Chapter 16
Fed and in her normal attire of jeans and a rainbow T-shirt with her purple sweater tossed over her shoulders and her unruly hair pulled back in a low ponytail, Everly followed Hawke back up to the club.
He’d been more subdued than normal while he’d waited for her to change out of her pajamas, answering her questions with as few words as possible and only looking at her when he absolutely had to. As soon as he could, he’d told her he would wait outside and hauled his ass out of the room.
Everly tried not to be offended. She knew where this all came from.
He was beating himself up over what had happened earlier because he refused to see that rules could be changed.
She just didn’t see the logic in why two supernatural creatures, even if they were different species, couldn’t be together.
Or anyone, for that matter. It didn’t make any sense.
If she cared about him and he cared about her, they could make it work.
The real question was, did Hawke care about her?
She stared at the stiff set of his broad shoulders as he opened the door at the top of the ramp and led the way out of the caverns.
It was hard to tell. Sometimes, she would swear he did.
And other times he made her feel like nothing but a means to an end.
The end being finding out information about her brother, who was obviously more of a danger than she ever would have guessed by his shy nature and quiet manner, and why Parasupe had chosen him.
Maybe it was the way vampires worked. If there was a free meal available, they would take it. And if they could get off in the process, then even better. Feelings didn’t need to play into it. Not even brand new, experimental feelings.
Everly felt her face heat at her own vulgar thoughts, and she put her hands on her cheeks as they reached the office door. She started when Hawke pulled them away and looked up at him.
“Are you okay?” His dark eyes were filled with concern.
She pulled her hands from his and nodded as she took off her sweater and folded it over her arm. “I’m fine. Just a little warm.”
His eyes narrowed as he scanned her from head to toe and back again, but he didn’t pursue the topic. Opening the door, he indicated for her to go in first.
Devon grinned from behind the desk, the only one who looked genuinely glad to see her. Everly was surprised to see it covered with actual office stuff, like a computer. “What’s going on?” she asked Kohl, who had pulled one of the comfy chairs around and was sitting beside Devon.
He stood as she and Hawke entered. “Hey, Everly. Did you eat?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Hawke steered her toward the remaining chair, but she shook her head. “I’ll stand, thanks. I’ve been sitting or lying down all day.” She walked around the desk but stopped before whatever was on the monitors came into view. “What’s going on?” she asked again, looking between Devon and Kohl.
Kohl’s eyes flicked to Hawke, and Everly followed the direction of his gaze, but only caught the end of whatever he was saying. “…to show her.”
“Show me what?” she asked Hawke.
His eyes flicked over to her face and back to Kohl. He didn’t answer.
She tried Devon. “Show me what?”
Devon pointed at the monitor on the right.
“I’ve…into…” She stopped and looked up at Hawke, then smiled apologetically at Everly.
“Sorry. I forget.” She gestured toward her ear and then turned to face Everly full on.
“I’ve managed to hack into the camera of the lab where your brother is being held. ”
Unexpected tears welled in Everly’s eyes and her pulse raced with excitement and nervousness.
“You did? You can see him?” She walked the rest of the way around the desk until the monitor came into view, shaking off Hawke’s hand on her wrist when he reached for her.
She didn’t know if he meant to keep her away or was just offering support, but either way scared her even more.
The man on the screen was not her brother.
The man on the screen was something out of a horror movie.
Naked and dirty and skeletal, he paced the large cell he was in on bare feet that looked too big for the rest of his shrunken body.
And yet, he didn’t appear weakened at all.
Something dark dripped from his fingers and onto the floor, and when he turned so he was facing the camera she saw it was blood from where he’d gouged his own cheeks with his fingernails.
His lips moved, and Everly swiped at her eyes and leaned in to get a better view as Devon rolled back out of her way.
For the most part, he was mumbling indistinct words and phrases that made no sense.
But every few words she could pick out what he was saying.
Everly straightened. This man was not her brother.
Someone touched her arm. Devon. “I’m sorry I don’t have the audio, yet.”
“I don’t need it,” Everly told her. “He’s…he’s just babbling. Mostly.”
Hawke came into her line of view. “Can you understand anything else?”
Tears warmed her eyes again. “Mostly, he wants to kill everyone there. He wants to kill himself.” She didn’t want to tell him what else Matthew had said, but he came around the desk and took her by the shoulders, turning her to face him.
Ducking his head, he caught her eyes with his. “What else is he saying, Everly?”
She looked away, but he took her by the chin and forced her to look at him. Tears spilled over and rolled down her cheeks as she felt the pressure of his mind poking at her brain. “He blames me for what’s happening to him.” She waved her hand at his face. “Stop that.”
