Page 4

Chapter Four

Amelia slinked along the side of a large building, walking down a darkened alley, hoping no one saw her. She kept the hood of her black sweatshirt pulled up and over her long hair. With her head down, she walked with purpose. The gathering had gone into the night, taking precious time she didn’t have. She’d been left no other choice but to reach out to her contact and ask him to reschedule for tonight.

It had taken some doing and she’d been left waiting on pins and needles until she heard back from him, but she’d been able to reschedule the rendezvous. Unfortunately, she’d gone through all the trouble only to find Susan shadowing her the entire next day. Briefly leaving her alone when Amelia escaped to the greenhouse. Susan wasn’t fond of the greenhouses or of Amelia’s herbal medicine mixing area within it. She thought the entire area was boring because it was tucked away from any kind of heavy foot traffic.

Amelia thought the location was perfect and often got lost working on perfecting various remedies. Since the goal for the day had been creating a new masking agent—one that would keep the supernaturals from smelling another—she’d opted for the percolation extraction method. The process was more time consuming than other means but, in her opinion, the end results were more potent and worth the effort and energy.

If all went according to plan, Amelia would have what she needed in time to make her escape. She’d already come up with an oil, a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, that did a very good job of confusing the senses of a supernatural—especially shifters. But the Flock was accustomed to it, as well as the oversaturation of lavender scents around the resort and compound. She needed something new, something better. Something that could fool even Cal, even if just for a short period of time.

Long enough for Amelia to flee with Andie and never look back.

Sadly, the toll of prepping to go on the run, and extra hours in the greenhouse, had caught up to her. Earlier in the day, she’d dozed off without meaning to. The strangest dream had come to her. In it, she was running, holding a man’s hand. His back had been to her and he’d been shirtless, wearing jeans and black boots. He had long dark hair and a body to die for. He also had what looked to be burn scars on his back. They didn’t take away from his appeal or the fact he was trying to keep her safe—that much she was sure of.

She was sure of something else, too.

Without any question, Amelia simply knew she’d been intimate with the stranger. That she’d given herself over to him and felt something for him. If she had to label it, she’d have said love.

That was ridiculous. She wasn’t in love. She didn’t know a man who fit the bill as the hunky hero from her dream. And she’d never been with any man. Period.

When Amelia had woken to find Susan standing over her, sneering, it was on the tip of her tongue to call out for the dream man. The problems with that were, she didn’t know his name and he wasn’t real. Still, Amelia had fought the urge to let her magik loose to roam the ether for the mystery man, to send out a flare to him that she needed his help.

She didn’t.

But she’d very much wanted to.

Instead, Amelia had artfully gotten Susan away from the greenhouse and the mixture to mask scents. It needed another twenty-four hours to continue to drip before it would be ready. Susan’s insistence that everything Amelia found interesting was boring had helped. But it had done nothing to shake the bitch for the remainder of the day. When Amelia learned Susan had been dispatched on Cal’s orders to spend time with her, she wondered if he’d discovered her escape plan.

The fact she was still among the living said he hadn’t.

Tina, one of Amelia’s only allies in the Flock, had managed to create a diversion at the resort that called for Susan’s full attention. Since Susan prided herself on everything running smoothly—she, herself, answered to a group of powerful males—the plan had been a success. That had afforded Amelia the opportunity to sneak over to the nearest neighbor of the compound for a ride into Denver.

Jeanie Tippons was in her early sixties and had a long-standing distrust of the Flock. She was a trained emergency-room nurse who had seen a number of cases come through the local hospital that she was sure could be traced back to the Flock. She wasn’t wrong. She’d been vocal about it as well, which was for the best. It was harder for the Flock to get rid of her if the public was watching. If anything happened to her now, most eyes would turn to the Flock.

Cal couldn’t have that.

And he couldn’t bend Jeanie’s mind as he could that of so many other humans. Amelia was pretty sure it was from the woman’s iron will, but there could have been something more to it. She’d led a hard life and didn’t take crap from anyone, and that was just part of what Amelia liked so much about the woman. Jeanie often came to Amelia’s cabin to help with Andie. The woman didn’t care that Cal forbid her from being on the property. It was as if Jeanie was daring Cal to do something about it all.

