Kaleb (Samuel's Pride Series) (13 page)

Kaleb nodded
and felt the blade he hadn’t seen until that moment cut into him. Wincing at the pain, he watched as his blood dripped into the bowl and sizzled with the other ingredients. When she told him to step back, he looked at the wound and saw the small scar.

The words she spoke
he had never heard before. She made the flame higher at one point, catching the bowl and its contents to flame. When she sat back and looked up at him, he smiled when she did.

“You’re very powerful, did you know that?” He knew that he was simply a boy but nodded
, thanking her for saying so. When the brew was cooled, Kaleb realized how dark the evening sky had gotten. But he couldn’t leave them just yet.

The witch had given the mixture to the little girl. It wasn’t working at first
, so Kaleb leaned down to her and whispered in her ear. He told her that she had to be all right and that she needed to keep her mommy happy. He even told her that he’d hurt his own mother and regretted it more than he did anything else in the world. When she swallowed the first drink, he smiled at the witch and sat back while the child drank the rest.

“You did a great thing for us.” He shook his head at the witch and stood up to go home. “I’ll never forget this. Ever. But you can never tell anyone what you’ve done here today
, except the one who will hold your heart.”

“Nobody will want my heart. I’m a mean boy and can’t control my temper.” She nodded at him and touched his arm when she returned his shirt. The power that surged through him made hi
m stagger. “You gave me something.”

“I did.
Go, before your mother overly worries, and enjoy sweet bread with your family.” He didn’t tell her that there’d be no sweets. That his mother had saved for weeks to make the one he’d ruined. But he went home to tell his mother he was sorry, sorrier than he’d ever been. Picking flowers on the way to soften what he’d done, Kaleb walked into the kitchen just as his mother was putting dinner on the table.

~~~

“We had a cake that night and once a week thereafter. For some reason, the ingredients would show up in the pantry and my mother wouldn’t question it. The blood on my shirt either.” He looked down at Thor when she shifted in his arms. “Do you know what she gave me?”

“Yes, I think. She gave you life.”
He shook his head. “Then what? If you tell me that she gave you her daughter, I’m going to strangle you.”

“No, she didn’t give me the child. And for the record, I never saw
either of them until many years later. But she gave me the ability to be the man she said she knew I’d become. It wasn’t until I turned twenty-five that she came back and gave me the immortality. By then my mother had passed on, and my brother was…well, Langley was already turning out to be worse than I’d been when younger. He…he turned out to be ten times the ass when he realized he could live forever.”

“I
understand, probably more than most would. Some people, like your brother and my dad, think that everything should be handed to them on a platter all done up with gold and silver. And now this guy is doing things that could be considered worse but really, it’s all the same. A person wanting more than he deserves and will kill to get it.” She nodded and then looked at the television. “I guess we should either expect company from this or figure out where Lipscomb has gone into hiding at.”

Kaleb couldn’t wait for this thing to be over. But he stood up to help her make some calls and do some
Internet research.

~~~

Ansell found the house easily enough. He’d never been there, but the address that popped up when he’d done a search on Jonas’s name led him right there. But getting in might be an issue. There was more security surrounding this place than he’d ever seen. And most of it was in the form of high electrical fences.

Ansell made four calls before he was able to find someone to come out and assist him in getting in the gates.
Two of the men had told him that they were on jobs; the third guy had told him to fuck off. If he wasn’t sure this was going to be his last big job, Ansell would have hunted the man down and killed him himself. But things were going to end here today, and there was no going back. By the time his man showed up, Ansell was on edge.

“You certainly took you
r own sweet time.” Ernie Couch simply smiled and got out of his car. They’d met at the diner in town and were now making their way to the house again. “I thought you’d be here an hour ago.”

“Nope.”
That’s all he said, and Ansell felt his temper raising a little more. When he stopped walking, Couch stopped, too, and turned to look at him.

“That’s all you have to say?”
Couch shrugged and turned to walk on. “I’m not finished talking to you. I want to know why you took so long to get here when I specifically told you an hour ago.”

“It took me longer, that’s all you need to know.” He hadn’t even turned when he spoke.
Ansell caught up with him and put his hand on his shoulder to jerk him around. He was going to shoot this prick and try to find someone else. But he hadn’t expected his gun to go flying and one to be pointed at his head so quickly.

“Now. This here is what you’re going to do. I’m going to lower my gun and you’re going to back the fuck off or I’ll kill you, take your money
, and leave you here to fucking rot. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” Ansell nodded. “Good boy.”

