Dark Veil (12 page)

The
Human
standing with the gun aimed at Cade’s head brought his foot forward so it connected with Cade’s jaw, sending him rolling back helplessly. He reached for Gemma just before darkness and the silver completely took him.

Chapter Thirteen

Stephen put his head down and charged at the small
wolf
that was just up ahead of him. His paws pounded against the woodland ground as he gained momentum. The
wolf
better move, or he was going to get run right over, and it would hurt—a lot. The
wolf
stayed right where it was, though. In fact, it turned, squared its shoulders and faced the oncoming
tiger
without fear. It lowered itself to the ground, his ears and tail up, showing no intention of submitting to the fully grown
tiger
that was heading his way.

The
tiger
was fast, and as he got closer, the
wolf
dug his hind legs in, getting ready for the incoming impact. He listened to the sound of the
tiger’s
paws, taking in the tempo of each step so that he could counterattack at just the right moment.

The
wolf
was ready. He waited until the
tiger
was just a tail’s length away and then he leapt up, thrusting himself forward, directly at the
wolf
. The
tiger
twisted, not having expected the
wolf
to react in such a way. He slid and landed awkwardly on the cold ground. The
wolf
was young, but this meant he was small and fast and the
tiger’s
fall gave him an advantage. He leapt for him with jaws wide open, canines aiming for the
tiger’s
throat. The
tiger
feigned to the side and then leapt—they clashed mid-air. They tumbled back onto the ground and spun away from each other. The
wolf
slashed a paw across the dirt, flinging twigs and dead leaves into the
tiger’s
face and blinding him for a moment.

Phoenix ran hard and fast. He pushed himself to get away from Stephen, his paws picking up fallen leaves as he tore through the woodland and leaving a backlash of spray behind him. The
tiger
was coming. He was close behind. A scent in the breeze stopped him in his tracks—earthy and warm— a very afraid rabbit. The
tiger
noticed it, too, because he stopped and crouched low. They stood facing one another, the rabbit somewhere between them. The
tiger
slunk forward with feline grace. In one swift move, he uncovered the rabbit hiding beneath the foliage. He snarled at it, orange and black fur rising to show off long, sharp teeth. The rabbit spun on itself and bolted. Not seeing the
wolf
laying low, it ran right into Phoenix’s waiting jaws. Phoenix bit down on the rabbit’s neck, giving the animal a quick and merciful death—just like he had been taught.

There was a difference between killing for food and killing for fun. The danger would be if he ever started to enjoy the hunt and the killing in a way that was cruel. Of course, he should enjoy it as part of his shifter—it was who they were—but to take pleasure in the pain of the animal was another thing. The blood gushed into his mouth as the animal’s life bled away. When it went limp and its heart ceased to beat, Phoenix flicked his head to the side and tossed the rabbit onto a pile of three other rabbits he had already caught. Stephen’s pile was one less, and he bared his teeth at Stephen in a wolf-like smile. It was the first time he had ever beat him.

He was learning fast—Stephen was impressed. Even though tonight was more down to his own tiredness rather than anything else, he had to admit the boy was getting good. He was making it so that Stephen had to add real challenge to the mix. Actually, he was beyond tired—he was downright exhausted. He fought to stay awake as he and Phoenix sat together and ate a rabbit a piece. They weren’t going to eat them all just now—that would be greedy. They would sling the others into the back of the car and have them later for when they couldn’t get out and hunt.

The air was cold around them. The sky held only stars, no clouds, giving promise to a frost overnight. They could choose to sleep in the car or in the woods—Stephen had voted for the latter. They would sleep as their animals tonight. It was warmer that way, their fur, and the way their blood ran higher, giving them protection. Stephen was a little unsettled about it, though. It was one thing to be able to shift to animal, but another to stay for a long time. For him, it wasn’t a bother, but he had grown up with the warnings that if he started to sleep as his
tiger
, eventually he would become more animal than man. It was Phoenix he was worried about—the half-breed—the one who wasn’t used to living this way. Yes, he had had two years of it, but he had never slept as his
wolf
before. Hopefully, nothing bad would come of it.

