KnightForce Damian (La Patron's KnightForce Book 4) (7 page)

"Ooh, you're calling it a quest, I like that," Jasmine said, moving slightly in her chair to see them better since Silas hadn't moved or released her arm.

Asia smiled. "Mission, assignment, job, are all relevant titles."

"True, but quest gives it a bit of mystery, action, or adventure, don't you think? Besides it sounds more like Damian than the other titles," Jasmine said.

Asia's smile widened, chasing the dark look of concern from her face. "Yes, you're right." She paused. "I'm concerned over this entire operation; it seems... off. It's not adding up for me. How'd the witch identify Hawke? Why not approach Cain or Abel, who've been in the area a long time? It seems strange that her need is so desperate now that Damian is in the area."

Jasmine hadn't seen it from that angle and had to agree Asia made valid points.

"What you're saying is true," Silas said slowly, his finger rubbing the inside of Jasmine's arm. "Cain and Abel know that area better than most and say her scent is new, but she spoke truthfully regarding her mother. Based on the information Jacques has secured, a woman named Tara is sequestered away in Scotland. Why she chose Damian, I don't know."

"The Liege?" Hawke said softly. "Is it possible this is a trap to recapture my son? Since they can't get me? Some type of sick payback or revenge?"

"No, I don't think so. Remember, Barticus has three of the remaining members locked away, with his people nipping at the heels of the last one, Roderick. I'd be surprised if he’d had time to plan something this detailed. For one, he'd needed to have known details about Damian and KnightForce assignments before I even created the group. According to Cain and Jacques, this Ivona person has lived in the swamps for the past ten years with her mother. The mother worked at a mystical shop in Key West for a short while and traveled quite a bit in the past. The daughter filed a missing person's report when the mother failed to return from work a month ago. The police did some preliminary searching, but as it stands right now it's an open case." Silas paused.

"Human cops are involved?" Hawke asked.

"They aren't looking for Tara, which is probably what made the daughter turn to us. She's dated full-bloods in the past."

"Is she a breeder?" Jasmine asked.

Silas squeezed her hand. "Don't know, just got the background info on her from Cain a few minutes ago. No question she's trouble, especially if she's mated to a full-blood."

"Why?" Jasmine asked.

"This human was able to mask her scent, enter a secure area of the clinic, and stood up to an enraged Damian. She’s trouble." He looked at Hawke and Asia. "Just so you know, when I offered to send someone else, he became offended. Thought I didn't think he could do the job or didn't trust him."

Jasmine stared at Silas. "What? Why would he think you didn't trust him?"

"He worked for the Liege for years and recently changed allegiance."

"So have Hawke and Asia, and it's not an issue," Jasmine said, daring anyone to question her best friend's loyalty.

"That's part of it. Asia's proven her loyalty, so has Hawke. I believe the young pup wants the opportunity to do the same. I cannot deny him that, his beast demands it." Silas' gaze warned her not to ask him to cancel or change Damian's assignment.

Message received. Jasmine tried to move her arm but he held on a few seconds longer before he released it. "Just make sure he's got good back up. What do we know about Raoul or the doctor?"

"Raoul is Barticus' adopted son. Led the college pups, had a temper, and got knocked on his ass by Damian. He works as Damian's assistant and seems like an all right guy, my father vouched for him," Asia said.

Jasmine nodded remembering Asia and Barticus' discussion of Raoul and his sister Randi over the Christmas holidays. Randi and Raoul had done a terrible deed to Amynta, Barticus' mate, which had caused him to expel the twins from the pack. Asia had been instrumental in bringing them all back together again. "The doctor is a half-breed, right?" She pulled up the photo of Gem Okla. The doctor's dark brown, long wavy hair fell around her shoulders. Her angular face, warm light brown eyes, and slightly full lips reminded Jasmine of a young, fair-skinned Eartha Kitt, one of her favorite artists. "She looks like..." Jasmine met the curious gazes of Silas, Hawke and Asia and realized they wouldn't have any idea of the talented woman whose performances she'd loved through the years.

"Like who?" Silas asked after a few seconds of silence.

Jasmine cleared her throat. "Eartha Kitt."

He continued staring at her.

"An actress. A famous dancer and singer. I used to watch her perform."

Asia nodded.

Silas smiled. "
I will look up this person who put that smile on your face."

"She's very talented,"
Jasmine argued and read the doctor's resume.

"
The doctor or Kitt?
" Silas asked.

"
Both.
" Jasmine said and looked at Asia. "Have you checked her out?"

