The Dark-Hunters (691 page)

Becca was pregnant and couldn’t travel by her powers.

“No. I’m not evacuating.”

Dev shut the door and moved inside. His gaze went straight to her open suitcase. “What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving, but I’m not going with the others.”

“Why?”

Aimee sighed as she folded another T-shirt and added it in. “I’ve endangered everyone. It’s only fair I should go.”

“Are you crazy?”

That was a matter of opinion and at the moment she probably was. Her mother would definitely say yes. “I should have gone with Fang when he asked me to. Now”—she winced at the memories of everything that had happened—“I’ve done so much damage here.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I was the one who antagonized the jackals and caused them to attack us. It was me who’s been on Stone’s back all these years.”

Dev scoffed. “I’m the one who locked his sorry ass in a cage and threatened him.”

“No, I’m the catalyst. You know how unforgiving Maman is. I should go before she kills me herself.”

Dev pulled the shirt out of her hands that she was packing and forced her to look up at him. “You are her only daughter. Gods, Aimee, you know how much we all still grieve for Bastien and Gilbert … don’t make us grieve for you too. You are blood of my blood. For better, for worse, for war, for peace. You are the only little sister I have and I would die if I lost you. Maman and Papa even more so.”

Tears blurred her vision at his uncharacteristic speech. “You’re always so tough. There’s nothing you can’t handle.”

“Not where you’re concerned. Don’t make me lose you, Aimee. I’m not that strong.”

She pulled him into her arms and held him close. “I really hate you, Dev.”

“Yeah, I know. I can’t stand you either, butt-munch.”

Laughing through her tears, she pulled back to wipe them away. “Gods … what am I supposed to do? I love Fang and I don’t know if he’s innocent. What if he has killed the others?”

“Do you really believe he’s done that?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then he needs a friend right now. You want me to help you find him?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed as she thought about it. Fang had been unpredictable the last few times they’d met. But he’d visited here recently. Her gaze fell to the small black teddy bear in her suitcase that he’d left for her on her bed a week ago … one that held his scent—he knew she slept best whenever she had something of his to hold. He’d placed it on her pillow with a single rose. Even though he hadn’t seen her, he’d still been thinking of her.

But that act of kindness didn’t change the fact that he was a powerful Were-Hunter who was possessed by a demon. “He might hurt you.”

Dev gave her an offended stare. “I doubt it.” He looked over at the picture of her and her brothers that was on her dresser before he spoke again. “Just so you know, Papa, Serre, Griffe, Cherif, Remi, Kyle, Quinn, Zar, and I aren’t leaving.”

A shiver went over her. “What?”

“We’re not about to leave Maman here unguarded. If shit goes down the way we think it’s going to, she can’t be here alone with the humans.”

“Have you told her that?”

“I was on my way down to let her know when I stopped in to see you. Want to come see the party?”

“Oh, yeah. This I definitely don’t want to miss.” Maman didn’t like anyone disobeying her.

She followed him out of her room and downstairs to the parlor where Maman was saying good-bye to the women and children of their family as they left for the Peltier compound in Oregon. It was where they’d lived prior to coming to New Orleans. They maintained a place there and in Nice, France, where her parents had been born. But Nice would be too hard a trip on their pregnant females, so Oregon it was.

Alain, Cody, and Etienne were going with them to watch over and protect them.

Cherif, Quinn, Remi, Serre, Kyle, Griffe, and Zar stood at the bottom of the stairs with their arms folded over their chests. A united front against the world. Never had they looked more imposing. The twins and the quads were barely discernable from each other, but Aimee could tell them apart. Subtle differences that were obvious to those who knew them best.

Remi’s perpetual sneer. Quinn’s gentle eyes and overt optimism. Cherif, who always stood with his weight on his left leg—an injury from childhood had damaged his right knee and so he always favored his other leg. Serre, who was a hair thinner than Griffe and who always tucked his hands into his armpits. Griffe, whose nails, because he was always tinkering with something, had grease under them.

And then Zar … he was Bastien’s twin and sometimes it was hard for any of them to look at him without feeling a new stab of pain at the loss. He never really spoke about Bastien, but Aimee had wondered many times how much harder that loss had to be on him. He saw his twin brother’s face every time he looked in a mirror.

