Demidov laughed, the sound slightly off. “How about a trade? I’d love to get my hands on Simone Brightston, considering how she betrayed my father. She’s one of many I plan to use Apollo on.”
Kell tsked. “Sorry, but Simone is out of reach. We’ve shut down the members of the Nine until we get a handle on Apollo.” He lied easily without a hitch in his tone while Daire walked away, phone to his ear, no doubt trying to have somebody trace the call. They did have decent sources in the Realm and those guys, especially Chalton Reese, could perform miracles.
“Well, I’ll settle for an enforcer today.” Demidov sighed. “After I play a little with your lady, that is.”
“She’s mated,” Kell said flatly. Had the allergy gene kicked in yet? God, he hoped so. “Touch her, and your skin will explode from the contact.”
“Then maybe I’ll just shoot off parts of her. Or . . . maybe we should see what Apollo does to a newly mated witch.” Demidov sniffed.
Kell frowned. “What do you want?” He nodded at Daire’s gesture to keep the jackass talking. At least this way, he knew Alexandra wasn’t being harmed as he spoke.
“Let’s see. How about I trade your bitch here for Daire Dunne? My boss would love to get his hands on Daire,” Demidov said.
Kell jerked his head toward Daire to gain his attention. “Your boss wants Daire? Why?”
“I assume that’s personal. But I’d go a long way in the organization by turning him in.”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to deal with me,” Kell said. “Daire is out of town.”
Daire shook his head vehemently.
Kell held up a hand. Exactly what kind of intel did Demidov have?
“Sorry, but I know he’s there because sweet Jennie told me he is. Apparently, she met him last night. Anyway, if you want Alexandra, I want Daire,” Demidov said quietly.
Damn it. “Fine. We’ll trade Daire for Alexandra. Who’s your boss, anyway?” Kell asked.
“Oh, you’ll see soon enough.” Demidov growled low. “Wait by your phone, and I’ll send you instructions.” He hung up.
Kell kicked a rock. “Fucking fucktard of a bastard witch.” He slid his phone in his pocket. “He’s not in charge—there’s somebody else.” Frankly, the guy sounded half off his nut. “Tell me you got him.”
Daire finished listening on the phone and then turned. “We got him.”
Alexandra settled into her chair and looked around. Masterson and Yuri had moved over by the Mercedes. They spoke quietly, no doubt planning her death.
She brought her attention closer and stared at her father across the table. “Rumor has it you’ve been running drugs in prison.”
Jennie gasped and turned even paler. “Parker? What about being a warrior?”
Parker shook his head. “You have always been the dumbest bitch around, you know that?” He leaned back, his huge barrel of a chest still significant. “I came out of prison a millionaire. How fucking amazing is that?”
Lex tried to loosen her hands under the table. “You’ll go back in the same way, then.”
Parker shook his head. “Oh, no, you ungrateful bitch. I’m not going back in. Ever.”
Jennie stood, wavering on her new hip. “You lied to me.”
“Sit down, or I’ll knock you down. ” His eyes turned a mean blue Lex remembered well.
“It’s okay, Mom. Just sit down,” Lex said gently, giving her father a look of warning.
He glared back.
She glanced over at Masterson leaning against the wall and asked him, “How much blood is on your hands?”
He snarled and returned to his discussion with Yuri.
She returned her focus on her father. “What’s the plan here? You’re really such a bastard you’d watch your own kid get killed?” An ache she’d deny to her grave welled inside her chest.
He shrugged. “We’ll trade you for this Daire fellow Yuri wants so badly.”
She snarled. “You’ve always been a shitty liar, you know that?”
He reached out almost casually and cuffed her on the side of the head. Pain flared through her skull, but she didn’t flinch.
Jennie jumped up. With almost a happy roar, Parker stood and shoved her back into the chair. She flopped, crying out, trying to catch her balance.
Lex snarled and half-stood. “Touch her again, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
Jennie huddled closer to her, tears streaking down her face. “Parker? I don’t care about me, but you wouldn’t let them kill Alexandra, would you? She is your daughter.”
