Dark Veil (17 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Stephen’s heart lurched inside his chest with the realisation of what he had done. His pulse thundered loudly, the hum of the world around him paling into nothing. He stared at the empty passenger seat where Phoenix should have been.

Fuck
.

“You put the prize right in front of them and then left the box unattended for them to just take it when no one was looking.”

His jaw tightened and his hands balled into fists. The witch was right. That’s exactly what he had done.

What a stupid fuck he was.

He glanced from the car to the main road, his eyes searching frantically for any kind of clue. With a curse, he ran an agitated hand through his hair. What the hell was he expecting to find—a fucking sign that read, ‘Bad guys, this way’?

“God damn fucking shit,” he shouted. “How the fuck did this happen?”

Raven got to his feet, hauling the witch up with him. “Behave,” he growled at her, and she glared at him mutinously. She squeaked as he dragged her with him over to Stephen, almost stumbling while trying to keep up with his long strides. He let his gaze rove the area. “They can’t have gone too far.”

Stephen stared hard at the woman. “Taking my sister and my friend … all this …” he motioned to the mess around them, “it was all just a lure to get to Phoenix? To get the boy?”

She flicked her hair back and dusted herself off as much as was possible with Raven gripping her arm. He scowled at her and gave her a shake so she would answer. She threw him an annoyed look before casting her eyes upon Stephen. “What need would they have of your sister and friend?”

“What need do they have of Phoenix?” Stephen shot back.

The witch pursed her lips and lifted her chin in defiance, her long, blonde hair swaying behind her. She was beautiful, perfect—a god damn siren of the land—but right now, Stephen would love nothing more than to put his hands around her pretty, little neck and throttle her. “Where is my sister?”

“Gone,” she replied with a nonchalant shrug. “It’s too late now.”

“Too late? Stop fucking with us, witch,” Raven said fiercely. “Where are they?”

Her expression twisting into one of hatred, she yanked her arm from his grasp, and this time, Raven let her go. “You,” she said, pointing at Stephen, her eyes blazing, “and you,” she pointed at Raven. “I don’t owe either of you anything. Go find them yourself.”

“You owe it to yourself,” Stephen shot back. “You know damn well they didn’t send you to kill me. They were sending you to your death. This is who you want to protect? When they’d see you dead in a heartbeat?”

“Really?” she drawled. Taking a step back, she flicked her hand at Stephen in one fluid movement. Something smacked him in the ankles and took his footing right out from under him, sending him flying down to the ground and landing on his back with a thud.

Raven lunged for her, but she raised her hand again, palm out, and sent him reeling back so that he landed next to Stephen in the dirt. “As you can see,” she said, placing her hands on her hips triumphantly, “I am quite capable of looking after myself.
That
is why they sent me.”

“Party tricks,” Stephen muttered as he got back up.

Raven got to his feet next to him, murder on his face. She raised her hand again, but he was ready for her this time. With feline speed, he leapt for her, knocking her to the ground and pinning her wrists down so that she couldn’t cast any more of her underhanded magic. She gasped and began to struggle beneath his big, heavy frame in vain. “You have no idea how much I enjoy the feel of soft, writhing, female flesh under me,” he taunted her silkily. His words had the desired effect and she immediately froze, her cheeks burning crimson.

“Yes, I have no doubt that unwilling, thrashing women are the only type you ever manage to get into your bed,” she spat.

Raven chuckled. They both knew that a man that looked like him would never be short of eager women in his bed. “What’s your name?” he demanded.

“Fuck you.”

In one fell swoop, he had flipped her over so that she was lying on her front. She squealed and resumed her struggles while Raven held both hands behind her, knee planted firmly on her back to keep her in place. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, his lips close to her ear. “Your name.”

She gritted her teeth then grunted reluctantly, “Anika.”

Stephen sighed as he crouched down next to her head.

“Get the fuck off me,” she shrieked, trying to buck him off her, but he was bigger, heavier and he pinned her easily. Raven pushed her head down and Stephen frowned.

