Chapter 29 EVAN #2
“How many?” he asks. A moment later, he closes his eyes.
“And Merebeth? Okay. Thank you, Bronson. Please keep us updated.” He hangs up.
“Someone was asking Merebeth about Alden earlier today while they were on a grocery run. She said they sounded like they knew we were on to them. It spooked her, so she went straight to the apartment. Some vampires must have followed her, because an hour later they were attacked. There were four of them in the room. Merebeth is the only survivor, and Bronson says if he hadn’t gotten there when he did, she wouldn’t have made it. ”
“Oh my God,” Jasmine says, covering her mouth.
“They’re taking her to a healer, but it’s not good.” Forest clenches his teeth.
Jericho stalks toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To talk to Kaine! I bet he’s the one who gave us away!”
Grant, Red, Sage and I all run after Jericho, but they’re twice as fast as me. Damn supernaturals and their super speed.
I hear Jericho’s voice long before I reach the stairs.
“Tell us the truth!” he roars. “Did you talk to any shifters earlier today?”
I reach the bottom landing just as Kaine says, “I spoke to one! I don’t know her name.”
“Female with dark hair?” Grant says.
Kaine flinches. “Maybe.” When Jericho reaches for him, Kaine flies to the opposite corner.
“Look, I didn’t hurt her if that’s what you’re thinking!
I heard her talking to someone about Alden, so I asked them some questions.
I was just trying to figure out what’s happening in the club so I could get Willow out.
When I sensed someone watching us, I left. ”
“Vamp?” Grant asks.
Kaine hesitates, then nods.
Jericho takes a step forward. “You idiot! They’re dead because of you!”
“They’re dead because of Foxx, Jer,” I say quickly.
Kaine looks shaken. “Wait, what? They’re dead?”
Grant takes a breath to explain. “The vampire must have followed them back to our lookout, because they attacked our friend’s pack sometime this evening.”
His eyes widen. “They were your lookouts?”
“They killed all but one.”
Kaine looks sick. “I was just trying to get information! I swear. If I’d known she was… Oh, fuck. Please. I just want to get Willow out!”
Despite everything that man did to me, I believe him.
I put a hand on Jericho’s arm. “He didn’t mean to tip them off.”
Jericho turns to me.
I shake my head. “This man isn’t with Foxx, Jer. He’s hurting just like the rest of us. That’s all.”
Jericho seems stunned that I’d take Kaine’s side.
“Wait. You think I helped them?” Kaine scoffs. “Fuck no! I want Foxx dead! I told you that! I’ve been trying to find a way to get to him for years!”
“And yet you attacked my mate!” Jericho snarls, flying towards Kaine and clasping a hand around his throat.
Kaine immediately creates two ropes of water and ties them around Jericho’s neck.
“Stop!”
They both freeze.
“Let him go, Jer.”
Jericho doesn’t budge.
I walk over to him and touch his back. “I know how you feel, but think about it. This man is not our enemy. Foxx is. Listen to what he’s saying. He wants Foxx dead as much as we do.”
After a long moment, Jericho releases Kaine. The water around Jericho’s throat splashes down, soaking his bare chest and pants.
Jericho shivers and glares at Kaine one more time before stalking out of the cellar. I follow, Grant and the others close on our heels.
When we get outside, I’m not surprised to see the rest of the pack standing in the grass waiting.
“Call the other packs and tell them to meet us in the apartment parking lot.”
“Why?” Red asks.
“Because we’re out of time!” Jericho says. “The coven is onto us, and they know where we live. It’s only a matter of time before they come here!”
“But how will we get in?” Rowen asks. “Orem has sealed the entrance.”
“I’ll get us in,” Jericho says.
Grant tips his head. “You think a fire portal will work?”
“I’m willing to try.”
“Will it get us out?”
“If we can’t, then we’ll need to kill Orem,” Red cuts in. “Binding spells usually only work if the mage who conjured them is alive. Once he’s dead, it should break the spell.”
