Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (18 page)

Kass’ human mind swam to the surface and her thoughts turned from blood and flesh to thoughts of Jax and getting out of the room. She knew dawn was coming as her panther form retreated with the painful sounds of flesh and bone shifting. Lying on her side, she held her breath as she hoped for someone to let her out of the room. Her eyes drifted closed as exhaustion and sleep claimed her.

The squeak of the door woke her. Her vision had cleared during her sleep but her body still shook. Coran and Derrik both walked in with a couple bags of food. Her stomach growled and she barely kept herself from attacking them for the fast food. She clenched her fists as Coran threw a blanket at her.

“How do you feel?” Derrik asked as he sat down and spread the food out in front of her

She wrapped the blanket around her and sighed. Reaching out for the food, she didn’t meet the gaze of either of the men. “Like I completely forgot what it’s like to shift. I don’t understand. I had more control than this the day Lucius removed the block.”

“He gave you back only part of your control. Your cat is out for blood and is used to being in complete control on a full moon, so in a way you are a new shifter.”

She took a few bites of the breakfast burrito he brought her. “I don’t like this feeling.”

“Understandable. I want you to return next full moon, until you can get her back under control.” Derrik glanced at Coran and then back to Kass. “We both want to help.”

She stood and stumbled. Coran caught her with his hands on her shoulders. “You haven’t eaten enough yet.”

“I can’t come back. I have to run with Jax next full moon. He’s my mate, I can’t abandon him every full moon.” She pulled away from Coran.

Derrik stood and pushed her over so she fell on her ass. She glared up at him and huffed as he laughed at her. “Sit down and eat. We’ll talk about the next full moon later.”

“I’m sure Jaxon is looking for you. Eat up and get dressed. There are clothes outside the room for you. Just no lovey dovey stuff upstairs.” Coran laughed and sat to eat.

She sighed and went to eat more. Her panther stayed content, tired from fighting against her all night.

Kass walked out of the basement, stumbling. She looked up as she heard someone clear their throat. Crossing her arms she leaned against the wall next to the door and smiled. “Hey, Jax.”

“I looked for you all night. I wanted to run with you under the full moon.” He brushed a hand down her cheek. “And here I find you in a club.” He nuzzled her neck and froze. “Smelling like wolves.”

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Derrik and Coran. They were...helping me with something. I’m sorry, next full moon we can run together.” She leaned in to kiss him.

He pulled away and looked into her eyes. “You were with them last night? What’s going on, Kass?”

“It’s not a big deal. Nothing went on, like I said they were helping me with something.” She ran a hand through her hair and watched him. “I know that their scent is all over me, but you have to trust me.”

“I can’t just trust you when you smell like two other males. Wolves nonetheless.” He took a couple steps back. “You get permission to mate and suddenly you’re in the bed of two other men?”

“I wasn’t in their bed. Last night was the full moon, I was in a room for the night. They helped me out afterwards. I told you I had to learn control again.” Her heart slammed against her chest. He had to believe her. She needed him to believe her.

Jax shook his head and turned tail to run.

“Jax-“ Before she could finish her sentence he disappeared out the door of the club. She banged her head back on the wall.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid-“

“You’re going to give yourself a concussion doing that.” Coran’s voice was soft as he came out of the basement. “I’m surprised that you and Jax aren’t up here snuggling.”

She snorted and shook her head. “He thinks I slept with you and Derrik.”

“Seriously?” He made a face. “No offense, but I’m not into kitties. He jumped to that conclusion way too fast.” Coran shrugged. “So what are you going to do?”

Kass shrugged and pushed away from the wall. “I’m going to continue my mission and let him figure it out. There’s nothing I can do.” She paused as those words hit her. “Other than beg, but I refuse to do that for anyone. I didn’t screw up, if anything I was trying to help my situation.” But it hurt. She wanted to run after him, to chase him and beg him until he understood what was going on.

“And he’s too blind to see that right now. So go on your mission, see if you can concentrate.” A strange smile crossed Coran’s face.