When they were done eating, Stephen made a very feeble attempt to clean himself, the effort great. They both found a spot where one of the trees had fallen, its roots standing vertically, giving some shelter from the cold. Stephen curled up into it and let the small
wolf
tuck himself into him. They fell asleep like that, curled up together, their body heat keeping each other warm.

Stephen was asleep in seconds.

He had no idea how many hours had passed when he woke, but he felt refreshed. He often did when he had slept as his
tiger
, everything inside him replenished with such greater speed. He stretched his paws out in front of him, to shake out the tension from sleeping so still and suddenly froze. Phoenix was no longer curled up beside him. His heart missed a beat and he sprung up.

“Morning.” Phoenix had shifted and stood a few feet away. It wasn’t quite light yet, but the sky wasn’t as dark as before. The sun was just around the corner, giving off a warm glow. Stephen nudged him with his snout, telling him off. “I couldn’t sleep as my
wolf
. It was too weird. I had strange dreams.”

Stephen growled in response. Yeah, he had forgotten those—the dreams. Being one’s
tiger
or
wolf
brought you deeper inside yourself, closer to what was there—closer to the very thing that made a person who they were. The soul communicated through dreams. That was what he was told anyway. His glance fell to the pile of rabbits. It was one less meaning Phoenix had eaten another. Stephen slid one away from the others and sat back to chew on it. It wasn’t as good as it would have been the night before, the freshness gone, but it was still better than that defrosted shite that Cade ate. God, how could he stand it?

When he was done, he shifted back and got dressed, then stretched. He always felt so good after a shift, his entire body brand new.

“We’ll go and meet up with Cade and Gemma now?” Phoenix asked, plonking himself down on the ground and leaning against the trunk of one of the trees. Dark circles had formed underneath his eyes, even though he claimed to have slept.

“Yes,” replied Stephen, pulling his watch from his pocket. “Be about a four-hour drive, three maybe if there is no traffic and we make good speed.”

Phoenix was quiet. He had said very little about the incident with his father, but it had to be on his mind. Anything he spoke about was Cade or Gemma, and even that was just on the surface. Stephen guessed it was his right, though. “Shall we go?”

The car was parked along the embankment. Stephen almost couldn’t believe it when he had managed to find a place for
Others
. It wasn’t the best of places, he had to admit. Shabby at best, but there had been rabbits to catch, so that was something. What he wouldn’t give for fox, though. Stephen was glad to see that the roads were quiet. Everyone was still tucked in at home, the day’s commuters not having hit the road yet. It meant that he could put his foot down and maybe they would make good time.

*    *   *

They made only one stop on the way, and that was to use the bathroom and to grab coffee. Stephen used the break to call his dad and check in with everything. He knew he’d be up. He was always up at such an ungodly hour. The best way to keep Malcolm thinking that everything was normal was for Stephen to act normal—and calling early would be normal. Stephen wasn’t much of a sleeper himself, which was why he knew his dad would be up. “We’ll be home in a day or two,” he told him. It was enough to buy Cade, Phoenix and Gemma some time, he hoped at least. He would meet them later and send them on their way, then take a long drive home. It would be strange to go home and the three of them not to be there. He could feel the emptiness of it just waiting around the corner to catch him.

Phoenix fell asleep half an hour into the last stretch. Stephen watched as the world went by him and the sun rose high in the sky. The roads began to get busy again, the exhausts and revving of engines filling the air as cars started to pour onto the motorway. He didn’t wake up until Stephen slowed the car down and took the exit for the motorway services where they were to meet. “Are we there?” he asked, yawning.

“Just about.” Stephen squinted.  “I can't see Cade’s car.”

Phoenix pushed himself up in his seat. “They’re not here yet?”

Stephen reversed the car into a spot just in front of the coffee shop so that he could see any cars coming in. He cut the engine and put the brake into position. “No.” He yawned then pushed his seat all the way back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to close my eyes while we wait.”

Phoenix was left sitting there staring at a slumbering Stephen. He scowled then rummaged through his bag to pull out a book. He might as well read. There was nothing else he could do really.

Stephen heard the flap of pages and smiled inwardly. The damn kid could devour an entire library. He certainly was the child that Cade had not had yet, he mused as he started to drift into sleep.

