Seven Years (32 page)

Maizy slipped down from his arm, but he held a tuft of her shirt with a strong fist. “What the hell do you think this is all about, little girl?”

Now I was dumbfounded, shaking my head.

“I got paid jack shit for the level of work I did. Thirty years of busting my ass for that man, and when I asked for a higher salary, he told me I was getting greedy. Said I’d better watch my step, or he’d put me under like he did Wes. That’s when I knew it wasn’t an accident, that he had killed my son. I took his fucking diamonds right out from under his nose.”

“Great job, Dad. Now you’ve put your entire family in danger. Way to show him. McNeal stopped by to tell me the story. Wes was a hitman?”

“That was never the deal,” he interrupted, the pitch in his voice higher. “Wes was just a messenger.”

“No. The Mage hired him as a hitman in exchange for immortality that he’d never give him. But Wes didn’t go through with it. He was a tough kid, but he was no killer. When he backed out, McNeal had one of his men take him out and stage the crime scene as an accident, probably so you would keep working for him.”

My dad’s face paled as the truth found residence in his dark soul. Dad knew Wes had died, but obviously didn’t know the whole story.

“You always were a liar.”

My eyes widened. “Do you think I’m making this up? You know McCrazy killed him, but you didn’t bother to ask why. Did you ever tell Wes about my world? You’re an idiot to think he wouldn’t have eventually figured it out.”

He drew in a deep breath and his features tightened.

“That’s right, Dad.
My
world. I don’t think it’s a secret any longer where I came from and what I am.”

“Wes would have found out eventually. Comes with the territory.”

“Why don’t you tell me a little bit about what happened to my real mother when you murdered her?” My lips thinned and I balled up my fists.

“That’s enough!” he roared, baring his teeth with a ferocious scowl. “Do you think I asked to take out a woman with a child? I never knew who my victims were until I arrived on their doorstep, and by then, it was too late to back out. I’ve never done a woman before or since. But don’t press your luck, because I just might decide a reunion is in order.”

I gasped.

Maizy’s expression was stoic, and it terrified me to see her withdrawing from reality.

“Get outside,” he said, pointing to the atrium.

“I’m going with you.”

“The hell you are. I don’t care if you are grown,” he said, actually unbuckling his belt like he was about to let me have it.

When it slid out of the loopholes of his pants, he expertly folded it with one hand.

“Think you scare me?”

His brow arched. “Maybe not, but I’ll sure scare the hell out of this one.” He gave Maizy a shake and I tethered the wolf in me from lunging—afraid I would hurt her inadvertently.

“Your own daughter?”

“She isn’t mine. No child of mine would ever steal from me.”

“Wes stole your alcohol all the time.”

Dad still got a facial tic when he was angry. “And my son isn’t here to defend himself and call you a liar, now is he?”

“What is this about?”

“The diamonds.”

I scratched the back of my neck and lowered my eyes to the floor. “Don’t you have them?”

“I had them the night I took your mother. After I dropped the excess baggage on the curb, they were gone,” he said, referring to Maizy. “By the time I noticed it the next day, I was too busy dodging a bunch of Shifters who were on my tail.”

I dropped to my knees and softened my voice. “Sweetie, did you take any pretty rocks from this man? If so, you need to give them back. Please, Maze, listen to Lexi and give him what you took. I know you didn’t mean it, and you’re not in trouble.”

Her lower lip poked out and I knew she’d taken them. At this point, I couldn’t have cared less if he ran off a rich man; I just wanted him to get out and leave us alone.

“I don’t got ’em anymore.”

My dad swung her forward and backward, making her shriek as she was flung around like a rag doll. “Then what did you do with them?” he bellowed.

“Stop it! You’re scaring her.”

Dad dropped the belt and pulled something from the back of his pants. He aimed a gun at me, and Maizy started to cry. “Think she’ll tell me if I put a hole in your leg?”

That’s when I truly saw my dad for the man he was. As he stared down the barrel of the gun, it allowed me to see the very last thing his victims saw. How many? Were they innocent? I thought about my mother in hysterics, trying to protect her young baby from harm. Was he holding me at the time so I could watch?

“Why did you have to kill my mother?” Pain surfaced unexpectedly in my words, slicing across my tongue like razorblades as I felt sorrow for a woman I would never know.

His gun slightly lowered and a memory flickered in his eyes. “It was also supposed to be you. My orders were that no one be left alive. She twisted around to cover you up, so I shot her in the back. I thought the bullet went through and killed you too, but she just fell over you, bleeding. I rolled her off but didn’t have it in me to kill an infant. You were covered in blood, and hell, your mother always wanted a girl.”

Maizy’s face was distraught and her words were barely a whine as they came through her tears. “Lexi, I want Mommy.”