Kaine climbs out of the cellar, eyes wary and alert. “I’m going.”
I nod.
The rest of the pack was standing close by, as if afraid another fight was going to break out. Taren holds Aster to her chest with tears in her eyes, torn between fighting with her pack or protecting her child.
My mom reaches for him. “Let me take him,” she says. When Taren hesitates, Mom steps closer. “They need you, Taren. This fight is no place for a child. He’ll be safe with me.”
“I’ll stay,” Forest says, “to keep you and Aster safe.”
Taren nuzzles her son, fighting back a sob. “Be good for Mommy, okay? Miss Evelyn is going to hang out with you while we go into town.”
“I go!” Aster cries.
Taren kisses his head. “Not this time, sweetie. But soon, when this is all over? Your daddy and I will take you to that jump house you like, okay? And we’ll even get some of those nachos.”
Aster’s face lights up. “Pwomise?”
“I promise.”
Jericho turns to me, jaw set in a firm line.
“Don’t even try it,” I warn. If he thinks I’m staying behind, he doesn’t know me at all.
To my surprise, though, Jericho leans in to kiss me. “Do you have your gun?”
I nod. “I’ll grab more bullets before we go.”
He puts his forehead to mine. “Stay with me, okay? Don’t leave my side for any reason.”
“I’m not planning on it.”
Within minutes, we’re loaded into three vehicles and driving into Prodigy. My heart races the entire way.
When we reach the parking lot of the club, thirty wolves trot up to greet us, followed by roughly twenty humans.
Jericho stands tall, addressing the group.
“All right, listen up! We need to go in hard and fast. Foxx will either be by the bar or downstairs in his bedroom. I don’t know which one is his, but my best guess is it will stand out from the others.
Remember, not all of these vampires are our enemy!
Some of them have no choice in being there, and they deserve to choose whose side they’re on.
They can fight with us, or against. But if they choose to fight us? ”
“We kill them,” someone says from the back.
Jericho nods. “These people are vile. They’ve shown no mercy! We shouldn’t either. Are you ready?”
The wolves nearest us paw at the ground, and a few people whoop.
Jericho swirls his hands to form a ball of fire and smoke, and within seconds, it morphs into a six-foot portal rimmed with bright orange flames. It’s only the second or third time he’s made a portal, so I’m impressed. It’s just like Red said: it’s simply a part of him now.
Through the opening, I can see a darkened room, but not much more.
“Hurry!” Jericho says, gesturing for them to start moving.
One by one, the shifters step through the portal, teeth bared and ready to fight.
When it’s my turn, Jericho touches my arm. “Be careful.”
“I will if you will,” I say, lowering my voice. “I love you.”
He closes his eyes briefly, absorbing those words. “I love you.”
I kiss him once before stepping through the portal, holding my gun firmly in front of me.
Inside, I pause to gain my bearings. We’re in a small room with an exposed red brick wall and empty shelves. A long fluorescent bulb overhead is dimmed by the dirty plastic covering, and a narrow window is covered in bars. The bars look like the only new thing in the room.
Below the window is a mattress covered in a plain red sheet and lumpy pillows. My heart lurches at the torn foil wrappers on the floor. Condoms.
Vampires don’t need condoms, they can’t carry diseases. They also can’t bear any children. But vampires aren’t the only ones who come to this god-forsaken place.
Bile rises in my throat as a horrible thought crosses my mind.
No.
Oh, shit no. It can’t be…
But it makes sense. How else would Jericho know where to go inside the club? This room would’ve been burned into his memories because of what Foxx did to him. Every horrible, vivid detail.
My blood boils as I stare at the filthy mattress, the truth a dead weight in the pit of my stomach.
This is where Foxx not only raped the man I love, but turned him against his will—and he didn’t do it in his private room.
He did it publicly, where monsters paid by the hour to watch. To revel in someone else’s nightmare.
Foxx is going to pay for what he did.