Stalked (Rogues Shifter #2) (23 page)

He spoke very softy, but the power behind his wor
ds held me frozen in my chair. “Jacqueline, the Fae Council needs your help and you have offered us your service. I believe that your sister’s adopted father and his pack have been holding some of my people captive so that Lord Kennet could use them as pawns in his political schemes. He is blackmailing their fae families to gain power in his reach for a council seat. Your sister is involved in this as well, so I need you to lure Bridgett to you so that I can question her.”

I stood up, not quite believing what I was hearing. “
But why didn't you or your father mention this to us while we were in Faerie? How many fae are missing?"

"Six. We
made the decision not to tell you because we believed this was strictly a fae matter that did not involve other supernatural groups. But now that we know Bridgett and her pack are involved, I'm asking for your help. I regret that this may lead to more danger involving Kennett, but my people must be found."

He saw the anger in my expression. "
Bridgett isn’t doing anything to harm the fae. You’re wrong. Maybe her dad is, but not her.”

He stoo
d and faced me. “This is a serious situation. You are an ally and so you are obligated to help my people if it is within your power.” His tone turned harsh. “I will question Bridgett, whether you are there or not. If you are there, it might be easier on her. You can relax her with your energy.”

“You can too.”

“I will not be offering her any comfort.” The anger in his face frightened me.

"But you won’t hurt her
, will you?”

He turned away. “If she has
harmed my people I have the right to kill her.” I watched his hands clench as he tried to hold in his fury.

I
reached out and grabbed his arm roughly. “Would you hurt my sister?”

As he stared at me, his violet eyes slowly lost their rage, but his mouth remained set in a thin line. “I will try not to, but I must have this information. They must be released. From what you describe, they are below ground and surrounded by iron. A Seelie fae kep
t away from the sunlight and fresh air and surrounded by the metal that poisons us, is suffering constantly, barely able to sleep or eat. Some of them have been missing for six months. If Bridgett knows where they are, she will tell me. I will do whatever I have to do to force her to tell me.”

I walked away and sat down on the couch, putting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. I wanted to call Bridgett to warn her, but I knew that Liam would stop me, and in the end it wouldn’t matter. He’d find her and he’d make her talk. These were his people. If it was me, and Garrett or any of my friends were being held and tortured by the fae, wouldn’t I question Liam’s brother if I thought he had in
formation? Wouldn’t I hurt him to get to the truth?

Still I knew that if I showed up with Liam and forced myself into Bridgett’s mind, or forced her to betray her adopted father or his pack, that would be the end of any chance I’d have to get close to her. I’d lose her before I ever really had a chance to know her. It might even destroy her, and I’d be responsible.

Liam was standing very still and watching me with an intensity that I’d never seen him wear before. Liam was dear to me, a trusted friend who’d saved my life and Garrett’s too. How well did I know Bridgett? Maybe she
has
been involved with kidnapping and torturing Fae.  She said she was afraid about something. Maybe it was all getting out of control and she wanted to confess to someone. Maybe she would give us all the information without hesitation.

Yeah, maybe I was Tinkerbell and Liam was Peter Pan.

I stood slowly and walked to him, meeting his violet eyes with my emerald ones. “Liam, I’ll do whatever I can for you. I’ll try to get her to tell us where your people are and then I’ll help you get them out. I’m doing this for
you
, Liam, not for the fae Elders, or the fae people. But if you—damage her—I may not be able to forgive you or myself.” Liam nodded solemnly but said nothing. “I’ll leave Garrett a note and then we’ll go.”

I knew that Liam would protect me from any danger we encountered. Still I shook as I wrote a quick note with a brief outline of my dream and our decision to question Bridgett. I would call him if we learned anything.  Liam had gotten a bag with some fruit, bread, cheese and water for me, since I hadn’t eaten anything and I’d need my strength. I ran downstairs to tell Ralph that I was going out with Liam and that he shoul
d keep an eye on things for me.

“Which car should we take?” I asked Liam.

“There is no need.” He strode forward and wrapped his arms around me. Instantly I was traveling through the ley lines with Liam holding me against him. The heat of the magic flowed through my veins in a pulsing rhythm, like a heartbeat: like the
earth’s
heartbeat. It was like flying the air currents without wings or sailing over the cresting waves without a boat: exhilarating and terrifying all at once. I clutched at Liam’s shirt and buried my head against his shoulder and he responded by tightening his hold, trying to make me feel secure. Just as suddenly I was standing on a wooded hill facing the school where classes were just letting out. I could see Bridgett exiting the building and walking toward her car. Liam stood in the shadows of the trees, so I waved and called out to her.

“Hey, Bridgett!”

She looked up and smiled, seeming genuinely happy to see me. She trudged up the hill and gave me a hug which I returned a little stiffly, knowing that this may be the last time we’d ever hug each other.

“Hi, Jackie. Why are you up here on this hill?”

“Could you come with me to talk to someone?  He’s a good friend of mine.”

“Sure, I like all
your friends.”

I led her into the woods a little ways and then Liam appeared in front of her. She gasped and stepped back, obviously
very
familiar with what Liam was.

“You’re one of them. Get the fuck away from me, fairy.” She turned to run away, but I grabbed her hand and stopped her. I ca
ught a whiff of cut grass and recognized the scent from the corridor in my dreams. My heart sank as I realized that Bridgett was involved in the kidnappings and may not survive Liam’s interrogation.

“He just wants to ask a few questions.”

“I don’t talk to them. They murdered my mom.”

“That
is a lie.” Liam's voice chilled my heart.

