel was standing over me, extending his hand. He was grinning and looked as neat and clean as if he’d just stepped out of his house for a day on the town. I was in my usual state of disarray, covered in blood and dirt, my hair splayed out around my face in a matted fright wig.

I
took his offered hand and stood, trying my best to brush myself off as I looked down at the chaos below. All the weres were dead except for Kent. Liam had him on the ground, shirtless, with the tip of his blade burning deep bloody patterns on his arms and chest. Liam was speaking in another language as Kent moaned and screamed, obviously in excruciating pain from whatever mental and physical games Liam was playing. I remembered what Kennet had done to Ethan’s mind and what Garrett had said the fae were capable of, even Liam. I shuddered and turned away to find Bridgett.

She
was shaking her head and trying to sit up, so I raced over to her and crouched down to block her view of her father’s torture. Kent’s anguished screams were impossible to ignore so she looked in that direction, terrified for her father.

“Dad!”  She tried to get up but I held
her down. “Let go of me.” She struck out at me, smacking me across the face and splitting my lip. “I need to go to him.”