The Catalyst (24 page)

When she was satiated, she left the two none the
wiser and went back into the hallway. This time, the shift came on
easily. She hopped onto the window ledge in bird form and flew up
to the roof. She would have loved to enjoy the thrill of flying,
but now wasn’t the time. She shifted back and went invisible again,
making her way to the door that led back inside.

The knob on the metal door turned easily in her hand.
As quietly as she could, she went through the penthouse, assessing
the situation. There were only the two vampire guards, just like on
the video screen. Fiona and the pup were playing in the main living
area, but there was a witch besides Fiona. Not good.

Who first? If she took out the vampires, the witch
might start chanting, and she didn’t know how strong she was. It
had to be the witch first. The pup looked right at Jane as if he
could see her. She looked down at her hands but she was invisible.
Could he sense her? The thought made her all warm inside. But if he
sensed her, the witch would soon as well.

She backed into the kitchen and the curious pup
followed her. Maybe he could see her? Cole couldn’t when she was
invisible. Maybe it was some preternatural mother-child bond. Since
returning, she hadn’t had time to read up on weirdness between
magical mothers and their offspring.

“Stay here, I’m going to go after the pup,” the witch
said to Fiona from the other room, then she followed him into the
kitchen. Exactly where Jane wanted her. Alone.

Jane moved behind the witch and put her in a sleeper
hold, cutting off her oxygen so she couldn’t chant. The witch
struggled at first, but the demon was too strong for her. The
blonde slid to the floor, and Jane stepped over her body.

Fiona appeared in the kitchen, having ignored the
witch’s order. Her eyes widened at the blonde passed out on the
floor. Jane materialized. “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

She knelt next to the pup and scratched behind his
ear. “Go back in the other room with Fiona. Mommy has to kill some
people,” she whispered to the pup. She wasn’t sure how much of that
he could comprehend, but he trotted back into the other room,
anyway.

Fiona seemed to be analyzing and sizing up the
situation. Jane was impressed by her outward calm in the face of
everything.

“Can you go back to being invisible?”

Jane nodded and changed back.

“That’s better,” Fiona said. “They think I’m crazy,
so if we get interrupted they’ll just think I’m talking to myself.
You should take the big one out first. I’ve been watching him, and
not only is he big, but he’s old, so he’s the strongest. I’ll try
to distract the other one when you make your move. And there’s
also…”

“What’s going on in there?”

Fiona rushed out of the kitchen before the vampire
could come in and see the witch on the ground. “Nothing, nothing.
Sonya is just making the pup a snack.”

The vamp grumbled something incoherent as Fiona
corralled him back to the living area.

And there’s also what? What had the witch been about
to say? Damnit. Jane pulled a stake from her jacket. She’d foregone
a gun with wooden bullets. She’d been so angry, she’d wanted the
intimacy of a stake. She’d envisioned taking out the vampire king
herself, but a gun would have been so much easier.
Boom.
Boom.
Assassin style.

When everyone settled back in the living room, Jane
crept over to the burliest of the two vampires. Without hesitation,
she slammed the stake home. He cried out, and then his flesh began
to melt off the bones. She pulled the stake out of the goo and
leapt out of the way of the other vampire who was lunging toward
her now, looking for the threat.

Fiona screamed and started to babble nonsense. The
vamp turned toward the outburst, perhaps thinking she’d used magic
somehow. In the moment of distraction, Jane rushed him. He sensed
the movement and turned toward her again, so she jerked her elbow
up hard, smacking him against the jaw.

The vamp let out an
oomph
and stumbled back.
“Where are you, you little bitch?”

Fighting invisible was taking too much energy, and
the element of surprise was long gone, anyway. She shed her
invisibility. “Right here, you little half-breed.”

He barreled toward her, all brawn and no brains. She
sidestepped the vamp at the last moment, sending him into the wall.
Jane pivoted and swung around, her fists ready to pummel him. She
just kept punching, throwing everything she had into it, going for
his ribs and any weak points he exposed in his struggle. He fought
to turn around, and when he succeeded, she didn’t miss a beat,
grabbing his shoulders and kneeing him in the groin.