“My dad
doesn’t lie to me, so shut the hell up.” She tried to pull away but I was much stronger and now had a firm grip on her arm. She took her cell phone out of her pocket, but I knocked it away, picking it up and putting it in my pocket.

She looked at me
like I’d slapped her. “What are you doing? We’re sisters. You can’t side with this guy.”

“
Liam is a very good friend. He doesn't want to hurt you, he just needs information. Six of his people have been kidnapped and are being held prisoner. Do you know where they are?”

Bridgett immediately looked at the ground. “I don’t know shit.” She yanked her arm, trying again to break free of my grasp. “Let go of me.”
Her voice cracked in a combination of anger and fear.

Despite her words,
I could smell the lie and so could Liam. He’d kept his distance this whole time, but as soon as it was evident she did know something, he moved closer. “Bridgett, your adopted mother died when your father had too much to drink and ran their car off the road. He only ended up with a few minor injuries, but your mother was not as lucky.

“That’s not true.” She started
to cry, her voice pleading. “Please let me go. I’m—I’m going to be in trouble if I don’t get right home.”

I grabbed her other arm and made her look at me. “People are being tortured. Their families are desperate to find them. You need to do the right thing and tell us where they are.”

“Yeah?  Who says that's the right thing? They’re not human or shifter or wolf or even vamp. They’re
fae
.” She said it like it was something disgusting. She’d been brainwashed for the last ten years into believing that the fae had killed her mother. Liam’s eyes were locked on hers and his hand rested on the hilt of his blade. This wasn’t good. If Liam got rough with her, it would just confirm every lie that she’d been taught.

I shook her slightly to get her attention.
“I don’t have time for your stupid prejudices. Tell me where they are. They may need medical help. I don't want to force it out of your head, but I will if I have to.”

She hesitated. “He’ll kill my dad.”

“Who?”

“The tall fae who’s paying us.”

“Kennet?” I glanced quickly at Liam, but his eyes were only on my sister.

“He doesn’t tell us his name, he just tells us who to get next and where they’ll be. He has dark purple ey
es and really long hair, almost white, and his smile is mean looking.”

Liam had drawn his blade and was starting to move toward Bridgett. I released one of her arms and held up my hand.
“I need more time.”
As soon as I was distracted she wrenched away from me and took off running like the wind. She was peeling off her clothes as she went so I followed, doing the same. “I’ll catch her, bring my clothes,” I yelled back at Liam as I pulled my shirt over my head.

Being in cheetah form was exhilarating and I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t trying to keep up with the cheetah in front of me. She was fast, but I was faster, mainly because I was larger and my legs were longer. I quickly caught her, pouncing on her back and stopping her momentum. She growled at me and bit into my leg, so I cuffed her snout with the back of my paw and she let me go, giving me the opportunity
to slam her face into the dirt.

I hissed and forced myself into her mind,
“You will tell me the truth.”

I felt her shudder and shift back to human underneath me. As Liam stepped into the small clearing with our clothes
, I moved away so that my claws didn’t dig into her vulnerable human skin. Even as angry as I was, I didn’t want her bleeding. While I shifted back to human form and dressed quickly, Liam guarded her with his blade drawn, his eyes glowing gold with fury. He was showing incredible restraint, and I knew it wasn’t going to last if Bridgett didn’t start to talk.

She lay on the dirt in the fetal position crying quietly. She wasn’t very strong
, and shifting had completely exhausted her. Liam dropped her clothes on the ground near her feet so she put them on and then leaned her back against a tree looking truly pathetic.

As wretched
as she looked, I’d had it with being nice. “You and your dad have been working with the fae Lord who tried to kill Ethan: a fae who’s been trying to force me to have his child. You need to tell us what part you played in all of this. If you don’t tell me where these people are being held, I’ll leave you to Liam’s mercy.” Her eyes were wide saucers and her body shook with fear as she stared at the blade that dangled in front of her face.

“I brought them food. I’m resistant to some magic, so I was able to go in and out of the cells without the prisoners affecting me. They’re chained up
, so they can’t physically touch me. I’m not as resistant if they touch me.”

“Are they chained with iron or steel?” Liam’s voice was a deadly whisper as he moved the blade closer to her neck.

She nodded her head. “I think so. I didn’t have anything to do with capturing them.” She looked pleadingly up at me. “You’re not going to let him kill me are you?”

The point of his blade had made its way under her chin. A trickle of blood ran down her neck to pool at the base of her throat. He answered her in a hoarse whisper. “Bridgett, you knew they were there. All of this time you knew and you let them suffer. Would you like to know how it feels for a fae to be chained in cold iron?” Liam’s mouth had turned down at the corners and h
is eyes were cruel, no longer glittering with their usual good humor. I began to fear for Bridgett’s life.

He reached out to touch her shoulder and she suddenly went very still as if his magic was freezing her i
n place. Then her body slumped and she wrapped her arms around her stomach and started to sob and groan, gasping out, “But I...I didn’t know. I thought they were just chains like any other chains. I didn’t know.” I tapped into the lines to see her yellow aura become muddy and dark. She was sinking into a deep depression, obviously in great pain.

I put my hand on Liam’s and looked into his swirling eyes.
“We need to know where they are
," I sent, and he lifted his hand from her shoulder and stepped away. I could see the control he needed to do that simple action in the set of his jaw and the tautness of his body. He wanted her to suffer as his people are suffering. He wanted her death to be painful. He was on the edge and I had to keep everything from spinning out of control.

I crouched down next to her as I watched her aura grow clearer. “How was it done? How did the weres know where to find them?”

“The tall fae told the weres where they’d be. He’d send the fae out of Faerie on errands and the pack caught them by shooting them with tranquilizer darts or tasers.”