Chapter 25

Kaine shotout of the basement and up the stairwell. And all he could think about was freedom and finding his mate. Nothing else mattered.

Everywhere inside the building, it was raining.

He tried to find an exit, but everything was shut. And he couldn’t open doors while shifted.

A snarl made him spin in the air. The snow leopard bounded after him. There was blood on his muzzle and his front paws. Malcolm walked up to the fire escape door, put his paws on the handle and pushed, freeing them both. He glanced over his shoulder as if to say, ‘who’s the better shifter now’?

The urge to find Quentin thrummed within him, but the panic was settling. He dropped to the ground and drew the flames into himself, returning to human. For a moment, it was as though his lungs were on fire, and he’d swallowed a dozen razor blades that were making their way through his insides. He’d learnt not to be in a hurry to eat but to give himself a few minutes. He was sure that when his body reformed, his insides took a few minutes to knit together, and it hurt.

He kept his eyes closed and swallowed a couple of times, grounding himself with the gravel biting into his feet and the cold breeze on his bare skin.

He had no clothes. That was going to be a problem.

A fire engine was already drawing close.

“Was your witch alive down there?” His voice was rough.

Malcolm nodded. He hadn’t shifted. He took a moment to lick his paw and then wipe his face to clean off the blood.

Neither of them had a phone.

Kaine glanced back at the door. It was closed. Bloody fire doors doing what they’re supposed to do.

New plan.

He glanced at Malcolm, who was still washing his face. “Go around the front and send one car to me. Everyone has been evacuated, so there will be people everywhere, but the front is the only other way out. I’ll stay here. Retrieve those witches. The Coven agents should have magical dampeners to neutralize their magic. Warn them about it.”

Malcolm huffed out a breath and slunk off around the side of the building.

Kaine slowly stood. His skin was sensitive, but the hair on his arms had regrown already.

It was only then he sensed Quentin’s frantic concern.

I’m alive.

He didn’t know how long that would last. If the blood or electrical witch came out the door, it was going to be hairy. There was no cover. No plants to hide behind. And only a couple of cars on the street.

The four-wheel drive was a rental.

I’m only a few minutes away. With Jacob and Orion.

Kaine heard the words as if Quentin was standing next to him.

Bringing his mate to the scene probably wasn’t the best idea, but at the time it had been what he needed.

Still needed.

He was torn between what he wanted and what had to be done.

He walked towards the four-wheel drive and peered inside. There were files on the backseat. Some bags and binoculars. In this part of town, where it was all light industrial housed in modern buildings, there wasn’t anything for tourists. He pressed his hand to the lock and pushed heat through it. The paint blistered under his palm, but when he gave the handle a tug, the door opened.

He flicked open the file and saw a picture of himself with a short bio. Definitely not tourists. There was also a file on Gerrit, Malcolm, and Everest. Everest’s had a warning that he was a double agent but still useful.

Gerrit and Malcolm, they wanted dead.

They wanted him alive to add to their collection.

“Fuck you.”

The witches wouldn’t go to hell, they would be reincarnated with the same magic. But they wouldn’t be the same person. Not the way he was. But he still wanted to send them to hell, if only for a short visit.

He didn’t damn himself by vowing to make their next life hellish.

Tossed over the back of the chair was a black hoodie. He pulled it on, even though it was a size too small. Then he frowned and looked into the back of the four-wheel drive. There were clothes all over the place. The jeans would be too small, so he grabbed what appeared to be a pair of green checked pajama pants and shimmied into them before sliding out of the backseat.

At least now he wasn’t naked.

The car he asked Malcolm to send pulled up, and the woman lowered the window. “Looks like you didn’t need me.”

“Very funny. This is their car; I want to know everything about the people who hired it.”

“Malcolm said they’re going in. They have the dampeners and that, hopefully, they’ll meet you here with dinner. Does that make sense to you?”

“Yes.” Malcolm was going hunting for witches and wanted him to wait. He watched as the firetruck went around the corner, followed by two cop cars. Malcolm had better hurry; otherwise, he was going to be caught with blood on his hands.

The woman made a call.

The fire escape door opened.

“Gun.” Kaine stuck out his hand.

She handed it to him without pausing as she gave the number plate of the four-wheel drive to the person on the end of the call.

Kaine moved, crouching near the back of the car. While the black hoodie was the right color for being sneaky, the bright green pajama pants were not doing him any favors.

The blood witch stepped out; Kaine flicked off the safety and aimed for the other side of the man’s chest.

