Marked: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Thrice Cursed Mage Book 2) (8 page)

Tears started to fill her eyes, and as she blinked them back, I felt like the world’s worst kind of asshole. Why had I gone and asked about her dead husband? A nice guy wouldn’t do that, but then again, I wasn’t really a nice guy. I was the kind of guy who would smash a dude’s skull with a sledgehammer and throw a werewolf out a twenty-story window. That was why I’d been able to save her from a demon prince. I wasn’t sure who her husband was, but he’d left her alone with his enemies still looking to settle a score. What a fool.

I swallowed hard. Was I really any different? My sister was in trouble because of what I’d done and what enemies I’d made. Actually, it was different because I was going to get my sister back. No matter what. Not only that, I’d put my enemy’s head on a goddamned pike and salt the earth with his remains. When I was finished, everyone would learn one thing. Do not fuck with my family. Sera’s husband had not done that, and now she and her son were paying the price.

“And I’m guessing you did this for your husband from time to time?” I asked, nodding toward my arm in an effort to try to change the subject to a slightly less dreary one while still prying information out of her because yeah, I was that kind of douchebag.

“Yeah, he was a demon hunter.” I must have given her a weird look because she shook her head and sighed. “Not like Maya. In reality she’s just a witch with a little bit of talent hopped up on stolen demon juju. He was an
actual
demon hunter who worked with Capital-A Angels to bring down the agents of Hell.” She gestured at my arm in an “Oh, you know,” sort of way. And I did. Her husband had hunted down Cursed. Not to chop off their parts and sell them on the black market, but to actually rid the world of bad guys.

He sounded like a hero, and while I’m sure he had acted nobly, it hadn’t ended well for him Fortunately, I was as far from a hero as you could be. Maybe that was a good thing.

Chapter 9

“My favorite part of the day is always when I’m hopped up on painkillers,” I said before tossing back the handful of Vicodin Sera had pressed into my hand. We were still in the bathroom, but I was dressed in black slacks and a bright pink button up with a black tie because that was apparently the only thing Ricky had on hand. Yeah, I was being played for a fool.

“You need to be careful with those.” She narrowed her eyes at me as I swallowed the drugs. “Everyone thinks Batman is this badass because he takes a licking and keeps on kicking, but in real life, guys like that would pop painkillers like candy. Do you know what happens to guys who pop painkillers like candy?”

“Yeah, it leads to giving hand jobs in an alley in exchange for one more hit.” I smiled at her, but the look she gave me in response made it die on my lips.

“I’m serious, Mac!” She grabbed hold of my left arm and dragged me forward with more strength than I’d expected. “I’ve been down this path before. Trust me when I say this. Fighting the good fight is great and all, but if you find yourself struggling to get out of bed without the drugs, you need to back off. Fast. Otherwise, you’ll start telling yourself it’s just one more pill, or it’s okay because you fought some kind of mutant spider and need to take the edge off.” Anger spilled into her words as she dragged me down until we were eye to eye. “You never want to be in that position because you know what sucks when you’re in that position?”

“What?” I asked in a half-stunned, half-concerned sort of way. Nearly everything inside me wanted to pull her close and hug her until she felt better, to whisper any kind of comforting lies I could. Only… only I didn’t want to lie to her. The road she was laying out before me was crystal clear, and I could see how easy it would be to excuse the drugs given those circumstances. Well, I was stronger than that. At least, I hoped I was.

“The people you love have to watch you fall. We have to listen to your lies, and we have to lie to ourselves.” She let me go, spun on her heel, and walked out of the bathroom clutching her medical bag. “I can’t listen to more lies, Mac. I just can’t.” The door to the hotel room opened. “Not again.” The door closed.

“Let me guess, you made a wisecrack about the painkillers, huh,” Ricky said as I stepped out of the bathroom and stared dumbly at the door. I could hardly believe Sera had left just like that.

“Yeah,” I replied, looking at Ricky like a puppy that had just made a mess on the floor and couldn’t figure out why you were mad at it. “Apparently it was a bridge too far.”