“What’s this?” He shoved her hair out of the way, sweeping it back. Behind her ear was a tattoo—a number—just like the girl he had found at the river. He exchanged glances with Raven. 

“None of your fucking business. That’s what that is.”

Raven dragged her to her feet once more, keeping her hands firmly behind her back.

“I found a body—a woman,” Stephen said quietly. “She had a tattoo just like this.”

“So?” she panted.

“These are the same people who have my sister? They killed that woman.”

The witch scoffed. “Like you actually care.”

“They have my sister and my friend, and now they have an innocent child,” Stephen persisted, “so yeah, I do care.”

“Always the way, isn’t it? Society doesn’t give a shit to what happens out here. We can all rot and it doesn’t matter. Yeah, I know who you are, Stephen Davies. Spoilt fucking heir to the god almighty throne of power.”

Stephen’s features hardened. What the hell did she know? He had his freedom. “If you side with the
Humans
, you are just as bad as they are.”

She gave a short laugh. “You don’t care about what goes on here until it affects you. Society—all the fucking same. You don’t get it, do you? It is
you
in the wrong.” She fixed Raven with a glare. “And you're worse than he is. You know that? At least he was born into Society. He doesn’t know any better. But you … you tied up one of our own,” she motioned towards Andy with her head. “You … you …” Her voice faltered as her gaze fell on Andy’s mutilated body once more, chest heaving as she tried to regain her composure.

When she turned back to Stephen and Raven, her blue eyes swirled with emotion. “This is what Society does. They take strays, tie them up and leave them to die like that ... like it doesn’t matter. It’s what you’ll both do if I tell you,” she rasped. “So why should I? What’s Society going to do for me? What have they ever done for me? Nothing … just treat me like some cheap whore and then cast me aside … again.”

Both men remained quiet for a moment, then Raven said, “Do you promise not to try anything if I let you go again?” Surprised eyes jumped to his, but he simply stared at her, hard jaw set in a determined line. She blinked away tears and gave a curt nod.

“Okay then.” He released her wrists from his vice-like grip, and slowly raised his hands to show her he meant no harm. “We didn’t kill Andy.”

“You did,” she said forlornly. “The moment you forced him to talk.” She turned and walked a few feet away from them both, leaving them to both stare at her rigid back.

This was getting them nowhere, Stephen thought frustratedly, and Raven’s soft oath from beside him told him he felt the same. They needed to find Phoenix and Gemma and Cade. His
tiger
rose inside him, his eyes flashing gold as it demanded to be let out. Blood pumping through his veins with ferocity, he stormed to the car and sliced through the rope that still held Andy in place with his claws.

“See?” she said. “You're literally going to take him and dump him on the side of the road. Doesn’t he even get a burial?”

“My sister is pregnant. Do you know that?” Stephen ground out. “You accuse me of only looking out for my own? Damn fucking right. But not because we are Society ... not because we are some evil gathering … but because she is my sister … my
family
. You have a family. You would do the same.”

“Do I?” She raised her eyebrows at him.

“To have the powers you do, then yes.” That was the way it was with witches. Away from their families and their covens, they grew weaker, their powers faded. They had to have a connection.

Raven was staring at her and she shifted uneasily under his intense gaze. “You were
Human
, weren’t you?” he said, coming closer. “That is why your eyes shimmer the way they do. That’s why your power is strong.” Stephen’s head whipped around, and his gaze focused on her.

“You don’t know what you're talking about,” she denied huskily, moving back.

He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “That’s why your powers are strong, like Phoenix’s. That’s it, isn’t it?” He walked her backwards as he spoke, backing her all the way up to the side of the car. His large frame dwarfed hers, and her breathing quickened as he leaned in close. She gasped when he reached out and caught hold of her forearm, pushing her sleeve up to expose her scarred wrist. Old welts and puckered skin marred her otherwise perfect flesh. “They took you, didn’t they?”