But the witch’s hands were behind his back, and pushing him along was Malcolm—who’d managed to pull on a set of spare clothes from the car. The electrical witch was next, and he was limping and covered in a lot more blood.

Kaine exhaled and relaxed. He stood and opened the back door to the vehicle. “Get them in. I want them locked up and ready for questioning.”

He did not want to have to deal with the police. Especially since he’d incinerated all of his things. Explaining to humans what happened was not his specialty. He called Dalmon.

Malcolm shoved the witch into the car, not caring that he banged his head on the way through. Then he handed Kaine a soggy bundle. “It’s what’s left of your stuff. Mine is…” He glanced up at the building.

“I’ll work that out. At least your ID says you’re with national security.” The cops would still want to speak to him. “Go with the prisoners. Then at least you’re not here.”

Malcolm gave a small nod as if he knew what Kaine wasn’t saying, which was to make sure they didn’t die or disappear en route.

“What do you want me to do, sir?” Kaine glanced at the other shifter who’d helped Malcolm. “I want that four-wheel drive towed and processed top priority. And once we find out who they are, I want their hotel room and anything they’ve touched processed. There are no other cases.”

The bundle in his hand dripped on the gravel. They both stared at the wet mess.

“Understood, sir. Do you need me to do anything for you?”

Kaine dropped the bundle and picked through it until he found his ID and phone. The bullet-proof vest had protected some of his things when he burned up.

He slipped his ID over his head. The phone was likely a lost cause.

A familiar black car pulled up on the other side of the road.

His lips curved. “I’m fine, thank you. Just take care of the four-wheel drive. Do not let the cops take it away because I don’t want to deal with that paperwork.” From the look on the man’s face, he didn’t want to deal with it either.

Kaine crossed the road but only made it halfway before Quentin was out of the car and flinging himself at him. He caught his mate and held him tight, kissing whichever part of him he could without easing his hold. His neck, his cheek. He breathed him in, not sure how he’d stayed away from him for five days…or how he’d lived without him when even holding him was a rush like soaring and swooping.

“What the hell happened?” Quentin drew back. “You shifted?”

“Yes.” Kaine pressed his lips to Quentin’s, needing him to understand that whatever this was, he wanted to see where it would go and what would grow. He didn’t want to wait until his next life. “What is going on with Everest? What were all the doors?”

Quentin shook his head, and a strange, haunted look flashed over his eyes as he shivered. Icy fear ran down Kaine’s spine, but when Quentin spoke, his voice was quiet and level. “We can deal with that later.”

Orion and Jacob got out of the vehicle.

Orion handed Kaine a pile of black clothes. “You might want to change before you speak to anyone official.”

“Thank you.” He still had his arm around Quentin. Though to dress, he needed to let him go. He moved closer to the car with Quentin. Between the door and Jacob and Orion—who both turned their backs to him—he was reasonably well hidden.

As he changed, he gave them a quick rundown while trying not to let go of Quentin. “There’s a dead bear shifter on the second floor, along with Malcolm’s clothes, pistol, and ID. And blood in the basement. The two witches we caught said that there were others. The two in custody are being questioned. We don’t know who the others are.”

Quentin ended up letting go and helping him dress. Doing up his shirt buttons without hiding the thought that he’d rather be taking the shirt off.

“And you haven’t seen anyone who didn’t belong?” Jacob asked.

“No, which makes me think they are staff.” And they would be milling about in front of the building, waiting to be let back in. “I have two more people acting as security, but no way to contact them because I fucked my phone.” He did up the fly of the suit pants, grabbed the front of Quentin’s coat, and pulled him in for a hard kiss.

“You need to put your shoes on,” Quentin murmured against his lips.

What he needed to do and what he wanted to do were very different things. He ran his fingers through Quentin’s hair, the curls wrapping around his fingers. “I don’t know how much you heard through the bond, but I meant it all.”

“I heard…and I want that, too. I thought you were dying.”

“So did I, for a little bit. Blood witch. I had to shift, so I had no blood for him to control.” If he’d been any other kind of shifter, he would be dead or dying.

Jacob gave a visible shudder.

“I’m dressed. You can turn around.” He said on the edge of the car seat and pulled on socks and shoes. At least now he looked like the Chief of Security instead of a homeless man with wild tales of witches and shifters.

“You will be wanting a phone, sir.” Frederick handed him what would be one of the many backups he kept—this was not the first one he’d destroyed.

“Thank you.” He put it in his pocket.

Orion and Jacob turned, and Quentin leaned against the door.