So far, he hadn’t.

Andie responded well to Jeanie, trusting the woman fully.

Amelia trusted her, too.

The fact Jeanie had dropped everything to give Amelia a ride into Denver, which was about an hour from the compound, said a lot about the woman’s character. She’d understood the change of plans at the last minute and the need for secrecy. She was a rare gem. Amelia would miss her when she was gone.

Jeanie and Amelia’s mother, Abigail, had been close. The women had developed a strong bond of friendship over the years. The local townspeople were told Amelia’s mother ran off with a young lover. Most people bought the story because they wanted to or because Cal gave them no choice.

But not Jeanie.

She knew Cal had been behind Abigail’s disappearance from the start.

He was behind a lot.

When Abigail had tried to run with Amelia five years prior, pregnant with Andie, they’d realized just how ill-prepared they’d been for life outside of the Flock. Everything had been new and overwhelming. Blending in wasn’t easy for them at first. They stuck out like the hippie-chicks they seemed to be compared to by everyone around them.

They’d had no money, no identification, no means to support themselves. While they’d managed to survive on their own, and on the run, for nearly three years and learned many tips and tricks for living under the radar and off the grid, ultimately, Cal and his followers had found them.

Emotions swelled in Amelia as she thought of her mother and how desperate the woman had been to keep her daughters far from their father and the Flock. Abigail had known what fate was in store for a woman in the cult.

Nothing good.

Women were either passed around between the men, used for manual labor, or used to seduce perspective Flock members. Sometimes they were required to do all of it. Abusing them wasn’t against Flock rules. A man was well within his right to backhand his woman if he felt it was warranted.

Amelia and Andie had been spared so far, but that would change before long. Already Cal had promised Amelia to Taggert, once she completed the task required of her—securing the Bringer of Change. Cal fully intended to force his own daughter to be party to assuring the male joined the Flock. It didn’t matter that Amelia wanted no part in his plan. And it didn’t matter that she knew without a shadow of a doubt she would be expected to use sex and her body to lure the man. While her father had never said as much outright, his people had.

Susan, in particular, liked to point out just what would be expected of Amelia when the time came. It had been Susan and the women in her close circle who had worked with Amelia, teaching her how to give erotic massages, how to be alluring to the opposite sex, and what to do to please a man.

The lessons had been humiliating.

That was part of the way the cult broke people down. It was textbook brainwashing techniques. Everything from isolating the person from their friends and family to breaking their spirit to the point the person felt worthless without the Flock. Amelia even knew of instances where Cal had renamed members upon joining. Giving them a new sense of identity and reality.

They thought it was out of love.

It wasn’t.

Amelia lost track of the number of embarrassments she’d suffered in front of the Flock, at the authority of her father or his inner circle of trusted males. The most recent was being forced to watch other female Flock members as they performed spa-like treatments, and also sexual acts on the men. It had started off innocently enough, instructing Amelia on the ways in which to give a massage, how to handle healing stones, and so forth, things she already knew, but had escalated quickly. Amelia had found herself frozen in stunned disgust as she’d been made to remain in the room when the normal spa services turned into sexual acts.

Not just any acts, either.

Each time Amelia had tried to avert her gaze, Susan had intervened, drawing attention to Amelia and holding her face, making her watch. Everyone involved had found it all hysterically funny. Everyone but her. She’d been mortified and sickened by the level of depravity some of the members displayed.

Some were sexual sadists.

She was positive of it.

In her brief time in the real world, living away from the Flock, Amelia had crammed in as much knowledge as she could, learning all there was to learn on cults. Knowledge was power, and she knew deep down that she needed to be as prepared as she could be.

That she would not be a sheep.

One of the people who had jumped at the chance to help instruct Amelia in the ways of sexually pleasing a man was Taggert. He was most certainly a sexual sadist. He got off on pain, receiving and inflicting it. He got off on mental and physical torture. And he’d gotten off on Amelia’s humiliation.