Anika yanked her arm back, breathing heavily. “It’s none of your business,” she croaked, refusing to break his gaze.

“Help us find the boy,” he urged her softly.

She swallowed hard. “No one helped me …” she whispered. “No one came. No one. I was six years old ... just six ... riding my bike …” Her voice rose with emotion. “Do you know what that is like? I was riding my damn bike to school. That was all. Then this van sided up next to me … the doors opened and lifted me clean off my bike. I …” She paused for breath. “I screamed, you know? Kicked and fought and shouted for someone to help. No one came. They robbed me of my family … of my life. I can't even remember what my name was.”

“I’m sorry,” Raven said softly, but her gaze hardened at his words and she pushed against his hard chest. He let her shove him back, and he stepped away.

“Don’t pity me. Don’t you even dare.”

“He has a tattoo, too,” Stephen said suddenly, and both Raven and the witch turned to look at him. Anika’s lips parted, her shock at this revelation evident.

“Help us,” Raven said, his eyes on her again. “He is just a boy. No one came for you. No one came for Andy. But there’s still hope for Phoenix. He’s just a kid ... a good kid.

She hesitated, uncertainty flashing in her eyes, “What then?” she asked. “When I have told you everything and they have marked me down as a traitor like Andy, what happens next? Will you come for me then? Will you risk your life to help me?” She glanced past Raven to Stephen. “Or will you dump me at the side of the road and leave me there?”

Raven held his hand out towards her, the sleeve of his shirt rising to reveal scars and tattoos. “I won’t let them hurt you.”

She snorted, but her eyes shone suddenly with something close to hope. She bit her lip. “You can't promise that.”

“No, but I can promise you my loyalty.” He took a step and closed the distance between them. “Trust me,” he said, holding his hand out to her. “Help us.”

Anika shuffled from one foot to the other. Stephen half expected her to tell them both where they could go, but she raised her gaze to Raven’s and swallowed.

“I won’t let them hurt you,” he repeated softly.

She stared at him for a long moment then reached for his hand.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The coldness of the icy water was a shock to Cade’s nervous system. Every muscle in his body went rigid as he sank into its freezing depths. The cloth sack over his head was plastered to his face, covering his mouth and nose and rendering him blind. He barely managed to suck in a breath before the water swallowed him whole in less than a second.

His instinct and reflexes kicking in, he held onto the last, small breath that he had taken, fighting the sense of panic that surged to the surface. It wasn’t that he was afraid to die, but dying meant that Gemma and his child were left unprotected, that he couldn’t go back and save them.

Straining against his bonds, he struggled not to expel the last precious breath deep down in his lungs. He kicked at the water desperately, finding only empty space. There was no bottom, no ground beneath his feet so that he could launch himself back up. He kicked hard, but the surface seemed to never come. With the ferocity of a man who refused to accept this as his fate, he kicked hard. He wasn’t ready to die yet. No fucking way. His lungs burnt in his chest from the effort of trying to hold in his breath as he fought to cling onto his life.

His
wolf
floundered, weak and poisoned and weighed down by the remnants of the silver. Barely able to lift its head, it fought desperately to come to the aid of its master.

Cade kicked and thrashed, his body twisting and fighting his bonds as the seconds ticked by, and with them, the need for oxygen grew.
Fuck
. He wasn’t going to die this way. Life thundered through his veins as he strained against the rope that held his hands firmly in place behind his back.

He wouldn’t give up.

Not today.

He called to his
wolf
, demanded that he come to him. This wasn’t how they were going to end. Patterson was not going to win. Images of Gemma flashed through his mind. That was all that kept him going. He couldn’t die—he had to get to his mate. He had to save her and his unborn child. Cade pulled at the cords around his wrists again. The
Humans
had entwined silver in the threads and they burnt his flesh each time he pulled. He gritted his teeth, unable to expel the pain from his body by shouting out, much as he needed to. 

