Chapter 48
Tracey
By the time all of my knives were strapped to my legs and waist, the Guardians were ready to go. They took longer to get ready than any body else I had ever met. Women included. I slipped my hood over my honey-colored hair and prowled into the clearing behind the manor. I could make out the broken sofa through the window to Jade’s cottage.
My lips thinned out as I pressed them together. Each man wore a stoic expression and tonight wasn’t the night to try to find out who had done it. That could wait. Even though I did want to put a knife in the big oaf that did it.
I rolled my shoulders, then my neck as the Guardians strolled in. Micah wasn’t dressed for combat, but I imagined he didn’t have to be. He could walk into the place. The only thing that would hinder his story of kidnapping was that he looked too good.
My blade sang through the air before it sank thickly into his shoulder. The force of it knocked him back a few steps before he yanked the knife out of his skin. He hissed as it went. Blood poured from the wound before the skin started to stitch itself back together.
Knox had his fingers wrapped around my throat before I could pull another knife out. “What the hell are you doing?”
I grinned as his fingers tightened. “There is one flaw in your plan.”
Rafe growled across the small area. “Release her.” His demand cracked through the air like a whip. Knox immediately dropped his hand but he didn’t step away from me. He took a step closer. His pupils were completely blown and there wasn’t any color left in them. This was what happened when they hunted. I inched closer to him, answering the challenge. With Rafe I couldn’t stare him down, it hurt too much. Knox? I could do it until my eyes fell out. His lips twisted into a wicked grin.
“What’s the flaw, Tracey?” Rafe broke our stare down.
I cleared my throat and took a step back but I didn’t break eye contact. I wouldn’t show weakness. Not to Knox. I spoke while I stared into his eyes. “If Micah goes in there, Damian isn’t going to trust that we didn’t hold him hostage. He might not be a wolf but he has more than enough wolves to smell us on him. He needs to look the part or he’s going to be very suspicious.”
Rafe nodded and my next knife lodged into Micah’s other shoulder with a sickening crunch. Micah grunted as he pulled this one out. Mav leaned over and his fist shot across Micah’s face. Rafe was the only one that winced.
There was something seriously wrong with us.
Somehow the plan continued to change from the moment we were done beating Micah senselessly. He was bloodied and bruised. Unfortunately for him, we had to give him wolfsbane to make any injuries stick, so that meant they hurt pretty badly too. He was also stuffed into my trunk and knocked out cold. Thankfully the wolf had given us directions to this place before we knocked him out. We had to be believable, if not thorough.
The gravel crunched under my tires as we neared the estate. There wasn’t much nervous energy in my car. More adrenaline than anything else. I had managed to block most of the electric energy in my vision so I could drive. Granny had explained one too many times that powerful witches sometimes couldn’t control seeing the golden threads in the world around them. Because of this, many of them had drivers, but in the witch community… the more power you have, the more influence, which means more money. Granny was a powerful witch but she had given it all up for my grandfather. She had given it all up for love. I could empathize with that but I couldn’t understand it. I had never loved. I had never had the urge to find it. Being a dominant female wolf didn’t make it easy to find a date, and now I hadwitchto add to the resume. Knox’s black motorcycle came to a stop on the passenger side of my car.
He couldn’t just be hot, he had to have all the hot accessories to go with. He slammed his booted feet to the earth and I tried to ignore the desire that rolled through me. I sighed. He was the most annoying man on the planet and I found him hot. I had always found him hot but I had managed to ignore it enough so he wouldn’t scent my desire in the air.
Well, actually, I didn’t want anyone to smell it. That was the most frustrating thing about being a wolf. Something that most wolves learned to ignore, but the Guardians? They were still in their prime. They loved to know that the women wanted them and I hated that the most. Mav was right behind him on his bike then Archer pulled up in his black SUV a few seconds later.
Knox kicked open my trunk and the desire I felt went away quickly. I frowned as I slammed my car door. “Can you be more gentle?”
Knox rolled his head my way and raised a brow. “Why would I do that? We have a prisoner in here.”
“The prisoner isn’t my car,” I pressed my lips together as I rolled my hand for him to hurry up. Micah immediately jumped from the back and rammed his head into Knox’s nose. I couldn’t keep the smirk off of my face as blood sprayed. Micah hardly made it a few feet before Mav threw his massive body onto him and tackled him to the ground.
Micah jerked his shoulders around while Mav forced him up. “He won’t negotiate with you. He doesn’t care about me that much.”
I cracked my neck as I surveyed the woods around us. This time the magic came to me full force. The brightness of the interwebs of magic almost brought me to my knees. I pressed my hand to my chest as I narrowed my eyes to get a better view. We were completely surrounded. “We are here for Damian. We have something that he might want back.”
A woman stepped from the woods, her onyx skin glistened in the moonlight. “What could we possibly want with him? He’s probably given up all of our information.”
Micah spat at Mav. I expected the big brute to lose his cool on that one. He simply smiled as the salvia rolled down his cheek then splattered against his shoulder. “Damian spelled us against torture. You know that.”
A man walked out of the woods behind the woman to look at Micah with weary eyes. “He doesn’t look like he’s working with them. You know what a shit actor he was, especially when we would go scouting for new wolves.”
For good measure, Mav grinned as he punched Micah in the stomach. The poor man fell to the ground and Mav didn’t stop there. He continued to kick the poor man while he was down.
The woman held her hand up. “Stop, Damian will want to see him.”
Knox leaned against my car as Archer marched forward. “You won’t get him back until we see Jade.”
There was a snicker from the trees. “You won’t be seeing Jade. She isn’t taking visitors at the moment.” His voice made my stomach drop. They were hurting her. “But we will be happy to make a trade with you.” The man that came out of the woods had long blond hair that brushed past his shoulders. He wore fighting leathers similar to ours and based on the golden threads pulsing around him, he had a lot of magic at his disposal. When his eyes landed on mine, his brows furrowed with confusion.
“What do you have in mind?” Knox watched him with a bored expression.
“Jade told you that she didn’t need rescuing, why would you come back for her? She is perfectly happy here.” The man didn’t look at me again as he spoke to the men. Good, I hoped he underestimated me. I was going to rip his heart out first.
Archer shrugged. “You’re right, we miss Jade, but there are bigger fish to fry here. The King of the Rogues for starters. We would like to meet him.”
The man grinned. “There it is. You sense power here.”
I rolled my eyes. How insufferable. Power-hungry men were the worst. The big bad witch rolled his eyes back to me. “I would love todissectthe magic inside of you.”
A growl ripped through the air and shook the ground beneath my feet. Knox stalked toward the man. “You will not look at her again.”
