Chapter 13
The Barrel Bottom sat just outside town, a nondescript cinder-block building with a neon sign missing two letters and a gravel parking lot full of trucks.
Inside, the floor was sticky, the jukebox was older than everyone in the room, and the air had a sour tinge that smelled like a mix of beer and fryer grease.
It reminded Eli a lot of the places in Southie where he, Sloane, and Matty used to drink at when they were underage.
The clan had taken over the rear section.
Axle and Snake had the pool table, while Hardy stood at the bar with a drink in hand, keeping one eye on the door out of habit.
Hawk, his ankle already healed, was trying to convince Ink that karaoke was mandatory, but that was the one command the probe would not obey.
“Corner booth,” he said to Olivia after they got drinks, beer for him and ginger ale for her, as he steered them farther toward the back.
“Relax,” she said. “We’re in a bar, not a war zone.”
They’d barely settled in when a familiar voice cut through the jukebox’s twang.
“Oh my God, I knew it.” Tabitha Featherstone crossed over from the direction of the bar, drink in hand, her sister in her wake. “We overheard one of your guys talking about this place. Mother’s asleep and we were going stir-crazy.”
“You were going stir-crazy,” Astoria said. “I was reading.”
“Same thing.”
Tabitha scooted in next to Olivia and immediately started chatting away. Astoria, on the other hand, pulled up a chair at the end of the booth instead of sliding in.
“Whatcha drinking?” she asked Eli.
He raised up the bottle in his hand. “Beer.”
Her nose twitched. “You don’t talk much either.”
“Not much to say.”
She held his gaze a beat too long. “Funny. Most people who say that have the most to say.”
He took a pull from his bottle and didn’t respond.
Instead, he focused his attention on the antics around him and as the evening settled in, he had to admit that going out tonight wasn’t such a bad idea.
Hardy was a decent pool player, Snake was worse than he thought he was, which made it entertaining.
Ink, as it turned out, actually had a decent voice for karaoke, though his song choices were questionable.
Tabitha had pulled Olivia to the bar to try what she called “the best virgin margarita in three counties.” Seeing and hearing Olivia laugh as she and Tabitha clicked glasses, at the very least, made this venture out worth it.
Eli nursed his second beer and kept one eye on the door. Astoria hadn’t moved from her spot except to grab a whiskey neat at the bar.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked, turning the glass in her palm.
“Depends.”
“You’re different.” Her eyes remained fixed on her glass. “I don’t know what it is. I noticed it this morning. There’s something about you that doesn’t quite fit.”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know.” Her dark brows drew together, frustration on her face evident. “I’m not trying to pry. I just don’t like not understanding things.”
“Join the club.”
She looked at him then, and for just a second, something unguarded passed across her face. Then she shrugged. “Forget it.” Getting to her feet, she strode off in the direction of the ladies’ room.
He should have been relieved. Instead, the knot in his chest twisted further, tightening until he couldn’t deny what had been in his thoughts the moment the young witch had trained those dark green eyes at him.
She suspects.
If Astoria could sense that he was off after two encounters, it was a matter of time before Margaux did too.
And Margaux wouldn’t shrug and let it go.
He needed to get Olivia out of Kentucky, the sooner the better.
He was about to flag Hardy for the check when the lights flickered before plunging the bar into total darkness.
His wolf immediately went on alert, and Eli scrambled out of the booth, his Lycan vision adjusting. He could see shapes moving around him, but Olivia was nowhere in sight.
“Olivia!” he called.
“Eli!” The voice came from twenty feet away, near the bar. “Tabitha’s with me!”
“Stay—”
The front window blew in. Something hit the floor and rolled, trailing fumes. Very likely accelerant, from the acrid smell. Then, flames sprang up and spread across the bar floor, the fire spreading quickly. The heat pushed through the room and the human patrons stampeded toward the exits.
“Everybody out!” Hardy bellowed.
Eli fought through the crowd toward the bar. The smoke was thickening fast, acrid and chemical. He found Olivia crouched behind a barstool with Tabitha pressed against her side.
“Where’s Tori?” Tabitha’s voice was strained.
“She went for the back exit,” Olivia said. “I saw her run out the back with Hawk.”
“Move. Now.” Eli grabbed Olivia’s arm while Tabitha latched onto Olivia’s other hand and they pushed through the back hallway, bent low under the smoke.