The car door banged closed and Stephen jumped awake and had his hand around Phoenix’s throat in a matter of seconds.

Phoenix gasped, staring at him, wide-eyed. “Sorry,” he croaked, hastily holding up two paper cups. “I went to get coffee. “

Stephen let go fast, swearing softly. “You had money?” 

Phoenix suddenly looked sheepish as he rubbed his throat. “No … but you did.”

Stephen patted his pocket where his money had been. “You pickpocketed me?”

Phoenix grinned and then pointed to one of the cups. “It’s nice coffee. I got you one, too.”

The scowl that crossed Stephen’s features wasn’t because he was mad at Phoenix—it was mostly for show. He took one of the cups and sipped the hot liquid. “You’re damn lucky it is,” he muttered. It wasn’t that Phoenix had taken the money that bothered him, it was that he hadn't woken up when he had done it. In fact, he hadn't woken up when Phoenix had left the car, either. That, on its own, was worrying.

He rubbed his eyes then glanced at the clock. They had been waiting there for an hour now. “No Gemma or Cade?”

“No. I haven’t seen them.”

“You’ve been awake this entire time?”

“I was reading.” Phoenix picked up some paperback he had open in the middle.

Stephen swore under his breath. “You might have missed them?”

“No. Every time I heard a car or something, I checked. Couple of cars, some big lorries and vans ... that’s about it.”

“Shit.” Stephen shoved his cup into the little holder near the handbrake and climbed out of the car. The car park was pretty much empty, like Phoenix had said. It was too early for people to be stopping just yet. “Shit.”

“This is the right place?” Phoenix asked as he got out of the car after Stephen.

Stephen nodded. “Yep. We meet up here all the time.” He leant on the bonnet of the car and rubbed at his face.

“Maybe we can go to where they're staying? You know where it is, right?”

Stephen narrowed his eyes at Phoenix. “Can you feel Cade?” He was referring to the bond Cade and Phoenix shared. When Cade had found Phoenix, he had bonded with him, making them inextricably linked.

Phoenix shook his head slowly, fear suddenly flitting across his face. “There’s nothing there.”

“Fuck, we need to go. Get in the car.”

Chapter Fourteen

Cade rolled onto his back and tried to stretch out his arms and legs, but they were as heavy as lead. With great difficulty, he managed to open his heavy eyelids. Flashes of light came in, stinging his eyes. His jaw ached from where someone had kicked him in the jaw. A shiver ran down his spine from the cold air around him.  He blinked a few times and forced his eyes open, but he couldn’t focus them. The world had been transformed into flashes of white and silver.

Despite his weakness, his senses prickled. There was someone else in the room.

“I think he might be waking up,” a voice said from somewhere on his right.

“Gemma …” He tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but it proved impossible. His body was so heavy, a deadweight he couldn’t move, his mind fuzzy.

“Let me help him,” another voice drawled. Cade cracked his eyes open and squinted towards the unfamiliar male voices. There was a blur of movement and then something cold and wet splashed into his face. He sputtered as water gushed into his mouth and streamed down his chest, soaking him. In a weak attempt to shield himself, he lifted unsteady hands up in front of him, but they got brutally knocked away. He tried to turn his head to breathe, but the powerful spray was relentless.

“Maybe we woke up the big, bad wolf,” one of the voices mocked, which brought with it a chorus of laughter. Three people—Cade was able to distinguish the number of voices when the water ceased. With great difficulty, he finally managed to roll onto his side so that he could get up into a sitting position. His back ached, his head so heavy he was unsure how he was even holding it up himself.

Metal clanged to one side of him and something squealed—rusty hinges perhaps. He was in a cage? He peered through weary eyes to take in his surroundings. The gate was open and a man crouched down in front of him, a lopsided smile on his face. He had a scar just along his chin, making it look like some kind of deformed dimple.

Cade gulped for breath, his body shivering from the cold and weakness. “Wh-who are you?” Cade’s teeth chattered from cold. The man sneered at him and rose, giving him no reply.  “Where’s Gemma?”

“Did I give you permission to speak to me?”