"Yes. Started her career working in human hospitals. Once La Patron went public, offering safety and acceptance to all wolves, she applied at a few full-blood hospitals and was hired recently. Her credentials are top notch," Asia said.

"Can she fight? Will she be any help if they're attacked? The last thing he needs is dead weight in a foreign country," Jasmine said, thinking of her son Tyrese and the time he was illegally detained overseas by some crazy female wanting him to marry or impregnate her while she ran the country or something weird like that. Jasmine sent Asia, Angus, Leo and his mate Brix to bring her son home.

"I'm not sure about that. Her role is different," Hawke said slowly.

Jasmine nodded, "Yeah, I know she's going to feed you information and that's important, but seriously, everyone on this quest needs to be well-rounded, except the witch. She can kiss my ass and fall in the lake after we find out how to heal the itching."

"Told you she was blood-thirsty," Silas said with a tinge of pride.

"Am not," Jasmine said, pushing her chair back.

Silas grabbed the arm of the chair halting her movement and stared into her eyes. His turned deep green and she shivered.

"My beast hungers for you, can you feel him?"

Jasmine glanced at the proof of his need and licked her lips. The man got turned on by the weirdest things. "
Not now, Wolfie. Down boy, we have guests
.

"
And? They can leave, just give me a signal. You see how much I need you."

"
Not now, later when we're done here
." Their gazes clashed for a few more seconds and then he released her chair.

"I'm not comfortable with the police's involvement in this matter," Hawke said.

"A missing person report isn't the kind of thing the Joint Chiefs look into," Asia said, looking up at Hawke.

"Maybe not the Joint Chiefs directly, but other groups are always looking for ways to get the upper hand on us, and something that small could be the tip of the iceberg for them to start digging.

"I cannot allow the human government to discover this... concoction, spell, or whatever it is. My primary reason for sending Damian is to find out who's really behind this. If it's the witch and her mom, we'll deal with them. If it's another group like the Liege or the government, I need to know that as well. I don't give into blackmail. In my opinion this doesn't fall into that category. But if the witch feels she has the upper hand," he shrugged. "So be it." He looked at Hawke, Asia, and then Jasmine. "Damian does not know this and you cannot tell him. It's important he believes I've given into this mad scheme of the human."

Asia met Jasmine's gaze for a few seconds. "I can see the wisdom in that."

Hawke didn't say anything but Jasmine was sure he spoke with Silas through their mental connection.

Jasmine stood and wrapped her arm around Silas' waist. He pulled her close. "We have to let them grow up, don't we?"

Asia leaned into Hawke, who pulled her close. "Yes, I suppose we do even though I don't like it."

Chapter 12

Damian watched Gem sleep as the plane prepared to land in Dublin. From there Barticus' private jet would take them to Inverness, and they'd travel the rest of the distance by SUV. The moment they preboarded the first class section Gem stopped talking and took her seat. After the attendants explained how the beds functioned, she drank something from a bottle, and held onto the arm rest. By the time the flight taxied down the runway she was almost asleep. Sitting across from her, he noticed her clenched jaw and the imprints her nails had made in her skin before she pulled the blanket over herself.

Once they were airborne, she activated the bed and slept the entire flight.

Damian tried to rest but lately he'd been troubled by disturbing dreams or his time in the lab with the Liege.

Last night he'd thought of Gordon, the man who’d raised him and the closest person in his life until he met Hawke. It no longer hurt to think of Gordon's death and he recalled the good times when they'd eat together and talk about the world and all the things Damian could do once he was older. Gordon had introduced him to fables and Greek mythology. Together they'd discussed Mount Olympus and Cinderella's castle. Gordon believed in balance and tried to broaden Damian's world through books and movies. But he'd never mentioned pack or how to work as a team.

Trained as a mercenary, Damian’s entire curriculum had focused on a hundred ways to successfully do the job alone. He glanced at Raoul, who was reading a book. He started to ask about the touching thing again and changed his mind. Instead he opened a crossword puzzle and got started. It didn't seem as though much time had passed before a hand touched his shoulder and he opened his eyes to see the attendant lean over Gem.

"Miss, Miss." The attendant touched the doctor's shoulder but she didn't wake. Concerned, she looked at him and then back at Gem.

"Let me try," Damian said. Appearing grateful, she nodded and walked to the next row and spoke softly to the passengers. Damian moved across the aisle, slipped his hand beneath the cover until he touched her skin. Nails extended, he started at the top of her back and dragged his nails down until he reached the middle.

Arching her back, she gasped, moved forward, and after blinking a few times, looked up at him.

