“Brennnt.”
Jack shuffled his feet, looking over his shoulder at Kalin. Waiting for the attack command.
Kalin needed to call Erik with the update. The breeze picked up, carrying the scent of wet dog, rain, and ... shifter. “You been in a fight, Brent?”
“Yesss. Wanted Kaattieee. Vampires got in way.” Brent surveyed Jack head to toe. With a shrug of indifference, he turned back to Kalin. “Kaattieee mine. Not Jordan’s. Jordan bad. Katie miiiine.”
Milton jumped out of the building to the side, and Kalin motioned him to stay still. No need to spook the beast. “Are you talking about Jordan Pride?” Wasn’t the infected lioness named Katie? His sources claimed she was Pride’s mate. “Pride has been infected by the virus.” While Kalin hadn’t been there at the time, he’d read the reports. The leader of the lions would soon turn into a hairy beast.
“Yes. Jordan baaaaad.” Brent howled, the sound full of pain and anger. “Killed me. Killed my brother. Needs tooooo die.”
Kalin clucked his tongue. “Well, we are hitting Realm Headquarters tomorrow. The moon is full soon, you know.” They had over a hundred miles to travel in preparation, and he needed the werewolves steady. He tightened his hold on the deadly prod. “But we’re only taking the best. You’re injured.” Tilting his head, he gave Jack a nod.
With a yowl from hell, Jack sprang.
Brent pivoted, much too quickly for an animal, and shot a sidekick into Jack’s gut. An actual sidekick.
Kalin frowned. The implications of the beast’s development were staggering.
Two more animals rushed Brent, and he clapped their heads together. The sound of melons bursting echoed through the rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance, matching the roar from the monster.
Jack scrambled off the ground, fury turning his eyes red.
Just as he bunched to lunge, Kalin let out a short whistle. All eyes turned to him. “Enough.” Jerking his head toward Brent, he let his fangs drop. “You’ll do. There’s meat coming for you—get your strength back. I have plans for you, friend.”
The werewolf shook rain off his fur. “I’ll helllpp. But Jordaaaan mine.”
“Fair enough.” Kalin nodded for Milton to fetch the raw meat. “Talen Kayrs is mine.”
His second returned with many Kurjans pushing wheelbarrows of raw meat and blood toward the beasts. Jack grabbed his own and wheeled over to a tree, turning his back on Brent. Kalin fought the urge to roll his eyes. The werewolf was put out.
Wiping rain off his brow, Kalin stalked toward the windowless building where he and the other Kurjans laid low during the day. Quick movements had him inside and down a flight of stairs to his private quarters. A panic room of all panic rooms, no sunlight could get in. Even if fire consumed the first floor, he had a way out.
Locking his door, he stretched his neck and wrung out his black/red hair. He’d dyed the mass all black as a kid, thinking he’d look human. Turned out he didn’t want to look human.
Shrugging off his jacket, he dropped to the bunk. The cheap springs protested. Besides the bed, a dingy night table and coat rack adorned the room. Dirt covered the floor, and Sheetrock made up the walls. Well, except for the one area where he could escape if necessary.
After he took out Realm Headquarters, he was heading for luxury. Somewhere he could hunt for days on end—maybe a female shifter or two. Or a witch. He’d love to find a good female witch to hunt and destroy. Now that’d be a worthwhile game. He’d never fucked a witch. Or a demon. Female demons were almost impossible to find considering they were so few and far between. Man, finding and battling one would be a good time.
With a sigh, he reached under the mattress to drag out a battered sketch pad and flip over the cover.
“Hello, Janie.” Sketch after sketch of the intriguing female flipped by as he ran through the pages. Janie as a little girl who had let him into her dreams. Janie as a woman—beautiful with such intuition in her blue eyes. He might not have her psychic powers, but the future sometimes granted him a glimpse.
He paused at a page where he’d drawn her as a teenager. Probably what she looked like that very day. Running a finger down her pert nose, he frowned.
The girl was likely at headquarters. Oddly enough, he had no interest in meeting her. Yet.
Kurjan oracles had declared Janet Kayrs the key to the future—the key to the future for them all. If she was at headquarters, he’d have to kidnap her. The question of where to put her had kept him awake for several nights. He wanted nothing to do with a teenaged human girl.
They were destined, and when the time was right, when she reached adulthood and could fight him, then he’d take her.
The idea that he’d have to protect her until then provided an irony that had him clenching his teeth together. As prophesied, she’d be in danger, even from his people, until he made his claim. Something he had no intention of doing until she could provide some challenge. Once she became a woman, she’d have impressive strength and make the battle worth his time.
As a child, she’d tried to be his friend. Even worse, she’d tempted him to be something he wasn’t. To be decent. Some days, when his shoulders slumped, when his gut ached from training, when exhaustion made him sway on his feet, he could almost see the road he hadn’t taken. Almost wish. For that, she would one day pay.
Dearly.
Chapter 18
Katie jumped into Baye’s arms for a huge, feline hug. Seconds later, Lance engulfed her in a quick hug before handing her over to Noah and Mac. Family. They’d arrived to help protect headquarters while the Kayrs brothers had gone after one of their own. She’d rushed out to meet them, squiring them to the room where she, Maggie, and Janie had played pool.
But maybe that had been a mistake. Every time she looked at a pool table, she thought of Jase. She and the vampire had often played billiards when in the same town. Fear and anger swirled down deep in her stomach. Jase Kayrs was a friend, and she’d do anything to get him back. “Let’s kick the crap out of this virus, and then we’ll go hunting Jase.”
Baye nodded. “Ah, we researched your dating history. No more victims than the three men we talked about.”
Thank God. Though she’d always feel guilt about those three. “Thanks for researching them. I can’t believe Brent and his brother actually killed those poor men.”
“I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t help Jordan end David.” Baye tugged her hair. “Right now we need to meet with Jordan about Noah’s, I mean ...”
Noah frowned, fighting a snarl. He stood taller than his brothers, a century older, and tougher than anybody Katie had ever met. But the shifter had taught her to dance when she was ten, and she had a soft spot for the enforcer. His hair was cool and multicolored, his eyes an odd green. It was a wonder some female hadn’t chained him yet.
Katie gave him another hug. She knew, without a doubt, Noah only agreed to lead out of a sense of duty. The powerful lion thrived on the front lines. “I’ll show Lance around.” The tiger belonged to a different clan, and internal mountain lion matters didn’t interest or concern him.
Plus, she didn’t want to talk about Jordan moving on.
The brothers took off, leaving her in the playroom with Lance.
He rolled his shoulders. “Let’s go outside. Being this close to the ocean makes me twitchy, but I’d like to hear the waves after riding in a plane all day.”
She nodded, showing him through the main lodge to the quiet courtyard. Lifting her head, she tuned in her senses. No predators existed nearby. Well, no predators that weren’t allies, anyway.