Sword of Inquest (La Patron's Sword Book 1) (9 page)

Chapter 16

Asia lay in the bed, listening, watching and wondering. Once Hawke stepped into the room, all thought of the chip in
his mind died beneath the sizzle of the mating call. She owed Tyrese and Danielle an apology. During their last mission the newly mated pair slowed everybody down because they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. At the time, she didn’t fully understand how overwhelming the mating dance could be.

Her
skin tightened and ached for his touch. The heat and deep low throb in her core became unbearable. It’s a miracle they were able to travel as far as they had without throwing each other to the ground and fucking like minks. With a soft smile she glanced at him asleep next to her. She traced one of the many scars on his arm and chest. Whatever surgeries they’d put him through shouldn’t have left this many scars unless they were recent. Asia had noticed scars and bruising on the test wolves as well.

“What did
they do to you?” she whispered glad he was asleep and re-scanned the area. Greggor hadn’t regrouped yet, but he would and there’d be hybrids after them, if not already. She frowned. Why the delay? They could find Hawke… she listened for the tick of the computer chip.

Asia’s
heart beat so loud she swallowed and listened harder. Nothing. No ticks and she would know that sound the rest of her life. Was it possible the chip no longer worked? What happened? She’d never been able to stop the chip that had been lodged in her brain until she’d been buried alive, died and rebooted with a clean slate. How had Hawke managed to stop the chip?

She
closed her eyes and sought their link. A surge of warmth greeted her. Even asleep he welcomed her presence. She was swept away on a tide of colorful ribbons that wrapped around her waist holding her close as moments of his life unfolded. If she could stay in that position always she would. It would be nice to know a little more about him, she thought. The second the idea crystallized snapshots flew before her eyes.

“Whoa, slow
down. I can’t see anything,” she said more to herself than the pictures. But they slowed, almost to a crawl, and she remained still as her mate’s life passed before her eyes. The slide show went in reverse from present to his past. There was no sound, and some things, like books, files or reports he read, she couldn’t make out. Asia recognized the cold eyes of Lord Boris Lancaster, the sarcastic twist to his lips, and evil sneer. One snapshot showed him patting Hawke on the shoulder as a comrade, another talking down to Hawke who kneeled in front of him, another he raised and cane and then a whip and beat Hawke without mercy.

Horrified by the brutality a young Hawke suffered,
she understood why he was priceless to the Liege. It took years for Lancaster to break Hawke’s wolf, and banish his spirit. The men had burned, starved and beaten a young Hawke to the point he should have died. That he still lived; the answer to how he survived was a secret somewhere that she’d love to know. When it came to the end, the picture shuddered and repeated itself again and again as if bumping against a wall, preventing the slide show from going forward.  Had the Liege locked Hawke’s memories as they’d done her?

“
I’d like to see what’s hidden.” The picture slowed and the next frame came into view. A younger Hawke in Lancaster’s castle. Hawke being handed to Lancaster. Shock raced up her spine. “What?” Handed to Lord Boris? What the hell? The pictures continued but her mind remained on that one snapshot.

Hawke as a pup running behind a much larger black wolf. Hawke in human form with a dark haired male and other men nearby.

Her breath caught. Gunnolf. The images she’d seen of Gunnolf matched the image of one of the men sitting in a large room with Hawke and possibly his Alpha. The vision struck so hard she tumbled from the link gasping for air. Images continued to swirl in her mind. Someone gave Hawke to Lord Boris, someone in his former pack. No wonder someone wanted those memories blocked.

Did Hawke know? How much of
his memory was he able to access? She ran a fingertip across his brow. Both of them were victims of the Liege but for some reason Hawke was sacrificed. Damn, it was inconceivable that someone would give away a pup to humans for experiments.

Hawke stirred. Indecision lodged in
her chest. Should she tell him what she saw? What did he know about Gunnolf? Certain what she saw were highlights or important markers in his life, there were hours, days, months and years of living she hadn’t seen.  Did he have memories of Gunnolf? Had she met him as a child and not remembered? So many questions.