The two of them had been closer than close.…

She couldn’t bear the thought of losing another brother.

Ever.

Dev moved to stand with them while Maman kissed the cheeks of her grandchildren.

Once they were gone, Maman turned to the quads. “You will stay safe,
non
?”

“Oui,”
Remi said. “But we’re doing it here.”

Maman’s face blanched as her eyes darkened with fury. “What?”

Zar stepped forward. “Nothing you say or do will change our minds. We’re not leaving you, Maman.”

“And neither are we.”

Aimee turned at the sound of Carson’s voice. He came down the stairs with Justin, Jasyn, Sasha, Max, and the Howlers: Angel, Teddy, Tripper, Damien, and Colt.

Tripper Diomedes, who was an Arcadian lion, spoke for the group. “You’ve given us shelter when no one else would and we’re here to stand with you no matter what.”

“As am I.”

Aimee gasped as she heard Wren’s voice. He’d flashed in not far from her brothers.

Maman was completely aghast as she saw him there. “You hate me.”

Wren shrugged. “You’re definitely not my favorite person, Lo. But your daughter means a lot to me and so I won’t stand back and let her family be destroyed. Even if I do think we’re all completely stupid for fighting for you.”

Maman shook her head as she looked around at all of them. “You do understand how many will be attacking us? How many enemies I’ve made?”

Remi snorted. “
We’ve
made, you mean. I think we’ve all had a hand in this fiasco. Me probably more so than anyone else.”

Angel nodded in agreement. “And to that, I say bring the rain. We are here and we won’t be defeated.”

An amen went up from the others.

Damien flashed a rare grin. “Sanctuary, home of Howlers and stragglers of the Were universe.”

Nodding, Teddy clapped him on the back. “Sanctuary forever.”

Maman’s eyes were bright from her unshed tears as she surveyed the men who were willing to not only protect her home with their lives … they were willing to protect her. “Thank you. Your loyalty won’t be forgotten.”

“And all the free liquor you can hold,” Dev said. “We definitely don’t want to do this sober.”

That broke the tension as they all laughed.

Aimee shook her head. “Yeah, but you’re going to get your own drinks, guys, ’cause I’m not running it to you. There’s just too many of you.”

Maman did what she did best. She took charge. “Very well,
mes fils du coeur.
We shall keep to our schedules and run business as usual.”

Max stepped forward. “I’ll be the muscle. Not many can take down a dragon.”

“And make sure you ride herd on the humans,” Remi reminded him.

He inclined his head.

Maman smiled at them. Gratitude and pride were bright in her blue eyes. “Let’s show our enemies and doubters that Sanctuary will stand no matter what they say.”

She paused beside Wren. “And you were wrong about me, tiger. I’ve never considered the ones here as my dupes. I have bent rules for all of you at one time or another. If loving my children above all else is a crime in your world, then you can hang me for that sin as I would have it no other way.”

Wren didn’t speak until she was gone and Aimee could tell that even now he didn’t trust her mother. He walked over to her. “I’m only here for you.”

She squeezed him lightly on the arm. “Thank you, Wren.”

He inclined his head before he left.

Cherif let out a relieved breath. “Wow, Maman took that better than I thought.”

Papa laughed. “She knows how stubborn you boys are and you outnumber her.” He stopped in front of Aimee. “You, on the other hand, have to leave.”

“I won’t go, Papa. This is my home and you are my family. I won’t hide while all of you are in danger. I did that once and I’ve had to live with that cowardice every day since. I won’t do it again.”

He cupped her face in his large paw of a hand. “They gave their lives for you,
mon ange.
Don’t mock their sacrifice.”

“I don’t, but I’m full-grown now and I will stand and I will fight as they did.”

His eyes darkened with sadness as he let his hand fall. “I won’t argue. I know you have enough of your mother in you to make it impossible to win.”

She smiled. “You would be right.”

He scanned the others. “All right then. Let us all prepare for war.”

*   *   *

In wolf form, Fang lay in the sun, not far from where Anya had died. He didn’t know why he kept coming back here. Maybe it was the part of him that longed for the way things had been prior to her death.