This wasn’t going to be the end. Fuck the
Humans
and all their shit. His legs never ceasing their kicking, he focused on breaking the surface. The water couldn’t be that deep, he thought. He kicked and twisted and pushed, and just when he thought he couldn’t hold on any longer, his head broke the surface with a rush of cold air.

He tried to suck in air, but the bag over his head clung to his skin, creating a watertight vacuum around his head that he couldn’t breathe through. With great difficulty, he made himself tread water and stay afloat while his mind bordered on some kind of panic.

He couldn’t breathe. 

He cleared his mind and kept his legs moving. Feeling he was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen, he opened his mouth for air. The momentary loss of focus on his legs caused his weight to pull him down again. He hastily thrust his head back to keep his face out of the water, but water sloshed over him and splashed into his mouth. He swallowed it down, forcing himself not to choke on it. Calm … he needed to calm. That was the only way.

His
wolf
was pushing for release, and Cade called to him. He couldn’t shift fully—it would rip them both apart because his arms were tied behind his back. It would rip the
wolf’s
chest in two. But he called the
wolf
in, the comfort of fur under his skin a welcome feeling. His bones began to move and Cade breathed in slowly, sucking air in as best he could through the wet cloth and then pausing when the water splashed over his face. His legs ached from the effort of treading water, his body begging him to stop and let go. But there was no way.

The bones in his hands moved and reformed as he focused all his energy on shifting only specific parts of his body. He knew once his shift began, he wasn’t going to be able to stop it, but maybe he could control it and not kill himself and his
wolf
all in one go. His hands morphed into paws.
Wait … wait …
he pleaded with his wolf. His paws were slimmer than his hands when they were fully shifted, and he pulled, ignoring the pain of the silver as it tore at him. His paw slid out of the rope and he pulled his arms around front. They were stiff and ached, his shoulders in agony from being stuck in one position.

He had to move fast now … the
wolf
was there, ready. He clawed and scratched at the fabric covering his face to free himself, catching the naked skin underneath. Gasping, he gulped in lungfuls of cool air when he had removed the barrier. The water engulfed him again for a moment before he resurfaced spluttering and coughing.

Cade fumbled with the leather belt of his jeans—the
wolf
was fighting to take over. He slashed through it with his claws, gritting his teeth as he sliced through skin at the same time. Blood pooled around him in the water, the sight spurring his
wolf
on. His bones twisted and reshaped until man turned into
wolf
—whole, breathing and alive.

Near the edge of the water stood a building which, despite clearly being a new construction, very much resembled a castle from old. He paddled to the side of the edifice, his movements quiet and his senses keen. The water at the side was deep, and Cade knew that it ran to the lakes—they were way up in the hills. Trash bobbed on the water’s surface, waste
Humans
threw out, not caring about the devastation they wreaked on nature. They polluted all that was beautiful, destroyed all that nature created.

Cade swam to the wall and then around it to where metal rungs fixed into the brickwork of the building served as steps. They led up to a high wall, where Cade could make out a gap to climb through. They were made for man, not
wolf,
and especially not for one so exhausted and weak from being poisoned with silver. Paddling with his hind legs, he tried to give himself the momentum to wrap his front paw around the first rung, but he missed, sending him under the cold water again.

He swore and tried once more to lunge for the rusty metal. When his paw slipped again, he realised this was not going to work. He needed fingers and hands. Backing away, he glided through the rubbish and against the current until he came to an embankment. But unlike a shore, the water didn’t get shallower when he reached the edge. This lake had been purposely altered—deep troughs had been dug out and then filled with water.

With single-minded determination, Cade made his way to the edge and dug his claws into the mud and earth. The flow of the water pushed his body sideways, making him curl his claws in a desperate attempt to hold on. His body twisted at a strange angle, his shoulder dangerously close to popping out from the warped contortion. He swallowed down the excruciating pain and held on, focusing on his objective. She was in there—Gemma, his baby, and now Phoenix.

