Force of Knight Magic (28 page)

He didn’t need to say the words to convert the man
,
but he felt comfort in them. Phil was afraid he was too late when his life giving blood slipped down his chin.
When a hand suddenly appeared and held Myles
’ nose,
he was surprised to see Austin there.

Neither of them said a word as the man drank.
When they could see that he was getting stronger
,
Phil took his wrist away and sealed the wound.
He had to find his Holly.

“He won’t die.
My brother and parents are coming to watch over him.
But I can’t…I have to find her.”
Austin stood too, anger in every pore of his body.
“I’ll find her.
You have to believe me.”

“I do.
And if you think this bitch is taking part of my family and I’m going to s
i
t idly by then you’re as nutty as a fruit
cake
.
Tell me where her scent is the strongest and I’ll have all I have
to
help you.”

He should have expected the hug.
He’d been around these wolves enough to know that hugging was as much a part of them
as
taking a breath.
When he could stand on his own after having all the wind squeezed out of him
,
he pointed to the counter.

Austin went to the counter.
Then he looked around the room to be sure no one was watching.
Phil watched as the alpha shifted, his muzzle appearing as he leaned down and took a deep breath of the scents Phil knew w
ere
there.
When something touched his leg
,
he looked down to see Myles staring at him.

“Don’t speak.
You’ve been hurt badly.”
He touched the man
’
s hand
,
which now lay over his chest.
“I’m going to…to change you.
Do you understand?”

Phil saw the confusion and didn’t make any effort to clear it up.
He didn’t want to have to explain what was going to happen nor did he have the time.
When Myles opened his palm, Phil looked at it.

“Him,” Myles whispered.
“Him.”

There was a small scrap of material in his hand.
He started to reach for it when his hand closed again.
Phil reached into Myles mind and settled it before he could speak to him.

“Him?
You mean there was a man here with Anye?
Can you let me see what he looked like?”
Phil searched through his memories and with it
,
the man’s emotions and pain.
“I’m so sorry
,
my friend.
You shouldn’t have had to deal with them.”

Myles had been shopping for a baby gift. He’d been looking for something to give to CJ
’s
and Austin’s new babies when he’d seen her walk into the little store with Holly.
He’d walked in just as Holly had shot at the older vampire.
The girl at the counter was already dead and
Jose
was feeding from the one on that now lay on the floor.

“Myles
,
get back,” he’d been told by CJ.
He looked toward her and saw her standing near the far wall.
She looked frozen there to him
,
but the first bullet hit him in the shoulder.
He looked at Holly to see why she’d shot him when another bullet hit him in the belly.
Pain tore at him
,
yet he knew that if he went down
,
he’d be more of a hindrance than help
,
so he pulled his own gun and shot at the vampire.
Holly didn’t have her gun pointed at him but at the woman.

Myles never got the chance to fire.
Jose
suddenly had him lifted up and before he
could do
whatever it was he’d planned, Anye spoke.

“He’s a buddy of Phil’s.
Don’t kill him
,
but do make it so he will die.
I want the bastard to suffer like he did me.
Just…I don’t know, mess him up really bad in the guts.
That will be painful to the prick too.”

“You telling me how to do my job?
I got news for you
,
I’ve been messing people up for a long time.
In fact, it’s sort of a hobby of mine.”
The laughter made the skin on Phil’s arms crawl.
“You should try to get this over with soon
,
love
;
the cops are on their way.”

Jose
had turned Myles in his arms and slammed him several times against the wall.
Phil could feel each time he hit as though he was the victim
instead of
his friend.
Pulling out of his mind, Phil put Myles to sleep and contacted his mother again.

“He’ll need to be fed again.
I can’t…I have to save my strength in case Holly needs me.”

“You go.
I’m nearly there. I’ve brought your brother with me too.
Rolland is going with you and your father.
But the others will help with—
”
He felt her sob.
“Bring her back whole
,
Phil.
I really like this girl.”

Phil didn’t take the material
,
but lifted Myles
’
hand to his nose.
He could smell them, both men on it.
But what he hadn’t expected was the blood.
Moving the material there
,
was a small drop of blood there so he leaned down and licked it.
It wasn’t anyone he’d drank from before and knew it had to be Jose.
He had him now.

Holly couldn’t move very much and when she did, it was nearly painful enough to make her want to black out.
She peered around the small box she was in and tried to think about anything other than the fact that she knew she was in a coffin.