When the gun came
down, Ansell had a second to think he could simply take the man, but he was sure he’d be just as dead as Couch had threatened. When Couch said nothing for several seconds, he turned and started walking again. Ansell was sure that one word from him would make him leave. Ansell decided that when this was finished, the man was dead.

“I need to get
inside the gates and to the house.” Couch nodded but only looked over the fence. “I don’t know what to expect with the household when I get there.”

“Big.”
That was ever so helpful and Ansell nearly told him so. But Couch continued before he got himself killed. “And I’d say that this isn’t the only problem you’re going to run into. I’m betting the house is ten kinds of locked up.”

“You mean you
can’t get in.” Couch shrugged, and Ansell felt his temper snap. “Stop doing that. Either answer me properly or don’t, but shrugging is beneath both of us.”

“Okay.
The gates are locked down with interlocking electrical fencing, which means that whoever put this in did so in a way that when one section is cut, the overlapping wiring will take over, keeping the power running. The high tension wiring at the tip is barbed wire, ten strains of it. It’s viciously spaced so that even if you tried to go over it, you’d be cut up so badly when you got to the other side, you’d bleed to death. Around the perimeter, you see those nice, deep cuts in the walls? Those aren’t foot holes for an idiot to use for climbing; those are traps.” Couch picked up a thick stick and rammed it into one of the sections. The outer walls snapped shut, and he could see spikes holding onto the log. After a few seconds, it released it. And when it dropped, Couch showed it to him. “I’d say that those bite marks are five or six inches deep, would you?”

Ansell nodded. Christ, no wonder Ernie hadn’t try to breach this thing.
“What do we do now?”

“Nothing. We try to get in and we’re dead or wish we were.
We wait for one of them to come out.” Ansell started to point out that someone had come out and killed his predecessor, but he didn’t. The man was on his own about this part. “Unless, of course, you have a better idea.”

“No, I don’t.” They moved back to the diner and got their cars. Parking them closer to the gates than Ansell thought smart,
Couch leaned down into his seat and closed his eyes. The man was actually going to take a nap? Now?

Ansell sat next to him
, thinking about all the things he’d like to do to the sleeping man but knew in the end, if he was going to get the cunt, this man was his only hope. Leaning back in the seat, he closed his eyes as well. He was leaving getting into the compound to this man. He was certainly paying him enough to do so, but he was so going to kill him afterwards.

Chapter 13

Samuel walked up beside the car with the sleeping men inside and looked at
Stephan. Neither of them said a word as they walked by them. They’d been on patrol in another area of the grounds when Thor told them about the car. She said she’d seen it when she’d been out in the woods.

“
Do you suppose we should kill them both?” Stephan looked back at the car when Samuel asked him. “I mean, they can’t be here for anything but bad news.”

“The man under the
steering wheel is Hawk. I think he might be pissy with me if you tried to kill him. Besides, I’m pretty sure he can take you.” Samuel turned back to look at the car and saw the driver wave at him before settling back in the seat.

“
Why is he helping out this asshole?” Stephan laughed. “You hired him. Damn it, Stephan, what if I hadn’t had you with me? I could have killed him.”

“You could have tried.
Hawk is a little more than a simple shifter. He’s…he has a great deal of me in him.” That made no sense, and he asked him what he’d meant. “We’ve traded blood enough where he can bite if he wants, and has been known to feed when he needs to heal quickly. I would imagine that he is either going to make a tasty meal of Lipscomb, or he’s planning to serve him up on a platter for Thor.”

Either sounded like something Stephan would do. In the few weeks she’d been
there, all his friends had told him how much they liked Thor. Samuel hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her either until now. He walked to the gate and punched in the numbers.

“Do you suppose she’ll let us in?”
The gates opened slowly and they both moved through the gate before it was completely open. Samuel knew that Stephan could have simply gotten in without the aid of the gates, but he couldn’t. As soon as this shit was over, Samuel was going to talk to Kaleb about getting the same security firm to come to his house now.

“
How’s the baby?” The question startled him out of his thinking, and he looked at Stephan when he laughed. “Long nights or somewhere else?”

“Both. And he’s fine.
Kendal is growing more and more every day. Gab is over at the house now with Kennedy. I think they’re planning something for Thor to welcome her to the pride.” It was that or they were planning to help them get Lipscomb. He was never sure what went on in their minds when they got together. “I think you should find your mate and have a few on your own.”

“No
thanks. I think I’ve missed that boat anyway. It’s been entirely too long and I’m much too set in my ways to take on someone who will want to change me.” Stephan and he rounded the corner to the house and stopped to stare. “Christ, did you know about this?”

