Whispered Visions (Shifters & Seers Book 3) (23 page)

“What would you be willing to do to keep Charlie safe?” Talley asked the tiny Thaumaturgic.

“Anything, but Charlie is my entire world. I love him.”

“Then what if it was me?” Joshua asked. “Or Ada? Or Jase? Would you leave us to die, or do whatever some crazy kidnapper asked?”

Maggie looked around the group, the answer clear in her eyes. “If you’re right, then that means Layne is still alive somewhere.”

“He is,” Liam said, and Scout couldn’t stop the sigh of relief that left her lungs. Her mate wasn’t the type of person to say things just to make you feel better. If he said Layne was alive, then Layne was alive. She didn’t question his ability to know something that should have been unknowable. He was the Alpha Male, and as such, he had a connection to their fellow Shifters that even she didn’t understand.

“So, where to next?” Jase asked, the last word rendered somewhat incomprehensible by a giant yawn. “Do we have any leads on who these guys might be?”

“No, but we know where they are,” Joshua said. “I say we head to Bath.”

Jase’s forehead crinkled up. “You want us to all go take a bath? Like right now?”

“Bath, as in the city,” Ada clarified. “You know, the famous place in England with the hot springs? Jane Austen lived there? The place that Lizzie specifically mentioned in her message?”

“There is a city called Bath? That’s weird, right?”

Scout loved her brother, she really did, but there were times when he was a complete idiot.

“To the vehicles,” she said, already walking towards one of the two giant black SUVs that had been waiting for them at the airport. “Joshua and Ada are with me and Liam; Charlie, Maggie, Jase, and Talley can follow us.”

“I’ll drive,” Talley volunteered, but at Scout’s over-my-dead-body look, Charlie snatched the keys and jumped into the driver’s seat. “We’ll be right behind you,” he said. “Let’s end this.”

Bath, England, UK

1 Hour Before Rescue

“Any luck?” Ada asked sitting down next to Scout on a bench. The imposing edifice of a giant church stared back at them as if judging them for their lack progress.

“It’s like a needle in a haystack,” Jase said, passing her a coffee. “Except the haystack happens to be a bunch of tourists. Do you think anyone actually lives in this city?”

They’d divided up into pairs and roamed the streets of Bath for the past five hours, showing pictures of Lizzie and Layne and describing the men who had been with Lizzie on the train. They weren’t exactly making a ton of progress. No one had seen either of their missing friends, and the descriptions of the other men were too generic to get anything helpful. The stress and jet lag were starting to catch up with them, but Scout refused to let them slow down. They needed to find Lizzie and Layne soon. It was urgent. She could feel it in her gut.

Come on. Lose your control. Get reckless. This is our only chance.

“Your only chance for what?” Scout asked Talley. “And whose control are you trying to snap?”

Talley looked over one shoulder then the other. “Are you talking to me?”

“What was that…?” Scout wiggled her fingers on either side of her head to indicate the brain-to-brain network system she shared with all the Seers of the world. Any Seer could access it, but not without permission, and since Ada and Maggie weren’t Seers, the only one around with permission to just pop in any old time was Talley.

Talley shook her head. “That wasn’t me.”

“Then who—?”

This isn’t going to work. He’s bigger than me. And furious. I can’t take him.

This time, Scout recognized the mental voice. Joy and complete terror fought a furious battle in her chest.

Relax your muscles. Stay loose,
she said to Lizzie through their link, hoping with everything she had the other girl could hear her.
Wait until you know you can land the blow to take a swing.

“It’s Lizzie,” Scout told the others. “They’re making an escape attempt.”

“Now?” Jase rubbed at his forehead. “It’s been months and they’re making an escape attempt
now
?”

“The text,” Liam said. “They’ve either been caught or realize it’s only a matter of time.”

“And they didn’t try before because the odds aren’t in their favor,” Charlie said, looking more alert than any of them had in hours. “Where are they, Scout?”

She was trying to connect, to ask Lizzie for whatever she could give her, but got nothing other than fear.

“There is still something screwing up our connection. I can’t…” she closed her eyes and concentrated. “I think she’s that way,” she said, pointing off to the east.

Joshua raised his eyebrows. “You
think
she’s that way?”

It was just a gut feeling, but since becoming the Alpha Female, Scout learned to trust the instincts of the wolf caged beneath her skin. “She is. Somewhere.”

“That’s more than we had two minutes ago,” Maggie reminded them. “I say we start driving. Maybe the closer we get the better Scout’s connection to Lizzie will be.”

“Then let’s move,” Liam said, already moving across the courtyard.

Brownlow Manor, Bath, England, UK

0 Hours Before Rescue

“This is it,” Scout said, bracing her hand on the glovebox as Liam slammed on the breaks. “They’re in there.”

“There” happened to be a giant mansion made out of what looked like a dingy white rock-like substance. Limestone maybe. Scout thought she’d seen or heard something about Bath being well known for limestone when she was wandering the streets looking for information.

Lizzie was in pain and barely holding on at this point. The only thing keeping her going was Layne, but Scout knew without a doubt if they didn’t get in there soon there wouldn’t be anyone for them to save.

Take a deep breath in, and then squeeze the trigger as you release it,
she advised the other girl at the same time she told Liam, “Charge the gates. I’ll shoot anyone who gets in our way.” She then relayed the message to Talley in the other vehicle. Less than five minutes and at least two dead guards later, the Alpha Pack charged through the front door just as Scout’s connection to Lizzie was cut off completely.

