[Southern Arcana 2.0] Crossroads (13 page)
Don’t forget that she’s traumatized and trapped in a car with the woman you want to protect.
Alec glanced at him. “Where’s Nick taking her? To Jackson?”
“Yeah.”
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71
Moira Rogers
“Kat’s probably not going to flip her shit before they get there, but you need to call Jackson and give him a heads-up. He may have to do something to keep her from leaking all over everyone, and I don’t know if she needs to be cuddling up to Michelle right now.”
Derek hesitated. “What about Andrew? When will you know?”
Franklin looked up and fixed him with a piercing green stare. “If the wolf hadn’t taken hold already, he’d be dead. For now, he’s stable. He’ll live.”
“As one of us?” A second-class citizen scorned by a society who thought anyone not born a shapeshifter might as well not
be
a shapeshifter.
“As one of
us
,” Alec confirmed, and the slight emphasis on the last word made it clear he wasn’t making any such distinctions. “Go call Jackson. Tell him about Kat. Tell him…” Alec hesitated and cast a helpless look at Franklin. “Shit, have you ever seen a psychic in shock?”
“A few.” He swabbed Andrew’s inner elbow and opened a plastic package. “Make sure someone there knows how to recognize the physical symptoms of shock. Emotionally, she’ll probably lose whatever barriers she has, at least temporarily. She might be so drained she can’t do much, but it could uncomfortable for everyone around her.”
“Jackson will know,” Alec said. “Hell, Aaron probably will too.”
“Got it.” Derek spared Andrew’s still form one last look before hurrying into the front office. He skirted around Kat’s desk and stopped at Alec’s. Two deep breaths ensured he wouldn’t end up crushing the phone, and he dialed Jackson’s cell phone from memory.
“Alec?”
“It’s Derek.” He drew in a breath. “Alec wanted me to call you. Nick’s on her way back with Kat, and Kat’s…not in good shape.”
Jackson swore. “Is she hurt? What about Andrew?”
“Andrew’s got Alec and Franklin up to their elbows in his guts, and will be howling at the moon soon.” The words came out too harsh, but he couldn’t seem to stop them. “I guess Kat watched an elite shapeshifter attack squad tear him up and then flipped her shit and used her empathy to erase their minds.” It took Jackson a long time to answer. “Okay. We’ll handle things here. Tell Alec to call me as soon as Andrew’s out of the woods.”
The words were too calm, and they grated on Derek’s already ragged temper. “Did you
hear
me? My cousin took down a pair of fucking commando shifters with her brain. Can you keep her from doing the same to you?”
To Nick, goddamn it?
Though he remained calm, the wizard’s voice held a sharp edge. “I’ll know what to do when she gets here and I see how bad off she is. The only thing I know with any certainty right now is that Nick doesn’t have a clue what happened to those men, or she sure the fuck wouldn’t be happy about bringing Kat to the 72
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safe house where her pregnant sister is hiding out. Do I have a solid grasp of the situation, Gabriel, or would you like to yell at me some more?”
Derek forced himself to breathe, but the air in the office still reeked of blood and fear. He shuddered and exhaled on a sigh. “Sorry, Jackson. Not my best day. Just—take care of both of them, and I’ll be there as soon as Andrew’s okay.”
“I’ll take care of them. You can count on that. You just look out for yourself.”
“Thanks, Jackson.”
“You’re welcome.”
He dropped the phone back into its cradle and stared at it. The last thing he wanted to do was go back into the room where Andrew struggled for life and two dead men served as a reminder of what Kat had done, of what she was
capable
of.
There was no alternative. So he squared his shoulders and did what needed to be done.
Nick had seen people on the verge of a breakdown before. By the time they made it out of the city, she’d almost turned the car around a dozen times. Kat sat in the passenger seat, unmoving, and stared out the window.
Derek would never forgive Nick if his baby cousin lost her grip on sanity on her watch. She gripped the steering wheel and tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind.
Finally, she said, “Andrew will be okay. Franklin will make sure of it.” Kat made a quiet noise, something that sounded almost like a whimper. “I need Jackson. He can stop me.”
The words didn’t make sense. “Stop you from what?”
The girl fell silent again.
“Kat—” Nick choked on the words as fear and something darker flooded the interior of the car. “Kat, please.”