It was lined with silver.
If she reached up to touch the lid she got burned.
She’d learned that the hard way.
The padding under her wasn’t very thick and she knew that if she tried to move too much
,
it would fall th
r
ough.
Holly thought that if the bedlike cot she was lying on were to fall to the bottom of the casket
,
she could land on something that would kill her.

Then there was her throat.
The bite wasn’t big.
She’d only been bitten enough that she bled.
She tried to seal it with her own salvia
,
but all it did was burn a little and do nothing more.
She was losing blood, too much for her to live much longer if she didn’t get help. She reached for Phil and hit a wall.
She thought that she was in a steel room or underground.
She so didn’t want to think of that right now.

The lid opening suddenly had her flinch back.
The sudden light burned her eyes and
,
before she could focus on whatever had unearthed her
,
she was being tossed against a wall.

“There she is just like I told you.
Didn’t I tell you that I’d get her for you?
Now you owe me big time.
When can I expect payment?”

Holly didn’t say anything as Anye crowed.

“You said she was a wolf.
All I see is the bitch that was getting my job.
There isn’t any earthly reason for me to pay you if all I got is a stupid female.”
Holly knew that voice.
She turned slightly to see how he was involved and saw her boss, Eli Blair
,
there.
“Don’t look at me like you didn’t know.
I’ve been trying to kill you off for months.”

“Why
?
” she whispered. Her throat hurt more when she spoke so she decided to do it as little as possible.
Trying to stand made her dizzy
,
but the look on his face was worth every pain she had to endure. He was terrified of her.

“Why?
Are you fucking nuts?
Of course you are.
You had to die because I hate competition.
You, my dear
,
were better than me and I just can’t stand that.
Especially when it’s a woman.”
He started pacing.
“Do you have any idea how much ribbing I endured because of you?
How much the men admired you for your skills?
Shit
,
it was like they were ready to build a fucking statue to you.
I couldn’t stand it anymore and when that last assignment didn’t get you killed
…
”
H
e shrugged.
“I took matters into my own hands and tried to find someone
who
knew you.
That’s when this bitch showed up.”

“He’s going to use you and abuse you,” Anye said gleefully.
“He and I have worked out a deal where I’m going to keep you for
a while
,
until Phil shows up
,
then I’ll heal you and you will belong to him.
See?
Everyone is happy.”

Except for her.
She tried to reach for Phil again
,
and nothing.
She was getting scared.
Not only that
,
but she was reasonably sure that whatever Blair’s plans for her were
,
they didn’t involve her going back to work for him.
She tried to think.
Dizziness wasn’t just an occasional thing now but a constant reminder that she was dying. She thought about letting them think she passed out
,
but was afraid of the reality of it.
They would kill her if she did.

“Shift for him.
I know you can, I’ve seen you do it. Shift for him and let him see you are a wolf.”
Anye kicked her in the ribs then backed away before Holly could grab her.
“Shift
,
bitch, now.”

Holly knew that if she shifted
,
she’d be a wolf for an hour
,
no less.
She also knew that the wound at her neck would heal
,
but she was very weak so it would only slow her down
,
not help.
Then something occurred to her.
Austin and Dallas.
If she shifted, no matter where she was
,
they could hear her.
She stood up by sliding against the wall for support.

“She leaves.
I don’t do tricks and she’s a fucking bitch.” Anye lunged at Holly,
but
she grabbed her by the neck and tossed her away.
It cost her a great deal and she tried her best not to show it.

Blair stared at her for several seconds.
When almost a minute went by he finally spoke.
“Leave us.”

“She is trying to get us to separate so she can try and kill us one at a time.
Don’t you see?”
Anye let her beast go and it made Holly’s snarl along her skin.
This was not good.

“I said leave us.
I’m the one with the money.
Besides, I have a gun with silver in it and I’m not opposed to killing her.”
He pulled the gun and looked at her until Anye left the room.
Of course
,
she did kick
Holly
once again.
The door closed with a click.

“You won’t get away with this.
They know who you are and will be able to find you without any problems.”
She didn’t move toward him.
She was sure she could get to him before he fired
,
but wasn’t going to take the chance.

“Is that how you became so good?
Using your special powers to find your targets?
I would imagine that it was so easy for you.”
He nodded to the floor.
“Sit down.”

She slid to the floor but stayed on her feet.
She wanted to be able to move when she needed to.
She waited for him to tell her to shift again.
When he did
,
she let her beast go.

The power was immediate.
Her entire body surged with it.
As soon as she felt her wolf fully out
,
she reached for her brother.