Lex shook her head when he didn’t bother to answer. “Mom, if they let us go, we’ll tell the police. No way are they letting us go.” She narrowed her focus to the oxygen molecules around them, beginning to reshape them and draw on fire.
“Stop it, or I’ll shoot your mother in the head,” Demidov called out.
She stilled.
Jennie glanced around, her eyes wild. “Stop what?”
“Nothing.” Lex tried to send her a reassuring smile. “Just working on the hand restraints. Unfortunately, they’re strong.” There had to be a way she could manipulate fire without Demidov knowing.
Kell would move mountains to find her, but she’d left her phone back at the station. Demidov had talked a long time. The enforcers had some pretty damn scary connections. Maybe there was a chance they could’ve traced the call from Kell’s end. Maybe not. Either way, she had to be ready to fight at the first opportunity.
Her mom turned toward her. “I’m so sorry, Lexi. I had no clue.”
Lex nodded. “It’s all right, Mom. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”
Parker sat back and patted his big belly. “How’s your cunt of a sister? Did she tell you she visited me? Yelled right in my face.” He leaned toward her, his gaze narrowing. “I’m looking her up the first second I get.”
Jennie gave a soft cry of distress. “You’ll leave her alone, you bastard.”
Parker turned and half-stood.
Lex coughed, searching desperately for a way to stop his advance. He’d kill her mother if he hit her hard enough, which he appeared more than ready to do. “Where’s the money?” she threw out quickly to prevent the assault.
He paused and turned. “Huh?”
“All this money you think you have.” Lex glanced around and forced a look of disdain onto her face. “I mean, it’s not here. Are you sure they saved you some of the money?”
His chest puffed out, and he sat back down.
Lex relaxed and tried to still her thumping heart.
He nodded. “I have bank accounts, several in my name. I’ve already checked them.” Pride filled his voice before he scowled again, leaning toward her to whisper. “If you hadn’t been such a bitch, I would’ve shared with you. You could’ve been my connection instead of that grease ball over there.”
He smelled like mint and cheap whiskey. She’d forgotten that.
At the memory, her stomach lurched. “I hope you checked the actual accounts and not just what they sent you on the computer. And I hope you changed the passwords immediately, so they couldn’t take the money right out after showing the balances to you.”
His bushy eyebrows drew down. “What do you mean?”
She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “If they have the passwords to the accounts, they could’ve transferred all the money out after showing you the balances. Surely you thought of that.”
He rubbed his smooth chin. “Yeah. Yeah, I thought of that and changed the passwords.”
Damn idiot. Lex sat back and nodded. “Well, then I guess you have nothing to worry about.”
Yet worry fanned out from his eyes all of a sudden. He took out a shiny new smartphone. “I think I can find the accounts on the phone.”
Moron. His attention diverted, Lex glanced around. It appeared as if one full wall could open, so there were two exits—the wall-door and the only regular door. Two exits, three armed men to fight, and her mother with unsteady legs to rescue.
r /> As odds went, they sucked.
It was a bad time to deal with her father since she’d just gotten him distracted, but something in her, deep down, had to know. “Will you really let them kill us?” she asked softly.
He looked up from his phone, blinking to focus. Then he shifted his large bulk in the chair, his face turning red. “They’re gonna trade you.”
“You know that’s not true.” She shook her head. “Say the words.”
“They’re trading you.” He focused back on the screen.
Hurt exploded into fury inside her. “You’re too much of a fucking coward to even say the words.” The bastard, her actual father, would just bury his head and then let her murder happen. “You stopped being my father years ago, you fucking loser.”
He hunched over his phone.
Minutes ticked by, and then an hour. Yuri and Masterson finished talking, and Yuri spoke on the phone to someone for a while, but Lex couldn’t make out the words. She angled her body away from him and imagined the oxygen around her, focusing narrowly on the zip ties around her wrists. Heat flared, and she methodically burned sliver by sliver away.
