Page 10

L ucien Katmoore sat on the bunk in his cell and stared at the door. He rolled his shoulders and straightened his leg, wincing at the twinge of pain. The wound had healed better than his pride. The familiar sound of boots against the polished stone made him smile.

He sat up and waited as the guard outside his cell unlocked the door and opened it. He rose from the bunk, grimacing when the chain around his ankle clunked against the floor. He stared at his captor with a raised eyebrow.

“Have you been demoted, General?” he asked.

Commander Chawni Reed walked over to the table and placed the tray on it before she motioned for him to sit on the narrow bench bolted to the floor. Irritation flared inside Lucien, and a low growl rumbled from him before he could smother it. His irritation grew when she shot him an amused look.

“Calm your cat, Lucien,” she ordered.

His lip pulled back into a slight, mocking sneer. “Let me loose and I will.”

She tsked, stepped around the table, and slid onto the second narrow bench.

She sat straight, with her hands folded together, and waited, watching him with stunning dark brown eyes that seemed to notice everything.

He knew she would continue studying him until he complied with her command.

Resentment built inside him at her control over him.

He walked over to the table and sat down. His stomach growled when he caught the aroma of his dinner. He unfolded the flimsy spork they gave him from the paper napkin and began eating. He was about a third of the way through his meal before Chawni spoke.

“Are you ready to cooperate?” she asked.

He glanced up from his meal, shrugged, and looked back down.

It was the same question she had asked since he had awoken in this hellhole.

He had no idea where he was or who his captors were, only that the Commander had asked him the same questions over and over.

Some questions he could answer and refused to do so.

As for the others, he had no clue what in the hell they were talking about, so he had no answers.

“Will you release me if I do?” he asked.

“No.”

He lowered his utensil and stared at her. She spoke the truth. He could hear it in her voice. A shiver of apprehension ran through him. He looked around the ten-by-ten-foot cell before he stared back at her.

“You might as well kill me now if you think you can keep me in this cage,” he snarled, partially rising from his seat.

She lifted her hand when a guard started to step into the cell. The guard shot him a warning glare but stepped back. He started when she laid her hand over the back of his.

“Lucien, who sent you to find the humans? Do they have any?” she asked.

“Release me and I’ll tell you what I know,” he countered.

She pulled her hand back, stood, and shook her head. “Perhaps we can have this conversation again tomorrow.”

Lucien rose and tried to follow her. He growled in frustration when the chain caught on the table and jerked him to a stop. She stepped out of the cell and closed the door behind her. He glared at her through the thick bars.

“I meant what I said. You might as well kill me, human,” he snarled.

Chawni gave him a steely-eyed stare. “Be careful what you wish for, Lucien Katmoore. It may come true if you are no longer of any use.”

He watched as she walked down the dim corridor. His fingers curled around the wooden spork in his hand and it snapped in half under the pressure. In frustration, he threw the broken pieces at the cell door and watched as they slid through the bars.

His eyes glittered with determination before he released a low chuckle. The human was playing with fire and didn’t realize it. He was a master at escaping. Time and patience would work to his advantage. If she wanted to play games, he would play—but by his rules, not hers.

“One day, my little human soldier, you’ll make a mistake and when you do, I’ll be ready,” he vowed.

It wasn’t until he sat down that he realized that Chawni must have expected his reaction. Lying on the table was another set of utensils. He pulled it over, unwrapped the spork, and finished eating.

One day soon, my beautiful, intriguing human.

Nightsky estate:

“Come in, my boy. Come in. What did you discover?”

The quiver in Thaddeus’s voice came not from age but from excitement.

Talon Nightsky chuckled when his grandfather patted the space next to him on the bed.

He walked across the bedroom to the enormous canopy bed where his grandfather lay against silky, navy-blue sheets.

The old shifter’s brilliant white hair stood out against the dark fabric.

“What did Sofia tell you?” he asked, sitting beside his grandfather.

“That you took out some bad shifters who were after the humans,” Thaddeus said.

He waited as his grandfather scooted and sat up against his pillows.

Talon was glad to see the healthy color in his grandfather’s face.