First
they had to deactivate the kill chips in the test wolves, and then they could sort out the rest of this stuff. Asia slid from the bed and went to use the restroom. Her mind refused to release the images she’d seen through the link. What to do? Time refused to slow down so she could filter all the information. They needed to pick up the car and make it to Chacal’s. Lord Boris would never allow Hawke to just leave. And if they knew she was in the country, her life would be in jeopardy as well.

She
morphed into the male she’d been last night when she rented the room and then woke up Hawke.

He
opened his eyes. The familiar tick restarted, and she waited to see what he’d do. And then the ticking stopped. He blinked and stretched.

“
You let me sleep.” He stood, brushed a kiss against her lips and headed to the bathroom.

“Yes,
you were snoring.” Asia teased while waiting for him to finish.

“
I do not snore. I’ve watched too many vids of myself sleeping.” Hawke stepped into the room and pulled his shirt over his chest. She itched to touch him. It took everything within her to walk to the door.

She
spoke over her shoulder without looking at him. “I didn’t scent anyone, I’ll go down first, and head out. Give me a ten minute start and then follow.”

“
Are you sure you want to go first? The chip’s in my head, and if we’re followed, I can lead them in the opposite direction
.”

Asia
turned to look at him. “
And if they go in the opposite direction from our transportation what am I supposed to do? Go to the car? Go the Chacal without you?”

Hawke didn’t respond.

“
Hawke
, w
e do this together, it doesn’t work with you heading in a different direction.”

“
Okay. Ten minutes
.”

She
left the room, headed down the stairs. No one was in the lobby and she was glad. Once outside she walked at a brisk pace in the direction of the vehicle. When she cleared the village, she cut through the trees and ran at a comfortable pace.

Hawke caught up with
her. They ran in silence and stopped at the next crossroad. “It should be straight ahead.”

He
nodded, and she hoped he wasn’t sulking from this morning. Asia took off, and he came up behind. When the truck came into view, she scanned the area.

“That’s
it,” she said as they slowed and approached the Jeep.

He
headed for the driver’s side. She exhaled at his presumption but didn’t argue since he was a native. Hawke started the car and pulled onto the road. She scanned him for his chip and it ticked again.

“
Your chip goes on and off, did you know that
?” she asked through their link.

To
his credit he didn’t run off the road even though she sensed his surprise. “No. I did not. How do you know?”

“
I can hear it.”

He
glanced at her and then back at the road. “You can hear it?”

“Yes,
it ticks. While you slept there was no sound. The sound restarted when you woke, but went off again before you went into the bathroom. Something is short circuiting it.”

He
didn’t say anything for a while. “The disruption must be our mating. That’s the only thing different. When I’m with you, I’m stronger. My beast is stronger; we have taken my body back.”

Asia
didn’t say anything. He could be right. The next time she talked to Mistress she’d ask. In the meantime she scanned the country side, and tried to keep her mind clear of what she’d learned this morning.

“Do
we turn right or left?”

Asia glanced at the instructions
she’d written from memory, and then at the map she had purchased last night when she checked into the hotel. “Left.” She pointed in that direction.

He
turned, and the ride continued in silence, each of them locked in their own thoughts.

“How did
you learn to drive?” she asked curious about how much freedom Lord Boris allowed, especially after what she had seen.

“
I don’t remember the exact situation.” Hawke frowned in concentration. “I saw a vehicle in an article somewhere, inquired about it and requested permission to learn to operate one. Lord Boris approved and I’ve known how to drive since then. It’s been a while since I’ve sat in this seat.” He glanced at her, winked and then smiled. “I like driving.”

She
nodded and looked out the window suppressing a yawn. The short nap she had taken last night after sex wasn’t enough. Asia should have slept but couldn’t. Not in an unfamiliar place with so many strangers. There were too many variables beyond her control to sleep easy. The lull of the ride pulled on her. Her eyelids grew heavy.

