Blood Rights [Wicked River 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (11 page)

“It’s one of your powers,” came a very weak, hoarse response from behind them.

Spinning around just as Casey emerged from the hallway, Brock barely dodged Joss’s foot as the beta jumped over the back of the sofa and ducked under Casey’s arm. “What are you doing? You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I’ll rest when I’m dead.” Holding on to his side, he allowed Joss to help him to the recliner but shooed him away once seated. “Stop hovering, babe. I’m fine.”

“So, uh, when did this happen?” Brock waved a hand between the two of them.

“The night we got here. I’ll give you a blow by blow if you want, but
my
mate is fine. I think we need to focus on getting yours back.”

“How do you know about my powers?” Moira interrupted to ask. “You’re not afraid of me, either. Why aren’t you afraid of me like the rest of them?”

“I know what you are, because I
am
what you are—lycan and demon hybrid. Though, I’m thinking you have a lot more demon than I do.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Joss said in denial.

“No, you just hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, either.”

“I don’t know what happened after I passed out, but I can tell something is different. I can feel it. Your allegiance isn’t to me any longer.”

“You’re not the alpha.”

Brock’s head was starting to hurt, and he hoped they’d get to the damn point sometime before sunrise. “Because she’s a demon? Why?”

“She’s not an alpha,” Joss repeated. “I mean, I can still feel some wicked powerful energy rolling off her, but there’s something else there now. I want to protect her, but not because it’s my job as a beta.”

Casey huffed and rolled his eyes. “You’re an omega, Moira. Pretty damn rare for demons, but that’s what you are. Congratulations.”

Ending her restless pacing, Moira eased down to the edge of the armchair and dropped her face into her palms. “I don’t even know what that means. I don’t understand any of this.”

“I’ll tell you what I know, but I think we need to figure out how to get Koba back first.”

Brock was in full agreement of that plan. “Joss, do you have any idea where they might have gone?”

“Wicked River is the closest town with a significant paranormal population. We could start there.”

“Carson Owens,” Moira said quietly, almost to herself. “He lived in Wicked River.”

“Who’s that?”

“He was a Shadow Walker,” Brock answered Casey’s question. Something nudged at the back of his brain, something important, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

They hadn’t discussed Carson since the night Moira had told them about her sister’s abusive husband. The asshole was dead, and it had all happened before Brock left, so he didn’t see how it was related to their current situation. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

“What are you thinking, Mo?”

“There are a couple of hybrids in Wicked River who were at the gathering the night he died. They wouldn’t tell me much, but they did say he was screaming about Ryah being promised to him. I think it’s important, but I can’t figure out how it’s all related.”

“Who promised her?”

“I didn’t get that far. People in Wicked River mostly keep to themselves, and they aren’t really forthcoming with information to an outsider.”

“Then I think we need to take a little road trip.” Casey held his hand up when Joss opened his mouth, probably to argue. “I’ll be fine by morning.”

“Morning?” Moira shook her head hard. “No, we need to leave now.”

“What are you going to do, Mo? Go breaking down people’s doors in the middle of the night? I don’t see that being very helpful in getting information.”

She glared at him for a long time before sighing and slumping back into the chair. “I know you’re right, but I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“Why did you leave?” Joss asked out of the blue. “Your father said it was because you were young and scared of your responsibilities. Judging by the look on your face, I’m guessing that’s not true.”

If Joss was willing to put his neck on the line to help them, Brock figured the least he could do was indulge the guy in a little story time. So he gave a brief summary of the whole sordid tale, beginning at the fight with his father and ending with his return to Alabama. “You really had no idea, did you?”

Joss shook his head and fidgeted uncomfortably. “I swear I didn’t. This is insane, Brock. What the hell did you fight about that made you attack him?”

“He called my mother a whore. I don’t even remember how the subject came up, but he called her a whore and said he was glad she was dead.” His mother, not his father, had been his hero, the person he looked up to until her death when he was fourteen. When placed in a precarious situation, he still tried to think of how his mother would handle it, what she would expect from him.