He had been on his way to bed when he noticed the light still on under his grandfather’s door.

Now, he wished he had continued to his bedroom.

It would take ages for Thaddeus to calm down and sleep.

Robert and Olive weren’t going to be happy with him when they found out.

“Yes. They were ex-military, well-funded, and trained. I need to find out who they were working for,” he replied.

“Do you think it was someone other than the Wyland witch? She’s got the money to afford to hire a bunch of mercenaries. There’s more, though, isn’t there? You found something else.”

He sighed. He should have known his grandfather would sense something was off. The old shifter’s mind was still as sharp as ever even if his body was slowly succumbing to the effects of time.

“Yes, Isabella Wyland has the funds. One man escaped. We expected him to head for the helicopters, but he eluded us,” he said.

Thaddeus waved his hand. “Sofia said as much. You’ll find him and take him out. Best to let him lead you back to Isabella. That way, you can kill two bad shifters at once. But, there’s something else bothering you. Tell me, Talon. Perhaps I can help.”

Talon could feel his grandfather staring at him with a shrewd expression.

He rose from the bed and walked over to the window to stare out.

The moon cast a glow across the vast lawn.

Unease rose inside him when the sense of being watched flickered through him.

He reached out and closed the heavy fabric drapes.

“Talon?”

He turned and studied his grandfather’s time-worn face. The animated excitement had changed to concern. He shoved his hands in his front pockets, carefully weighing what he was about to say. He finally decided to refrain from mentioning his suspicions until he had proof.

“It’s nothing to concern yourself about. Once we know who the men were working for, it will give us a better idea of what we are up against,” he said.

“The humans—?” Thaddeus asked.

Talon smiled. “Are safe for now. Michaela has ordered additional security and asked the SBSI to oversee it. We’ve collected samples from the mercenaries and are running their DNA through the database. It’s only a matter of time before we find a thread that leads back to the source.”

Thaddeus nodded and yawned. “You won’t stop searching, will you? For more humans. You’ll keep looking, won’t you, my boy?”

“Yes. We’ll continue searching.”

Thaddeus sighed and slid down under the covers. “The Guardians live, Talon. I told you we would. Mark my words, King Or’Ang’s kingdom is out there somewhere, too. The humans will know. They will help you find it. They will help you find it.”

Thaddeus’s voice was barely audible by the end of his declaration. He had misjudged just how exhausting all the excitement had been for the old shifter. He gently lifted the covers and tucked them around his grandfather before he turned off the bedside lamp.

“If there are more humans, if they know where King Or’Ang’s kingdom is, we’ll find it. I promise,” he murmured, resting his hand over his grandfather’s wrinkled one for a moment before he quietly exited the bedroom.

He stood outside the closed door for a moment and breathed deep, calming breaths. He hadn’t spoken to the others about what he thought he had seen in the forest. A part of him hoped one of them would have mentioned seeing or experiencing something unusual, but no one had.

Was it just my imagination?

The image of eerie, ghostly shadows flitting through the forest canopy played in his mind. None of the other Guardians had said anything. If they had witnessed something, he was certain they wouldn’t have kept quiet about it.

Had it been nothing more than a play of the light on the snow?

He pushed away from the door and walked across to his suite of rooms. Entering his bedroom, he closed and locked the door.

He undressed, placed his dirty clothes in the hamper, and stepped into the shower.

Under the soothing warmth of the massaging jets, he closed his eyes and focused on remembering the details of their earlier mission.

The air had been cold and still. Light, fluffy flakes still occasionally fell as he soared on silent wings above the canopy of the forest. The group had divided into four teams. He had taken out the two shifters nearest the cave while Sofia and Juliette focused on the men in the helicopters.

Mateo and Miles were to neutralize the second team while Xavier and Danielle had taken care of the last group of mercenaries.

He braced his arms against the side of the shower as he remembered how he had veered off from the group.

His focus had been on the two shifters moving up the narrow ridge when a slight movement below him caught his attention.

He had almost missed the figure covered in white fur.

She was swiftly moving across the fresh snow, appearing and disappearing from view among the thick branches.