Dad’s face cracked for a moment and he lowered his eyes, staring vacantly at the floor. I seized the opportunity and rushed forward.

He fired the gun.

Pain bit through my right arm and I clutched the wound with my other hand. The noise was so frightening that Maizy wriggled loose and ran out the front door. Warm liquid oozed between my fingers and snaked down my arm.

“Now do as I told you and get in there,” he said, shaking the gun.

I never imagined I’d be in a position of deciding my sister’s fate. He was unstable and likely to do something crazy if I didn’t comply. But if I obeyed him, that meant he would take her. The shock of my father shooting me hadn’t quite surfaced.

“If she hid the diamonds in the house and you leave, how do you think you’re going to get them back? You seem to think Maizy went home with Mom, but that’s not what happened. This is the only place she’s been. The stones are here somewhere.”

Which threw a giant wrench in his plans.

A loud engine cut off out front and I released a nervous breath. My dad picked up the belt and stalked toward the door with his gun in hand. I charged after him, fearing Austin or my mom would walk into the house, unsuspecting.

I tackled him in the hallway and we struggled, but the man was two inches taller and a hundred pounds stronger. He slammed me against the wall and I kicked him in the leg so hard he doubled over. Through the open door, a vision of horror consumed me.

McNeal patiently waited out front with Maizy in his arms. He was in uniform, except for the hat, and Maizy had her arms and legs wrapped around him. We used to tell Maizy if she ever got lost or separated from us to look for someone in uniform. I thought McNeal lied about working in law enforcement, covering up his real job. It sickened me to see he actually
did
work for them, and little did the humans know they had one of the most corrupt men masquerading as a good guy.

She had no idea she had just run into the arms of the enemy.

“Nice to see you again, Nelson Knight. Come on out and let’s talk for a spell.”

I dizzily leaned against a post, feeling close to throwing up. My dad aimed the gun at McNeal and my little sister.

“You killed my boy,” he growled, holding the gun steady and straight.

“Think your gun is really going to do anything, Nelson? We both know you’re just wasting your bullets on a Mage. Unless of course, you have another target,” he said, gently twisting left and right, rocking my sister.

Maizy had on her pink princess skirt with the white tights. The shirt didn’t match because it was yellow with cartoon characters on the front. She had spilled tomato sauce on her shirt and it was the only clean one I could find. I don’t know why I noticed something so trivial, but my mind memorized every insignificant detail. The way the sunlight sifted through the trees and picked up the gold in her hair and the way her cheek rested on his shoulder as she sucked her thumb.

Maizy hadn’t sucked her thumb since she was three years old and I bribed her with gum drops. Seeing that image disturbed me more than anything else.

I walked right past my father and stood between them, because I’d be damned if a shaky hand led to my sister getting shot. My dad spat curses at me, but I continued walking toward the Mage.

“Give me my sister,” I demanded.

“I believe I’m owed a few sparklies for this one.”

“Let me have her and I’ll help you,” I said. “Only Maizy knows where she put them, and she’s not going to talk to either of you, especially with you scaring her the way you are. Please trust me.”

“I don’t trust Shifters,” he said with a curl in his lip. “You’re nothing but a bunch of breeding cockroaches that need to be exterminated.”

Out of the corner of my eye, something moved behind the trees to my right. I kept my eyes locked on McNeal and my palms up. “I’ll promise anything you want. You don’t have to trust me, but I’ll get her to talk. She’ll listen, won’t you, Maze?”

Her blue eyes turned in my direction, glistening with tears and innocence.

McNeal bent down and set her feet on the ground, slowly rising up with a devilish grin.

“She’s all yours,” he said, the words slow and enigmatic.

Austin tossed the last can of empty paint into an oversized trash bag
. The late afternoon sun smeared an orange trail of light on the porch, and all the windows on the lower floor were kept open after Ben inadvertently got high in the bathroom from the paint fumes. They couldn’t have asked for better weather, but the manual labor made it miserable.

He’d gone outside to spray down the mud they’d tracked on the porch when Denver grabbed the hose and blasted a cold shot of water in his face.

“Jesus!” he yelled with a laugh. “Cut it out.” Austin threw up his right arm to block, but he could hardly complain because it felt great. Denver aimed the nozzle straight up in the air and it showered them with water.

“You boys get away from the house. You’re going to get spots all over the windows I just cleaned,” Lynn yelled from inside.

“Damn,” Denver breathed, clicking the nozzle off. “Our mom would really like that woman. Those two were probably separated at birth.” He strolled to the end of the porch and sat down, taking off his sneakers and spraying his feet to cool them off. “Why is it women can never let a man have any fun? They just want to fuss about something.”

“They’re practical,” Austin said, shaking off some of the water droplets from his hair. “We live in the moment and they think about what’s coming. If they didn’t keep us in check, we’d fuck up the planet.”