Cade had no strength to react as the man brought his booted foot forward and kicked him square in the jaw. Cade reeled back, the world spinning around him.

“You
dare
to fucking speak to me again, and I won’t be so easy on you,” the man barked before turning the water onto Cade once again. His heartbeat pounded in his temples as he tried to breathe and get air, spluttering as the water hit him hard and fast. His
wolf
thrashed inside, pushing against Cade’s skin, wanting out, the need to protect and to fight consuming. He did not cower in the face of danger, least of all to
Humans
who stood behind weapons. His
wolf
was ready to eliminate any threat. Cade gritted his teeth and tried to hold him back—he couldn’t risk getting himself killed before he had made sure Gemma was safe and sound.

Cade rolled onto his stomach, head down. The water pounded onto his back, whipping his flesh. His fingers and face began to shift, his claws and teeth elongating. “Oh no, you fucking don’t,” the man said when he realised what Cade was doing. The water stopped instantly, the gate swung open again and something heavy pressed Cade down. A sharp sting in his arm told him he had just been injected with something. He growled, the sound half animal, half man as pain tore through him. He slumped onto the wet ground and then everything went dark.

A while passed before he roused and started to feel his body once more. He lay perfectly still, though, not about to alert anyone to the fact he was gradually regaining consciousness. He could sense people there, and he wasn’t about to set off another onslaught of whatever shit this was. He needed to be ready for them this time, not half-dazed and helpless. He moved his toes slowly, pins and needles shooting up his legs. Keeping his breathing slow and even, he listened carefully for any sign that the men had realised he was awake. He needed to find Gemma, and that wasn’t going to happen if he didn’t get the hell out of there.

The ground beneath him was solid and hard, concrete no doubt. Warmth flowed through his limbs as his circulation came back and the blood began to flow properly. It travelled along his arms, then through his entire body, and despite the heaviness in his body, he was sure that if he wanted to, he could move. He peered through hooded eyes, fighting the urge to look for Gemma. He let the world slowly into his vision, just enough so that he could see his surroundings and what was going on. One man came into view. He was sitting alone, his back to Cade, reading a paper. Cade moved deftly so as not to alert him.

There was another cage next to him, not like the ones in the Society basement, which were made of silver, but a normal iron-barred cage. The silver that had been injected into his veins, however, ran through him like fire. In the cage next to him, a mass of auburn hair splayed out across the concrete. Gemma ...

Cade shot up without thinking, his heart thundering in his ears. The man sitting outside the cage turned, and then his face broke into a malicious smile. “Hey, you’re up.” Cade vaguely realised that he was still wearing his jeans, but they were dry now. How long had he been out of it?

The man headed to the door of the room they were in, and Cade twisted himself to reach into the other cage. “Gemma,” he muttered. “Gem ...” She was lying on the floor with her back to him, her body deadly still. He reached in and stretched out, almost touching her. He tried to get a grasp on her top—she was dressed at least. That was lucky for the
Humans
, he thought, not for Gemma. If they fucking touched her, they would pay for it, and it would be a long, slow, painful payment.

A man came into the room, clean-shaven, square jaw, with the kind of smile that put you on guard and told you not to trust him. His voice held the charm of a snake. “Patterson,” he introduced himself.

Cade’s hands balled into fists. He fucking should have known it.

“Don’t worry about your little girlfriend there. She’s quite okay. Just sleeping. Women,” he smiled insidiously, “you know how they are. Get in these places and start screaming like bitches.” Paterson adjusted the cuffs to his shirt, pulling his suit sleeves down in place and flattening out the creases. 

“What do you want?” Cade ground out.

Patterson smiled. “Straight to the point. I like that.”

Cade’s
wolf
had perked up, ready, but he was biding his time, knowing the leaping out right now would cost him. Patterson was like prey—watch him slowly, learn his movements, learn what will spook him and what won’t. Patterson was a coward, Cade knew that from dealing with him before, but today he had a sense of bravado—the cage. But it wasn’t so much the cage that held Cade back, but Gemma in the cage beside him and what they might do to her.  “What have you done to Gemma?” he demanded.

“Relax, wolf. She’s fine. Just sleeping.” He leaned close the bars, his eyes locking with Cade’s. “Don’t worry,” he whispered conspiratorially, “the baby is fine, too … for now.”