The vampire crumpled. Jane flipped him on his back
and raised the stake in the air, prepared to drive it home, when a
door opened. She looked up to see a very pregnant Charlee coming
out of the bathroom. Well, that cleared up the mystery of
and
there’s also…
The distraction and the squick moment over
Charlee carrying Anthony’s evil seed caused the vampire to gain the
upper hand and flip them, reversing their positions.

“Get off me, you psycho. You can’t kill me, and
you’ve got no witch. So what are you going to do?”

“I can torture the shit out of you until Anthony gets
back, then we’ll decide from there. You seem like you’re running on
empty.”

Yeah, so? Cain’s alternate method of feeding wasn’t
meant for this much ass kicking. It was more of a small between
meal snack.

“Get off her,” Charlee said.

The vampire hesitated. Charlee was only human, and a
pregnant human at that. You couldn’t get much more vulnerable with
a vampire. But the mating mark on her throat from the vampire king,
gave her a different kind of power.

“I am your queen. Get. Off. Her.”

Wow. Charlee had been brushing up on her regal
demeanor. She’d been good at it when she’d taken Jane down to
execute Paul, but now she was a pro.

The vampire grumbled, but obeyed the order. He must
have thought he was safe because his stance was just relaxed enough
for Jane to drive the stake home. The vamp started to melt.

“Was that necessary?” Charlee asked.

“Was kidnapping
my
child and Fiona
necessary?”

“It wasn’t me. You know that. Who am I going to be
kidnapping with this stomach? I can barely fit through doors as it
is.”

“You didn’t try to stop him. You didn’t do anything
to get my child back to me.”

“We thought you were dead!” Charlee said.

“Well, what about Cole? You knew Cole wasn’t
dead!”

“And how was I going to find him without Anthony
finding out? You might think my mate is evil, but he’s just doing
what he has to do. Not everybody is on board with him having me for
a mate, and now I’m pregnant. Do you know what they do to babies
born from a human mated to a vampire?”

Jane shrugged, not sure she cared, seeing as they
hadn’t cared what happened to
her
kid.

Charlee’s hand went over her stomach in a protective
gesture. Jane knew that gesture, and she softened.

“They kill them. Babies born to a claimed human
mother from a vampire are weak. They have all the weaknesses of a
vampire but none of the strengths. They’re considered an
abomination. Anthony is doing what he’s doing to protect our
daughter. He has to be ruthless enough that no one will try to
cross him and kill our child. All we want to know is where the hive
is.”

“No.”

“Anthony can’t look weak,” Charlee said, pleading in
her eyes.

Jane put her hands on her hips, feeling odd with the
two of them together in this building again. “Look, some of my pack
could be dying right now. They’re fighting, and it has to stop.
Anthony won’t look weak if I have a hostage.”

Charlee’s eyes widened. “You’d do that to me?”

Jane growled. “Jesus, Charlee, no. Do you not know
how to act? Just look pathetic, and I’ll sell the rest of it. I’ve
worn one mask or another so long I can be anything or anyone.
Anthony doesn’t know who I am. He’s never known.”

Charlee nodded. “Okay.”

“Um, guys?” Fiona said. “I think we should move me
and the pup to a safe location. If we go with you, the tables could
turn on us again.”

Jane nodded. She’d assumed Fiona would be dead weight
in all of this, and was surprised when she wasn’t. “That was my
plan, yes.” She pulled out the talisman Cain had given her and
turned the shiny, golden stone over the runic
markings to the correct combination. The shimmery film
appeared.

“When you go through with the pup, ask for directions
to the werewolf camp. Tell them Cain said you’re off limits.
Actually, you might want to lead with that part.”

The internal struggle was clear on Fiona’s face as
she looked at the film and the potential danger beyond.

“Hey, you’ve got this. Trust me. You’re stronger than
you think,” Jane said.

The witch bit her lip and nodded. She turned and
hugged Charlee. “Thanks for keeping me sane in here.”

“No problem. Good luck.”

Then Fiona took the pup and disappeared into the
safety of the demon dimension.

When Jane and Charlee reached the lobby, the guardian
at the front desk didn’t look shocked to see them, his suspicions
of something amiss confirmed. But he went right back to his
paper.