A quiver ran through her as she thought back to the look of sheer satisfaction Taggert had worn as one of Susan’s women went to her knees before the man. The woman had started off drawing Taggert’s erection into her mouth and then licking the head and shaft of it. She sucked on his balls, all the while watching Amelia, looking amused. But Taggert had taken the already embarrassing moment to a whole new level when he’d grabbed the woman by the sides of her head, burying his fists in her hair. He’d then controlled how much of his cock she took in her mouth and for how long. He’d rammed in so deep and held so long that she’d gotten sick all over the place.

That hadn’t stopped Taggert.

He’d kept going, kept forcing her to accept him orally in a brutal manner. He’d done so until she’d passed out and then he’d jerked himself off, his gaze locked on Amelia as he’d jetted seed all over the woman.

He’d then forced another woman to clean up the mess from it all and drag away the one who had given him oral sex.

If that hadn’t been bad enough, other males had been brought in, displaying other acts of sex and violence. Taggert had remained through all the training sessions, staying close to Amelia, smirking, trying to steal caresses from her all while she flinched and her stomach churned. Once he’d even cupped her chin, demanding she look upon the acts occurring and not look away as she’d been trying to do.

When blood play had come into the mix, Taggert had watched her, desire in his dark gaze and a sinister smile upon his face. He’d licked her cheek and whispered how he couldn’t wait until the day he was able to do that to her.

She wanted to be ill just thinking about it all again.

There was no way she could be part of luring anyone into the fold. And no way in hell she’d permit her little sister to grow up in the Flock. Andie’s age kept her protected for now, but she’d grow and that would change. She’d be handed off to someone Cal felt could benefit the Flock. Rumor had it the man chosen for Andie was Brian, who was as bad, if not worse than Taggert. He’d also been in on the entire training ordeal. That didn’t matter. If it gained Cal power, Cal would sacrifice his daughters.

No one was safe.

Already Amelia danced on the edge of his patience. If he found out she’d snuck away from the compound and was planning to escape, for good, there was no telling what he’d do.

Odds were, she’d end up like her mother.

Murdered in front of the Flock. Used as a life lesson to those who would dare to stand against him or the path to enlightenment. A cautionary tale to be told to others for years to come.

She knew of dozens of murders that could be linked back to them, and those had just happened in the last few years. There were probably hundreds more that she wasn’t aware of. She wasn’t certain. She did know the cult was deadly, despite the face they put out to the world. The peace, love, and happiness lie they spun to make everyone in the outside world think they were great.

It helped them get recruits.

They were media darlings.

All of it was smoke and mirrors.

A public relations campaign that cost them millions but paid off in the long haul. They saw themselves as untouchable.

In many ways, they were. They operated above the law. It was easy for them. They used their power to influence the minds of most humans and bought off the ones they couldn’t. Anyone who stood in their way went missing, never to be seen or heard from again.

She’d tried to get outside help before. It had resulted in the death of the person attempting to assist. Now, at the end of her rope, Amelia was desperate. Everything that had happened in her life led her to this point. To sneaking around in the dark for clandestine meetings with shady people. Had she been permitted to select another path, she would have gladly done so. But this was her life and it was a dangerous one.

Amelia pushed onward in the darkened alley, acutely aware of every noise and movement in her area. She was hypervigilant and with good reason. The Flock had eyes and ears everywhere. Not to mention, the contact she was meeting was far from human. And from what she’d been able to gather, he was anything but harmless.

Still, the risk was worth it if it got Andie to safety. If it spared her sister the same fate Amelia was staring in the face, she’d make any sacrifice, and risk it all. Just as her mother had tried to do for her.

Failure wasn’t an option.

She checked her watch, mindful of how much time she’d already lost in an effort to sneak away from the compound undetected. Even with the little bit of help she’d gotten, it had taken a lot of effort to be able to leave without notice.

As Amelia came around the back of the building, she found herself in a tucked-away alcove that had recyclables piled high on one side. An eight-foot chain-link fence blocked anyone from getting through with any sort of ease.

She turned in a slow circle, looking for any sign of her contact.

There was none.

“No,” she whispered, fearing her contact had grown tired of waiting for her and left.

