Howl for It (26 page)

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Authors: Cynthia Shelly; Eden Laurenston

BOOK: Howl for It
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Blood dripped from the redhead’s side. He stood just a foot away from the silver bars, and he glared straight up at the camera.
Shamus had put two hunters in the infirmary when he’d been brought in.
An animal.
Lyle’s words drifted through her mind.
See how wild? How vicious? This one will have to be put down before he can kill again.
“Has he killed?” Kayla asked quietly.
Gage nodded.
So have I.
When had the line between good and evil become so blurry? Maybe it had just always been that way. “Has he killed innocents?” she pressed.
Gage’s stare slowly turned to her. “I’m getting him out of there.”
Okay, so that wasn’t the answer she’d been hoping to hear. Kayla grabbed his arm and stopped him. “If that guy is gonna get loose, then turn on humans . . .” She couldn’t let that happen. That would just be more death on her. Kayla swallowed. “I’ve seen what wolf shifters can do to humans. I won’t let him hurt innocent people like that.”
Gage stared down at her. “When will you stop judging us all, based on what happened to you?”
She felt that hit all the way to her soul. But Kayla didn’t let him go. “Is he a threat to the humans?” Lyle had said so, but now she knew Lyle was a lying sack of shit.
That I trusted for years. That I freaking loved.
He’d been a second father to her, only the increasing icy certainty in her gut told her that the guy had quite possibly killed her real father.
No, not quite possibly.
You did it. I know you did.
Her blinders had been smashed to pieces now.
And I was with Lyle. I fought side by side with him for years and didn’t realize the truth.
She had to clench her teeth to hold back the scream that wanted to break free. She’d been so blind. So driven by rage and anger. Lyle had given her targets, and she’d been only too eager to attack.
“I trust Shamus.” Gage spoke softly to her. His body was tense beneath her hand. “Things . . . haven’t been easy for him. But he isn’t psychotic.”
As wolves were prone to be.
Like you, Lyle?
“He’s in control, and as far as I know, Shamus never killed a human in his life, not even those who deserved death.”
Her breath rushed out. Okay, that was something.
“And the woman?” The female wolf. The one with the short, close-cropped black hair, the coffee cream skin, and the dark eyes that looked like she’d seen hell a time or twenty.
“Faye can’t shift.”
That surprised her. “She’s a hybrid?” She had heard about another wolf like that, once, but that wolf shifter had lived way down south.
“No. She’s full-blooded.” His gaze darted to the screen that showed Faye’s image. “But when she was thirteen, a sick prick got hold of her. A doctor who said he could cure wolves. Faye’s parents wanted her cured.”
“Why?” She’d thought wolves loved their beasts.
“Because they didn’t want to be monsters. Didn’t want her to be one.”
Kayla flinched.
“The doctor pumped liquid silver in her veins. Burned her from the inside out. She’s never been able to change.”
Her eyes squeezed shut. She couldn’t even guess the agony a procedure like that would bring to a child. “Wh-what happened to the doctor?”
“The human who got off on torturing wolves?” Fury burned in his voice. “Don’t worry. He’s not ‘curing’ anyone. Not anymore.”
No. She bet he wasn’t.
Not good. Not evil.
Where did Gage really fall on that scale? Where did she?
Her eyes opened. Determination fueled her blood. “Let’s get them out of there,” she said. “Before the next guard shift comes to check on Thomas.”
She grabbed the key cards. Headed for the woman first. Faye stood in the middle of her prison. Her head was down. Her body held perfectly still.
But when Kayla and Gage entered the narrow corridor that led toward the caged wolf, the woman’s body tensed. Her head snapped back.
“Alpha.”
Hope and fear twisted the one word.
Gage hurried toward her. “We’re getting you out, Faye.”
Faye’s dark gaze—her eyes almost looked pitch black—locked on Kayla. “The hunter? She . . . smells of you.”
Great. Shifter noses. Kayla swiped the key card and jerked open the cell door. “Come on.”
One wolf down.
One to go.
But Faye didn’t move. Her gaze stayed locked on Kayla. “Is this . . . a trick?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed. “You hate me. Why would you help us?” That gaze slid back to Gage. “Even if you’re fucking the alpha . . .”
Yeah, I am.
And with shifter senses, well, hell, she might as well be wearing a giant neon sign that said,
Hi, I’m Kayla, and I just screwed the alpha.
“Why go against your own kind?” Faye demanded and her soft voice was laced with steely anger.
“Cause they’re not my kind.” Lyle wasn’t. He wasn’t Gage’s kind, either. He was just a murdering sick bastard.
That
kind.
He’d told them all that Faye was psychotic. That she’d sliced open five men in Vegas. Kayla had seen the pictures, but hadn’t talked to the men. Lyle had told her interviews weren’t necessary. Now she wanted to know . . . “Why’d you do it?”
Faye held up her hand. Claws broke from her fingertips. “The bastard doctor didn’t totally kill my wolf.”
Were the claws supposed to scare her?
Think again.
“Five men are now walking the streets of Vegas with your mark on their faces.
Why.
”
Because Kayla had to make sure she was doing the right thing. She was going against years of training. Everything she’d ever believed.
Faye’s delicate face hardened. “Those men,” the word was a curse, “got off on hurting women, and they made the mistake of thinking they’d hurt me, too.” Faye’s lips thinned. “No one hurts me and just walks away. Those days are long gone.”
There was no missing Faye’s intensity. Or the pain that echoed in her voice. Kayla stared at her—and believed.
Not evil. Not good.
Was the whole world a shade of gray these days? Everything had seemed to be in such big, bold colors just days before.
Kayla turned away from Faye. Staring into the she-wolf ’s eyes, it was a little too much like . . .