Cade lunged for him and Patterson laughed and took a step back. He tsked, smoothing his suit down once more. “What do I want?  Well, that is the question, isn’t it? In good time, my friend. All in good time.”

“I am not your fucking friend.”

Patterson put his hand to his chest, taking on a mock expression of offense. The
Humans
with him sniggered and laughed. “Do you know what strange thing happened to me last night?”

Cade scowled.

“No? Well, I was sitting down with my wife having dinner when I got this phone call. Now I don’t normally take calls when we are having dinner, as I consider it rude, but I was very pleased that I decided to take that one. It was one of your type—an
Other
who works in one of my hotels.” He paused, watching for an expression on Cade’s face, but Cade wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of any kind of reaction.

Cade stood quietly, listening. He’d landed in a god damn
Human
hovel. Figured.

“Anyway, the guy at the desk called me. He couldn’t believe it; the queen of the crop had walked in with this
wolf
.” He leaned closer. “That would be you if you don’t know. And guess what? She’s pregnant—fucking pregnant.” He laughed, a gleeful, nasty laugh. “He could smell it on her like a whore in heat in the middle of a summer’s day. Boy got so excited he could hardly speak when he called me. And then you book into a double room and shit, even I got excited. It was easy to work things out from there on—you, her, a pregnancy, secret room, not one in your Society. It made me wonder, what had I done to deserve such good luck? To be handed you both and not only that, you’ve broken the god damn laws of your own people.” He chortled with delight. “What would you give to avoid persecution, to save your whore from execution? Do you know what I realised?”

Cade didn’t answer.

“Anything. That’s what you’d give. Do you know that Norton industries would be very interested in a mix-breed baby? All I’ve got to do is call wee daddy up and tell him the predicament and offer to fix it for him. What do you think he is going to say?” He leaned in closer, a smug expression on his face. Cade’s arm shot out of the bars and his fingers wrapped around the surprised
Human’s
throat. He yanked him forward and slammed his face into the bars. Patterson clutched at Cade’s wrist as the other
Human
in the room scrambled for the keys to get the gate open, yelling for help all the while as Patterson gurgled and choked from the might of Cade’s hold.

“Let us go,” Cade said to him. “Right now. Or I’ll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life.”

The
Human
got the gate open, but he paused. Patterson’s eyes had grown huge from his struggle to breathe, his eyeballs bulging and he tried to suck in desperate lungfuls of air.

“Come on in, I dare you,” Cade growled at him, his eyes at a half-shift.

Another
Human
came barging in, his eyes quickly taking in his boss’s dire situation. He rushed past Cade’s cage and went straight to Gemma’s. Cade’s heart skipped a beat.
Fuck
.

“You let go right now, or sleeping beauty gets put to permanent sleep.”

Cade and the
Human
locked stares, then with a curse, Cade let go of Patterson abruptly and he staggered back, clutching at his throat as he wheezed and coughed. The
Human
at his cage charged in, bat in hand, knowing he was safe with the threat of Gemma hanging over Cade’s head. He swung the bat and Cade’s arm took the brunt of the blow as he lifted it to protect himself. Cade kept his eye on him, showing his dominance despite being unable to fight back. The bat had been coated in silver and Cade’s arm burnt where it had hit him. The man swung again and hit Cade in the side on his bare ribs, slamming him into the bars at the back. 

Gemma‘s eyes fluttered open with a start and met Cade’s just as he slid down the bars. With terror on her features, she reached out for him but the man caught him with the bat against his face. Pain shot through his cheek as he pitched to the side. “Please, stop it,” Gemma cried. “Please don’t hurt him.”

The
Human
stood over Cade, bat hanging at his side and beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. “Your bitch is going to watch us kill you for that little stunt.”

Cade swayed where he sat and tried not to pass out from the blow to the head. He called to his
wolf
but the silver had slowed him down and dulled his wits. 

Gemma’s cage opened and the
Human
entered. It was all Cade needed to wake his
wolf
, silver or not. His mate was at risk—nothing would hold him back.

Cade snarled as the man lifted his bat again.