He’d been her last hope.

The name she’d been given was Ace. That was all she knew about the man. That, and he was said to be one of the best. And she needed the best right now.

Hot tears welled in her eyes and she held tight to them, her jaw clenching. Running without forged papers would make it even harder than simply going. If it was just her, she’d be fine, but she had someone else to consider—her little sister.

Bending her head, she wiped her eyes and collected herself enough to head back to the compound.

As she turned to go, she found herself staring at a tall, well-built man. She’d never heard him approach or sensed him there. That was saying something.

He wore sunglasses despite the fact it was the middle of the night. That never meant good things in her world. Supernaturals often had to hide their eyes from others.

The man had to be over six and a half feet tall. He had a head of long dark brown hair that hung down and over his shoulders. It wasn’t exactly T-shirt weather, yet that was all he had on with his jeans and black boots. The shirt was dark gray and snug-fitting to the point she wondered if the arms would burst at the seams trying to accommodate his biceps.

If he wanted to harm her, she wasn’t sure she could defend herself well.

She didn’t know a lot about him. A friend of a friend had put her in contact with him. They said he had access to the best forged paperwork out there. The price tag had been steep. More than she could easily handle, but she’d spent five years squirreling away everything she could for this day.

“You Amelia?” he asked, his voice deep.

“Yes,” she said softly, nerves getting the better of her. “Are you Ace?”

“I am.” The edge of his mouth turned upward. “I’m not going to eat you or anything. You can relax. You’re staring at me like I’m the big bad wolf or something. I’m not. Hell, I’m not even a wolf.”

He tapped his upper right arm, showing off a tribal tattoo of a horse.

She swallowed hard.

He shrugged. “All I can do is tell you I’m not going to hurt you. Not much I can do to settle your nerves any. Though I can’t blame you. With the number of women turning up dead around here in the last few months, you’ve every right to be concerned. You should know, I had nothing to do with the deaths.”

She knew he hadn’t.

The Flock had.

She calmed slightly. “I’m sorry I’m late. I swear I tried to get here on time.”

“You from that hippie commune?”

She tensed. Never had she let him know where she was from. For him to guess accurately on his first try was cause for alarm.

Ace motioned to her sweatshirt pocket. The emblem for the compound where she lived and worked was on it. Clothing was sold in the gift shop section of the resort. It was where Amelia had gotten her street clothes. Running around the streets of Denver in the all-white wardrobe the Flock preferred would have drawn a lot of attention.

“Again, relax. I guessed as much because of the patch. I didn’t read your mind or follow you. You really should stop thinking the worst of me.”

“Oh.” She exhaled slowly and wiped her palms on her jean-covered thighs. “Sorry. I’m not sure how all of this works.”

He lifted a dark brow. “This your first time needing forged paperwork?”

She debated on lying to the guy but decided against it. “Yes. I wasn’t who handled this before when it was needed.”

His lips tightened. “You okay? If you and your kid are in a bad situation, I know people. We can get you out of there.”

The tears she’d only just managed to get to stop returned at his offer. “Thank you but it’s complicated, and she’s not my kid.”

He held a manila envelope up slightly. “Tell me I’m not handing you documentation, so you can steal someone else’s kid. I’m a lot of things, but okay with kidnapping isn’t one of them. And you look like a kid yourself. Hell, you even legal?”

She couldn’t help but laugh slightly as she shook her head. “I’m legal. And she isn’t my child. She’s my little sister.”

“And your mother?”

Amelia closed her eyes tight, fighting away her emotions. “Dead.”

“Your father?” he asked, seemingly unconcerned with his invasive line of questioning.

She’d never met a crook with a moral compass before and any man who dealt in obtaining illegal paperwork for wasn’t exactly winning any saint awards. Neither was she since she was purchasing the goods.

It was somewhat refreshing. Ace either really cared or he was trying to find out if anyone would notice if she went missing.

He lifted his other hand. “You look and smell freaked. Sorry I’m prying. I see a lot of shit in my line of work.”

She bet he did. “My father is part of why I need the papers.”