Hawke glanced at Asia and smiled. Based on what
he’d seen on the map, from this point on, it was a straight drive. A hundred miles or so, another left turn and then a right turn would place them on Chacal land. He took in the scenery; so much had changed in the past decades. But then again, so had he. By a quirk of fate, the Goddess mated him with Asia Montgomery, a true mystery in the scientific community. For years, Lord Boris tried everything to replicate the success they’d found in her and for the most part failed.

They
had tried to embed the camera behind his eyes and failed. Hawke recalled reading a report after they embedded a computer chip, and a locator chip in her brain, it had been a miracle she survived the surgery. Not only did she survive, the mechanical devices worked better than they imagined. Lord Boris bragged of the twenty-four hour access they had to everything she saw and heard, which made her the ultimate undercover operative. According to the data he had received, Asia Montgomery represented the crème de la crème of Liege research and yet she sat asleep next to him. They had lost her. Somehow she’d been able to outsmart them and went off the grid.

He
could imagine the scene between Lord Boris and his cronies over her defection. They would be rabid, foaming at the mouth. For whatever reason the Goddess gifted him with this unique creature, he would be forever grateful and would protect her with his life. Perhaps everything that happened to him in life was preparation for this new chapter. Hawke grinned liking the sound and simplicity of that plan.

The road ahead narrowed a bit as
they crossed a small bridge. A sharp, blinding pain lanced his skull. He pushed the accelerator. The car shot forward, crossed the bridge and hit something solid.

Chapter 17

The jeep skittered to the side.
Hawke turned the steering wheel hard. The car spun and hit something again and then stopped. Before he could speak, Asia still in male human form, hopped out the jeep and took on two full-blood wolves.

Enraged at the sight of
his mate under attack, Hawke jumped out, shifted to his hybrid, pulled one of the wolves off her, and broke its neck. Another wolf leapt on his back and bit his upper arm, hitting the metal bone. Hawke reached over, grabbed the beast and used it as a bat to hit two other wolves who raced out the woods at them.

He
stepped aside, picked up another wolf and slammed it into the ground breaking its bones before tossing it into the trees. Another wolf leapt at his throat, he ducked and then punched the beast in the side sending it flying into a tree.

More wolves raced toward
them. The more full-bloods they destroyed, others took their place. Tired of the game and aware of their time constraints, Hawke bulked his hybrid, roared and swatted the wolves with his longer claws. Most lost their heads, others bled out through slit necks.  He turned and watched Asia jump high and land on the back of a wolf with her elbow. The loud snap of broken bones settled the matter. The wolf dropped to the ground, dead.

Breathing hard,
her chest heaved as she looked around the area.  Hawke followed her gaze. This wasn’t a random attack. Not this many wolves.

“
I counted eighteen,” she said in between breaths. “These aren’t from Greggor, someone else joined the party.”

He
tossed the carcasses of the wolves to the side of the road so they could drive through and then returned to his normal size. “Am I ticking?” He looked at her.

Asia
stared at him a few seconds before answering. “Not right now. Why?”

“A sharp pain hit
me right before they attacked. I think they pinpointed me and that’s what I felt. Hurt like a bitch.”

She
chuckled. “Watch it, I’m a bitch.”

He
winked and slid into the driver’s seat. “I know.”

She
closed her door, looked out the window at the dead wolves as they drove down the road. “Perhaps we will be there before noon if we don’t have any more company.”

“The pain hit right before
they did. I couldn’t give any warning, sorry about that.”

“The way
you swerved the car worked fine. I knew something was wrong. Who do you think sent those wolves? Did you recognize any of them?”

Hawke
had been too busy destroying them to learn much. “No, I should’ve paid more attention, gathered information to help untangle this puzzle instead of killing them outright. My beast is operating in primal mode and doesn’t think rationally when you’re involved.”

Her
brow rose. The feminine gesture looked strange on the face of the man. “Yeah?”

“Yes.
We’re mated. For us, your ability to beat a pack of wolves or hybrids or soldiers with guns does not matter. If there is a threat to our mate, the threat must be destroyed. There is no gray area, none at all.” He glanced over to see how she took his confession. She wore a thoughtful expression, but hadn’t made light of the situation. That was a good sign and a good start for open communication.

