Lycan on the Edge: Broken Heart Book 13 (15 page)

has my mother’s soul. She promised to release it if

I got her into Broken Heart.” She’d skip the part

where she’d also bargained for her life. Seemed

like Ena’s poison was going to take care of that,

anyway.

Ren’s gaze widened in surprise, and she heard

him mutter something in French under his breath.

All she had left was the truth and the very tiny

sliver of hope that Ren might help her honor her

mother’s memory. “A year ago, those fucking

shadows killed my mom. They took her soul and

gave it to Ena. That’s when I became her bitch.”

She swallowed the knot in her throat. “My mother

was a good person. She deserves to move forward

into the next life, or wherever good people go.”

“I am sorry about your mother,” he said.

“Please, Ren. If something happens to me, will

you make sure Ena releases my mom’s soul?” Her

stomach had started cramping right after he cuffed

her hands, and she thought maybe it was a

combination of nerves, and the annoying propensity

to give a damn about what Ren thought. Or, you

know, it could be the poison coursing through her

bloodstream.

She turned around and wiggled her fingers at

him. “You wanna remove the jewelry?”

He removed the cuffs, and Meckenzie walked

into the cell because she was the biggest fucking

moron on the planet, and Ren shut the door. She

heard an ominous snick. She slowly turned and

found him watching her.

Pain stabbed her like a thousand hot knives.

She doubled over, gasping, clutching her stomach.

The agony drove her to her knees, and sweat

beaded her skin, the moisture dribbling down her

temples. Her lungs constricted; she didn’t have the

ability to scream, and she wanted to. Boy, did she

want to.

“Meckenzie? Is this a trick?”

She shook her head, and it felt like she had a

skull full of razors rattling around in there. She

squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe.

Ena’s goddamned throwing knife. Knowing that

bitch, whatever had coated the blade was freaking

nasty.

Shit, she was dying.

She opened her eyes. Her vision was fuzzy,

gray. She rolled onto her side, but the new position

offered no relief. She curled into a ball as sweat

poured off her and fear raked icy claws down her

spine.

She didn’t think this was how she’d go.

Her vision started narrowing, dimming.

She vaguely heard the door opening and Ren’s

footsteps as he hurried toward her. He crouched

down and grabbed her shoulder. “Meckenzie?”

“My mom’s soul,” she said. “Don’t forget.”

Then she fell into the soft quiet of dark

oblivion.

CHAPTER TWELVE

SOPHIE AND TRENT returned to Broken Heart

via Patsy and Gabriel. Nana had been transported

to Betty Lee and Howard’s home in Las Vegas

before the older woman even had a chance to

protest. At least Nana would be safe.

They arrived at Patsy’s house, and it became

immediately apparent that the main living room had

been designated the war room. Vampires,

werewolves, were-cats, and several fae were

studying maps, scrolling on tablets, and talking in

hushed, concerned voices. Sophie felt her stomach

clench.

I can do this.

“What the update?” asked Patsy.

“The Alberich’s big, fat face broke my sword!”

Jessica, a curvy brunette wearing black clothing

and a pissed-off expression, lifted one of her

famous Ruadan swords. The tip had been snapped

off. “Brigid made these. How can a weapon forged

by a goddess break?”

Sophie ogled the unbreakable broken weapon.

Maybe I can’t do this.

“We can fix it, love,” soothed her husband,

Patrick. The 4,000-year-old vampire and the son of

the first vampire drew his wife into his embrace

and kissed the top of her head. Jessica was

immediately comforted and lost some of her anger.

Oh, how Sophie longed for that kind of

relationship. But it required a deep level of trust.

She glanced at Trent and found him watching her,

his gaze wary. Right now, trust was rarer than a

fairy wish—which is apparently how the Alberich

and the witch Ena had managed to enter Broken

Heart. It was starting to feel like upside-down and

inside-out day.

She broke eye contact with Trent and moved

further into the room.

“The kids?” asked Patsy.

“Elizabeth and Tez escorted them t’ the

underground safe house. It’s sealed up tight.

They’re safe as can be,” said Patrick.

“Good.” Patsy’s eyes flashed red. “Let’s get to

work.”

Sophie listened as several people told how the

Alberich had been pushed back from destroying

downtown by vampires, werewolves, were-cats,

and Sidhe. This had been a remarkable feat if only

because the Alberich was resistant to most magic

and hard to wound, much less kill. However, Ena

was vulnerable to magic and weapons and had

abandoned the Alberich almost immediately.

“We got him down to the graveyard, I don’t

know how long we can hold him off,” said Jessica.

She stared forlornly at her broken sword. “If I get

ahold of the bitch-witch, I’m going to shove my

sword right up her--”

Patrick wrapped his arms around his wife. “I’ll

hold her over the side of a barrel so you can get a

proper angle.”

“Thank you, dear,” Jessica said, mollified. She

tilted her head to the side to accept his cheek kiss.