Kass rolled her eyes. “I’m going to wipe that all knowing smirk off your face.” She snapped. As she walked out her heart sank as she remembered the way Jax stormed out of the empty club. She had no way of telling if he’d come back to her or not. She tried to focus on finding a starting place for the stone, but as she climbed into the car all she could see was the anger in Jax’s eyes. She pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed.

Kass pulled up to the coffee shop and got out. Once she ordered her coffee she sat down at a table, address in hand. At least she hoped that’s what it was. 950 1/2 Lunar. Tegan’s handwriting was clear, but it still wasn’t much help. A quick Internet search a few nights before had turned up nothing, and there were very few cities that actually used 1/2 in addresses.

Her mind wandered away from the address and back to the reason she was trying to hunt this stone down. Jax’s smile and the way he held her came to her memory and she sighed while she folded and unfolded the paper. She ran the scene over and over in her head and wondered if there was anything else that she could have done, other than tell him. She couldn’t fathom the idea of him still wanting her when she had no control over her beast, when she had willingly been locked up for the full moon.

Kass sipped her coffee and glared at it when she realized that it had gone cold from sitting there during her musings. She shoved the paper back in her pocket and headed out the door, leaving the coffee untouched. Her day had been wasted. There was nothing more she could do at this point, except maybe talk to Tegan again. Driving back to the property, she tried to keep all lingering thoughts of Jax away. She should have been the one mad, not him. When she pulled up to the property she tried to force herself to calm down and focus on the task at hand.

Kass walked into the room where Tegan was getting ready for work. Her white hair was pulled away from her neck, and leather encased her body like it had been painted on. When she turned around she had her ever-present sunglasses on, which made it hard for Kass to read her. Kass gave her a smile. "You look like you're feeling better."

"I am, Lucius is going to let me work at the bar for a little bit tonight."

"Good, I'll be there a bit later, I have the late shift tonight. I wanted to talk to you a little more about that stone."

Tegan's face fell, her gaze went to the ground and she clasped her hands. "Sent it away."

"I know, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to know what it is. Some say that it's a gift from the gods, is that true?" Kass sat down in an armchair that was near the mirror.

Tegan shook her head. "No, not really. It's a soul stone."

"Lucius said that, but I researched it. It’s impossible, the magic to trap a soul hasn't been around since the beginning of time." Kass raised her brows and watched the girl in front of her. "There isn't a creature that old."

Tegan laughed, and sat Indian style on the floor. "Is that what you think, because I can tell you differently. I've been around for a long time, that soul stone belongs to the Father of Vampires." She leaned back. "My brother was charged with the protection of that stone."

She gave more details than Lucius, but Kass wanted more. "Where is your brother now?"

"He is sleeping." Her voice sounded mournful and her body tensed up. "He has been sleeping for a very long time. Since the Circle left Europe."

Kass crossed her arms. "Your brother is a vampire then?"

"Yes. He was changed before I was...bonded to Lucius. The Circle feared him." She said it as if it explained everything.

Kass knew little about how The Circle worked, but she at least knew that it was the unofficial head of the vampires. "So that's how you got the stone."

"Yes, it was passed down to me from my brother while he slept. If The Circle gets their hands on it then they could bring back the Father and we don't want that. He'll change everything, ruin everything."

"How do you know that?"

"It is his will, he wants things to go back to the old ways where the supernatural creatures ruled the world and the humans were the minority that lived in fear. He wants to rule over it all like he once did."

Kass rubbed her eyes. "But he can't because he is what? Sleeping? Since his soul is trapped? I didn't think vampires had souls."

"The old ones weren't cursed to lose their soul, they were blessed by the gods. It was after the Father lost favor with the gods that vampirism became a curse and the souls left the body upon death. Only the Originals still have their souls." Tegan's mouth turned up in a quirky smile. "Thought you studied your history?"

Kass laughed. "Apparently not well enough. So we have to get the stone back or we're going to be taken back to the olden days."

"Something like that. There are others looking for the stone as well. Some to use it and some to destroy it. There are those in our world who want us known completely to the human race. Not just to the government that tries to hide us."

