Sword of Mercy (21 page)

Gordon’s jaw clenched and he balled his fist.
“I do not like surprises.”

Lancaster chuckled and shook his head in a
mocking gesture. “You shouldn’t have grown so close to him. He’s a
wolf. An animal, a different species altogether and will never be
your son.”

Gordon’s hand flew out before he could think
to check his actions. The fight on the mat stopped. Hybrids and
Damian watched as Lancaster spun from the force of the blow but did
not fall. Instead, he licked the blood from the corner of his lips
while watching Gordon with a narrowed gaze.

“You should never have done that.”

Gordon silently agreed. Over the decades, he’d
seen the man’s cruelty and knew better than most how vindictive
Lancaster could be. But the deed was done and he refused to
apologize. The cut healed after leaking a few seconds and Lancaster
straightened. If anger had a sound, Gordon would say Lancaster
vibrated with it. The mark remained on his cheek as he looked
toward Damian.

Gordon’s chest constricted at the pointed
gaze. Lancaster would destroy Damian to get back at him. “I
apologize. I should never have done that.” The words tasted like
sawdust.

“No you should not have. It will cost you.”
Lancaster turned and left the small gym.

Gordon watched him leave with
unease.

“Sir, are you alright? Do you require
anything?” Damian asked, standing nearby watching him
closely.

Without meeting his gaze, Gordon shook his
head. What had he done? A sense of dread ran over him, leaving him
cold. Lancaster would destroy Damian out of spite and there was
little he could do about it. The other Lords complained about Boris
behind closed doors, but none would go against him. Not even
Roderick, their leader. For decades Boris had led the Liege down
this path of lies and deceit, operating in the gray areas of their
agreement with the old Alphas rather than the letter. Gordon no
longer had the stomach for it. Despite being dual-natured, Damian’s
human side controlled his wolf and actions. He was a good boy,
loyal and kind hearted. Damian deserved a chance. Gordon knew he
wouldn’t sit by and allow Lancaster to destroy the pup he loved as
a son.

Chapter 21

Hawke and Asia headed toward their vehicle.
There had been so many revelations in the past hour she needed a
few moments alone with her mate to settle a few things in her mind.
She had lost him. In the darkest moment of his rage, he blacked out
and she couldn’t reach him and that bothered her. “We need to get
some answers right now,” she said, opening the car door and sliding
into the passenger seat.

“Mistress
?” Asia opened the link for
Hawke, tapped her finger along her leg and glanced out the window.
Radoff and Maheegan walked at a clipped pace across the yard toward
the main building. Had they learned more about the birthmark? So
much had happened she hadn’t asked.

“Asia, how’s it going
?”

Asia told Jasmine everything.

“Silas, have you ever heard of a mate being
kicked out like that
?” Jasmine asked.

“He did not kick her out. His
beast protected her. When the beast loses control to that extent,
he will not allow his mate to be hurt by the emotional backlash.
Believe me it could have caused you pain and discomfort. His wolf
would cease to exist before he allowed that and could never be the
direct cause.”

“So his beast closed me out to protect
me
?” Asia asked watching Hawke.

“He will always protect you first, he can
do nothing else
,” Silas said with implacable
resolve.

“Thank you for explaining, I did not know
the answer when she asked,”
Hawke said.

“Understandable. The plan is to find Gordon
or Lancaster and break the covenant?”
Silas asked.

“Gordon? Is he here
?” Asia remembered
the dapper man she’d seen a few times over the years. Back then he
wore a goatee with long sideburns and had thick bushy eyebrows over
dark brown eyes, being one of the shorter Lords he always seemed to
stand out.

“Yes. He arrived yesterday,”
Silas
said
. “This one is different than Lancaster, not as slippery. He
works directly with LOBO which I believe is in the states. Leon and
Brix are searching possible locations right now. Gordon’s old
school aristocracy, blue blood. I don’t have a lot on him, but I
sent Angus a copy of a picture when he was a younger
man.”

“Great,
” Asia said. “
How can we get
in touch with Ulric? He mentioned to Angus that Lancaster arrived,
hopefully he can give us some information that will point us in the
right direction.”

“Why haven’t you linked with Angus yet
Hawke
?” Silas asked.

“We just never got around to it. Things are
moving fast
,” Hawke said. “
We need to tell Angus of our
change of plans. He and Chacal were headed north this morning.
Chacal wanted to check a place that they’d seen before. He thinks
they missed something.”

“He mentioned that. How large is Radoff’s
pack
?” Silas asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve seen fifty in one
place
,” she said thinking of the hotel where they first met the
Alpha. “
There may be more
.”

“You’ll need to pull Ulric into this as
well for backup. Understand, you two have lead on this, especially
since the pack cannot kill Lancaster and Gordon until the contract
is broken, it’s important to keep them alive until
then
.”

