AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shea nodded from the front seat. “I’m actually not sure whether we’re sensing Finn’s location or your certainty that he’s near through the Beacon bond.”
“Hm, I guess that’s something we can figure out for sure later. We’ve got far bigger fish to fry first.”
“Indeed. So what exactly is our plan here, Blondie?”
I let his continued use of that ridiculous nickname slide without comment. “We have our four vehicles surround the limousine and our Spellbinders take out the tires. Then the three of us will confront Alexander while everyone else spreads out around the vehicles to protect us from any unexpected ambushes.”
Connor gave a sardonic lip twist. “Can they really be calledunexpectedif you’re expecting them?”
Shea kept most of his attention on the road ahead. “I like the plan to take out the limo’s tires, assuming the Spellbinders can also keep the limo from spinning out of control. But Alexander has an entire limo full of hostages, including our brother. He’s not going to just surrender easily.”
A feral smile that would have done any pure Shifter proud crossed my face. “Oh, that’s one thing I’m absolutelycountingon.”
* * *
Finn
My body stiffened when I somehowfeltthe approach of three familiar presences: Shea’s steady nature, Connor’s vibrant energy, and Ava’s reassuring brilliance. I’d always been able to locate my brothers with some innate triplet sense, but never from very far away. And I’d for damned sure never been able tofeelAva like this.
Huh,that’sa new trick.
Hopefully one I could somehow use to my benefit. But first, I had to warn them they were headed for a trap. No way was I gonna let the bastard across from me hurt those I cared about. Especially not when he was trying to usemeas bait.
Alexander’s alert eyes didn’t miss the way my body jerked in surprise. “I assume by your body language your would-be rescuers are drawing near. Excellent.” He consulted the gaudy gold watch on his wrist. “Now we’ll just lead them on one final chase.”
I didn’t allow the interest that statement inspired to show as he murmured new instructions over his shoulder to the driver. My gaze ran over the still-slumbering bodies around us and one thought became crystal clear. If Alexander were intent on reaching some unknown location, it was because he had reinforcements waiting. Whatever trap he’d set would go much worse for us if he got us there. Which meant I damned well couldn’t let that happen. Something told me that we’dallbe dead if that happened.
So I was gonna have to risk that some of the people around us—many wolves I’d fought next to for years—might become collateral damage. If I didn’t? Then we all fucking would.
The driver asked Alexander something, and my uncle angled his body slightly so he could glance back for just a moment. There wouldn’t be a better chance than this.
My inner wolf instantly roared into action when I stopped holding him back. The change from human to canine came even easier to me than others with alpha strength. I’d always considered it a weakness that my beast lurked so close to the surface.
But now? I welcomed it.
Alexander heard my sudden snarl and started to turn, but I was already soaring past him to land on the passenger seat next to the driver. The man—a Shadow Shifter I recognized from the St. Louis Pack but who was willingly serving the asshole behind us—growled in warning as he fought to control the slight spin my unexpected arrival had inspired. I bared my fangs and snarled again. The fur along my body bristled when I felt magic stir behind. Time to be quick.
I lunged at the driver and clamped my fangs onto his sleeved arm, jerking it back violently. This caused the limo to begin spinning more wildly. The driver cursed and wrestled the steering wheel with one arm while trying to yank his other one out of my mouth. Not that he had much luck. I’d sank my fangs in too deeply. Hot blood spurted inside my throat, but I ignored that to bite down harder and furiously tug. This time he had no chance to correct things and the limo spun out of control.
Alexander left me little time to feel smug. Magic slammed into my body the moment our front driver’s side struck a parked truck. Metal shrieked and glass shattered. I couldn’t hold back a yelp at the doubled pain of both magic and crash. The limo’s airbags must have malfunctioned. That or someone had sabotaged them. Fortunately, Alexander was dealing with the collision’s aftereffects himself. My wolf managed to shake it off first, thanks to supernatural healing. The driver next to me wasn’t so lucky. Not even Shifter healing could save someone from a snapped neck.
But that didn’t mean I was out of the woods yet.
A quick glance behind revealed Alexander groaning on the floor among a tangle of bodies still trapped in unnatural slumber. I figured their best chance of survival was for me to lure himawayfrom the damaged limo. Not to mention rally our reinforcements, who felt like they must now be a few hundred feet away.
As a wolf, I had a distinct disadvantage when it came to opening doors, but the windshield had been obliterated by either the magic Alexander threw at me or the violent collision. Or both. I let out a short howl to get Alexander’s attention and then scrambled onto the vehicle’s mangled front hood. I felt another blast of magic—this time much weaker—spearing toward me and barely managed to dive away in time.
The city street’s asphalt met my paws, and I immediately whirled to see a bruised and bloody Alexander emerge from the limo’s least damaged rear door. His furious eyes met mine, and I sensed him gathering Radiant energy for another attack. Fuck! I knew I wouldn’t be able to easily shake off another direct hit. Especially not now that he’d recovered from the collision.
I prepared to leap away again, only to pause when the sound of several approaching vehicles broke the quiet night air. Something that seemed odd given the violence of our recent wreck, but I could only assume Alexander had muffled the sound with magic. Not wanting anyone in the vicinity to make emergency calls, most likely. That would help our case much more than his.
This wasourcity.
And I could damned sure hold out against one caster, no matter how powerful, long enough for the cavalry to arrive. Especially since I’d fucked up Alexander’s chance to get us to where hisownreinforcements were presumably waiting.
A thought that must have occurred to him as well, judging by the pissed-off look on his face. “Youreallyshouldn’t have done that, nephew.”
Shifters from the same Pack could communicate in a limited fashion using particular sounds and signals, but Alexander wasn’t a pure Shifter. And he also wasn’t part ofourPack. Part of me was tempted to shift back to human so I could talk and stall for more time. Instinct warned that wouldn’t be a good idea. I’d have a far better chance of withstanding whatever spell he was about to throw my way in wolf form than human.