“Yeah, well, I still think that cooling off and preventing a heatstroke is more practical than spots on the windows,” he complained as a rainbow formed in the fine mist rising from the green hose.

Denver had always been the free spirit of the family—untamable. Truthfully, Austin didn’t really want to break him. Not the way most Packmasters would. Denver loved people and that’s why he worked as a bartender. His wolf was the only one who needed an attitude adjustment.

Jericho was the seducer in the family, although it never made sense because the man looked like he hardly showered. Denver was different. He could have any woman out there—he’d obviously hijacked all the best genes in the family. A masculine face combined with a mischievous smile won them over every time. But during their outings at the Shifter bar, he mostly hung out at the pool tables. He flirted like nobody’s business, but was too damn selective to get serious. Who knows, maybe he didn’t think they were good enough for him. Denver was only fifteen years older than Austin, although he looked younger.

“You wanna head back?” Denver asked.

“Yeah.” Something was bothering Austin, so he picked up Reno’s phone and dialed Lexi.

No answer.

Maybe she’d gone outside and left the phone on the counter, but Lexi had promised to keep it with her at all times. Something didn’t
feel
right, and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Everyone has intuition to some degree and most people blow it off.

Austin wasn’t about to be most people.

“Heading out,” he announced.

“I’ll come with,” Denver called out from behind, jogging across the dirt with wet feet.

“Why don’t you stay behind and help clean up?”

Denver snagged a handful of Austin’s shirt and yanked him back. “Because I feel that shit too. Something ain’t right.”

Austin tossed Reno’s phone at Denver. “Call Wheeler and tell him what’s up. I want them to sit tight, lock the doors, and watch the women.”

Austin barely remembered getting in the car and starting the engine, but the next thing he knew, they were flying down the main road with rubber chewing up asphalt. The low afternoon sun splintered through the windshield and he squinted, having left his sunglasses at the house.

“Still no answer,” Denver said after the fifth attempt at calling Lexi.

Who the hell could be on his property? “I want you to get Lorenzo Church on the phone.” Austin recited the number while Denver handed him the phone.

“This is Church.”

“Stay away from Lexi,” Austin growled. “I want you and your men to back off.”

“Hold on, is this Cole?” Laughter on the other end, and it only kindled the fire. “Good God, you
are
paranoid.”

“You think I’m fucking with you? Try me.” Austin gripped the steering wheel so hard it could have snapped. “Touch her and I’ll break every finger on your hand. Take her, and I’ll break your neck.”

“What is this call about? You’re wasting my time. I no longer have a man assigned to guard her, if that’s what you’re asking. That was her wish, and I will not force myself on any woman.”

“It’s not him,” Austin said, glancing at Denver.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Church snapped, all humor erased from his voice.

Austin hung up and his foot became a cinderblock on the gas pedal. He dialed Prince, but it went to voicemail.

When they arrived at the turnoff, he slammed on the brakes and took off on foot. If someone was there, he didn’t want to tip him off. Every muscle burned as adrenaline rocketed him up the road until the house came into view.

So did another scene.

A gun.

A wolf.

Blood.

A scream.

His heart almost stopped.

***

Maizy remained motionless in front of McNeal, sucking her thumb with a vacant stare in her eyes. I kept my focus on the Mage, ignoring my father’s shouts. They got into a heated argument and my arm was on fire from the gunshot, but the only thing that existed in my world was my little sister.

I knelt down and noticed her eyes were fixed on the blood trickling down my arm. “Come on, sweetie. It’s okay. You’re not in trouble. Come over here and let me give you a big squeeze, ’kay?”

“Maybe if I put a little shock into her, that’ll wake her up.” McNeal laughed, holding out his hands.

I had no idea what a Mage could do, but Austin had told me enough that it had me on my feet in less than a second. Before I could lunge, my father looped his belt around my neck and ran the strap through the buckle, yanking me back as if I were on a leash. The cold barrel of a gun pressed against my right temple.

That’s when I saw the big picture. A large black-and-grey wolf bared its teeth at McNeal, stalking forward from the right. I could tell it was Prince from his unique multicolored eyes.

Austin and Denver looked like soldiers charging into battle as they sprinted up the driveway.

The Mage twisted around, and seeing the imminent danger coming at him from all sides, he reached for Maizy.

Prince’s wolf lunged, driving his sharp teeth into McNeal’s arm and thrashing about in violent motions. The Mage put his right hand on the wolf’s head and he yelped, but didn’t let go.

Maizy started to wail.

In a split second, Denver shifted mid-run. Clothes fell to the ground and in a blur of movement, his grey-and-white wolf charged toward Maizy.

I screamed, not able to comprehend seeing my little sister torn to pieces in front of me.

