Dark Veil (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Stephen braced himself as Cade dove for him. Instinct warned him that his friend’s state of mind was tenuous in that moment, his
wolf
more present than the man. He didn’t try to fight him—instead, he took the brunt of Cade’s weight and landed hard on the ground. Cade’s hand shot out and wrapped itself around Stephen’s throat, a wildness shining brightly in his eyes.

“Cade …” he rasped, grabbing onto his wrist. “It’s me.” 

There was a moment’s incomprehension before the haze slowly lifted from Cade’s gaze and a flicker of recognition flashed in its blue depths.

Cade blinked hard and stared at the man he was choking. “Shit.” He snatched his hand away and quickly shot to his feet.

Coughing, Stephen sat up abruptly and sucked in deep breaths.

“Shit … are you okay?”

Stephen glanced up at him, his breathing still heavy, and eyed the nervous energy rolling off Cade in waves. “The question is, mate,” he choked out, “are
you
okay?”

Cade’s hands shook as he ran them through his short hair in such a characteristic fashion. Images of Gemma danced through his mind, pictures of her bound and helpless as those filthy
Humans
abused and tortured her making him go out of his mind.

An old, dilapidated mill stood a little distance away. The paint that had once been white was now streaked with orange where the frames had rusted over the years. Without another word to Stephen, he turned and started towards the mill. They had to be in there— they hadn't gone far when they had bagged his head, loaded him onto the trolley and then dumped him into the lake.

“There's no one in there,” Stephen called out behind him, but Cade wasn’t listening. He needed to get in there. His mate was in danger.

Stephen raced behind Cade as he sprinted to the mill. When he reached the old building, Stephen was next to him. He grabbed Cade’s arm to stop him, but he jerked it free with a growl and yanked open the large wooden door. It cracked open on old hinges and swung out awkwardly.

Gemma’s scent spilled out, tugging inside his chest and making his
wolf
go crazy. The stench of
Humans
twisted Cade’s gut and his eyes turned
wolf
as he flew to the open door in the back. He tore down the stairs, his instincts leading the way.

Stephen was hot on his heels, muttering quiet curses the entire way. When they came to the empty cages sitting in the subterranean vault, it didn’t take Stephen long to put two and two together. “Fuckers,” he swore violently.

Cade stared into the cage that had held Gemma. Her shoe lay upturned in the corner, and droplets of blood speckled the floor. His
wolf
surged to the surface, insistent and demanding. Some
Human
had dared to hurt his mate. Cade struggled not to completely lose it.

Not a lot
, he told himself. It’s
not a lot.
Nothing fatal
. But that didn’t matter to his
wolf
. His mate was bleeding, she was pregnant, she was alone, and she was in the hands of monsters. He gripped the bars of the cage and inhaled deeply, trying to steady himself and think lucidly.  But his heart thundered in his chest, his pulse racing and his
wolf
going wild, thwarting any kind of rational thought.

Even without searching the floors, Cade knew the whole building was empty. He could hear it … smell it. The main room held a wooden table and four chairs. Empty cans and crumpled crisp bags littered the table and floor. He grabbed the back of one of the chairs and swung it around, slamming it into the wall. It shattered into pieces, broken bits of wood clattering to the floor.

Stephen stood silhouetted in the doorway, staying back. Getting in the way or trying to talk reason to a
wolf
in this state was a dangerous thing to do.  

“She’s not here,” Cade roared. “I need to fucking find her.”

“We’ll find her,” Stephen said firmly, trying to evoke some calm into his friend.
Shit
, he was barely keeping it together himself as he stared at the blood splatters and Gemma’s shoe on the floor. He stepped back as Cade turned and strode out of the mill.

“God damn it,” Cade shouted as he reached the road outside the mill. He didn’t even have a fucking clue where he was. How the hell was he going to get back to her? God knows what the
Humans
were doing to her with every minute that passed.

“Cade.” He heard Stephen’s voice as if from a great distance, barely able to register the words. He couldn’t think straight, let alone follow a conversation. “Cade, you need to listen to me.”

But Cade was pacing, frantic, desperate, lost in his head. Stephen dared to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder. The
wolf
spun around with a roar, ready to take out anyone who stood in the way of getting to his mate and unborn cub. Stephen raised his hands in a sign of amity and stepped back, knowing not to push things.

Stephen’s mouth moved, and Cade could hear the words, but his brain wasn’t processing them.

Stephen ran an agitated hand through his hair, jaw tight, face stern. “Bloody hell, mate. I need you to try focus. We can’t help Gemma if you’re losing it.”

Maybe it was the desperate tone in Stephen’s voice, or the comprehension that he needed help to find Gemma, Cade wasn’t sure, but his
wolf
responded. He grew still and fixed his attention on Stephen.   

Realising Cade was partially listening now, and knowing he was balancing precariously on the edge, Stephen hastened to get some answers before his friend lost it again. “Where is Gemma?”

Cade suddenly caught sight of Raven behind Stephen, but it was the woman standing next to him that made his
wolf
go on guard. He didn’t know her—she was a stranger—and something felt off about her. His eyes flickered from man to
wolf
, his lips curling back to bare his teeth in a growl. He heard Stephen utter an oath.

Making sure his movements were non-threatening, Raven slowly pulled the uneasy woman behind him, his gesture one of protectiveness. He kept his eyes on Cade, dominant
panther
to dominant
wolf
. He didn’t break eye contact, maintaining his dominance by refusing to back down. The intimation that the woman was under his protection and in no way a danger managed to ease Cade’s
wolf
, his eyes gradually shifting back to man again. 

“Cade, where is Gemma?” Stephen repeated cautiously.

