Embraced by Darkness (40 page)

“I’m human. I demand my time in court,” he screamed, spittle spraying from his lips. “You can’t shoot me.”

“That would work if I actually cared. But I don’t.”

I raised the gun and shot him, splattering his brains out the back of his head and across the floor.

It was easy. So easy.

Seemed I was more of a guardian—more like my brother—than I’d ever wanted to believe.

And right now, looking at their trophies on the wall, I didn’t damn well care.

I shifted shape to start healing my wounds, then threw the gun on Yohan’s remains and walked out of the room to find Rhoan before Jorn could.

Chapter 14

R
hoan took care of Jorn while I rang Jack from one of the phones in the house. He’d actually had a team out looking for us, having realized something was wrong when both of us failed to report in. It might be normal for me not to, but Rhoan always did. He was the good twin when it came to that sort of stuff.

It took a good six hours for Jack’s cleanup team to get to the island, because, as I’d suspected, we’d been shipped up to the twin’s privately owned island off the Brisbane coast. The blackmailing business was obviously a well-paying one.

While Rhoan waited down near the dock for the boat, I went searching for our IDs and wallets. I not only found them, but Adrienne’s soul as well. She was waiting in the back of the house, close to a huge walk-in freezer where her body undoubtedly was. I didn’t go check. I had no need to see her flesh when her spirit was standing right in front of me.

You seem familiar
, she said, her words running through my mind, as ethereal as her body, which merely hinted at red hair and gray eyes, and little else.

And yet there was a strength in her, a surety in her words, that I’d not found with other spirits. Especially other spirits who’d been dead for a while. Generally when I saw the older spirits, they were little more than wisps who had no shape and who could form no words. I wondered if it had anything to do with the psychic gifts she had in life, or perhaps even the fact that she’d known her death was coming, and had been prepared for it.

We share the same pack. I’m Riley
.

My reply was somewhat reluctant. There was nothing to be gained by talking to her now, because there was nothing that I could do to help her. We’d stopped her killers and found her remains, so that she’d be scattered on home soil and her soul could rest in peace.

So why was she still here? What was keeping her bound to this earth?

Ah. I remember. My grandfather disliked you
.

To put it mildly.
Yes
.

He sent you to rescue me?

He did. I didn’t make it in time, though. I’m sorry
.

She smiled, though it was a warmth that washed across the air more than any real facial movement in the mist that was her body.
Sometimes fate will not be derailed
.

Very true
. I hesitated.
Is there something you would like me to do for you?

Tell Jodie I’m sorry. Tell her that I loved her, no matter how often it seemed that work was more important
. She hesitated.
And tell her not to join me too soon. She has a long, good life yet to lead
.

If Jodie had her way, she’d be joining Adrienne in the afterlife as soon as possible. But perhaps Adrienne’s words would give her the courage to go on in this life.
Can do
.

And make sure my father obeys my will. Jodie is to have what is mine. Promise me you’ll make him give her what she’s due
.

The grin that split my lips was decidedly nasty. I wondered if she would understand why. Wondered if she could even see it.
I promise they won’t cheat Jodie out of a cent
.

She sighed, and it was a sound filled with relief.
Thank you
.

Her words hung on the air as her image began to fade. Obviously, that had been the reason she’d been clinging to this existence. She’d wanted to take care of her lover.

Nice to know that love lingered even in the afterlife.

“Be happy, wherever you’re going, Adrienne,” I said, oddly wishing that I’d known her better. I had a feeling that she and I would have gotten along just fine.

Which was odd really, considering my overall hatred for her whole damn family. But then, I guess she’d been an outsider, just like me. Only her fault was her sexuality, not her parentage.

I left the room and the fading warmth of her presence, and went down to the dock to wait for the team with my brother.

It was another six hours before we finally stepped out of the terminal at Tullamarine. As Rhoan waved down a cab, I sucked in the cool evening air and felt an odd sense of peace run through me. Cold or not, this was home, and it felt good to be here.

It would feel even better once I had Kellen’s arms around me. But before I could go to him, I had a promise to fulfill. To do that, I needed to go back to the Directorate and start investigating. Threats wouldn’t bring Blake to heel. He’d lived with violence all his life, and it held no fear for him. Blackmail was a different story. And the pup who had listened unnoticed at too many doors knew more than a few pack secrets. Now that my grandfather was dead, I had no reason not to use them.

T
he long shadows of night were creeping in as I walked up Miller Street, heading toward Brighton Beach. Houses worth more than I could ever imagine loomed around me, but my gaze barely left the main prize—a modern brick-and-glass house at the far end of the street.

Blake was inside. So were Patrin and Kye. The pack didn’t actually own the house. According to the records we’d found, it belonged to a judge who just happened to be one of Blake’s buddies. He was currently overseas on holidays, and had given Blake the run of his “beach hut.” I was betting he was also the reason Blake had gotten his hands on all the police files he’d sent to me.

“Okay, we’re set,” Rhoan said into my ear. “Liander’s wired into the security systems, and he’ll switch off all alarms and sensors at seven forty-five.”

I glanced at my watch. Five minutes to go. Perfect. “And positioning?”

“According to the infrared, we have two people on the ground floor, and two in the first-floor living area.”

Meaning the first-floor bedroom was free—exactly what I needed. I shifted my arm and let the thin white rope slide from my shoulder to my hand. The claw-hook was hanging out of my back pocket. I got it and began attaching it to the end of the rope. “So Kye and an unknown are keeping watch downstairs, and Blake and Patrin are upstairs.”

“I do so like it when a plan comes together.”