Damian removed his hand while meeting her glare. "Time to wake up, we're landing."

"Oh, you were able to wake her," the attendant said, smiling at Damian. "Miss, I need you to sit up and prepare for landing." She waited for Gem to move.

"One second." Gem pulled the cover down. Damian caught glimpses of her tanned skin before she straightened and put the bed away. Seconds passed in silence. Her fear teased his nostrils and he placed his much larger hand over hers, squeezed and then returned to his seat next to the window.

She looked toward the aisle rather than in his direction. Raoul sat behind him, while Ivona sat on the opposite side of the cabin. The plane dipped. Gem' gasped and her eyes were shut tight.

"
Think she'll make it?
" Raoul asked.

"
Yeah, she's gutsy. Like I told you before, she's here because she didn't want to disappoint Alpha Bart."

"I know, but I smell her fear back here. She's got to be suffering
." Raoul paused. "
How's Ivona? Did she sleep?"

"No, she didn't, and I don't care how she's doing."
Damian hadn't intended to bring Raoul along but for some reason, Raoul believed he needed to watch Damian's back. Asia, Hawke, Barticus, and Alpha Bart all agreed.

"Chill okay, just a simple question, don't get all... you."

Damian braced for touchdown. The bump was barely noticeable but Gem's fingernails broke the leather on the armrest. "We're here.” He glanced at her closed eyes and clenched jaw. "Let go, we're in Scotland and need to catch our connection."

She opened one eye and then the other before looking around the cabin. Damian pulled up the shade and looked out the window. She covered half her face with her arm and turned to him.

"We made it." The smile crept up her face slowly and then filled it completely. "We made it," she whispered, her voice held a hint of surprise.

"Yeah, we did," Raoul said, smiling down at her as he stood to grab his bag from his locker.

Damian had already pulled his bag and stood behind Ivona, who'd grabbed her carry-on and was in line to leave. He and Ivona walked off ahead of the others and he grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving Gem and Raoul.

After they all reached the airport, Damian had introduced Ivona and Gem. Ivona had nodded a greeting and took a seat in the lounge set aside for first class passengers. That didn't stop Gem from telling Ivona what she thought of her for causing so many people to suffer. Ivona wore a bored expression while Gem ripped into her, and when the doctor ran out of things to say, Ivona shrugged, looked at him, and said she didn't want to sit near Gem on the plane.

Raoul held his and Gem's bags as they headed down the concourse to their gate to catch their next flight. The flight to the Inverness Airport had been brief, but Gem still took a shot to ease her anxiety. They were finally done with airplanes and on the ground to stay, she prayed. When they landed Damian turned, pulled out his cellphone and sent a text to Quentin, the beta assigned to assist them.
"
Just landed.Meet us in front of baggage clai
m
."

The four walked in silence while avoiding passengers either rushing to catch flights or moving at a turtle pace toward baggage. Just as the exit doors became visible, he sensed someone watching them. Damian had heard it said age was a cruel mistress. He hadn't understood it before. But seeing the hunched back creature with a hawk's beak of a nose and small eyes ambling toward them, he understood with perfect clarity.

"Ivona." The scratchy greeting stopped them all. The old woman wore a cloak as black as the night. From the inky folds she extended a wrinkled hand covered with age-spots that gave the skin a coffee-stained look. She leaned on a bamboo cane, her penetrating gaze lit on each of them, and zeroed in on Ivona. The tight, small gray bun on top of her head pulled the skin back, giving her a pained look.

"Saffi," Ivona said. Damian couldn't tell if she were happy, relieved, or terrified to see the older woman. She hadn't moved in any direction but continued to stare at the woman as if she were an apparition.

"We need to move," Damian said, glancing at the old woman and then at the full-blood standing outside watching them.

Ivona moved in the direction of the woman and stopped in front of her.

"
Who's that
?" Raoul asked.

Damian glared at him and then back at Ivona and the old woman.

"Did you bring the key?" Ivona whispered.

"Yes, but you must take me with you. Otherwise you'll never find your mother in time. I expected you two days ago," Saffi said, her tone mildly chiding.

"I got here as fast as I could." Ivona looked over her shoulder at their group and then back at the woman. "Give me the key. As far as going with us, you'll need to get his permission."

Saffi shook her head. "No. You get permission for me to accompany you and then I'll give you the key."

Damian had heard enough. "Ivona, let’s go." He had no intention of taking anyone else. They’d made a deal and she'd better keep her end of it.