“No.
I’m not sure…do you suppose they have to have maps to get around?” Even the landscaping looked like it was huge. “I don’t think I want Kennedy to see this. She might want one for herself.”

The house looked like an old mansion.
There were long white columns that stretched from the wide wrap around porch to the third level of the house. Large, wide windows graced the front of the house, and all eight of them looked like they contained fifty panels of glass each. The door, a solid affair, was a double door that he was sure a car could be driven through. Along the front porch were rocking chairs, ten or more, each of which had a nice little table sitting by it. And at each end of the front part of the porch was a swing, complete with pillows.

“You think he has a decorator?”
Samuel slapped at Stephen when he asked. “I mean look at this place. Holy hell, this is nice.”

Kaleb met them at the front door.
Thor was standing behind him, and she didn’t look all that happy. When they shut the door behind them, he looked at Kaleb.

“She’s mad
because I told her to stand back while I made sure it was you.” He looked back at her as he continued. “I think she thinks to protect me from the bad guys.”

“I will be the bad guy if you don’t let me be myself.” Thor came around Kaleb to stand in front of him.
“I want to come and stay with you for a few days. He’s going to be dead if I don’t get out of here.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.
Lipscomb is right out front, and he’s gunning for you.” She huffed at him, then left them standing there. Stephan started to follow her when he stopped suddenly.

“Faerie? You
have faeries here?” Kaleb nodded and pointed to the molding around the room. Samuel looked up and didn’t see anything at first, but then one of them moved and he saw them.

“
Christ.” There must have been a thousand of them. One of them came down closer and stared at Stephan. When she bowed before him and fluttered away to sit on Kaleb’s shoulder, Samuel had to ask.

“Something I should know
?” Stephan looked to be in pain, and when he turned to look at him, Samuel could see that his beast was coming forth. “What’s going on?”

“Faerie blood.
It’s…amazing.” Stephan backed up and bumped into the wall. “I have to get out of here.”

Samuel nodded and reached for his friend. Before he
could touch him, one of the faeries flew in front of him and slapped Stephan in the face.

“Buck up. Do you want to cause a scene in this house?” She flew around him twice more before she was in front of him again. “Do you want to be cured in this house
, or do you want to insult my mistress?”

“I want to drink from you in your
other form.” The faerie laughed, and Stephan reached for her. Suddenly, Thor was there with a knife to his throat.

“Touch her and I will cut your heart out and feed it to them.”
Stephan looked at Samuel and then at Kaleb as Thor continued. “Ana asked you a question. Die or be able to come in this house all the time?”

“You’ve no idea what you’re asking of me.” Thor nodded at
Stephan. “I want to be able to come here, but if there are faeries, I’m fucked.”

“Calm your beast.”
Samuel watched the faerie Ana as she moved closer. “I cannot work with you if you’re snarling like an animal. Calm him.”

Stephan snarled at her but looked at Thor.
“You’re hurting me. Will you please remove the knife from my chest?”

“When you can behave. And know this, friend of my mate
’s or not, I will kill you if you harm anyone in this house. I’m not as big and strong as you, but I think I might have the advantage right now.” Samuel saw Stephan wince. “So if it’s all the same to you, I’ll hold you this way. Answer. The. Faerie.”

“Yes.”
The hissed answer had spittle coming from his mouth. Ana moved closer to Stephan, but she didn’t touch him until Thor nodded, then let him go.

Stephan stood there for several seconds. And the longer he stood staring at Thor
, the calmer he seemed to get. When he pushed from the wall, Samuel started forward, but Kaleb’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“You could have been hurt.”
Thor shrugged at Stephan. “What would you have done if I had not calmed? Surely you wouldn’t have killed me.”

She put the knife in her boot and stood up. When she crossed her arms over her chest, Samuel thought of every time she
’d done that when they were children. He smiled because he knew just what she was going to say.

“Well, it’s a good thing we don’t have to find out the answer to that, now
isn’t it?”

Stephan stared at her for several heartbeats before he threw back his head and laughed. Ana landing on his arm had him tensing up.

“You’ll have to teach me that trick of yours.” Ana shook her head at Stephan. “And what if I come to another home where there are faeries? What will happen to me then if I should harm them?”

“You’ll die. But that will not happen, my lord. In any house that is a part of the pride
, you will be safe. I shall not allow you to be killed with such a horrible death as the mistress had in mind for you.” Stephan looked at Thor, then back at Ana when she continued. “She has a mind for this, I think. To protect what she can and kill what she deems…unworthy. Are you, my lord? Are you unworthy of the mistress?”