“And you’re in a situation that you feel you need to run from? That it’s so extreme you need fake papers for you and your sister?”

“Yes,” she said, reaching into her back pocket to get the cash she’d brought for the exchange.

“Listen, kid, if you need help, tell me,” he said before handing her the envelope. When he didn’t take the wad of cash, she stared up at him, confused, and tried to push it at him. He shook his head. “Hang on to it.”

“But I still owe you the other half of the payment. The agreement was I’d pay you half up front and the rest on delivery,” she protested.

He grinned somewhat, and she had to admit he was handsome. She’d have noticed sooner if her nerves hadn’t gotten the best of her. “I do just fine, and you look like you could use it far more than me. I’m guessing that wasn’t easy for you to come by.”

“No. It wasn’t.” She continued to hold the money out to him. “Please take it. I owe it to you. I don’t want charity.”

He put his hand over hers and closed her fist around the money. “Listen, it’s pretty fucking clear to me that you’re in a bad spot. Most people I deal with are. I don’t know what is going on or who it is you’re trying to run from, but I can see it in your eyes. You’re scared shitless. I don’t have it in me to let a woman and a kid suffer. I’m real close to demanding you tell me what’s going on and then handling the matter myself.”

She gasped and shook her head. “No. Stay far from the compound. It’s not safe for you. They seek out alpha males. Shifters are especially alluring for them.”

“Really? Isn’t it supposed to be a safe haven for supernaturals?” he asked, his tone saying he knew different. “And how is it you know I’m a shifter? I’m sure that information wasn’t shared with you prior to our meeting.”

She glanced away. If people started to poke around, it could alert the others and tip them off. She couldn’t have that. “I’ll be fine. Just please stay away. Trust me when I say the resort is not what it appears to be.”

“Few things are, kid,” he supplied. “How old are you? Because from where I’m standing, you look like you’re maybe eighteen. I have to admit, when I saw the pictures you provided for the passports, I had to wonder if you had a kid when you were barely into your teens.”

She shook her head. “I’m twenty-three.”

“Still nothing but a baby really,” he returned, pushing her hand back toward her body. “Keep the money. Keep the papers. Keep that number you called. The one that put you in contact with me. If you need anything, and I do mean anything , you call that number. They’ll find me no matter where I am. All the men I work with are good men, Amelia. We can help you. We understand what it’s like to be scared and think you have no way out. Part of our life’s mission is to help others who can’t help themselves. The way we see it, there is a bit of Outcast in all of us.”

“Outcast?”

He winked. “It’s not important. It just means we get it. And none of us will be okay knowing you and your little sister are in a dangerous situation.”

She lost her battle with her tears and they began to flow freely. “T-thank you.”

He stiffened a moment before he reached out and gave her something that resembled a hug. She was sure it was meant to be comforting but it was evident the man wasn’t much of a hugger. The act was awkward at best. “Amelia, I mean it. Call and I’ll come.”

She nodded, hugging the man in return, still crying.

He patted her back. “Tell you what, you call that number regardless. If I don’t hear from you in the next two days, telling me you’re okay and fine, I’ll step in. Am I clear?”

“Yes,” she managed as she hiccupped. “It’s hard for me to make calls without someone noticing.”

“Hard or dangerous?” he asked, still hugging her.

“Both.”

“Do your best. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll reach out in some fashion. Either I’ll come, or I’ll send someone I trust. Okay?” he asked.

She stared up at him. “Why are you helping me?”

“Because I can and it’s the right thing to do,” he answered. “It’s not often I find myself on the right side of the fence. Figure I should act on it to help even out all the hell I raise.”

She smiled against his chest and composed herself as best she could. “Thank you again for everything.”

“How are you getting back tonight, Amelia?” he asked.

“I have a ride. They’re waiting on me. I need to hurry so no one notices I’m missing.”

He nodded. “Take care of yourself, kid. And remember, if I don’t hear from you within forty-eight hours, I’m coming in, like it or not. I really do not want to get a phone call telling me your body was found next. Got it?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I should go. They’ll notice I’m gone soon.”

“Forty-eight hours,” he reminded.

She nodded.