Raoul walked the few steps to Ivona. The old woman looked up at him but didn't say anything. "We need to go, the car's waiting. You said we were running out of time, remember?"

"I don't scent any metals or weapons on the old one. You
?" Damian asked Raoul.

"
No, just wintergreen. I wonder what this is about a key."

"I don't know either. Keep an eye on the old lady, I'm having Quentin run a check on her right now,"
Damian said.

Biting her lower lip, Ivona nodded slowly and turned.

The old woman grabbed her arm. "You will not find her without me. She's been moved and sent word to me, along with the key. Either I take you to her or all of this is in vain."

Ivona shrugged off her hand and looked at Damian.

"Who is this?" he asked her.

Ivona closed her eyes for a brief second and then opened them. "My mother's oldest sister, Saffi. She lives in Wales and claims my mother sent word to her that she's been moved."

Damian had heard the conversation and the request, but taking the old woman wasn't a part of the deal.

Gem stepped beside him. "Our deal is with you, not people who show up at airports. If you no longer know where your mother is, that's not our problem. Either you give us something to prove we aren't wasting our time or we leave now. Give me the ingredients you used to cause the itching."

Damian kept his face neutral while applauding the doctor's fast thinking.

Ivona frowned at Gem, who returned her stare. "If you leave now you won't get the cure."

"Eventually we'll figure it out," Gem said with a boatload of confidence. "Helping you was to expedite things, but we're not going fishing all over the place because you don't have your facts straight. What's next? Someone else could claim to have created this so-called curse and then we track them across the country on some wild chase? No, this stops now. If the old woman comes, you give us the information we came for now, before we rescue your mother."

"Now? Before you complete your end of the bargain?" Ivona's tone said it was a ridiculous request.

"Yes," Gem said, stepping closer to Ivona with her finger pointed. "So far we've shown good faith, and paid for everything, I might add. You haven't done one damn thing to prove you're willing to do the same. Now you want us to add another person on this save-my-mom trip without giving up anything. Not going to happen. Tell me what ingredients went into that potion and how it was administered or this is over right now."

"You aren't in charge here," Ivona said in a hard tone. "I didn't make a deal with you." She looked at Damian. "I'm ready to go and my aunt's coming with us." She tried to walk around Gem, but the feisty half-breed blocked her path.

"Either do as she says or we leave without you," Damian said, glad to back the doctor. He'd never wanted to give in to Ivona's demands in the first place.

"Are you sure about that? Don't you think you should check with your Alpha first? He might not agree." Her condescending tone rubbed his beast the wrong way. She may have knowledge of his kind, but she didn't know them.

Damian smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "In this place, this country, I am Alpha and if you don't do as the doctor said, you're on your own."

"I don't believe you," Ivona said, her gaze flew from Damian to Raoul.

Damian shrugged. "What's it going to be?"

"I don't trust you to keep your word," she said.

"That makes it unanimous, we don't trust you either," Damian said. "Time is not your friend, you claimed there's a deadline?"

Ivona gritted her teeth and glared at the old woman, who shrugged. After a few moments she dug into her bag, pulled out an index card and handed it to Gem.

"No, read it first. Tell me what's on the card and then read the ingredients," Gem said, pulling out her cell phone.

"Why waste time when you can read it yourself?" Ivona snapped.

Damian understood Gem needed to listen for lies. "Read it, stop being difficult."

Ivona glared at him and read the information.

When she finished, Gem simply stared at her with disdain. "Now that you've read that bullshit, you have ten seconds to tell us the truth or you die."

"Ivona, child," Saffi said in that scratchy voice of hers. "They can smell and hear a lie."

Ivona's eyes widened as she looked at Damian and Gem. She swallowed hard before closing her eyes. With stilted sentences she gave the formula from memory and answered all of Gem's medicinal questions.

When the doctor was satisfied she had all the information she needed, Damian turned to the old woman. "Who are you?"

"Saffi, a close friend of the family. Tara sent word to me that she's been moved and asked I get word to her daughter. If Ivona had contacted me earlier I would've made other arrangements, but there isn't time if we plan to reach her before the execution."

"Execution? I thought she was being held by a jealous lover," Damian said, looking at Ivona.

"That all changed," Saffi said, drawing his attention, "when she stabbed him trying to escape."

"Ouch," Raoul said, placing a hand on his side as they headed toward Quentin and the large SUV.

"There's no need for you to accompany us, give the directions to Quentin and he'll find it," Damian said to the old woman, impressed by her ability to keep up with them.

"We will see," she said in a non-committal tone.