A figure stepped out in front of them, lunging at Eli.
“Get down!” Eli shouted before shoving Olivia and Tabitha low to the floor.
He caught the attacker’s arm and wrenched it sideways.
His attacker rolled with it and swung with his free hand, connecting with Eli’s jaw.
Eli’s head snapped backward and he tasted blood.
On instinct, he drove his knee upward, aiming for the man’s ribs but something wrapped around Eli’s throat from behind.
The arm was thick and hairy, unbendable like steel and even with his Lycan strength, he could not overpower it.
He tried to reach for the vials in his pocket, but the chokehold only tightened.
His vision started to narrow, though he still saw the first attacker pull out something from behind him, raise it and point it between Eli’s eyes.
His entire body went rigid and time slowed as he stared into the barrel of the gun.
As he contemplated his fate, a scent wafted through the air, cutting through the smoke.
One that Eli hadn’t smelled in years. It was already fading, but it was unmistakable.
His wolf recognized it before his conscious mind did, the memories of when he first smelled it came flooding back.
Then, something happened that Eli couldn’t explain.
The man with the gun jerked backward, hard, as if yanked by an invisible hand.
He stumbled, the gun clattering to the floor.
Then the arm around his neck loosened, and the man behind him let out a shout of surprise.
That was all Eli needed. He drove his elbow backward into the man’s solar plexus, broke free, and spun.
He paused, trying to figure out what the hell happened.
But this wasn’t the time to sit and wonder.
The two attackers were recovering, scrambling back to their feet.
He wasn’t safe yet. Olivia wasn’t safe yet.
However, before he could act, light exploded from behind him.
Turning back, he saw the source—Tabitha was on her feet, both palms raised, her body glowing white-hot, Olivia huddled on the floor behind her.
The light poured out of the witch in a sustained blast directed at their attackers.
Both men threw up their arms against it, blinded.
Tabitha dropped her hands, her glow slowly fading before collapsing. Olivia caught her in time before she hit the ground. Eli dragged them out the back door, straight out into the parking lot.
The cool night air hit Eli’s scorched lungs. Hardy and Snake were already outside, pushing the human patrons away from the building. Hawk had Astoria, who was clawing to get past him.
“Tab!” Astoria wrenched free and sprinted to her sister.
“I’m fine,” Tabitha managed between breaths as she disentangled herself from Olivia. “Drained.” She winced. “My throat …”
“Smoke inhalation,” Olivia said.
Astoria frowned at her. “You seem fine.”
Before she could explain, Eli pulled Olivia against him, one hand on the back of her head. She pressed into his chest, her hands gripping his shirt.
“Who were they?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He didn’t. The attackers were professionally trained, that much was obvious. Plus, the fire and the blackout were obviously planned. Lycans, at least the one who put him in a chokehold had to be. And then he remembered that scent that had triggered his memory.
Leather, rum-soaked oak barrels, and grass.
Garret’s scent.
“We need to move,” Hardy said, appearing beside him. “Ink and Axle are bringing the trucks around.”
They piled in. Tabitha, still shaky, leaned on Astoria in the backseat. Astoria had one arm around her sister and her jaw clenched so tight Eli could see the muscle working from across the cab.
Nobody spoke on the ride back to Seven Peaks.
They gathered in the lodge’s main room, the big stone fireplace radiating heat nobody needed.
Ransom stood by the mantel with his arms crossed, Isabelle beside him on the sofa with Evan asleep against her shoulder.
Bo sat in one of the armchairs, his hands folded over his belly, eyes sharp despite the calm posture.
The rest of the MC members spread across the room while Tabitha was wrapped in a blanket on the opposite sofa, a mug of tea untouched in her hands.
Some color had returned to her face, but her voice was still raw.
Astoria sat on the armrest beside her, one hand on her sister’s back.
She hadn’t moved more than two feet from Tabitha since they left the bar.
Olivia sat next to Eli at the long dining table, close enough that her knee pressed against his. He could feel the tension radiating off her.
“Start from the beginning,” Ransom said. His voice was even, but his gold-green eyes had a hard edge Eli hadn’t seen before.
Eli walked them through it starting from when the lights went out and the fire started, the confrontation in the hallway, up until Tabitha blinded the attackers. He kept it factual, the way he’d been trained to debrief.
“Were they humans or Lycans?” the Alpha asked.