Page 70 of Bad Blood Bear

Chapter 30

Lissa described her vision to the others, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “He’s torturing him,” she said. “Hurting him over and over.”

Her bear was pacing and whining inside her. It hated Tank being hurt, but the more she thought about hurting Brother Damien, the more his magic hurt her bear.

“He’s strong, Lissa,” Jasmin said. “He’s endured worse.”

“But it broke him,” Lissa said. “How much more can he take?” Or had Brother Damien destroyed his bear for good?

The others went silent.

She wanted to kill him. Blood! Kill! Devour! Her bear said. And then, No! Don’t!

“I have to do something,” she said. “He’s going to kill Tank.”

“You’re sure as hell not going alone,” Flynn said. “He’s not going to keep his word. He just wants you to make it easy on him.”

“Of course he isn’t going to keep his word,” Lissa said. “What do you think I am, a moron? He’s probably going to try to kill Tank and make me watch. And I’m not going to let that happen, so we have to figure out a plan where Damien gets killed and Tank doesn’t.”

Xander, swiveling back and forth on one of the kitchen bar stools, perked up at that. “Killing?” he said. “I’m in.”

“All of you are in,” Lissa informed them. “You’re Tank’s crew. So let’s get moving on this plan.”

They all glanced at each other, but nobody said no.

Flynn shrugged. “Okay then. Did Brother Damien tell you where this place is that you’re supposed to go?”

Lissa shook her head. “No. I can find him, if I let him do that icky compulsion thing. But it’s like following a beacon. I can tell he’s that way,” she pointed, “but it could be fifty feet, or fifty miles. He expects me to just walk like a zombie until I get there.”

“It’s not far. Within our territory bounds,” Flynn said quietly.

Everyone stared at him. “How do you know that?” Jasmin asked. “It would have been kind of helpful while I was flailing around in the forest last night.”

“I didn’t realize it, okay?” Flynn snapped. “I’ve been feeling antsy since last night, but I thought it was just the threat to Lissa. But when she pointed in that direction, I realized it’s more than that. It’s this itchy feeling, like a tick invading my skin. I think it’s the territory magic, sensing an enemy.”

“It can do that?” Sloan asked.

“It can probably do a shit-ton of things I don’t know about,” Flynn said. “It doesn’t come with a manual.”

“Our territory only extends a little over a mile in that direction,” Jasmin said. “The only cliff face like the one she described is the one right on the edge of our territory, by that bend in the river.”

“So let’s go,” Xander said. “He’s only got three little bears with him. We can take them.”

“Three bears that we’ve seen,” said Sloan. “That doesn’t mean he didn’t bring others. He could have Turned the whole cult by now.”

“And he has magic,” Flynn reminded them. “Including the ability to make Lissa do whatever he wants. If he can control Tank, too, then we’re fucked. Hell, he might be able to control all of us if he gets close enough.”

“So we shoot him from a distance,” Xander said. “We have rifles. Hell, shoot them all. Not as much fun as bleeding them out, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“Again, magic,” said Jasmin. “What if he can shield himself against bullets? We need a backup plan.”

“Besides,” Lissa said. “He might have all the other bears under a compulsion too. I know those people. They’re kind and peaceful. If he’s making them help him, then they don’t deserve to die for it. We need to try to find a way not to kill them.”

Xander snorted. “Way to take the fun out of it, Little Dip.”

“Trank guns,” Flynn said. “And a couple of conventional ones just in case we can shoot him. But that doesn’t combat the magic. I’m not powerful enough to take him on. Fuck it, I can’t even negate the power he put into Lissa’s claiming mark.”

They all went silent. Lissa bit her lips. Think, she told herself. Think. There has to be a way.