“I’m not going to say she doesn’t have a point because she does.” Ricky waved away her train of thought. “I had to beg her to give you those pills. I had to vouch for you, Mac. While I never met her husband, I‘ve heard things. He was a true blue hero, no doubt, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and there’s nothing worse than watching a good man fall. Nothing.”

“Well,” I said, wishing I’d never even learned about Sera’s husband. “I’m not a good man, so even if I fall, it won’t be that spectacular.” I shrugged. “And as far as the Vicodin go, I promise to only take them when they are prescribed by someone smarter than me, or you know, if I win them in those quarter machines with the claws.”

“No one ever wins those,” Ricky said, putting her hand on my shoulder and letting it linger there for a moment before trailing her fingers along the bandages on my arm.

“I win them all the time.” I grinned at her. “It’s all in the wrists. After this is over, I’ll have to show you.”

“Why Mac Brennan, are you asking me out on a date?” She smiled back at me, and her braces flashed in the sunlight spilling in through the window.

I was about to make a cocky response, but I stopped myself because Ricky was staring at me in a way that was anything but casual. No, she was doing it in a way that begged for more, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was in a place where I could step into something like that. Because let’s be real here, I was about to go kill a lot of people so I could kill one very specific person. I might have been amped up due to my own Devil’s bargain, but I’d have to pay for that, and right now, the absolute last thing I wanted to do was turn Ricky into Sera.

“How about we put a pin in this conversation until tomorrow because we might both be dead in the next fifteen minutes?” I smiled at her, and she returned it with a look I couldn’t read.

“Okay, Mac. We can do that.” Her words were slow and careful. “So, fifteen minutes? What do you have planned, exactly?”

“We take the fight to Pierce before shit gets worse. I have no idea who else is coming for me. Hell, for all I know, Maya and those NWO goons might not even be with Pierce. There are forces at play here I don’t understand, and right now, I just don’t have time to deal with them. I need to take down Pierce before I run out of time.” As I spoke, Ricky’s face twisted in confusion, and she took a step backward.

“What do you mean by ‘run out of time’ exactly?” Ricky’s voice had gained an edge of a snarl. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Something I should know?”

“Okay,” I said, holding up my hands in the universal sign for please don’t turn into a giant rage beast and tear out my throat. “You already know Pierce is after me, you just don’t know why. The reason Pierce is after me is because I tried to kill him and failed.”

“Uh, huh.” Ricky raised an eyebrow at me. An angry eyebrow. She was like one second from full on “hands on the hips” bitch mode. That would probably not end well even if she wasn’t a werewolf.

“And because I failed to kill him originally, some other guys kidnapped my sister and her son to use as collateral so I’ll finish the job.” I let out a sigh. “This is my last day to make good on my end of the deal before they kill my family, Ricky.” I tried to smile at her. “You might say, no matter what, this ends tonight.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ricky cried. Her hands tightened into fists as she glared at me hard enough to make me want to hide under the bed. “This whole time I’ve been feeling like a total bitch because I dragged you into this. When I saw you being chased by his goons, I thought, hey, it’s probably Pierce trying to extend his territory by killing you because you killed Van, but it was way, way, not that.” She stepped close to me, and the smell of wolf hit me full on as amber-coloring started to melt into her eyes. She was dangerously close to changing, and there was no way that would end well for me. “It turns out you’ve been using me this whole time, and you weren’t even honest about it.” She shook her head. “Did you think I wouldn’t help if I knew the truth?”

“No, I didn’t think that, Ricky. I know you’ll help me.” I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. “I can’t say why I know, but I do.” I swallowed hard. “I trust you in a way I can’t explain.”

“If you trust me so much, why didn’t you tell me, Mac?” she asked, looking up at me.

“It’s complicated,” I said, reaching out and brushing the hair from her face. The moment I touched her, it felt like an electric shock short-circuited my brain. She must have felt it too because she stopped and stared into my eyes, lips half-parted. She swallowed hard.

“Uncomplicate it for me,” she replied, stepping in closer so we were nearly pressed together. “Please.”

“Ricky,” I said, but my word came out breathless. “I don’t want to tell you.” I put my forehead against hers before I realized I was doing it.

“Mac, I want you to tell me. It’s important.” Her arms snaked up around my shoulders and she pulled me down close. “Please,” she added, her warm breath caressing my lips.