Pack Safe House, Bristol, England, UK

10 Hours After Rescue

Charlie stood in the doorway of the room where Lizzie slept thanks to a ton of medication being shot into her veins. It hurt to look at her. Her face was in shreds and bruises marred her pale flesh almost everywhere. The handprints on her neck were the most upsetting of all. Alistair Halifax hadn’t been messing around when he’d wrapped his fingers around her throat. He’d meant to kill her.

“You do realize standing around watching people sleep is something only creepy weirdos do, right?”

“I’ve got guard duty,” Charlie said, coming further into the room so he could clearly see his nephew, who was currently spooned around Lizzie. “I just wanted to make sure you guys are okay.”

“We’re alive and free.” Layne extracted himself from Lizzie and sat up on the corner of the bed. She made a sound of distress in her throat and Layne smoothed a hand over her hair to calm her. “A couple of hours ago, I wasn’t sure about either of those things, so all things considered, we’re great.”

“Layne, I—” Charlie stopped and cleared his throat. “I’m proud of you. And I know if your dad were here, he would be too. He, ummm…” He wasn’t going to cry. Not again. He’d done enough of that for one day. “Toby loved you more than anything, and I know he would be so proud of the man you’ve become.”

“Don’t.” Layne’s mouth was set in a hard line, and in that moment he looked so much like Charlie’s older brother it was like a blow to the stomach. “I let them use her. I left us in there for months.
Months
, Charlie. The only reason we got out is because of her. She’s the brave one. She’s the hero. I’m the asshole who didn’t do a good enough job of protecting the person he loves.”

Charlie wanted to dismiss Layne’s feelings for Lizzie as a young boy’s crush, but one look at his nephew’s eyes said this wasn’t some fleeting emotion. He supposed it was time to stop thinking of Layne as a kid and realize he was finally growing up and becoming the man he was always meant to be.

“You did what you could. You survived.” Charlie knew more than anyone that sometimes survival was the most difficult part of all. “And I saw what you did in there today. You protected all of them when it mattered. You got them out alive. You’re their hero. I wouldn’t be surprised if that little girl doesn’t think of you as a god.”

“It wasn’t enough.”

Self-doubt was another thing Charlie knew better than most, so instead of trying to convince Layne of something he would only believe when he was ready, he said, “Well, it was enough for Liam. He’s inducting you as a Stratego at the next Hustings.”

Charlie tried not to laugh at the look of shock on Layne’s face. Really, he did.

“Are you serious?”

“No, it’s a funny joke I made up just now.” He lowered himself into the straight-backed wooden chair at the edge of the bed. “Of course I’m serious. It’s Liam. He knows a good thing when he sees it, and a Hagan Shifter is always a good thing.”

Layne held out his fist and Charlie tapped it with his own.

“Stratego,” he said after a long minute. “I’m too young. He should make me a Taxiahro first.”

Charlie leaned the chair back onto two legs. “You’re not that young. Jase and I weren’t but a year or two older when we became Strategos. You’ve grown up in the Alpha Pack, are one of the most dominant coyote Shifters I’ve ever met, including Jase, and you’ve already chosen a mate. You’re ready.”

Layne looked down at Lizzie and brushed strands of bright orange-red hair away from her face. “How did you know?” he asked, his heart in his voice.

“Well, for one I’ve got working eyeballs. And for another, I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to love someone with everything you have.” One side of Charlie’s mouth kicked up. He was happy Layne and Lizzie had found the same thing he had with Maggie. “When did it happen?”

“Falling in love with her?” Layne shrugged. “The moment I met her? Before? I think I might have been born loving her and just didn’t know it until we met and my heart recognized its other half.”

“You’ve loved her… always? Like this whole time?”

“Forever.”

“Even when the two of you were constantly at each other’s throats?”

“I didn’t say we haven’t had our issues,” Layne said, his smile not the least bit rueful, and Charlie laughed.

“You are such a Hagan.”

Layne instantly turned somber, something glistening in his eyes. “There isn’t any family I would rather claim,” he said, and then the two were hugging, neither trying to hide the tears streaming from their eyes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To all the teenagers who have been a part of my YAAP and served as Beta Fish, thank you. Without your love, support, and general awesomeness, none of these books would have ever existed. A special thanks to Claire, Tory, Samantha, Amy, Tessa, Emily, and Kathryn for fishing Whispered Visions.

To Victoria Faye, who is not only the best cover designer in the business, but a genuinely wonderful human being, thank you for giving my books a face and being my friends.

To Gwen Hayes, whose insights have made this book so much better than I could have done on my own, thank you for your encouragement, gentle prods, and vast amounts of knowledge.

To Leslie Mitchell, thanks for reaching out to me all those years ago and for your eagle eye.

To my family and friends, thank you for all the love, support, and food you’ve give me over the years.

And last, but not least, thank you to my readers, especially my Alpha Pack, for loving these books and characters. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.

About the Author

Tammy Blackwell is the author of the bestselling Timber Wolves and Shifters & Seers series. She lives in a small Kentucky town where she is a librarian, mother, and Joss Whedon fan. You can often find her wasting time on Twitter (@Miss_Tammy) and Tumblr (MissTammyWrites). Visit her online at
www.misstammywrites.com
or email her at [email protected].