They knew each other so well. Patrick seemed

to get Jessica, and watching them together made

Sophie yearn even more for a love that strong.

Could she have that with Trent? If he hadn’t hidden

the truth from her, maybe. She stared at him from

across the room. He stared back. Had he lied to

her? Or just withheld? In this case, was there a

difference? The big question Sophie had to ask

herself was: If they survived the Alberich, would

she be able to forgive him?

“Speaking of the bitch-witch, do you we have a

line on Ena, yet?” asked Patsy.

Sophie was glad for the interruption of her

dark thoughts. Broken Heart was a parakind town

protected by a shield that kept the outside world

out, so why didn’t they have better security inside

the borders? “How in the heck is this witch moving

around our town so easily?”

Patsy’s sister-in-law, Anise, stepped forward,

her long moon-white hair twisted into a braid. She

wore the dark, well-cut clothes of a warrior, and

carried both guns and knives on a belt around her

waist. “We don’t know. She is magic as well,

which gives her some protection once she’s inside

the town’s limits. It makes her very
difficile
to

locate. But…we have another problem. This

Meckenzie, she has taken ill. Lenette says she’s

been poisoned.”

Lenette was one of three sister witches who

ran the local bed and breakfast. Sophie adored

Lenette’s

chocolate

croissants.

“Who’s

Meckenzie?” asked Sophie.

“The one who got us into this mess,” said

Patsy. “Sophie, Trent, you’re up. We have to

destroy the Alberich inside the town. Then we

have to figure out what to do about the four

crawling around outside the force field. Lord-a-

mercy.”

“That easy?” Sophie said with a little more

anger than she’d intended. Everyone in the room

snapped their gazes to her as if she’d grown a third

nostril.

“What?” Patsy asked impatiently.

“I mean, I don’t know how to kill this monster.

I was unlucky enough to be attacked, and I barely

survived.” She could almost feel the intense pain

as she remembered the blade slicing into her flesh.

“You all have known about this possibility, the

coming attack, and you all knew that I could be the

key, but no one in this town thought to inform me.”

Trent immediately went to Sophie and put his

arms around her from behind.

She only resisted him for a moment. “It’s not

all right with me that you kept me in the dark. Kept

this big damn secret from me that affects my life. I

could have been more prepared if you all had just

told me from the get-go.”

She’d already been told that Damian and

Kelsey had decided it was for her wellbeing to

keep the truth from her. Better for her to recover

the memories herself before she learned about her

new ability as a destroyer. So, she’d expected

Trent to try and placate her with niceties and

“greater good” talk.

Instead, he said, “You’re right, Sophie. You

should not have been the last to know. We had no

right to keep it from you. I should have been honest

from the moment I met you. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

No excuses, no deflections, just a straight

forward own-your shit sincere apology. Tears

welled in Sophie’s eyes as she nodded. She

grasped his arms as he tightened them around her.

She leaned her head back against his solid chest.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Patsy scrunched her nose as if she were trying

to decide what to say. She shook her head then

nodded to Sophie, a new understanding between

them. “Okay. Alberich managed. Next, Ena.”

“Patsy.” Anise hesitated. She looked as though

she were debating with herself. Then she squared

her shoulders. “We can use Meckenzie as bait.

Draw out Ena and capture her. If the witch’s magic

animated the Alberich, it’s possible she can be

forced to de-animate the other four.”

“All right,” said Patsy. “Let’s get us some bad

guys.”

“I’M GETTING TIRED of passing out,” said

Meckenzie. She sounded like she’d swallowed

glass shards followed by a fireball chaser. Her

head felt stuffed with cotton. Good freaking God,

there was a voluptuous redhead three inches from

her face, and she was
smiling
. “Who the hell are

you?”

“You’re just as charming as they said,” she

replied. “I’m the witch who saved your life. I am

Lenette.”

“Oh.” Meckenzie felt a lot less cranky toward

her. “Thanks. Where’s tall, blond, and clueless?”

Lenette laughed. “If you’re talking about the

guilt-wracked Ren, I sent him in search of a very

rare herb I didn’t need. He was driving me crazy

with all his pacing and questions.”

“Really?” she perked up. “Worried, was he?”

“Massively.”

“Good.” She slowly sat up, and took the glass

of water that Lenette offered. She drained the glass

and put it on the nightstand next to the comfy four-

poster bed. “Where am I exactly?”

“The Three Sisters Bed and Breakfast Inn. Ren

brought you here about an hour ago. I managed to

detox the poison and heal with you some magic and

herbal remedies.”

“Thank you,” Meckenzie said. “A lot. Being

alive is better than the alternative.”

“Well, there's more than one alternative, at

least here in Broken Heart,” she said. Sorrow

edged her green eyes, and Meckenzie had the

oddest feeling that sadness was for her.

She was a little shaken by Lenette’s you’re-so-

doomed-Meckenzie vibe. “You want to tell me

what’s up?”

Lenette’s smile disappeared. “The Alberich is

running rampant, and Ena has disappeared. We’re