looking in a mirror.
Same rage. Same pain.
“Alpha?” She heard Faye ask. “Shamus . . . I heard him yelling . . . is he . . . ?”
“He’s next,” Gage said, voice flat. “You’re both coming home.”
Home.
The word caused an ache to lodge in Kayla’s heart. Did she even have one anymore?
Don’t think about it. Not now.
She just needed to do the job. Get them all out of there with minimum bloodshed, yeah, that was priority number one for her. She slipped around the corner, punched in the code for the next holding room, and tried like hell to keep her control in place.
Time to face the big beast. Shamus would hear her coming, no doubt, but it wasn’t him she was worried about. Well, not
too
worried. Not with Gage having her back.
We just have to hurry.
Lyle was too confident. He thought the silver was all he needed to contain his captured prey.
Guess you never thought one of your own would turn on you.
Time for Lyle to think again.
“Come near me . . .” Shamus bellowed and she flinched.
Hell, did he have to yell?
Did he want to bring all the other guards his way? “And I’ll cut you open!”
Actually, that was pretty likely. So she’d better stay far away from those razor-sharp claws.
“I’m trying to help you,” she muttered as she rounded one more turn and came face-to-face with his cage—and him.
Big Red was freaking huge. Had to be at least six-foot-three, maybe six-foot-four. His shoulders were like dang mountains.
“If you so much as scratch her, Shamus,” Gage snarled from directly behind her.
Soft moving wolf.
“You’ll answer to me.”
Silence. Shamus’s stare drifted between them. “A hunter?” Disgust dripped from the words.
“I’m the hunter who’s here to save your ass.” She used the key card and his cell door swung open.
Shamus didn’t move. “Is this a trick?” His claws were up. Before Kayla could answer, he lunged forward—and those claws came right at her neck.
She jumped back, but Gage was already there. He leapt in front of her and locked his hand around Shamus’s thick throat and slammed him back against the silver bars.
Faye cried out as the scent of burning flesh filled the air.
“I
warned
you,” Gage growled. Then he yanked Shamus away from the bars and dropped him on the floor. “She’s mine, and you
don’t
ever go at her with your claws. Got it?”
Shamus lifted his head. “G-got . . . it, alpha.”
Right. When a lesson was burned into you, it was kinda hard to misunderstand.
Psychotic tendencies.
That had been in Shamus’s file. His gaze cut to her. Oh, yeah, white-hot fury and—
“Faye,” Shamus whispered the woman’s name like a prayer. The fury vanished from his eyes and was replaced by a look of longing so intense that Kayla felt damn . . . uncomfortable.
Faye had crept near her. Then the smaller woman paused, and moved nervously from one foot to the other.
“I caught your scent on the hunter,” Shamus said. He rose to his feet in an instant and didn’t even seem to be aware that his back was still smoking. “I-I thought he’d done something to you, that—”
“Later.”
Gage’s snarl. “We’re getting the hell out of here now.”
Kayla got the picture. Big Red was sweet on not-so-delicate Faye. But Faye wasn’t even looking at him. She was looking
everywhere
else. The cage. The ceiling. The floor. The floor had to be real fascinating the way she was staring so hard at it.
Shamus had been captured when he’d charged at the hunters—coming straight in for a direct attack against them.
“You came at us because we had her,” Kayla said, understanding now. That was almost sweet.
Shamus threw her a fast glance. Wow, wait, his cheeks had just heated. He didn’t look quite so fierce then.
Gage caught her hand. “There’s movement two hallways over. Guards.”
Crap. Okay, the weird love thing between the wolves could wait.
She pulled out her weapon. She’d taken the liberty of snagging it when she’d taken the uniform from the locker room. “I’ll get us back to Curtis.” Then she’d leave Gage because her work wasn’t done. Not yet. “You just stop me if you hear guards, or if you smell ’em.”
No way would she walk into an ambush. Not with her wolf by her side.
Her wolf?
Now she was definitely getting all possessive on him.
She was in such trouble.
Gage stopped her twice as they headed back to the garage. She knew he could have just killed the guards they passed. Knew that Shamus wanted to slice them open, but Faye’s light touch on his arm seemed to calm the wolf. Right then, they were all focused on escape. But judging by the glint in Gage’s eyes, the fight would come soon enough.
She just wondered how many lives would be lost when the hunters faced off against the whole Vegas wolf pack.
Not Jonah.
She’d have to make sure he didn’t get caught in the crossfire.
Though it seemed to take forever, they were soon back in the shadows of the garage. When it came to stealth, no one beat the wolves. Just get them away from that silver, and they were good to go.
Lethally good.
“How the hell are we getting out of here?” Shamus wanted to know. “There’s a fortified fence out there, patrolled with half a dozen armed guards.”
Once you got in, you weren’t supposed to get out. Unless you were a hunter.
Curtis stood next to one of the SUVs. The guy was rocking back and forth on his heels.
Could the wolves smell him sweating?
“You’re just gonna drive out,” Kayla told Shamus and saw Gage’s head snap toward her. “Easy as pie.” Not exactly.
She glanced at Gage and found herself caught in his stare. “
We’re
gonna drive out,” he corrected. Right, ahem, he would have caught that bit.
But now wasn’t the time to hash this mess out. Curtis had seen her and he lifted his hand, indicating the coast was clear. They hauled ass, staying low and in the shadows, as they headed for the vehicle. Shamus and Faye jumped in the backseat, and kept their bodies near the floorboard. For such a big guy, Shamus could sure cram in tight. If anyone looked over, they wouldn’t even see those two in the back.

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