I smiled. “Have fun inside, brother.”

“You can bet on it.”

I stopped in the shadows of a wattle tree one house down from Blake’s, and scanned the area. No one was around, and none of the four men were visible through the windows of their house. Not that they’d see me once I wrapped the night around me.

I glanced at my watch again. Two minutes to go. I waited in the shadows, excitement and the bitter need to get revenge pulsing through me. When the minute hand finally clicked onto seven forty-five, I pulled the shadows around me, then leapt the fence and raced across the well-manicured garden, around to the bedroom balcony. One neat toss had the rope and hook over the balcony wall. I tested that it had snagged properly, then quickly climbed.

The balcony doors weren’t locked. Kye and his friend were obviously relying on the no-longer-working sensors and alarms to warn of intruders. I slipped through the doors and padded across the huge white-on-white bedroom. According to the floor plans we’d found, there was a parent retreat beyond the main bedroom, with the main living areas beyond that. I carefully opened the bedroom door and peered out. The retreat room was shadowed, but the door at the end was open, allowing a good glimpse of the main rooms beyond it. Patrin was sitting in a lounge chair, reading the
Age
. Blake wasn’t immediately in sight, but infrared told me he was sitting at the dining table, doing paperwork.

I slipped out the door and raced across the room. The lights tore the shadows away from me the minute I entered the living room, but I was moving so fast they never had a chance to see me anyway. I grabbed Patrin by the scruff of the neck and hauled him upright. He barely had time to yelp a warning before I’d grabbed Blake, yanked him off his chair, and threw him across the room. As he bounced off a wall and slithered awkwardly to the floor, I switched my grip on Patrin, thrusting upward by the neck until his feet were off the floor. He was a big man and it took a lot of effort, but the sheer look of terror on his face made it all worthwhile.

“Consider this my final progress report, as well as a little warning,” I said, as Blake picked himself up off the ground. “We’ve found Adrienne’s body, and we’ve taken care of the men who killed her. Now I want you out of my life forever.”

“There’s no need for—”

I cut him off. “Oh, there’s every fucking need.”

I dropped Patrin a little, then heaved him with all my strength, throwing him across the dining table. He didn’t quite clear it, his butt and legs getting entangled in the chairs, sending both him and the chairs crashing to the floor. He yelped but didn’t move, and the scent of his fear was a wonderful thing.

I stalked forward to Blake. He didn’t back away, didn’t move, and the look of contempt hadn’t shifted from his face. “The threat of violence doesn’t worry me.”

“Good,” I said, stopping several feet away from him. “Because I have no intention of hitting you. I will, however, destroy you and your whole family if you do not leave my mother alone, or if you contest, in any way, Adrienne’s will.”

He blinked, surprise briefly moving the contempt. “Why would you care about Adrienne’s will?”

“Because she asked me to care.”

“What?”

I smiled coldly. “The pack trait of clairvoyance didn’t only go strange in Adrienne. I can speak to the dead. I spoke to her.”

“Even if I choose to believe that, what I or my family choose to do in regard to Adrienne’s will is none of your business.”

“Adrienne made it my business.” I stepped forward, until I was all but standing on his toes. This close, I could feel his body vibrating with the force of his anger, and part of me wished he’d just let it go. Give me an excuse to hit him. “I’ve done a little investigating of my own, Blake. Does the name Petri Constructions ring any bells inside that thick head of yours?”

Wariness flickered through his eyes. “Of course. It is a building firm the pack owns and runs.”

Sound whispered behind me. “Take one more step, Patrin, and I’ll throw you off the balcony.” He stopped. I smiled benignly at Blake and said, “Petri Constructions was a successful business concern that belonged to one Shawn Davis, a friend of yours from way back. When he died—of apparently natural causes—his will surprisingly left the construction company to you rather than his pack and family.”

“So?”

“So, as I said, I’ve done a little digging. I found his grave and talked to his soul.” Which was my first lie, but Blake was never going to know that. “Seems things surrounding Davis’s death and will aren’t quite as straightforward as they appeared. It also seems that it took the disappearance of one Michael Davis from the Davis red pack to stop them contesting the will.” I grabbed his collar and dragged his face down to mine. “I will destroy you, Blake, if you do not leave my mother alone, or if you contest Adrienne’s will. Destroy you, and ensure you and your whole damn get live in poverty and disgrace for the rest of your lives. And I will love every single fucking minute of it.”

I threw him back, suddenly needing to rid his scent from my nostrils. He hit the wall with a grunt, and flung out an arm to brace himself.

“Do you believe me?” I said softly.

“Yes,” he replied, his voice filled with murderous fury. Fury he knew he couldn’t unleash. And that was such a delicious sensation.

I glanced at Patrin, then said, “Rhoan, all finished up here. Meet you out front.” I looked back at Blake. “And don’t think about enlisting your cop or judge buddies to help you out of this situation. They’re going to have enough problems of their own.”

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t do anything. He couldn’t, and he knew it. It was sweeter, so much sweeter, than using my fists as I had so often dreamed of doing.

I gave him a smile, then turned and walked across to the balcony. The leap down to the ground jarred my leg, but I refused to limp as Rhoan joined me and we walked away.

A
s soon as I got home, I rang Kellen. I desperately wanted to see him now that everything else had been sorted out. I wanted to tell him my news, my decision. Get my new life—
our
new life—under way.

My fingers were shaking as I pressed his number. It rang several times, and then a voice said, “Yes?”

For several beats I wasn’t entirely sure it was him. His voice sounded rough, tired almost beyond recognition.