“Sounds a little bit like you were goaded, man.” Thank mercy they had Casey on their side. They guy was smart as hell, always thinking three steps ahead. “Why would your dad want you out of the way?”

“Me,” Moira whispered. “I don’t know why, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. If Steven is one of the people helping to create these Shadow Walkers, I think we can assume he had a hand in leading you back.”

That was a bit of a stretch in Brock’s opinion. Why would his father go to so much trouble to get him out of town only to manipulate him into coming back? “I’m not following, Mo. Why would he want me back?”

“Well, let’s look at the sequence of events,” Casey suggested. “He pushes you into attacking him, giving him the perfect reason to send you running—a reason too dangerous for you to take Moira with you. Now, you’re back. You claim Moira. Rip sees it. He goes missing, and then Shadow Walkers show up two days later.”

“You think my father lured me back here just so I would claim Mo? Why?” If that was the case, why had his dad wanted him out of the picture in the first place?

“Well, she has powers now,” Joss answered with a shrug. “Maybe he wants her power.”

“I can buy that, but again, why get rid of me in the first place? Moira didn’t have powers before I claimed her, and I couldn’t claim her if I wasn’t here.”

“Maybe he didn’t know that she wouldn’t have powers until she bonded with her mate.”

That sounded like his dad. The man was smart, but he was also rash and impulsive. It made sense that he would have acted before having all the information he needed. “So, what happened while I was gone, and what does my father want with Mo? He can’t just take her powers. There has to be something else.”

“You do remember that I’m sitting right here.” There wasn’t much heat in Moira’s voice, though. It had been a long night, and the stress was obviously getting to her. “There’s no way to know, so let’s just figure out where they’re keeping Koba.”

“There might be a way,” Casey said thoughtfully. “The Walker Moira took down, he wasn’t dead.”

Joss snorted and shook his head. “I’m betting he is now.”

“Go find out.” It was their best chance at getting answers. “If he’s alive, take him to the barn and come get me.”

“I’ll go.” Joss stood and placed a hand on Casey’s shoulder, holding him in his seat. “You can barely walk. Stop being such a pain in the ass.”

“The sun will be up soon.”

Brock arched an eyebrow at Casey and frowned. “So?”

“If your Shadow Walker is alive, you better find a place to keep him out of the sun. It’ll be kind of hard to interrogate him if he’s burned crispy.”

“Tie him up in the loft. There aren’t any windows up there. He’ll be fine as long as it’s not direct sunlight.”

After shifting so many times during the night, Brock was dead on his feet. He felt like a dick for wanting to sleep while Koba was missing, but he wouldn’t be any good to anyone if he couldn’t function and think clearly. “You guys should grab some shut-eye. I’ll try to nap on the couch until Joss gets back.”

To his complete surprise, Moira didn’t offer even the slightest argument. She simply rose to her feet, kissed his forehead, and padded down the hall to her bedroom. “She’ll be okay,” Casey assured him as he struggled up from his chair. “Koba’s going to be fine, too. You’re right about one thing. As long as he’s useful, he’s safe.”

True, but how long until Koba became more of a liability than an asset?

* * * *

“Why did you stop me from grabbing the girl?”

“It’s not time yet. Be patient, son.”

“She should have been mine! We wouldn’t have had to bring Brock back if you’d have just let me claim her!”

“We’re not taking any more chances. Maybe it would have worked, but since you aren’t her true mate, I couldn’t risk it, not before the next full moon. You’ll still have what you want.”

Koba couldn’t see the arguing men, but he recognized one of the voices as Rip’s. He assumed one of the other voices belonged to former alpha, Steven Lancaster. So, who was the third man?

“Why are we keeping the wolf fag?” Rip demanded. “Let me kill him.”

“No,” barked a forth, unfamiliar voice. “No one touches him.”

Well, someone had already broken that rule. His jaw ached like the ten shades of hell, and his wrists felt raw where the scratchy, frayed rope bound them together. None of that mattered, though. Moira was okay. They hadn’t gotten to her, and that’s all that mattered.

