Bear roared, his massive body taking up more than half the bar. Other mated, bonded shifters were shifting too and their clothes dropping to the floor. Hawke had a gun on him, the only one that hadn’t shifted. Delilah was behind the bar, and Journey was in the process of shifting as well.
All went silent as we watched the door. The fae and the innocent bystanders had all crawled under tables and chairs. “We’re surrounded. How did we not see this coming?” Hawke yelled, running through the crowd toward the door. “Everyone have a weapon that needs one?”
Tajah and Bram stepped from behind the bar. Tajah has a swirling orb of fire, while Bram had a blue ball of electricity. A black panther stood beside Tajah; I assumed it was Beretta.
“Magic, dark magic. Much stronger than Bram and I alone,” Tajah said ominously. “I think we both know who that is.”
“So the bastard found us. How?” Hawke barked into the crowd. “Was it you fucking fae? Did you rat us out? After all the shit we’re going to do to help you?”
Hawke grabbed my father by the collar, pulling him up. Bear roared in front of Hawke, seeing my distress.
“I didn’t say a word! I told you what I knew. I knew the duke wanted our daughter. I didn’t know how they got here!”
The door slammed open with such force that the walls shook. A dark figure stood in the doorway. The only light in the room from an exit light reflected off their black pinstriped, three-piece suit. They were tall and broad-chested with a narrow waist, a large hooded cloak obscuring their face and casting an ominous shadow over the room. A longsword hangs by their side, its hilt ornamented with strange symbols.
“Fire!” Hawke yelled.
The figure raised his hand, and all bullets ceased in mid-air, dropping to the ground. The male slowly walked in, clicking his shoes against the worn wood of the bar. Beretta slunk around the corner of the bar and got behind him. She was so stealthy I barely saw her among the shadows of the bar. She lunged forward to get him in the back of the neck, but the man turned at the last moment, gripping Beretta around her neck.
Tajah screamed, holding her neck. The fire orb in her hand dropped to the floor and faded away. Beretta struggled against the hold until a resounding crack resonated into the room.
I screamed a blood-curdlingno! My hands slapping the floor.
I darted my head to Tajah to see her reaction, but there was none. Because she had fallen to her knees and now lay on the floor as well.
What happened?
“You can’t live without the other half of your soul,” Teddy said through our mind link. “You stay away from the fighting. Do you understand me?”
I whimpered, squeezing my eyes tight. This couldn’t be happening. No, everything was supposed to get better.
“Bravo, bravo. I have to say that one almost got me.” The male wagged his finger. “But a cat? Really? I thought I would have been at least taken by a wolf.” His smooth voice was chillingly calm after killing a panther with just one hand. His long, black fingernails added to his menace as he stared down at the massive creature’s lifeless body.
“Who the fuck are you?” Hawke cocked his gun. “Or should we just go ahead and kill a mother fucker before you get a word in?”
The male chuckled until full-blown laughter echoed into the bar. Everyone was silent, waiting for the man to calm himself before we did anything.
“Why don’t you come pull off my mask and find out, Hawke? Or should it be Grim? He’s supposed to be second in command? Why do you let Hawke do all the talking anyway?” he hummed.
Grim snarled, his large wolf’s body full of muscles. He leaped forward only to be stopped mid-air by a flick of a wrist, then slung to the back of the bar area. Shards of glass from the liquor fell on his fur. Grim huffed and jumped onto the bar, growling.
“Tut, tut.” He wagged his finger. “Haven’t started the killing… yet.”
Hawke raised his gun and pointed it at the intruder. “Duke Idris, the mask is getting a little old.”
“Right, right, it is, isn’t it? Still took you long enough.” Idris took off the cloak. It slid to the floor in a glorious manner. He took a bow and raised his head. Dark eyes shone back at us. I could find no soul in the fae’s eyes, and I knew we were all in trouble.
“If you aren’t all ready to die, I’m just here to collect one person. One person and the rest of you will be spared, for now, anyway.” Duke Idris chuckled and clasped his hands together. “Now, do we have a deal?”
My heart sank. He was after me. This fae has been chasing me my whole life. The fae clan had to be dispersed into the cold. My friends were dying left and right because of me.
I let go of my mother’s and father’s hands. Their hushed whispers begged me to come back down into hiding. I couldn’t do that, however. Too many people were at risk. After all, it was better for me to give myself up than let everyone die because of me.
Once I stood from under the table. Bear snarled and got in Duke Idris’ line of sight.
“Get your ass back under that table,”Teddy ordered. “Or I will spank that ass later.”
“I can’t let everyone die because of me. I’m not worth it.”