Asia frowned. “
I don’t
understand
.”

“Imagine if you were human and had the
advantage of the fountain of youth for decades. Your body healed,
you lived well, made millions of dollars and your enemies could not
kill you. Two men threatened all of that, what would you do
?”
Silas asked.

“Damn, they would eat their own. To keep
that deal they’d try to kill Lancaster and Gordon
.” Asia looked
at Hawke. “
We need to take a plastic bag and a cup of ice in
case they’re bleeding. They can send each other to their personal
hells for all I care, but we will get the blood to break the
covenant.”

He nodded.

“Asia, Hawke, watch your backs
,”
Jasmine said. “
You are the other half necessary to break this
thing. If they could destroy either of you, they’re safe. Don’t
forget that
.”

Asia sobered recalling the tenacity of those
men. “
Yes, Ma’am. I have his back
.”

“I’ve got hers. This time will be
different
.” Hawke paused and then cleared his throat. “
I
killed my sire. He died ten years ago attempting to rescue me from
Lancaster Castle. Ten years ago an enemy attacked and I pulled the
switch to the roof, killing them all. It does not matter I had no
idea who he was. I created and improved security at the castle. I
am responsible for every failure my sire encountered trying to
rescue me.”
He exhaled and she held his hand, knowing he needed
to say it
. “This time, there will be no failure. On my sire’s
honor, I will break this contract.”

No one spoke.

“How normal is it to seal a contract in
blood
?” Jasmine asked. That had sounded barbaric to Asia as
well.

“Very common for that time period
and given our nature and respect for blood, it signified the
importance of the covenant. I suspect there is more involved.
Maheegan is researching it and should know more when you
return.”

“Return? We are bringing one of the Lords
here
?” Asia asked looking at Hawke.

He shrugged.

“Yes, back to the place it began
,”
Silas said.

“Understood.” Asia looked out the window.
Bringing either man all the way back here would require additional
planning.

“We are in agreement then. The covenant
will be broken through the shedding of blood, just as it was
created
,” Silas said.

“Yes, Sir
.” Hawk and Asia
said.

“What about Niall and Granira
?” Jasmine
asked. “
Maheegan contacted us about the contract you sent Hawke
and she believes it’s valid. But why would Granira have had a copy?
Does Maheegan have copies of contracts for you,
Silas?”

“No, but I have Jacques. In
smaller packs it may be customary to allow the historian to secure
important documents.”

“In that case we should be grateful she has
a few missing pieces to the puzzle. Thanks to her help this should
be over within the next few days
,” Jasmine said.

Asia nodded. “
Yes, Ma’am, that is the
plan.”

“Good. Hawke when this is all over, I would
like to meet you and your brother. Please extend an invitation on
our behalf
.”

Asia sensed Hawke’s surprise even though his
outer appearance appeared calm.

“Yes, Ma’am.”
Hawke’s eyes widen and
then he shut them tight.

“Damn Silas that hurt
,” Angus said
joining the conversation.

“You linked us
?” Hawke said, opening
his eyes and then looking at his mate.

“Yes. Time is short and you need to know
what each other’s doing
,” Silas said and then brought Angus
current.

“I’ll talk to Ulric and get that
information. He’s been waiting for something like this. We need to
get Gordon or Lancaster out of the city, away from humans.
Question, when you say we cannot kill them does that mean we cannot
hurt them or they will not die from whatever we do to them? Because
I cannot kill my litter mate, but we can fight,” Angus
asked.

“I believe it would be the same with
Lancaster and Gordon
,” Silas said.

“Good to know because I plan to beat the
shit out him over and over before the son of a bitch
dies
.”

Asia laughed. “
We can have one of those
lines we saw on the movies, Mistress.”

“Conga lines?” Jasmine
said.

“Yes. Beat their ass, let them heal and
then the next person can beat them to a pulp and then let them
heal. It could be a part of the celebration and a way to collect
the blood
,” Asia said.

“Sounds like a plan
,” Angus said.
“
We need to find the slimy bastards first
.

Chapter 22

Angus and Chacal stepped through the doorway
of the building they had visited two days before. Chacal wanted to
check a room that had appeared suspicious the other day, but forgot
about it after they saw the charred remains of the
animals.

“There’s been a change of plans Silas is
sending us after the Liege Lords. Gordon and Lancaster are in the
area
,” Angus said through his link with Chacal and then
connected with Hawke. “
Ulric had a team watching their
movements. Right now they are out of the city on a large farm with
two large connected buildings. They’ve seen a couple blue birds and
hybrids guarding the area. If we’re going to take them it should be
now while there aren’t many humans around.”