“Mates protect each other.
Not just one watching out for the other, this goes both ways, Hawke. I feel the same as you.” Asia looked at him. “Can you understand that?”

On one level
he did, but his wolf balked. “Yes, I hear you, but as an Alpha male wolf, my beast will never allow you to be in danger and not react on primal instincts. I will destroy any threat to you and cannot change that Asia.”

“Well,
I’m a fucked up bitch with my own way of handling things. I protect mine as well. We’ll find a balance to work together.” She looked at him with a wry expression. “Because there is no way I can allow Lord Boris and the Liege to take you again. My wolf and I cannot allow that either. In this we are in agreement. No one fucks with our mates.”

Warmth filled
his chest and eased the tension he’d sensed when they started this discussion. “I agree with you. My wolf will never allow anyone to take control again.” Hawk would rather die first.

Asia nodded, and
he knew she understood. Death was preferable to captivity. They drove the rest of the way in silence until she pointed to a side road.

“Turn here.”

Hawke made the turn down the paved road and continued forward.

“
I wonder why your chip goes on and off,” she said with a thoughtful expression. “Is there something we can do to keep it turned off?”

He
shrugged. “Is it on now?” He couldn’t hear the ticks as she called them.

“No. Which means right now
they can’t lock onto you. I’d prefer to keep them away from Chacal’s property. The man is an associate of La Patron and is allowing you to use his computer system as a courtesy. I don’t want anything to happen to him or his home because of this visit.”

“Yes
I agree, but I don’t know how or why the chip is short-circuiting. The thing never has before, not until you came along anyway. Maybe it has something to do with our mating. When you showed up in the castle, our link burned in my mind dragging my wolf forward.”

“Burned in mine too. Perhaps it’s the link?”

“Could be, or the sex, or just being close or all of it. I don’t know.”

“We’ll do a simple experiment. The next time you’re ticking I’ll link with you, maybe tell it to stop ticking or something like that to see if it works.”

Hawke nodded. “Is this the turn or keep going straight?”

“No, turn here and press the intercom at the gate, then say
our names.”

He
followed her instructions and then drove through the gate after it opened. The voice instructed them to follow the cobblestoned pavement up to the house. After driving another mile up the winding road, a large white contemporary structure came into view.

Hawke’s hand tightened on the wheel as
they reached the drive in front of the house. He stepped out, went to assist Asia, but she stepped out before he rounded the car and headed up the stairs. They needed to work on how to approach unfamiliar areas because his wolf gave him fits over her walking ahead into possible danger.

“
Asia.
”

She
stopped and looked over her shoulder.

“
Let me go first
.” He had explained as much as he could and hoped she didn’t fight him on this.

Asia stared at
him a few seconds and then nodded. Exhaling in relief, he took her hand, and walked to the door. The door opened before Hawke knocked. Surprised at seeing the tall distinguished looking gentleman with golden brown eyes wearing a deep purple long sleeved shirt with ruffles at the cuffs and a drawstring around the collar that reached the top of his thighs, Hawke nodded.

Tight, dark brown pants stuffed in black knee high boots completed the unusual attire. An angular shaped face with a long thin nose, pointy chin and blackish-brown hair falling straight from a widow’s peak to
his shoulders reminded Hawke of a model Renaissance man.

Chacal didn’t speak, or smile, or invite
them inside the house. Instead, he stepped back turned and walked down the hall. Hawke stepped inside and looked back at Asia when she didn’t follow.

“
That man smells different. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled a wolf like him. Mothballs, he’s real old
.”

Hawke touched
her mind with urgency. “
We can discuss that later. First, I need to get to the files in the cloud before time runs out.”

Asia exhaled and followed.

He picked up Chacal’s scent and followed the trail to a wood covered steel door which blended well with the interior wall panels. The house was much larger than it appeared from the outside. Chacal stood nearby watching them.

“
Chacal thinks you’re a man.”

