Seductions (Alpha City Book 4) (5 page)

S
age held
Me-Len and London’s hands as Brody lit the fire underneath the platform that held her mother’s body. She wanted to cry when not one hair blew across her face as the fire started to burn higher until it burned down into nothing but ashes and bones. That’s all she needed, one strong gust of wind to carry her mother’s ashes away. She didn’t want to use the spell, but it looked like she was going to have to in order for her mother’s wishes to come true.

“I think I’m going to have to use the spell. I don’t feel any air blowing,” Sage whispered.

“Just give it a few minutes. It will happen,” Me-Len answered.

Sage closed her eyes and prayed that this was the one promise she could fulfill for her mom. She had just started a prayer for a cool breeze to carry her mother’s ashes away when her hair started moving, floating on the wind, brushing across her face. The smell of fresh cut wood dangled in the air. Smiling, she opened her eyes to see her mom’s ashes floating away on the wind. It was a feeling she couldn’t describe. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Fly away, mom. Fly away.” Sage muttered.

Finally, she felt at peace, but revenge was always at the back of her throat. If she coughed, it would come up with a vengeance. No matter how long it took her, she was going to bring Claudia Blackwood down and make her feel the pain her mother felt.

Brody came and stood beside her as she watched the last of the ashes float away. She didn’t even know she needed to feel his touch until he grasped her hand and held it. He didn’t say anything, but she knew that he was there to give her support. How did this man always know? Was it something to do with him being a shifter?

She felt a light touch to her arm. When she looked up, there was a small woman standing beside her. “Hello.”

Sage couldn’t help but smile back. The woman put her at ease. If she could even call her a woman, since she still looked like a seventeen-year-old girl. Her brown hair was cut at her shoulders, with just enough curl that she probably didn’t have to do anything to it. She was simply beautiful without even trying, Sage thought.

“Hello,” Sage answered.

“I’m MJ, and I wanted to say sorry for your loss. I didn’t know your mom, but I feel we have something in common.”

“What’s that?”

“We both plan on killing Claudia Blackwood,” MJ said without remorse. The woman continued to watch the fire as it burned out, but Sage knew she was listening.

“She killed your brother, Pennson?”

“Yes, it was one of her minions, but she was responsible so she will be the one I make sure dies.” MJ added, “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry.”

Sage could always read people and know what kind of person they were, if they were full of crap, and when someone was a walking killer. MJ was a walking killer. She was the type of person that if you took something that she cared about away from her, then she would make you regret it tenfold.

Sage watched as the young girl walked toward Alpha Judd and his mate, Maggie. She stood off to the side as they talked. MJ wasn’t much of a talker, and she didn’t join in the conversation, but Sage could tell that she was watching and listening to it all. Taking it all in was what she was doing. Like she thought, she may look innocent, but nothing about that girl was innocent. In fact, she wouldn’t doubt that MJ was part of a secret society that only used her when the shit hits the fan. Funny how she saw all of that just by talking to her once. She may be wrong, but no, she knew she was right about MJ.

“Are you ready?” Brody asked. “We have some new information to go over.”

“I’m ready.” Sage started walking beside Brody toward the vehicles. Before she got in, she looked back at the platform that held her mother’s body up. It had already fallen into the fire. She only hoped that her mother’s ashes would end up in some great places. A smile came over her face as she sat down and the door closed.

B
rody glanced over at Sage
, who still had a small smile on her face. “I saw that you met MJ Hudson. Her real name is Mary Jane, but only Judd can call her that and get away with it.”

“She didn’t give me her last name, but yes, she came over and said hello.”

“MJ is very smart. Maybe even a genius. She came up with computer bees.” Brody laughed.

“Computer bees?”

Brody glanced at her and smiled. “I’m being serious, this woman is so smart she came up with a way to spy that nobody would ever think twice about if they saw it. She made computer bees that could listen and watch everything you were doing on the outside or inside of a house. Who would think anything about a bee flying around?”

Sage’s eyebrow rose, “You got to be joking?” When Brody didn’t say anything, she glanced over at him and continued, “You’re really not joking? Are you?”

“No ma’am. That girl is developing things that you see in the movies. Sci-fi kind of stuff. And now she has paired up with your cousin, London, and Zoey and god only knows what they will come up with. She’s that smart and—”

“Dangerous.” Sage commented before he could finish.

“Yes, I think she is very dangerous and calculating. I’m just glad she is on our side. She moved here after her brother’s death. She joined Judd’s pride and works for him, too. She has developed a program that has anything and everything you want to know about paranormals, or at least that’s what she is trying to do. She already has a lot of information, but we really don’t know enough. Maybe you can fill in some of the gaps about witches and Claudia that we don’t know yet.”