“I don’t want anyone going back in that building. I want everyone questioned, and we’re going to need a Coven cover-up for the bear shifter.”

“I’ll call Vecker.” Despite the change in his job, Jacob still called Dalmon by his surname, as if he were his boss, even though technically Kaine was. “He’s expecting my call, as I told him we were on our way,” Jacob said. “Also, the king arrived safely at the castle, and the prince is in a holding cell on his father’s orders.”

Kaine stared at Jacob, then turned his head to look at Quentin. He’d expected there to be lies and secrets, but not for Everest to be detained. “How bad is it?”

“Let”s call it an eleven out of ten and leave it until this mess is sorted,” Orion said.

“Quentin?” Kaine stared up at him.

“Worse than anyone can imagine.” The haunted edge was back. “Don’t ask me to go back in there because I won’t be able to get out. You pulled me out.”

Kaine pressed his lips together. A part of him had known that he needed to protect Quentin and he hadn’t questioned it. His gaze darted to Jacob as he used the bond to speak to Quentin. Did you tell them?

No, but Jacob saw I was shaken.

Do we need Dalmon here?

It’s probably safer that you aren’t all in one location.

Kaine sagged against the seat. His leg pressed against Quentin’s. He’d always gotten on with Everest. They pushed each other in this life and others. He and Dalmon agreed on the bigger issues, but their approach was so different, they’d argue before agreeing, and Dalmon often grew frustrated with him. Gerrit never had a bad word for anyone. Out of all of them, he led with his heart. While Dalmon had pushed his heart aside for centuries, Kaine hadn’t wanted to risk it, not in this life anyway. He assumed he had in the past. But love wasn’t the same as having a mate.

And Everest? He’d been a good king, though he had made a mistake in hatching them all so close together. He was smart, a risk-taker who saw everything as a game to win. He put pleasure above duty…or that is how it seemed.

Beneath that was the soul bruise caused by the loss of Olier. A brother Kaine had only read about. He should miss him, but it was hard to miss a man he didn’t remember. And while he wanted to find him, it was more because of the academic challenge and the desire to end Everest’s pain.

How much of a threat is he?

Quentin bit his lip. I don’t know…but the man he appears to be isn’t who he is.

Is Gerrit in danger?

I don’t think so. He loves him as a father. He thinks he’s close to getting Olier back.

Kaine closed his eyes. Or was that what the Shadow Board wanted him to think? He needed to put Everest aside for the moment and sort this out. With a sigh, he opened his eyes and stood.

“Right…call Dalmon.” As Jacob stepped away, Kaine turned to Orion. “Do you think you can sniff out anyone who associated with a blood witch?”

Orion rolled his eyes and sighed. “It will be easier if I have something of his.”

“The clothes I was wearing came out of their vehicle.” Kaine nodded at the four-wheel drive.

“I’ll check out the vehicle, then mingle.” Orion walked toward the man standing by the vehicle.

“I’ll be round there soon. Got to call the chief of police first.” Who was a shifter and so would offer some assistance with the humans. Finally, he turned to Quentin. “I don’t want to leave you, but I can’t have you here either.”

“I know. I’m not an agent or anything.”

“And I don’t expect you to be. I don’t want you to be.” Right now, he didn’t want to be. He wanted to go home and let someone else deal with the drama. Dalmon enjoyed it. He enjoyed the puzzle, not the actual action. He cupped Quentin’s jaw and rested their foreheads together, stealing a few more seconds.

“I’ll return to the castle and send your driver back for you,” Quentin said, giving him an out.

That made sense as he didn’t know how long he’d be. “I’d rather you be here…”

“Same, but it’s safer at the castle.”

Kaine nodded. “I will have Gerrit meet you. Stay with him and his security team—I’ll call ahead.” He kissed Quentin, his thumb sweeping over his cheek. “My life isn’t usually this exciting.”

“You mean terrifying.”

“Yes.”

“To be fair, if it weren’t for the secret library…” He smiled, and maybe if his hand hadn’t been on Kaine’s hip as if he didn’t want to let him go, or he couldn’t feel Quentin’s attraction, he might have believed his words. “I’m joking.”

“You just want to learn more about magic,” Kaine teased.

“That too.” Quentin sighed and glanced away, but for a moment, Kaine glimpsed his mate’s very real fear. “But I guess you’re part of the package.”

“You’re dealing with this all very well. I swear when it’s over?—”

“Will it ever be?”

“Yes. We’re going to burn the Board to the ground so nothing rises from the ashes.”