“
Yeah, I know. Does it bother you to hold hands with a man in front of him?
” He heard the laughter in Asia’s voice.

“
No. I’ll hold you anywhere in any shape or form
.” She chuckled and squeezed his hand.

They
waited for Chacal’s instructions. He pointed to the door. There was a clicking sound, and the door slid open. Hawke peered inside and then looked at his host.

“Is the system down here?”

Chacal nodded.

“
Thoughts
?” he asked Asia while looking into the well-lit area.

“
I’m not sensing anything other than equipment
.”

Hawke led
her through the door and down the stairs. Organized electronic equipment filled the well ventilated room. Hawke rubbed his hands together in pleasure. True, he had been a prisoner for decades, but he loved learning and the knowledge he had acquired over the years had been his narcotic of choice.

Eager,
he strode to the long table with keyboards situated in front of three thirty-five inch sized monitors. He typed in a few codes to prepare the system for what he needed. The system accepted his codes. Next, he ran a few tests to see what traps, if any, were resident.

Hawke sensed Chacal behind
him as he continued creating a system within this system so that it couldn’t be traced to this location. Entering the cloud took longer than he planned but after thirty minutes he accessed his files in the cloud.

“
I’m in.”

“Good.” Asia sat in a chair next to
him.

First, h
e concentrated on the test wolves, pulled each file and deactivated every kill chip. Some were already dead by other means, but most still lived. Once their chips shut down, so did the tracking beacons. Greggor wouldn’t be able to locate them any longer; Lord Boris’ power over the wolves was now dead. Exhilarated over righting that wrong, he eyed Asia and smiled.

“The wolves are safe, thank you for this. At least one weight’s removed from my conscience. It will take years to lighten the stain of blood from my hands; this is a good first step.”

Next he encoded his research files so that no one other than him could read or understand the documents. A lot of the research came from prior studies of his mate. For a split second he wondered how she would feel about that backdoor connection, and decided to wait until much later to discuss his exact duties in the lab. Once she understood his thirst for knowledge, his actions should be seen in a better light. At least he hoped that would be the outcome. One never knew with Asia.

Hawke’s
primary role had been to duplicate Asia’s experiences and modify the techniques so that a broader range of wolves could accept some of her changes. To date, the chip implants were his only success. None of the wolves, other than him, could accept metal bones. If he could destroy the research files he would, but Lord Boris set the protocols and Hawke hadn’t had the time or clearance to change those yet. Instead, he settled for coding them so the records would have no value in their present condition.

It
took several hours to make all the changes, to close all the doors, to erase his footprint and to clean up the system he’d borrowed. By the time Hawke finished, hunger and fatigue lay heavy on his shoulders. Asia had sat quiet next to him the entire time. Chacal remained nearby seated in a chair.

When the system accepted Hawke’s last command,
he laced his fingers, stretched, and smiled at Asia. “Done.”

She
grinned, but he read the weariness in her gaze. They both needed to regroup before heading toward the pickup point. Hawke stood and offered his hand. She accepted and stood. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers, pleased by the flash of desire in her eyes.

He
winked and turned to their host. “Thank you for the hospitality and the use of your system.”

Chacal nodded and rose and headed toward another door on the same floor. Assuming
it was another exit to outside, they followed. Instead of outside, they entered a luxurious dining and living room combination.

Hawke’s gaze bypassed the sparkling crystal chandelier, the thick Persian rug beneath the long mahogany polished table, exquisite signed artwork gracing the walls, statutes and statuettes on various surfaces all of which
he knew denoted certain points in history.

Instead, his
stomach growled in appreciation of the table laden with bountiful aromatic meats, steaming vegetables, stews, and platters of sliced cakes or bread.

“Smells great,” Asia said as
she dropped his hand and headed for the table.

Hawke met Chacal’s gaze, and nodded. “Thank
you. Is there a bathroom I can use?”

The older man turned and moved in the opposite direction. The movement was so smooth Chacal appeared to float down the hall.
He stopped and pointed to a door. Hawke nodded, and stepped inside the large, space.