“I can do that, but don’t cut me out of the plans, Brody.” She looked over at him, this time with a frown on her face. “I’m serious, too. I won’t forget it if you do. I won’t ever trust you if you don’t keep me included. I have lost too much.”

Brody reached over and grasped her hand. “I won’t. I promise.”

Sage looked back out the car window. His hand felt good in hers. He was warm and rough, all at the same time. She didn’t pull away, even though she didn’t think this would work. Like all the others had said, she was too introverted. She liked it that way, but Brody was different. He allowed her to be who she was and didn’t criticize her for it. However, they hadn’t been together for very long, either. What was she thinking? They were
not
together, so she needed to get that out of her head.

Brody pulled off the road into a woody area. She thought he was slowing down to stop, but he kept going around trees and bushes. Looking around, she asked, “Where are you going?”

“To the mines. That’s where we are meeting, and it’s our safe place where the dragon won’t be able to find us.”

Trees flew past then his speed slowed down. She didn’t have a clue where she was. She grabbed the door handle when all of a sudden it felt like the car lifted and just like in the movies a door opened and he drove right inside the opening and stopped. Looking around, she couldn’t believe it. They were actually in an underground cavern of some kind.

“How did you do all of this?”

Brody smiled. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Sage laughed. “Are you kidding? Yes, it’s very impressive and sci-fi too.”

“It was some old mines that were used back in the day. They’ve been closed down for years. That was, until the dragon came back and Kayden’s beta Thorn found out about this place and started fixing it up before he was killed. He and the other betas did most of this without our knowledge, and we are very thankful they did. We have sleeping quarters and enough food and water stored here for years. Although, I pray we don’t need it.”

“Me too, but the full moon is tomorrow night.” Sage said. “He comes out on the full moon.” She could fell the air get heavy or maybe it was just her. The magic was alive inside of her and like her, it wanted its revenge on both of them. “I’ve seen him change, Brody, with my own eyes. He…he is ruthless, and evil, just like her. Unfortunately for him, he has no clue that she is just using him.” Sage laughed, but nothing was funny. “As soon as she gets what she wants, he is going to be sent back to Hell or she will kill him. Her magic is—”

“What?”

“I…she has to be tapping into something to give her that much power. I don’t know what it is, but whatever it is…is very strong. We were not allowed in some areas of the castle so I don’t know what she was really doing.”

“How did she do that?” Brody asked. His brown eyes were beautiful as he asked her questions. The answer wasn’t easy to understand and she didn’t have a clue.

“What? A spell?”

“How did she get Jamal out of Hell?” Brody asked. “The Order sent him to Hell forever, so how does a witch know how to undo that?”

“She has been planning this for a long time, Brody. She uses dark magic and for every spell there is another one, an opposite. She just needed to find a door to open it up. Dark magic plays by no rules. Whatever spell they used to send him there has been undone. Who knows how long she has had spies coming in and out of Alpha City. She thinks that the entrance to Valceria is here, and that once she finds that entrance she can just waltz right in and take over. She wants their magic, and their magic is stronger than any other. You felt it when Bast came forward. You felt it before I did. Your magic is strong, too.”

Brody looked away like he wanted to say something. She thought it was strange; he was always so forthcoming. What was he hiding from her? “What are you not telling me?”

Brody got out of the car and paced for a minute. She got out and went to his side. “What is it Brody?”

He turned back to her. “The entrance
is
here, in Alpha City.”

Sage had to stop for a minute and think about that. “Really?” She looked down at her feet. “I just thought that she had it wrong.” All this time, the entrance was always here. Dear God, what else did Claudia know? They needed to find out what she knew and was planning before she took someone else.

Brody took in a deep breath. “It’s true, and she wants to get in and thinks she can just take over. Like you said, elven magic is the most powerful magic there is, and I can assure you that they’re not just going to give it to her. Hell, we’re not going to stand still and let her have it.” Brody said, shaking his head.

“Is Bast going to help us?” Sage asked, concerned. She hadn’t known any of this. She really thought that Claudia had been wrong about that part. She thought that the Alphas knew where it was, but wouldn’t tell unless they were forced to. Now it all made sense. They needed to make sure everyone was on the same page. She understood now why Claudia wanted to eliminate the Alphas. Nothing would block her way into the elves’ kingdom. She would have full access to the entrance, and Sage didn’t know if they were strong enough to stop her. She didn’t know if even Bast’s magic could stop her.