My father could barely maintain a grip as I struggled against him, reaching for my Maizy.

Oh God.
Please
, no.

My legs gave way, my father called me an ugly name, and that’s when I witnessed the unimaginable.

Denver’s wolf wrapped his body around Maizy, protecting her from the attack that ensued before her eyes between the Mage and Packmaster’s wolf.

Austin approached at a steady pace and his blue eyes were electric.

“Get back or I’ll shoot her,” my dad warned. “All of you freaks get back.”

At the edge of the woods, a pack of wolves stood like soldiers awaiting orders. They watched their Packmaster with the sapphire and brown eyes as he savagely attacked McNeal.

Dizzy and panting, I looked at Maizy and saw Denver’s wolf taking slow steps, pushing her farther away from the violence. He faced the action and bared his teeth, but his sole purpose was to guard Maizy. I’d never seen anything like it. Austin had warned me Denver’s wolf had a vicious and unpredictable nature, one that couldn’t be trusted.

Except with a six-year-old little girl who adored him.

McNeal made a guttural moan as the wolf’s canines pierced into his other arm, rendering them useless for harnessing energy as a weapon. His left arm had been jerked from the socket, and large chunks of flesh were stripped to the bone. The Mage kept reaching for slices of sunlight filtering through the tangled branches that would allow him to heal, but the trees were tall and the sun was low.

“Let her go, Nelson. Lexi’s your daughter, whether she came from your body or not,” Austin said in a steady voice, slowing his pace as he neared. “You raised her, fed her, and looked after her as one of your own. Don’t do anything irrational because of greed or fear.”

Austin’s eyes flicked briefly to my bleeding arm and he flexed his jaw. Strange things drifted in my head. Like, why was he shirtless with wet pants? What was the story behind his tattoos? Had he ever thought about me in the years since Wes’s death? Did he still like to eat Cheetos with cheese dip? Would I ever get to know these things, or was the gun against my head the last thing I’d experience in my life?

And when his frosty eyes lingered on me, I wanted to tell him I loved him. Loved him since I could remember, and now I knew without a doubt what I felt was more than a childhood crush or an attraction to my own kind. Austin didn’t feel the same way, but it didn’t erase how I felt. He had once vowed to kill the man responsible for ordering Wes’s death, but Austin didn’t flinch as a wolf took the honors and tore that man apart.

“I just want to get out of here,” my father said. “Let me through and you can keep the fucking diamonds. I only wanted to get this guy off my ass. It’s more trouble than it’s worth. Now that you have him, feel free to take him out for me. That bastard killed my boy.”

Austin inched forward. “I’ve spent the last seven years wanting to find the person responsible for killing Wes, and it led me to you. That Mage ordered his death, but
you
brought him into the dark corners of our world without a clue of how immortals perceive humans as disposable goods. You put your family in the line of fire by sending your
son
to work for a
Mage
!”

It was then I realized what Austin was doing. He was trying to get my father to turn the gun on him.

“Austin,” I pleaded, trying to distract him. “No. Please don’t do this. The Mage is the one you want. Wes wasn’t given orders to kill just anyone, Austin.
You
were supposed to be his first hit.”

He blanched as the words speared through him, and I had him for just a split second. The more Austin confronted my father, the more I feared for his life. My dad could shoot a cherry off a tin can, and Austin stood at point-blank range. But his eyes were resolute, and he never backed down.

Prince’s wolf yelped as the Mage threw another burst of energy into him. They weren’t sorcerers but powerful immortals who harnessed energy like a weapon. Blood was everywhere, and Denver’s wolf was almost out of sight. Suddenly, Maizy wrapped her arms around his neck and I scarcely breathed. My heart skipped like a stone across the water until Denver’s wolf slowly trotted out of sight with her safely on his back.

“Wes is in the ground because of you,” Austin continued.

“You don’t know jack shit,” my dad shouted. “I should have known you were one of them. You think I wanted my boy growing up and struggling like I did for so long? The job paid well and he was willing.”

“He didn’t want money, Nelson. Wes wanted immortality. That’s why he bartered with the Mage. He was star-struck with our world—wanted to be one of us. Let your daughter go; there have been enough casualties.”

I’d never been in a situation like this before. I was just a girl who worked at a candy store and had a regular life.

Something flashed in Austin’s eyes… something dark and bottomless. My dad must have seen it too, because he pulled me to the right side of the porch using the belt. He was going to make a run for it.

Out of nowhere, Lorenzo appeared from the side of the house and seized my father’s wrist. He jerked his arm away and the gun went off. I stumbled forward and Austin caught me around the waist before I fell.

“So you are the human who killed my aunt?” Lorenzo said, holding my father by the throat. “You’ve caused us much grief over the years, and it’s time to face the jury.”