Brock was going to be pissed. Koba could just picture that vein in his temple throbbing with his anger. There was no doubt in his mind that his mates would come for him. They’d be walking right into a trap, and for that reason, he needed to find a way out before that could happen.

The dank, dark basement they’d thrown him in reeked of vampires, making escape that much harder. There were plenty of lycans roaming around as well, ensuring he was guarded both day and night. The strongest scent in the room, however, was that of Walkers. Whoever these people were, whatever their agenda, they’d been very busy.

They certainly weren’t going to make it easy on him. Most of the men he’d seen since his arrival were bigger and stronger than him. That was okay, though. It just meant that he was going to have to be smarter. What he lacked in size and brute force, he made up for in his acute problem-solving skills. Now, he just had to sit back and play nice until the right opportunity presented itself.

They obviously knew he was on omega, but didn’t seem to have much concept of what that entailed. Advantageous, even if he wasn’t looking forward to what he had to do. If it meant keeping his mates out of danger, he’d do it without hesitation, though.

Settling his shoulders against the cinderblocks behind him, he sat on the cold floor and closed his eyes. The sun would be up soon. That meant the vampires would be retiring for the day and the Walkers would need to find adequate shelter from sunlight as well.

A row of small windows on the wall across from him would illuminate most of the basement for at least a few hours after sunrise. If he had any hope of getting his very narrow behind out of the basement, it would be during that small timeframe.

So, he waited. He watched and listened as people came and went. Most ignored him as though he was part of the wall, though a few glanced curiously in his direction. If his captors found it suspicious that he didn’t throw himself about the room or yell to be set free, they didn’t show it. Maybe they didn’t want to jinx their good fortune at having a cooperative prisoner.

When the sky outside the window began to lighten, turning the horizon to a silvery gray, three lycans and a Walker entered his little part of the basement, standing guard at different points in the room. It went against everything he believed in to use his powers in such an underhanded way, but desperate times made him…well, desperate.

Closing his eyes again, he took a deep breath and let it out, sending a blast of energy through the room—along with a hefty dose of lust-inducing pheromones.

After tossing and turning for an hour, Moira finally gave up and rolled out of bed. No way could she sleep while Koba was missing. Besides, Joss should have returned by now with news about the Walker. Probably not their best source of information, but it was better than what they had now, which was squat.

She needed a shower. Hopefully the hot water would refresh her and help her think more clearly. The birds chirped in the trees outside, and it wouldn’t be long before the sun had completely risen in the east. Funny that when time was of the essence, it seemed to move at blinding speeds.

A quick shower, a change of clothes, and she was feeling marginally better. Maybe she should eat something. Shifting into her demon form had taken a lot out of her, and she would need all the strength she could get. The mere idea of food made her stomach roll uncomfortably, though.

Koba had been in her life for little more than a week, but already, she couldn’t imagine a life without him. Where Brock was her protector, her armor against the world, Koba was her light, her peace. He was the glue that held them all together, the one thing between her and Brock that had been missing without them even realizing it.

If she was hurting, feeling so lost and empty with him gone after knowing him for such a short time, she could only imagine how Brock was feeling. Jogging down the hallway to the living room, she found Brock sitting in the old, ugly, brown recliner, staring straight ahead with a vacant look to his eyes.

Brock wasn’t weak by any stretch of the imagination, but even the strongest person could bleed. In that moment, seeing him with his guard down, Moira could almost feel his heart bleeding as if it was her own.

In three steps, she was around the sofa and standing in front of the chair, wanting to reach out and comfort her mate but unsure if her presence was welcome. She understood better than most that not everyone wanted an audience for their pain.

To her relief, Brock took her wrist and pulled gently until she was nestled securely in his lap. Those strong, capable arms came around her, holding her tightly as though he was afraid she would vanish as well if he didn’t keep her close. Knowing it was what they both needed, Moira sat quietly, resting her head on his shoulder and fisting her hand in his shirt.