Table of Contents

+ Add to Library

Previous Next

Chapter 5

  • Every time she glanced in his direction, he was staring at her. It wasn’t odd for people to gawk at her. It had been happening her entire life. She’d gotten used to it, but still hated it. This time she wasn’t just annoyed, she was keenly aware of it and it was really starting to bother her. Setting his gun, which she noted was well maintained, aside, she picked up his wallet. His driver’s license looked legit, just like her own ID. She studied the picture, his was good. No one’s ID photos were ever good, but his was. She resented him for that. Her own looked like she’d just taken a punch to the gut when the flash blinded her. His last name surprised her. She’d expected it to be Tomas. Points to him for not using that name. She read the address and sneered at the card in her hand, “suite,” she looked over at him, “you live in some posh suite?” She scoffed.
  • He sat there for a moment, just looking at her. “It’s decent. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer.”
  • “I bet.” She dropped the card into the box and pulled out another one.
  • “Does it say that the posh suite is guarded? That I am locked in it unless I’m required by my brother?”
  • It wasn’t hard to detect the disdain in his voice at the mention of his half-sibling. “A real victim of circumstance, huh?”
  • He set the cup on the floor and stood up slowly. “I’m not a victim. The real victims are the ones that are taken.” His tone was soft, with no sign of emotion.
  • Normally she was good at picking up on others’ tells that they were hiding when their expressions were voided. He had none that she could see. “We’ll get them all.” She was done talking—or thought she was, but her mouth had other plans. “We’re onto your rat.” She wanted him to know that it was going to be over soon. Once all those innocents were brought home, those responsible would pay for all they’d done.
  • “My rat?”
  • “The spy that was leaking information to your brother.” Why was she even talking to him?
  • He stood there for the longest time and then blinked twice, “you found one rat?”
  • “Yeah.” Still, her mouth was blabbing.
  • “My father had more than one in place on the inside,” he chortled ridiculously, “seeing as I don’t plan on ever being there again,” he motioned around him like she hadn’t noticed he was in a cage, “I can also tell you that some of those victims you rescued are plants as well and will find a way to get information back to my br—Aiden.”
  • Blaise sat there staring back at him for a very long silent moment. Why was he telling her this? They could have wanted him to be taken to feed them false information. She frowned. Knowing he’d be a sacrifice in the end and wouldn’t be returning. “Do you know the names that go with your theory?”
  • He moved over to the cage and grabbed the wire and looked out between it at her. “No, I don’t have names.” He clenched his jaw for a second. “I know faces. I’ve been present for meetings and thought to be out of hearing distance while they spoke.”
  • She got up and went around the table and perched on it. “We’d know if we’d pulled out one-forms.” She’d seen those they’d gotten out. None had been in a good state.
  • He gave her an amused look, “I didn’t say they were human, or just human.”
  • “A shifter? You’re saying a shifter is working with Tomas, without him holding a family member hostage or something?” Some of those abused men were working for the man that had abused them? Why?
  • “Some taken young enough are raised differently than the others. If they don’t know of clans and your world, and believe what they’re told, why wouldn’t they work with him? We’re all told stories of how feral and uncivilized the clans are.”
  • She studied him for a moment. He held her look without faltering. It was insane, but also made perfect sense. She needed to let Kenzo know. They could be housing spies along with the captives. “Why are you telling me this?” There had to be a catch. She trusted no one, not completely.
  • He smirked, “I’m never going back. I may live in a cage for what’s left of my life, but it’s still better than the life I’ve had up until now.”
  • “Your life’s been hard? Have you seen those we’re fighting to get back? Their lives are hard.” She could only think of Emersyn as the words came out. What she’d survived made her the strongest person she’d ever known.
  • “You think I agree with it? What they’re going through? I could do nothing about it any more than I can the weather.” His tone was deeper, but his expression was still blank.
  • “I’m not saying you did it—but you were there. It’s your family.”
  • “Aiden is not my family. Having the same father does not make us family, but hey, I’m not complaining. I’m the best of both worlds. Right?”
  • His words said he was pleased to be, but the expression on his face said otherwise. What was it like to be half one thing, but not fully? She glanced at her darker hand, she was half and half. At least she could shift, that was a blessing—of sorts. If she hadn’t been able to, her life would have been something altogether different.
  • “Ballard? Is that your mother’s name?”
  • A cold look replaced the indifference on his face. “That’s my assumption.” He sneered, “dear old dad certainly didn’t want me to use his.”
  • She nodded slowly, “your mother, what clan was she from?” She tried not to think of how this man in front of her had come to be. If her mouth kept asking things like that it was going to be hard to do. She wasn’t a dreamer, but maybe there was a chance it was with consent.
  • “I have no idea. I never knew her.” His expression blanked again.
  • Had he been ripped from her arms at birth? Or maybe she didn’t make it after the birth. This was a dead-end conversation. Regardless of what he said, she knew she was going to be pissed off. Should she voice how sorry she was he hadn’t known his mother? She didn’t think she could go there. She couldn’t develop a soft spot for this man. “So, your father raised you?”
  • “If that’s what you want to call it. It was more of an education than nurturing relationship.”
  • “It’s still better than those we’ve rescued from those houses.”
  • His expression darkened. “You seem to think I had a choice—I didn’t. Okay, I did. Either do as instructed or live in a cage with a collar around my neck.” He started pacing in the small area. “Do your people think I wanted to be an errand boy? Answer my father and brother’s beck and call?”
  • She didn’t need him agitated, then she would be, which could lead to bad places. “Can you shift any part of you?”
  • “No. I’ve never tried either. I wouldn’t try. I didn’t want to be their show and tell as well.”
  • “You don’t know what clan your mother was?”
  • “No. I don’t know anything about her. I could be wildebeest for all I know.” He looked at her again, “Is there such a clan?”
  • “Not that I know of.” She fought the grin, so he wouldn’t see that picturing him as a wildebeest amused her.
  • “Look, even if I wanted to, I can’t or couldn’t.” He pointed to the table, “I’ve been taking those since I was twelve so I wouldn’t.”
  • She picked up the bottle of pills, “these stop you from shifting?”
  • He nodded and then glanced at his hands and jammed them into the pockets of his creased pants.
  • She examined the bottle closely, then opened it and inhaled. The pills were tinged with a chemical smell. “Do you know what they are?”
  • “Oh sure,” he scoffed, “I analyzed them in my lab the first chance I had.” He gave her a hard look, “I have no idea what they are.” He was back at the wire looking at her through it, holding her gaze, “look when I was sent alone, which has never happened before—to pick up the Alpha female, I was supposed to kill Darrel,” he shrugged, “which I had no problem doing, he deserved it. He was a lowlife that made a living abducting people.” He huffed out a breath, “they already knew that your people found the campsite where she had been held.” He paused and took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, “I was going to kill him and free the woman and then use the money to disappear.” He snarled and tapped the back of his neck, “I had no idea I had a tracker in me.” Pushing away from the cage, he went over to the window. “I wouldn’t have made it very far.”