“Yes, he’s part of the Order and will also be here today for the meeting. He has some new information, as well. We need to figure out how she undid the spell that the last Order used to send Jamal to Hell. There are too many questions to this puzzle that needs to be answered. Are you okay? I know this is a lot to take in, but we need to go now if we are going to make it to the meeting on time.”

Brody held his hand out to her. She knew she shouldn’t continue this with him, making him believe that they could actually be a couple. He would eventually think she was leading him on, and she knew he would eventually get tired of her. Everyone else did. She knew that, and kept telling herself that she had to stop the thoughts that maybe it would work. She liked Brody a lot and she could already see herself getting attached to him. She wanted to stay friends with him, not like the last guy who broke her heart. Listening to the guy she thought she loved tell his friends how dull she was. Even said she was a lifeless lay. She almost came out from behind the door when she heard him joking about her to his buddies. Finally, she had to ask herself…was she? Was Joe right about her? It scared the hell out of her, thinking he was right. It took her a long time to get over it and hardened her heart. She promised to never love another or let anyone get inside her heart.

His thumb ran over hers as they walked away from the car and up a ramp. Brody stopped and faced her, “Have I told you today how beautiful you are and how interesting you are to me?” She just stood there and stared at him. Was he making this stuff up? Was he reading her mind? No matter if he was, because right now it made her feel good inside and she needed that, especially today. She needed someone to at least act like they cared for her.

“Thank you,” Sage whispered. She didn’t know what else to say…because what could she say? It was hard to believe what he was saying after Joe crushed her.

“Come on, pretty girl.”

W
hen Brody
and Sage walked into the meeting room, everyone was already there and seated. Looking around she was shocked at how well built the room was. She thought it would have rock walls; instead the walls were finished, made of drywall and painted.. A round table sat in the middle of the room with computers sitting in front of each chair. A widescreen TV was on the side of the wall. It looked like a real life meeting room. Something she had seen many times at the witches’ council room.

Brody pulled her chair out for her. “Thank you Brody.”

“Yes ma’am.” Brody waited until she sat down before he was seated. He was such a sweet man. She would have to watch herself; the man would be easy to love. Bast Finn was also there with Carina. He nodded at her once she sat down. Nodding back, Sage noticed that Carina was following her every move. She had never had a chance to get to know Carina. The fact that she was staring at her almost made Sage nervous. The rumor was that she had visions and knew things about people. Carina’s all-seeing grey eyes continued to watch her even as she sat down. Looking away, Sage tried to focus on someone else in the room. She felt like Carina was delving into her mind, listening to all of her hidden secrets. Not possible, but when Sage glanced back at her, the girl was still staring, making her uncomfortable.

Once everyone took a seat, Bast stood up and cleared his throat. “I understand we have a lot of information to go over and then we need to figure out where to go from here.”

Sage sat silently, watching the interaction between the Alphas, who were all in attendance, and their mates. Everyone that was a known member of the Order was present in the room. Apparently they were still missing some members, who either hadn’t found them yet or their gift hadn’t presented itself to them. Sage was a member now.

“I call this meeting to order. First, I would like to say to Sage and Me-Len how sorry I am for your loss.” Brody glanced at his future mate, who just nodded her head at the elven king. “Second, since Carina has been in Valceria, she has had two visions that I need to share with you. The first one was different and I don’t know what it means, so I’m hoping that with all of us present we can come up with an answer. As soon as we returned to Valceria, Carina came around and started talking about random stuff she was seeing, but then she stopped and looked up in the sky and said, ‘Look for the dragons hidden in the mountain. The sister will help.’ Thinking that she was talking about the mountains in Valceria, I had all the mountains searched, but found nothing.”

“Jamal has a sister. Half of the dragon community left with her once her brother killed their father, but nobody has seen nor heard from them again. Almost like they vanished,” MJ spoke up from the back of the room, and all eyes turned and stared at her.

“And you are?” Bast narrowed his eyes. She could feel Brody flinch at the king’s tone. Brody had told her about MJ. The tension in the room ramped up as the king stared at her. She was so glad it wasn’t her mouth that drew the king’s attention.

“I’m sorry Bast, this is—”

“The one who won’t kiss your ass.” MJ answered simply, cutting Ryder off.