Chapter Fourteen

Outside the warehouse, Jane glanced at Charlee. “Are
you ready for this?” She could tell her friend was still weirded
out about her dying then coming back as a demon. And given the
tense situation ahead of them, there hadn’t been much small talk
about it on the trip over.

Charlee nodded.

“Alrighty then.” Jane busted through the door,
dragging her pregnant friend along with her, doing a perfect
impersonation of a crazy gunman with a hostage. Only, instead of a
gun, she had a stake poised at Charlee’s throat.

Anthony or somebody in his camp had called in
reinforcements while she’d been gone, so the odds were stacked on
the vampire side now from sheer numbers alone. Anna and Tam
continued to chant, but they looked like they were getting
tired.

The sorcerers on Anthony’s team were throwing energy
balls trying to put a dent in Tam and Anna’s protection shield and
waiting for the moment when the two witches on the demon and
therian side collapsed so they could start cursing demons. The
demons were throwing fireballs, occasionally lighting a vampire on
fire. The magic users on Anthony’s side were too busy with offense
to shield against it.

She scanned the ground to find several wolves down.
How bad, she didn’t know. Cole was injured, but he was fighting
through it. And he’d survive anything now, so at least she didn’t
have to worry about him. Z was still kicking asses and taking names
with the vampires. He’d taken a bullet in the shoulder, but was now
devouring a vampire whole and healing nicely.

Anthony had a few scratches and had likely fed on
somebody to heal. One of his magic users no doubt. He’d moved
behind his troops for safety.

Jane whistled loud and long, then shouted, “Everybody
STOP!”

The fighting ceased for a moment as all eyes went to
Jane and the bounty she’d caught. Anthony went pale.

“Send your people away, Anthony, or your mate is a
memory.”

“You wouldn’t. Charlee is your friend.”

Jane shrugged, assuming a disaffected look. “Meh. She
never calls. Never writes. I didn’t even know she was having a
baby. Congratulations, by the way. May you have more luck keeping
yours safe. Nah, I class Charlee as a casual acquaintance tops. No
skin off my nose if she dies.” She’d had years of practice, so
channeling her inner disaffected goth was child’s play.

“I don’t believe you.”

Without blinking, Jane jabbed the stake against
Charlee’s throat, being careful not to hit the main artery—just
enough to draw blood and a frightened whimper. Anthony’s nostrils
flared as the scent of his mate’s blood hit the air.

“She means it,” Charlee said, sounding panicked.

Jane smelled the salt of her friend’s tears. Either
Charlee was a good actress in her own right, or she believed the
act. Jane squeezed her shoulder as covertly as possible, hoping to
give reassurance. Her friend’s pulse slowed from the gesture.

“Okay,” Anthony said. “Okay. Everybody go home,” he
said to his people. “No one is to touch any of them.” His attention
went back to Jane. “I assume you have the witch and the pup?”

“Yup. They’re safe in the demon dimension.” Jane
turned to her group, which she’d somehow defaulted as the leader of
for the moment. “Take the wounded and get back to Cain’s
dimension.” She was going to hold Charlee at stake point until they
were safe—especially the wounded.

The demons began to gather up the injured wolves. Z
picked up Lucy, and Cole picked up the younger alpha. Both looked
dead. Cole and Jane exchanged a glance, and she knew they were
thinking the same thing. At least they went together. At least they
weren’t separated.

As they were filing out, Cain turned back to Anthony.
“There will be no retribution on the pack, Fiona, or the panther.
If you go after any of them, there will be a war, and I will win.
This ends now.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Anthony said, trying to maintain
his sense of control, though most of his vampires had already
dispersed to their resting places. “I can find more magic users to
even the odds. Dayne owes me a favor for saving his werecat. And I
bet I have more vampires than you have demons.”

Tam spoke up then, though she looked like she was
about to drop. “We’ll have our own army of witches. So bring
it.”

Cain stopped, his mouth hanging open. But before Tam
could look his way, he’d covered it and gone back to the stone cold
mask of disinterest he normally wore. Interesting, Jane
thought.