Or maybe it was the need within him for some connection to someone else. Because right now, he felt absolutely alone. His relationship with Vane wasn’t what it had been and he’d been staying away from Aimee out of fear of hurting her. The demon was getting worse and more violent.

If anything happened to Aimee …

“Fang?”

He lifted his head at the sound of Varyk’s voice. The werewolf appeared a few feet away from him.
“What do you want?”
he snarled mentally.

“Savitar has issued a warrant out for you.”

Fang was aghast at the order.
“For what?”

“Murder.”

“Are you serious?”

Varyk gave him a droll stare. “You don’t think I came all the way out here to joke?”

Of course not. Varyk had no sense of humor.
“This is ridiculous. I didn’t do anything.”

“Regardless of that, Vane has been charged with bringing you in or his family and pack will be slaughtered.”

Fang jumped to his feet as rage darkened his sight. How dare Savitar threaten his family.
“This is bullshit.”

“You know Savitar.”

Yes, he did. And right now, he wanted that bastard’s throat.

Varyk folded his arms over his chest. “And there’s more. Sanctuary lost its license.”

That was the last thing he expected to hear.
“What?”

“Because of the complaints of Blakemore and the jackals you attacked, Savitar revoked Lo’s license for six months.”

Fang felt ill. He’d ruined everything.

Everyone …

“And I just found out something you might want to know.”

“Thorn has a conscience?”
Fang couldn’t resist asking.

Varyk looked at him drily. “Don’t make me laugh.” Sadly enough, Thorn had more of one than Varyk did. “I found out something about the Peltiers and Blakemores.”

“They hate each other. We know.”

“No. Blakemore blames them for the death of his youngest son.”

Fang turned human as those words hit him. “What?”

“Yeah. It’s a blood feud. Apparently, Junior broke the eirini laws of another sanctuary and was to be banned from them forever.”

The eirini were peace laws put in place by Savitar. To break one left the offender on his own for eternity.

“Not long after the Peltiers opened here,” Varyk continued, “Junior came running to them for protection and the bears refused to admit him. They were upholding Savitar’s laws and I’m sure the fact that Junior Blakemore was a bully and an ass, and that he was being chased by a group he’d provoked, didn’t help matters. He and his running buddies were killed out in the same alley where Wren was attacked. Apparently that’s why Stone keeps going there. He’s hoping to find one of the Peltiers in the same place his brother died so that he can return quid pro quo.”

“Then I’m sure the Peltiers are aware of the situation since that would have been … what? A hundred years ago?”

“Close, and on the anniversary of Junior’s death, Blakemore plans to kill every bear and animal there and to torch that place to the ground.”

Fang ground his teeth in helpless frustration. “So what you’re telling me is that I can stay and protect Aimee from the psycho and my brother dies. Or I can save my brother and Aimee dies.”

“Yeah, basically, you’re screwed.”

“What else is new?” He met Varyk’s gaze as impotent rage scorched him. “I need to know where you stand in all of this.”

“Blakemore’s my paycheck. Nothing more than that.”

“And Aimee’s my life … if I leave everything I have to you, will you protect her for me?”

Varyk snorted at his offer as his gaze went to Fang’s bike and the backpack he carried that held all of his belongings inside it. “What do
you
have to bribe me with?”

“Two hundred million, plus some change.”

Varyk choked. “What?”

Fang shrugged over it. Money had never meant much to him. It was as intangible as friendship. “Vane’s real good with investments and I don’t spend much. You take care of Aimee and I will make sure every cent of it goes to you.”

“For that kind of money, I’d do a lot more for you than just guard your woman.”

Fang snorted. “I don’t want to go there. Just uphold your word.” He jerked his backpack up from the ground.

“Hey?”

Fang turned to look at him.

Varyk’s face was stoic, but his gaze burned with sincerity. “I will keep her safe. You can count on it. And you don’t have to pay me for it.”

Fang inclined his head in gratitude before he flashed himself from the swamp to Sanctuary. The one thing he’d learned these past months was how to merge his powers with the demon inside him and use them to his advantage. It allowed him to walk invisible and to do other nifty things—some bloodier than others.