The room became deathly quiet, and then Carina started giggling. Bast looked back at her and smiled. “Do you have something to say, Carina?” His tone was much sweeter with her. She was destined to be his mate when she reached the appropriate age. Since Sage had saved her from Claudia and Jamal, she had been staying with Bast and his people in Valceria. She was in no danger of being kidnapped there. Even her family had to be moved and was living with the Alphas of the panthers, Kayden and Zoey. No one wanted another member of Carina’s family kidnapped, where they could be used to get to Carina.

“MJ is my friend,” Carina said, and with that being said, Bast nodded and the king’s tone changed.

“Welcome to the Order, MJ.” This time Bast’s tone was friendly.

“Why, thank you, old wise one,” MJ said, sarcasm in her voice. Again Carina giggled, which made the whole room laugh. She had to give it to the girl. She was very brash, and she really didn’t care if you liked her or not, and that included the elven king. Sage wanted to laugh because she could tell that even the elven king simply didn’t impress MJ. Judd Walsh, Alpha of the jaguars in Alpha City, just sat silently beside his mate, Maggie, who had a smile on her face. Sage wanted to know more about them since they were mated. Judd was a shifter, but he was also half vampire, and his mate Maggie was now part shifter as well. As far as she knew, they were the only ones, but what did she know? She was so far behind the eight ball in this war.

Brody explained in a hushed whisper to Sage that MJ was part of his pride. The deal she made with him was that she would work on the archives, but she would only work for him and him alone. That meant Bast’s authority and power meant nothing to her, and she really didn’t care that he was a king and in charge of the Order. She felt like the odd man out. She didn’t know anyone and everyone looked so comfortable with each other. Even MJ was in Alpha Walsh’s jaguar pack. London and Ryder were mated, and London’s best friend was Zoey, who was also mated to Alpha Kayden Lynn of the panther pack. If she did nothing else tonight, she needed to get to know everyone better.

“You think the one that Carina is talking about is the sister?” Judd asked MJ.

“Sounds about right. The information I have is sketchy at best, but many sources confirmed that Jamal had a sister, and once her father was killed she left along with half of the dragon population,” MJ stated.

“Until we find her or she finds us, let’s move on,” Bast said. “The second time she had a vision, Carina said, ‘Only a bow can do it and in the right spot with flowers in the meadow.’ I think she is talking about the Bow of Artemis, but what it has to do with flowers in the meadow I have no clue. So those are the two visions she has had. If you can think of anything, let us all know. The flower in the meadow is very confusing. What do you guys have?”

Judd turned and looked at MJ. “Go ahead MJ.”

“Before Carina was taken, she had a vision in front of me. She said, ‘Take the mark and place it on the book. Track it.’ So I gave her something to carry with her, and she said she would know when to use it…and she did.”

They all stared down at Carina, who was smiling. “Where did you put the tracker?” Bast asked.

“It’s on the Book of Thoth. Wherever the Book of Thoth goes, then the mark will go, too.” Carina answered.

As the small face of an angel looked up at them, Sage finally felt they had a chance. Carina had given them that chance, along with MJ. It had cost her tremendous pain from the tail of the dragon, but Maggie had taken all the pain away. That’s what she took out of her pocket. The girl was in so much pain, how she pulled that off was a blessing. She truly was special.

“You mean to tell me that you know where Claudia is hiding out?” Ryder’s eyebrows rose as recognition dawned on his face.

“Yes, if she keeps the book near her at all times.” MJ added as she flipped a coin over her fingers.

“She does and she will,” Sage blurted out. She couldn’t control the excitement she was feeling. This was a big deal for the Order. It would finally put them on the playing field with Claudia and maybe ruin some of her plans.

“Then yes, we know where she is. Now you need to figure out what to do next,” MJ answered casually. “Because going in with guns blazing just doesn’t seem the right answer at the moment. We need to keep an eye on her and learn as much about her plans as we can.”

“At least now we have a chance,” Nolan said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. They could all feel it. The excitement in the room was giddy as everyone realized that they now had an opportunity. It was more than they’d thought ten minutes ago.

Sage couldn’t stop herself as she raised her hand. Clearing her throat, she asked, “If I may speak?”

“Of course, Sage. You are family here and you have just as much voice as any of us,” London said, nodding at her to go ahead.

“I’m not as well versed on what to do when it comes to battle, but we need to all be on the same page about who everyone is and what has been said before I got here. I hate it when I’m the only one in the group who doesn’t know what is going on. I hope you don’t think I’m rude for saying that?” Sage took in a deep breath when she finished.

“Okay, so after the meeting, make sure you sit Brody down and get him to start from day one…and that is when Ryder and London met. Then, go with Kayden and Zoey, then on to another Alpha, until you reach your story.” MJ stated flatly, almost as if she was already bored with the conversation.