“I can’t talk.” The hoarse words sounded like she’d forced them out around broken glass. “I can’t think, Nick. I can’t—can’t do anything until Jackson is here to keep you safe. To keep everyone safe.”
“Okay.” Nick focused her attention on the road. Whatever had happened in Alec and Jackson’s office had traumatized Kat even worse than she’d feared. “It’ll be okay.” Kat didn’t respond, simply turned her face back to the window and rode in silence.
Jackson opened the passenger door before the car came to a full stop. “Hey there, Kat. Come on, honey.”
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Fear tore through the car, strong enough to make Nick’s heart hammer even though the emotion wasn’t her own. Kat spilled into Jackson’s arms as a wrenching sob shook her. “It was me—my fault—”
“Shh. Come on.”
Nick jumped out of the car and hurried around to help him. “Have you heard from Derek or Alec yet?”
He ignored her as he drew Kat out of the car. “Let’s get you inside, sweetheart.” Kat yanked free of him and stumbled back two steps. “
No.
Her sister’s in there! And your
mother
.
You can’t let—Jackson, you have to stop me!” She took another step away, directly into a shaft of moonlight that had filtered through the trees surrounding them.
She looked terrified—and terrifying. Her once brightly colored cotton sundress was liberally soaked in blood, blood that was beginning to dry on her bare arms and legs. It was drying in her hair too, making it stick to the side of her ashen face. But all of that paled compared to the look in her eyes, a panic bordering on madness.
“I can make you sleep,” he whispered, “but what if you dream, Kat? What kinds of emotions would you be projecting?” He held out his hand. “We trust you. Come inside.” Kat wavered, and her gaze jumped to Nick. “Didn’t Alec tell you?” He hadn’t, but Nick was pretty sure the sinking feeling in her gut meant some part of her had already figured it out. She fought a quick battle against the urge to get Kat away from the cabin, away from her
sister
, and finally took a deep breath. “It’s like Jackson says, Kat. Come inside.”
“I lost control.” It came out as a hoarse whisper, and Kat curled her fingers toward her palms, clenching her hands until her knuckles turned white. “They said they were going to take me somewhere and make me talk. Make me tell them about Alec’s safe houses. Andrew—” She choked on a sob. “He just wanted to protect me and they hurt him and I
lost control
and they shifted and he just kept bleeding—” Nick caught her before she fell, and they hit the grass together. Jackson made a noise of protest, but Nick held up a hand.
Kat shuddered, fear and self-loathing heavy in the air. “I had to do it. I had to stop them. Because it was my fault they attacked him. It was
my fault
.”
Nick’s arms tightened around her. “It wasn’t, Kat. They thought you had information they wanted, and they decided Andrew was in their way. They would have killed him.”
“Because of me!”
Pain lanced through Nick. “Because of my family,” she corrected quietly. “My sister’s here, and Alec is helping me hide her.”
Kat stiffened in her arms, but her voice stayed quiet. Tense. “You really believe this is happening because of you.”
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“It’s the truth. Michelle wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t run away from it all. From New York and my family and—”
And my responsibilities.
She remembered the stricken, enraged look on Derek’s face when he’d seen his cousin covered in his best friend’s blood. “None of you would be hurt if it weren’t for me.”
“Andrew wouldn’t be hurt if I’d—” She shuddered again, and this time the shivering didn’t stop. “I did worse than kill them, Nick. I raped their minds until there was nothing left. I b-broke them…”
“You did what you had to do, and now you’re going to forget about it for a while.” Nick moved until her eyes met Kat’s. “We’ll get you inside and cleaned up and then call about Andrew, okay?” Kat’s face went sickly pale. “I’m covered in his blood.”
Shit.
“Come on, sweetie. You can take a shower.”
“I’m covered in his blood.” The words rose in pitch and volume, a sure sign of oncoming hysteria. “I had my hands in—in him—”
She could chase Kat down if she needed to, but the woman was going to go crazy if Nick kept holding her. She let go, and Kat scurried away across the damp grass. She made it a few feet before losing the contents of her stomach, retching until sobs overtook her.
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Chapter Ten
Nick tried not to slam the cabinet as she searched for a bigger pot. “When the zombie apocalypse comes, we can’t hide out in one of Alec’s houses. He doesn’t stock them for shit.” Mackenzie watched from her perch by the counter. “What are you looking for?”