“I hope not.” Ana moved up to stare into his face and then floated to the ceiling again. All at once every winged creature there moved down to greet them.
Thor looked at him.

“
You okay?” He nodded. “You’re not going to go shit crazy on me, are you? I mean, I can put you down if you want.”

“Fuck you.”

Samuel went into the main room just off the entrance hall and stopped in his tracks. There were no words to describe this room.
He looked at Kaleb before speaking again. “Holy cheese and crackers, man. Why the hell have you been hiding this place? This is amazing.”

“Well, I’ve had a lot of time to collect.”
Kaleb went into the room that Samuel decided would pale beside most museums. Samuel wondered briefly what else he’d had time to do.

~~~

Hawk moved in through the gates as soon as they opened. He just hoped this harebrained idea worked. Why they were letting the bad guy in was beyond him, but Stephan said it would be taken care of. Of course it would. Hawk just knew that he was going to be killed as soon as he stepped in front of the house.

“He certainly knows how to live.”
Hawk didn’t say anything to Lipscomb. First of all, what the hell was he supposed to say? And secondly, it was hard to hold this voice for that long. Shifting to another person was hard enough; talking like them was murder. Moving toward the garage, he found what he’d been told to look for. Some of this plan was ingenious.

The guns were hanging on the wall just like he’d been told.
There were five of them, all newer and covered in dust. Hawk had a moment to wonder how the hell they’d pulled that off when he looked at Lipscomb. These guns, he’d been told, held only blanks, as did the guns on both their persons.

Lipscomb
was staring at the cars as if he were going to fuck one of them. When he ran his hand over the polished dark red surface, Hawk wanted to tear his throat out.

“Do you suppose when
she’s dead they’d miss one of these babies?” Hawk didn’t bother answering. The Lotus was gorgeous, but he had one similar to it in his own garage. Some things a man just didn’t touch. The first thing was their mates. The second thing was their babies. And cars were all their babies.

“I think if you don’t fucking get your ass in gear, I’m leaving you.”
Hawk tossed the gun at him and nearly laughed when he fumbled it. They moved out of the garage and into the yard just as Kaleb was coming out. So far so good. When he pointed the gun at the man and fired, Kaleb went down.

“The girl is mine.” Lipscomb didn’t bat an eye when he moved toward the house. “I’m killing that bitch if it’s the last thing I do.”
Hawk watched him, knowing that it was going to be the last thing he did.

The door hung
open and Lipscomb moved up the steps like he owned the place. He didn’t even hesitate when he fired the weapon Hawk had given him at the butler. Then when Samuel was suddenly there, he shot him as well. Things were going just as they’d planned. But when the younger woman came out and stood in front of them, Lipscomb seemed to freeze.

“You’ve been very busy
, I see.” She looked at him and then back at Lipscomb as she continued. “I’m going to enjoy taking you to jail. If you make it that far.”

“Jail? In the event you didn’t notice, I have the upper hand here.”
Hawk glanced at Lipscomb and noticed he had a gun pointed right at the woman. Hawk hadn’t met her really, but he thought this was Thor. He’d bumped into her once about five years ago and knew that she was something special. He’d not known what until just then.

“You with him?”
The question startled him, but Hawk shook his head. It was past time for him to own up to his part of the plan. Besides, he wanted to shift again. The guy he’d turned into was shorter than him and was a tub of lard.

“He’s here to kill you. Seems to think that you’ve shit in his oatmeal or something.”
Hawk laughed when she nodded. “I heard you were something. I just wonder how long it will take before this fucking idiot understands just how something you are.”

“You fucking bastard.”
Winking at Lipscomb, Hawk shifted to his true form. “What the fuck? What…how the hell did you do that?”

“Magic
, you moron. We all have it.” Lipscomb took a step back as Samuel stood up and continued. This was epic, Hawk thought, and decided to watch until bullets started flying. A few more minutes of this and he’d have to mark this up as one of his favorite days.

“You’re dead. I killed you.”
Lipscomb looked over at Kaleb when he sat up, too. “There is no way in hell you were able to survive that.”

“Well, it seems you’re very wrong about that.”
Kaleb stood up and jerked the gun from Lipscomb and cracked it open. “Blanks. We knew you were coming. Fuck, you’re stupid, aren’t you? I’d think a man like you would check that shit first. Or at the very least, have your own weapon. Didn’t they tell you in bad guy school that you never take a gun from someone else, and you never ever piss off a woman? Your batting average has taken a major dump today.”