“Oh…okay.” She dropped her head and stared down at the table. She didn’t want to say anything else, afraid to look more like a fool than she already did. Brody picked up her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. She could tell he wanted to say something to MJ, but before he could open his mouth, she shook her head at him. No one said anything as the room fell silent again. Sage promised herself that from then on, she wouldn’t ask any more questions. When she glanced up, London was giving MJ the death stare and she sure as hell didn’t want to get anything started.

“
Y
ou said
there was other news you had…about the traitors,” Bast commented, drawing everyone’s attention back.

This time he was the one in the spotlight. Brody stood up and walked over to the TV and turned it on, and then used the remote control. Displayed on the screen was the crowd of shifters who were watching when Sage’s mother was nailed to the sign. “Lex found some interesting expressions from some unlikely people in the crowd. One is Regina Martin, who as you all know was fired from the theater three years ago.” The Alphas all groaned when Regina’s picture popped up. “I agree one hundred percent, but look at her expression before she notices the camera is pointed at her.” There she was, smiling like she had just won the lottery. They could all hear Sage crying in the background.

“That bitch is dead,” Nolan growled.

“We need her first, Nolan. I know you are mad, as we all are, but we have to see if we can use these people and get the information we need,” Brody said. “Now look at the Carlson twins.” And just like Regina, the Carlson Twins, June and Beatrice Carlson, also had smirks on their faces. Unfortunately, those two shifters were part of his community, and Brody didn’t have a clue why they were doing this. They had always been good kids. “These two just don’t make sense to me. They have a great clothes shop downtown and they do very well for themselves. I can’t give you a reason why they would want to hurt us. They have always been helpful to everyone.”

“Look at them again.” Me-Len pointed at the screen.

If she hadn’t pointed at the screen, he would have missed it. Brody slowed the picture down and noticed the two girls looked like they were drugged. Then, as if they were zapped by a Taser, June and Beatrice snapped to attention and stared off into space. “They are under a witch’s spell. They’ve been bewitched by Claudia.”

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” London said. “They look almost drugged out now.”

“That means they haven’t been under the spell too long, and maybe if we can get to them I can reverse it…and unfortunately put them under another spell. One that can help us.” Me-Len sighed when she glanced up at him. “I know they are your people, Brody, but if we can get the information Claudia is giving them and find out what she’s asking them to do for her, maybe we can plant some information and pull on those puppet strings. This time lady luck will be in our favor.”

Brody glanced down at the floor. Using them, if they were traitors, was one thing, but they weren’t doing this of their own free will. What if something happened to them?

“Brody?” Ryder said, jarring him from his thoughts.

Brody looked up at everyone at the table and noticed the concern on their faces. “What if it backfires on us and they are done away with? If I could have done something and got them to safety?”

“If we break the spell and take them somewhere safe, away from Claudia, then she will know that we are on to her and we will have to start over.” Me-Len expressed as sadness clouded her features.

“We all know how you feel, Brody. We all have or are going to lose people in this war, but if we don’t do this then it won’t be just two people. It will be hundreds and maybe thousands of people by the time this is over, and there are no guarantees that we are going to win.” Nolan’s voice was bleak as he spoke.

Brody blew out a deep breath. His voice hardened. “Okay, but if we see something going down, then we take them out and get them to safety.”

“I think we all agree with you there, buddy,” Nolan added.

“Alright, I need a way to set this up where the twins won’t get suspicious and draw Claudia’s attention.” Brody looked down at the floor for a moment. “Me-Len, I can ask the twins to meet Lex at the lodge. They won’t think anything about it. We do this regularly to find out if some of the members need help with a job or anything. It will make them think that they have a member who could use some help. You can be there as well, and as soon as they come through the door you need to zap them or do whatever you witches do.”

He didn’t expect Sage to snort. He hoped he hadn’t offended her, or Me-Len for that matter. To be honest, he had no clue what kind of witch Sage was. He really needed to talk to Me-Len. He wanted to find out more information regarding his mate so he would know what she liked to read and what else she liked to do. Brody wanted to court her so she would know that he really cared about her, and that he honestly found her interesting. He wanted to pound in the ground the man, whoever he was, that did that number on her. If Sage gave him his name, he would hunt the idiot down. But he didn’t want to bring it up to her. It would upset her, and right now everything seemed to be falling into place. Not as fast as he liked, but she was actually letting him touch her and that was a win in his book.

“Brody, was there anyone else in the crowd who looked suspicious?” Nolan asked.