Cade shook his head as if to clear it. “I don’t know.” He glanced back at the mill before meeting Stephen’s gaze again. “I don’t know. They covered my head and threw me in the water. They were here ... in there ... I don’t know where she is …” His voice trailed off and his face contorted with pain and terror. “I need to fucking find her.”

“Who has her, Cade?” Stephen tried to keep his voice calm, even though inside he was ready for murder. “Who was it? Was it Patterson?”

A glassy stare met his and Cade gave a brisk nod. He was holding on by a thread. It would take just one slip up, just one small thing, for his
wolf
to take over. He would not stop until he found her.

Cade breathed hard, focusing his mind on where he was. “We go to Patterson’s place,” he said. “See what we can find.”

“He’s not there,” Stephen said. “We’ve just come from there.”

“How did you find me? Why are you here?”

Stephen tensed. Cade’s mind was already on the edge; he wasn’t going to take much more. “We went to Patterson’s place,” Stephen said tentatively.
Fuck
. How the hell was he supposed to tell Cade that not only was Gemma missing, but they now had Phoenix, too?  And it was his fault. “It was a trap. They fucking set us up.”

Cade frowned. “Set you up? I don’t understand.”

Stephen took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily. “They wanted Phoenix.”

Cade stared at him for a long moment, then his eyes darted from Stephen to Anika to Raven. “Where’s Phoenix?”

Stephen hesitated, his gaze meeting Raven’s before replying. “They took him.”

Cade’s frown deepened into a scowl. “What? What do you mean? Where’s Phoenix?”

“Patterson has him, Cade. It’s him they’ve wanted all along.” 

Cade was on Stephen lightning fast, gripping him by the shirt and sticking his face into his. Stephen didn’t try to move away. “You’re lying. You’re fucking lying. Where is he?”

It was Anika who stepped forward and spoke, though she made sure to keep close to Raven. “He’s a half-breed,” she called out.

His head whipped around to look at Anika, and Raven took a small step closer to her. Cade let go of Stephen and narrowed his eyes at her. “So what? He’s clear of all that crap of the past. What does being a half-breed have to do with anything?” He paused and his eyes raked over her slim form. “And who the fuck are you anyway?”

“She’s helping us,” Raven said silkily.

Cade watched as she swallowed and took a cautious step closer to Raven. She was a nervous thing—young, blonde, tall like Stephen—but her voice didn’t match what her body portrayed. Weakly, she said, “He has power.
Humans
that become
Other
are stronger, more powerful.”

That was no secret. Everyone knew that. “And what does the power mean to the
Humans
?”

She glanced nervously at Stephen and then Raven before replying. “When half-breeds are just turned, they go through a transition. It’s a time when all of their powers become big and uncontrollable. This is when they die. When Phoenix was first changed over, was there anything that was big inside him?”

Stephen’s eyebrows drew together. “His hunger.”

She nodded. “When my powers came to me, they were so big and strong I didn’t know what I was doing with them. It was like holding electricity in my hands.” She held her hands out, palms facing up, and little sparks crackled. “But also, when the turn happens, the mind is capturable.”

“What do you mean?” Cade demanded.

“Like all the cells in the body change. This is what Doctor Marcus told me. He said that when all the cells are fighting, then the mind can be caught and controlled—it is vulnerable then. This is when half-breeds die. Their minds go so mad that it kills them, but if they can link to another, then they can learn control.”

Cade and Phoenix were connected in mind. It’s what Cade had done to get through to the boy and try save his life when he had found him two years ago. Had he simply been taking control or had he actually saved his life by doing that? “What does that have to do with Phoenix?”

Anika shuffled from one foot to the other, ill at ease. 

“What does it mean?” Stephen pushed.

Her eyes glinted with deep-rooted contempt. “They want to test what the limit is. Shifters can heal well.” She paused before adding, “Can you imagine if that were multiplied?”

“You have something that is hard to kill,” Raven murmured.

“Yes. And if you can take control of the mind …”

“Fuck,” said Stephen. “You have an unstoppable soldier.” He turned to Cade. ““We’re going to have to take this to Society. It’s too big for us.”

Society
. Right now they might be worse than Patterson, Cade thought. If they confronted them about the baby, Gemma would be dead for sure. Trevor would leap up and write the execution warrant in blood if he had to. It would get him Malcolm’s seat. It would get him everything he had ever wanted. He’d treat it like a god damn prize.

“I am not leaving without Gemma. Go to your father if you like. I’m looking for her myself,” Cade said. He wasn’t leaving without her. He was sure about that. He turned from Stephen with grim determination. He had no idea where he was going, but he trusted his
wolf
—trusted that he would find the two things that he lived for. He turned and walked away. They could bring Society, but he wasn’t wasting another moment.

Stephen followed him and grabbed his arm. “Come on, man. Think about this logically. You can't charge in there and save her by yourself. They’ll just kill you. They already tried.”

“I’m not afraid of them,” Cade ground out. “I’ll fucking kill them all. That’s my life in there—all of it. Phoenix, Gemma, the baby. It’s all I have.” He choked out the last word. Saying it out loud was much harder than just thinking it. 

“Well, you should be afraid of them. I am,” Stephen said. “They’re fucking maniacs, and that’s my sister in there and a kid. I get you. I really do. I want to go in there and rip their heads off and shit down their necks, but I can't, and not being able to do that goes against everything in me. But the thought of finding them like that girl by the river, it scares me shitless. I can't even bear the thought of it. We’ve one shot at this. We can't screw it up. They ran when they dumped you right?”

Cade nodded grimly.

“So we barge in there, wherever there is because we don’t have a bloody clue, they’ll kill her. We have to do this properly. Society is properly. They’re bigger than us. If you go there now, you’re just going to end up dead.”