Finally, Yuri loped her way, a man with a strange glint in his eye, a guy ready to kill. “We have the meeting area almost ready.”
Lex raised an eyebrow. “You’re really making a show of it, huh?”
He shrugged.
She sucked in air. “You sent soldiers and Duck to my home.”
“Yes. I needed the letter from your father with the coded directions of how much product he’d sold and where to deliver it.” Yuri almost sounded bored.
She shook her head. “Why did you kill Duck?” Who else could it have been?
“Ah.” Yuri tisked his tongue. “Duck had the unfortunate fate of working with Spike, and Spike made the terrible mistake of telling Duck about me. So Duck and then Spike both had to die.”
What a complete asshole. She needed to get free and put him away for life. Could witches escape normal prisons? She’d have to find out. One of the bands slipped loose. She was so close. “How are you getting the planekite here from Russia?” she whispered.
Yuri smiled, revealing perfectly white teeth. “Phenakite.”
“Whatever.” Another sliver loosened.
“Let’s just say I have good friends in the Port of Seattle,” he said.
Ah. Good tip. As soon as she arrested his ass, she’d trace his contacts at the Port.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Awareness hinted in the atmosphere—no breeze, but a sense of home. She stiffened, ready to move.
Yuri stopped moving, and his shoulders rolled back. His gaze darted around the quiet room, and he opened his mouth in a hiss of anger as all hell broke loose.
The massive wall-door burst open and folded in on itself, spiraling smoke and fire up to the rafters. Lex leaped for her mother, knocking her to the ground and covering her as the small door crashed in.
Lex looked to where the door had been. Kell stood there in full combat gear. His gaze caught hers, full and intense.
She shifted to her knees, taking her mother up with her.
Her father roared and grabbed her hair, pulling her to her feet as Yuri ran forward, shooting darts toward Kell. Several found their mark as he pivoted to fire a green laser at Yuri. Jumping toward the bastard, Kell put his body between the shooter and Lex.
A firefight echoed behind her, but she concentrated on her mother. Balancing herself, Lex leaned a hip back into her dad, and dropped to a knee. He flew over her head to land on the pavement. Hard.
Not missing a beat, she grabbed her mom’s arms and pulled her to upright. “Run,” she hissed.
Jennie, her eyes wide already with shock, hitched on her damaged legs toward the door. Lex covered her mom, shoving her along, until they reached the opening. She glanced frantically around at the quiet area and spotted a truck down the way. “Go get behind that. If you see anybody, find a phone and call 9-1-1.” She turned to head back into the warehouse.
Jennie grabbed her arm. “Lexi, wait. Don’t—”
Lex turned. “It’s my job, Mom. Now go.” She turned, and ducking low, ran back into the building.
The Dunne brothers fought the many soldiers across the warehouse, spilling the firefight and hand-to-hand outside. Bear, Garrett, and Logan jumped into the fray, creating pandemonium in an oddly graceful fight to the death.
Kell broke the neck of a witch streaming fire, only to turn and have Yuri plug him in the neck with another dart. His eyes widened, and he went down.
“No!” she screamed, scrambling for him and dropping to her knees.
Garrett roared in fury and tackled Yuri into the Mercedes.
Logan grappled with Masterson, and in front of her eyes, punched through the dirty cop’s throat to the wall. Masterson’s eyes closed in a harsh death.
“Kell!” She crouched before him, looking for a threat. They went unnoticed as the battle waged on. She grabbed the top of his flak vest and dragged him to a corner.
He groaned, and his body convulsed.
Dropping to her knees, she lifted his head to her lap. “How bad?” she whispered, yanking out the darts. She patted his face. “Don’t go. Don’t fucking leave me.”
His eyes opened. Real flames danced in their depths.
She shook him. God, he couldn’t leave her. Not just when she’d found him.
“Stay with me.” Her heart expanded with pure terror. “I love you. Please stay.”
He winced, and steam rose from his mouth.
She frowned. How much of the drug was in his system?