“You’ll think less of me,” I replied. Her lips were so close to mine, I almost couldn’t think straight. “And I don’t want you to think less of me.”

She kissed me, pressing her lips against mine. My walls came down, crashing to the ground around me before I could stop them. The only thing in me was the sudden need to kiss her. I pulled her close, crushing her body against mine. She broke away, pulling us apart.

“Tell me, Mac.” She took a step back and swallowed hard. Her cheeks were flushed and the way she looked at me, made my heart nearly stop. “Please.”

I turned away from her because there was no way I could do this with her looking at me. “He has your brother, Ricky. When we get to Pierce, unless he’s the dumbest motherfucker on Earth, he is going to play us against each other. He may not be dangling your brother over a shark tank, but he’ll use your brother against us. He will try to turn you against me. It will happen. I wanted you to think I was just helping you out of the goodness of my heart so we wouldn’t wind up in a prisoner’s dilemma.” I hit the wall with my fist. “At first I was using you, it’s true, but at some point it changed. I also didn’t want you to think I was such a horrible person.”

“Mac, I was using you too. I’m an Alpha. It’s what we do,” Ricky said, and I felt her fingers wrap around my hand. She was so close to me, I could feel heat radiating off of her in waves. “But I don’t understand how not knowing about your family changes things?”

“Because I can’t walk away, Ricky. You can. He can offer you a deal. Maybe he’ll say something like ‘you and your friend leave right now and I’ll give you your brother.’ You can take said deal. I cannot. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t try to stop me from ending him. Now, you will know I can’t take that deal since the only way this ends well for me is with Pierce dead.” I took a deep breath and turned around to look at her. She was biting her lip, but at the same time, she hadn’t let go of my hand. “And don’t try to tell me I mean more to you than your brother does. I wouldn’t believe you even if I hadn’t thrown your friend out of a twenty-story window.”

Ricky stared at me for a long time. “You make a good point,” she said finally and there was a note of sadness in her voice. “But you do not know Pierce Ambrose like I do. He won’t make deals. It is not our way. He will take what he wants because if he doesn’t, he is not fit to be Alpha.”

“Then why is your brother not already dead?” I asked, taking my chance to drive my point home even though the only thing I wanted to do was kiss her again.

“That is the same question I’ve been asking myself since the day of the summit.” Ricky shook her head and took a step away from me. “All our seconds went in and none came out. I know my brother isn’t dead because I can still feel him through the bond of our pack, but he’s in trouble, and I must get him out.” She met my eyes. “At any cost.”

“My point exactly.” I smiled at her as best I could. “So, how about you tell me how to find Mr. Ambrose, and I go rearrange his face with my fist?” I held up my bandaged right arm. “It’s what I’m good at.”

“I can’t tell you where he is exactly since he never stays in one place very long, but I know where we can find someone who knows, but I’m warning you now, they won’t like you.” She stepped away from me and began rummaging in a black duffel bag on the bed.

“If I had a nickel for every time I met someone who didn’t like me, I’d be sitting on a beach collecting twenty percent while drinking Mai Tais.” I made my way over to her as she stood up and offered me two jet black Glock .45s with what looked like fifteen round magazines.

“That doesn’t surprise me.” She shoved the guns into my hands. “Those have silver ammunition, so they’ll work on any shifters you find. Aim for the head.” She slung the bag over her shoulder.

“Are we likely to encounter a lot of shifters?” I asked, tucking the guns into the waistband of my slacks and wishing I had a holster or two.

“Well, yeah. Pierce Ambrose is the alpha werewolf of this state. So you’ll probably run into some werewolves sooner or later. It’s best to be prepared.” Ricky shot me a look and realization settled over me. We were going after a werewolf powerful enough to control a whole state. If Ricky was this strong, how strong was Pierce? How strong were the people around him?

“That’s why your pack isn’t here. You’re acting on your own, aren’t you?” I sighed. This just kept getting better and better.

“Guess all our secrets are out in the open now. Feel better?” She gave me an annoyed look.

“Actually, yeah. I’m not a huge fan of surprises,” I replied. “Now let’s go kill us a werewolf.”