“A big pot,” Nick growled. “I was going to make something, but I only know how to make waffles, and that’s only because Derek taught me. Anything else I made would be inedible, so what the hell am I doing?”
“You’re coping. Kat’s in there crying herself sick on Jackson’s mom and if you weren’t so worried about Derek you might be wondering if all that shit you told me about crazy people’s decisions not being my fault was really bullshit.”
“That attack tonight wasn’t ordered by a crazy person.” She’d known it would come eventually, but she thought they’d have more time. She sure as hell hadn’t expected Kat and Andrew to get caught in the crossfire. “Shit. That almost makes this worse, doesn’t it?”
Mackenzie shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know is that life sucks when people get hurt.” Nick dropped a small pan on the counter and covered her face with both hands. “I don’t know what to do, Mac. There’s only one thing I could do to make this all go away, and that won’t save Aaron’s life.” Strong, steady arms folded around her. “First thing we’re going to do is bundle Jackson’s mother out of the state. I’ll put her in the goddamn car myself if I have to. Then you’ll have me and Alec and Jackson.
And Mahalia. Jesus, don’t forget her. You’re not in this alone.”
“And Derek.” Fear trembled through Nick, and she tried to steady her breathing. “This whole situation has cost him so much already. If I could get him to go away, I’d do it in a millisecond. But he won’t go. He never will.”
“No, he won’t.” Mackenzie’s words were quiet and certain. “No more than Aaron’s going to leave Michelle, or I’m going to leave Jackson.”
“It’s selfish to want him to leave. I know it is, and I still can’t stop.” Nick pulled away from Mackenzie and swiped at her burning eyes. “It’s not right.”
“Well, then we’re both assholes. I’m not leaving Jackson, but I’d lock him in a closet in a heartbeat to keep him out of this shit. I think that’s what you referred to as instinct when I bitched about it while he was getting better.”
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“Yeah.” Nick paced, trying to relieve the nervous tension twisting her into knots. “Derek’s best friend almost died, and God knows what tonight has done to Kat. How will he be able to look at me? I can barely look at me.”
“You really want to know?” Her friend’s gaze held its own pain. “Call Mahalia and ask her how she manages to look at me when the man she loved
died
protecting me.”
Forgiveness.
Nick started to speak, but the sharp trill of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts. She scrambled for the phone, her heart pounding. “Hello?”
Derek’s voice crackled across the line. “I knew Alec was a crazy bastard, but you never told me just how bad he could get.”
“Oh, crap. What did he do?”
He hesitated just long enough to spin the tension in her stomach tighter. “Kidnapped Luciano.” Nick gritted her teeth. Alec might be crazy, but he wasn’t stupid. “Where is he going?”
“We’re going to Alec’s house. Which I suppose makes me an accomplice.” She snatched up her keys. “Jackson and Nancy are taking care of Kat. I’m on my way.” Someone had to make sure Alec didn’t forget himself and kill Enrica Maglieri’s golden child. “Just…keep Alec busy and don’t let him knock Luciano around too much.”
“Violence doesn’t seem to be on the menu, though I think Alec’s keeping it in reserve. He said something about leverage.”
“Of course he did.” Which meant he didn’t think Luciano was really responsible for the attack on Andrew and Kat. “How’d Luke take it?”
“About as well as anyone getting kidnapped, I guess. He’s unconscious and tied up.”
“Christ. I’m on my way.” She flipped the phone shut and growled at Mackenzie. “Did you catch that?”
“I should—” Mackenzie seized the edge of the counter and swore. “Someone needs to go with you, Nick. Jackson’s not leaving Kat and his mother, but if Alec’s decided to start throwing people in his goddamn truck…”
“Nicky?” It was Michelle’s voice, soft and worried. Her sister stepped through the narrow doorway into the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
The last thing Michelle needed to worry about was Alec fucking around with shapeshifter politics.
“It’s nothing. I’m handling it.”
“
Nick
.” Power tickled up Nick’s spine as Michelle frowned at her. “Don’t treat me like an invalid.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Fine. Alec went off the rails and snatched Luke Maglieri from his hotel.”
“Damn.”
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