One of Yuri’s soldiers sprang free of the melee and ran toward her, gun out. She grabbed Kell’s green gun from his hip, paused, and squeezed off three shots. The soldier’s eyes widened, and he dropped face-first to the ground.
Kell groaned, and fire crackled on his arms. “Fuck.”
She sucked in air, trying to remember how she’d saved Bernie. Harnessing oxygen, pouring feeling into it, she filled her mouth with fire. Panic hitched her movements, but she pressed her mouth to Kell’s and blew.
His chest expanded, and he shuddered.
She did it again, feeling her fire surround the intruding fire in him and quench the burn.
He struggled and then slowly slid his hand around her shoulder. Then he turned to his side and coughed out fire, much as a drowning victim would water. “Holy fuck.” He shook his head.
She smacked him on the back, throwing more fire. “Kell?”
He groaned and stood. “Just a few darts won’t kill me.” He grinned and rolled to his feet, tugging her up to put her behind him. “Although your breath of fire just saved my liver.”
She coughed.
A body slammed into Kell, and they flew into the wall. Lex’s gun spiraled away to hit the floor. Kell brought both elbows down on a soldier’s shoulders, knocking the guy to the ground.
Lex swept the area, seeing Kell’s brothers and their allies finishing off the soldiers. Almost in slow motion, she turned toward the Mercedes, where her father stood, a gun in his hand, aimed at her.
Time truly stopped.
He smiled, his eyes narrowing in that long-ago look. With a snarl she remembered, he pulled the trigger.
Pain burst in her chest. The world quieted. Her eyes widened, and she dropped to the ground.
Chapter 36
“No!” Kellach twisted the neck of the human who’d tackled him and turned to Alexandra, catching her before she hit the ground.
Blood sprayed from her chest. Her eyes widened, her body went slack. She tried to say something, and blood bubbled from her mouth. Kell pivoted to catch the threat just as Adam knocked the gun from Parker Monzelle’s hand and punched him out with a hard hit to the temple. He passed out against the Mercedes and plunged to the ground.
Kell laid Alexandra on the cracked concrete, his heart thundering. “No, no, no,” he muttered, yanking open her shirt.
The amount of blood made him sway. P
anic and fear clutched him hard.
Determination roared through him, animalistic in its nature.
Movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye, and he crouched over his mate to defend. Yuri, dart gun out, started firing. Kell ducked his head and leaped forward, past the point of reason. The scent of his mate’s blood filled his senses, darkening his soul.
He reached Yuri and took him all the way to the ground, yanking the gun away and shoving the barrel in Yuri’s mouth.
“No,” Adam yelled, running toward him.
But Kell was too far gone to listen. He pulled the trigger, shooting at least eight darts down Yuri’s throat. The gun emptied, and he flung it away.
Yuri grasped his neck, convulsing, his eyes widening.
Kell slowly stood and backed away.
Fire ripped open Yuri’s chest, spraying out with bloody flames. He screamed, the sound high-pitched and evil.
Kell turned and ran back to his mate as she gasped on the ground. “Stay with me, baby.” He yanked off his shirt to wipe her chest, to see the damage. Fury tried to take him, and he shoved down the fatalistic desperation. If she left him, he’d go with her. Only Alexandra. Always.
He wiped the blood away from the bullet hole—just above her heart but closer to her shoulder. He pulled her up, wincing at her cry of protest, to see the hole in her back. Through and through.
She reached for him, tears streaking down her face. “Love—”
He brushed her lips. “Love you, too.” His heart settled as his mind kicked into gear. “This is gonna hurt a little, baby.” Shoving her shirt from her shoulder, he forced oxygen into a fire ball and pressed his palm to her wound.
She shrieked, her body arching in shock.
He winced, his gut roiling. When he turned her, she fought him, but he held strong and cauterized the hole in her back. “’Twas a through and through. Have to stop the bleeding.”
Her body went limp, and she nodded, blinking rapidly. His little warrior.
Once the wounds were burned, he placed a palm over the burn and slowly, inextricably, drew the pain into his body. Relieving her.