He cocked his head to the side as he studied her, but then the pressure disappeared. “Why is he blaming you?”
“Because if I had never found him and made him come here, they wouldn’t have found him, either.”
Kohl got her attention. “Everly, did he—Matthew, is it?”
She nodded.
“Did Matthew know? Did he know what he is before Parasupe got a hold of him?”
Her immediate response was to shake her head. But then she stopped, because she honestly didn’t know. “I have no idea. He never said anything to me about it if he did.”
Hawke dropped his hands from her and took a step back. He and Kohl stared at each other over her head, communicating without saying a word.
“What?” she asked as she looked between them. “What?” she asked again, louder now.
“Are you hungry?” Hawke asked her. “We can go get some food.”
Everly threw both hands in the air, palms out to each of the males. “I just ate and you know it. If one of you doesn’t tell me right now what the hell is going on…”
She looked at Kohl, who looked at Hawke. Desperate for some kind of an answer, she turned to Devon.
“You guys need to tell her,” she said, looking directly at Everly.
“Tell me what?” She turned to Hawke. He was the one she wanted answers from. He would be honest with her. Somehow, she knew that.
His chest rose and fell with each steady breath.
“Everly, we’re going after Parasupe. Particularly this lab.
We’ve been planning it for a while now, and with Devon’s help, we now have a lot of information we didn’t have before.
No one should ever have to go through what this male is going through right now. ”
“This male,” she repeated. “You mean my brother.”
His eyes travelled from her eyes to her lips and back. She had no idea what he was thinking, so she waited.
“Your brother is out of control, Everly. He’s a danger to himself and anyone around him now.
It isn’t his fault. Who the fuck knows what they’ve been shooting him up with all these weeks, but I can almost guarantee they have a tracking device implanted in him somewhere.
Even if he happens to get out, they’ll find him.
And if he’s with you, they’ll find you. He needs to be… taken out of the equation.”
It took her a good five seconds to process what he was saying. She immediately shook her head. “No. That’s not happening. He’s my brother. My only family.”
“It has to happen. I’m sorry.”
Everly stared at him. Stared at this male who made her feel so many different things she’d never experienced before. Somehow, she never thought hatred would be one of them. “I’m not letting you hurt my brother. He’s all I have.”
Hawke started to say something but stopped. His eyes travelled over her face before landing on her own and staying there. There was something about the way he was looking at her…
Kohl was stepping between them. “Everly, you need to calm down.”
She turned her anger on him. “Don’t tell me how to feel, Kohl. You three are all standing here telling me you’re going to kill my only family and you expect me to be calm?”
Devon took her hand, getting her attention. “What he’s trying to say is you’re showing signs of shifting, and we can’t have you spreading your dragon wings in here. You’ll take out half the club.”
Shifting? Everly looked between Kohl and Devon, purposefully ignoring Hawke. Now that she was paying attention, the back of her neck was on fire. She reached up to rub it away. Was that a sign?
Her heart began to race. It would hurt like hell, there was no way it wouldn’t.
Her chest burned like she had a severe case of heartburn, and she suddenly couldn’t catch her breath.
She reached out for something to stabilize her as the room faded in and out of her vision.
Her hand was grabbed and held tight, and then she was being lowered to a chair.
Warm palms cupped each side of her head, and when she opened her eyes, all she saw was Hawke. She tried to concentrate on his face.
“Get out. I got this.”
She frowned, and then realized he was talking to Kohl and Devon. Kohl must’ve argued with him, for he bared his fangs without taking his eyes from her and told them again to leave, adding, “In case you’ve forgotten, this isn’t my first time dealing with a young shifter.”
So, now she was something to be dealt with?
Something rumbled in her throat. A sound she felt but couldn’t hear. But she hadn’t consciously made it. It happened all on its own. Her insides stirred unnaturally, like something was alive in there. Everly clasped her stomach and fought Hawke’s grip.
“Everly. Everly, you have to control it.” Hawke’s hands tightened a bit on her face, forcing her to still. “You can do it.”
She was having a hard time focusing on his words.
“If you don’t control it, you’re going to shift right here in the office.” He paused. “It’s very possible you’ll kill everyone here.” He paused again. “Well”—one side of his mouth twisted into a humorless grin—“maybe not Kohl.”
“You should leave.” Her throat felt too thick. She had no idea if the warning she’d tried to give him was understandable. “I don’t know what’s happening.”
“I’m not going anywhere, honey. If you want to take somebody out, it’s gonna be me.”