He had scented him there. His whole fucking life was in that building and they needed him to save them. He bared his teeth, upper lip curled back with a growl. With a mighty push, he rose and dug his other paw into the earth and pulled against the current.

He pulled himself up and lay on the mud panting for a moment. The silver was still coursing through his veins and the rope remained tied around one paw, but he was too exhausted to shake it off just now. He was too exhausted to move, but he had to.

Come on ….
he scolded himself.
Come on.
He had to get up. He had to keep fighting. These fucking
Humans
weren’t going to take everything from him. He would die before that happened. If he had to kill them all, then that’s what he would do.

He closed his eyes and visualised the energy around him coming into his body and pushing him on. He searched for the man in his mind, ready to take over and let the
wolf
rest. The shift began and he exhaled heavily. In a matter of minutes, he lay panting, naked and cold on the ground. His limbs ached in ways he couldn’t describe, and his flesh stung from where the silver had touched him. His skin was red raw and his stomach was marred with claw marks from where he had slashed at his belt. His face stung and he knew that he had clawed there, too.

It didn’t matter. They would heal.

Cade stared at the water—there was no chance of getting his clothes back now. They were long gone, carried away by the current somewhere. Around him, the walls to the building burrowed into the earth, but there was nothing on them that he could reach—no low windows, no doors. The closest opening had to be at least twenty feet up, and there was no way he was getting to that. To one side, the ground had been dug away and it led to an opening that resembled a barn over the water—a boating shed, perhaps? Cade stumbled to his feet, stiff, tired legs making walking an ordeal. Every step was murder, but the thought of Gemma kept him moving.

He reached where the ground dipped. The water had eaten away at it, creating some kind of fissure in the earth that ran to the inside of the boat shed. This must be where they came in, but there was no water there now, just damp and dark, muddy sand. Cade slid down to it, his bare feet sinking into the mud. He leaned to the side, hands out. Even the earth that created the walls was soft and wet.

He kept moving, trudging towards the shed. Every time he pulled his feet up out of the mud, the ground tried to suck him in with each movement. He pulled himself to the shed, almost crawling, bits of stone and wood scratching against his naked skin. The earth was so wet that in places, he’d sink into the mud and sand to his knees.

There was a platform in the shed, high up from where he stood, and posts for them to tie boats to. There was one small boat, the kind that was used for fishing. It lay on its side on the dry earth devoid of water. Cade pulled himself around it and climbed inside. A box at the back held plastic trousers and a hooded jacket. They were almost three sizes too big for him—made for a greedy self-gratifying
Human
—but he pulled them on anyway. They were cold against his skin, clinging to his flesh. There were no shoes or boots, though. He pulled the chord at the elastic waistband to hold the pants in place. It was as he was fastening the pants that he saw her under the platform, where the supports had been wedged into the mud. A girl—a very young girl.

Instinct told Cade that this was just another like the girl Stephen had found in the river. She looked to be about ten years old … if that. Her dark hair was matted and tangled with sand and seaweed. Anger surged in him as he stared at her lifeless form. The glassy dead eyes that stared back at him would never see life again, never laugh and fill with joy. Leaving her there felt wrong, going against everything inside him. “I’m sorry,” he whispered quietly.

He climbed out of the boat and didn’t look at her again as he made his way to the ladder that led up to the platform.

The boat shed didn’t have any doors to the main building. On the other side, however, stood big double doors that were large enough to drive cars through, but the space where a car would have parked was empty. There was a small door beside that, but the light between the slats told Cade that they just led to the outside. It was the only way to go, though.

As he got closer to it, he heard movement on the other side. Cade cursed silently. The boating shed had nowhere to hide. He crept to the wall next to the door and pressed himself against it, listening. There were no voices, no other sounds, just the rustling sounds of someone moving. The handle turned slowly, and Cade prepared to leap.

The door opened and Cade launched himself onto whomever it was before they knew he was there.