Kass made a face. "And what good would that do all of us?" She shivered. "Human kind would either try to lock us all up or kill us. There are creatures that not even the government knows about. Is that what this war is all about?”

Tegan nodded. "Gives you a different view on things, doesn't it?"

"Makes me want to fight a little more. I know that Lucius doesn't want us completely known and I don't want to do that. I've seen how the government treats lycans, I can't imagine how they would treat vampires, witches, anything else." Tegan went awfully still. "You'd be safe, you still appear human to everyone."

"Yes, but imagine if they did blood tests? How many creatures who appeared to be human would be revealed? Shifters, more lycans that have hidden themselves for years, fae, other creatures of myth."

Kass frowned. "Shit. You're right, humans would go into a panic knowing how much is out there. They'd start shooting people on sight. How many of them are in our clubs, how many of us in their clubs? Things work out just fine as they are."

"Well, except when a panther eats them." Tegan joked and Kass couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, except then, but come on, it's not like I eat random victims, not any more." She stuck her tongue out. "So this stone could cause our war to grow."

Tegan nodded. "And spill more out into the human world. We really don't want that. Lucius has worked hard for this territory, he has worked hard to protect all his people. As harsh as he may be, he does everything for the good of his people."

Kass didn't agree so she kept her opinion to herself. "Lucius is strong enough to keep the territory under control. He has everyone under his thumb to help him out." Kass nodded. "He'll be fine, the territory will be fine."

"Unless The Circle gets that stone. If they get it they can take over the territory easily. We know they already have people in our territory and that they are close to the stone. We just don't know where it is." She pulled her knees up to her chest. "It's not like The Circle to play such games though, to mind rape a human of another vampire is a serious crime. Why would they risk it?"

Kass shrugged. "Who knows, apparently they are a very mysterious bunch. Some say they are made up of the Originals."

"That's as far as your knowledge goes, isn't it?" Tegan stood.

"Yeah it is, but I'm learning more and more as time goes on. Don't worry, we'll find the stone. You just worry about keeping Lucius happy and out of our way."

Tegan snorted. "Don't worry, he's got his new vampire to keep him distracted from you."

"Mae." Kass stated. "Josh's girl."

"Shame about Josh, but you know deep down in your heart he deserved it. He was planning on betraying Lucius, and he was using you, Kass. I know you feel you owe Josh for saving your life, but you don't deserve to be used liked that." She walked out.

Kass shook her head and wondered what world Tegan lived in. It was as if the girl had never opened her eyes and seen what Lucius was doing to everyone. He was using each person in his territory, black mailing them to work for him. Kass stretched. Of course, maybe Tegan had a point? Lucius had protected Kass for a while, and yes he asked her to work for him, but it wasn't like he was using her to control someone anymore. She headed towards the door. "Time to see if I can't stop the war from growing."

Chapter Sixteen

Jax sat at the bar waiting for Derrik to show his face. The immortal piece of crap, Coran, had already left for the night after settling Jax with his drink and laughing at the lovesick panther. A few drinks in and Jax replayed the scene in his head. Kass looked so shaken, so weak from the night before that he started to question what had happened. The worst-case scenarios ran through his mind, but he needed to talk to Derrik first.

“What the hell had you been doing here, Kassity?” He muttered to himself as he downed another drink. Nothing was really making sense to him. She should have been running during the full moon, with him. His beast paced in him. Wanting his mate. Wanting Kass safe with them. The wolves were a threat to her safety.

He motioned to the bartender to fix him another shot as the music vibrated against him. The rolling beat of the techno helped drowned out the memory of Kass’ voice asking to trust him.

“I think you’ve had enough, cat.” Derrik’s voice broke through the thumping noise. Jax raised his eyes to the wolf. “I don’t think so. I want another shot.”

“You can’t drown yourself in my bar. Go find another one.” Derrik picked up the shot glass, meeting Jax’s gaze. “You’re drunk. If Kass saw you like this she’d be even more of a mess.”