In Too Deep (24 page)

He gave Brody full eye contact. “Talk to me. What is it? What’s happening?”

“
She’s hurt bad,” he cried, closing his eyes to get a sense of where they were going, and jerking in her direction while shoving Slater back.

“
Calm down, Brody,” Slater told him calmly. Brody had to obey and the command pissed him off, especially when Slater ordered, “You’re staying here until we can figure out what the fuck is going on.”

He heard a sizzle, and all of his hair stood on end
as if he had an extreme case of static electricity. Then he felt the burst of magic explode. He wanted to run, to catch them, but then he sensed the air, and the night sky. The smell of smoke nearly suffocated him but nothing was on fire. He could feel Fallon, but she was fuzzy, suffering and barely conscious.

At least she was moving away from the danger, but he didn’t feel any better. He needed to run to her
, and he sensed she was heading home. Why didn’t she come to him? Why wouldn’t she come here?

Jess tore into the driveway, and parked right in front of the porch. Jess and Jamie both hopped out. Jess rushed up the steps.

“Why didn’t she call?” Brody whispered in horror.

Jess sighed.
“She wanted to surprise you. I didn’t see anything until after she left.”

He just nodded.
“I need to find her.”

Jess squeezed his hand.
“She’s flying. I think she’s going home.”

“
We should go. Now!”

“
You’re staying here until we know for sure. Don’t argue.” Slater used his alpha magic again, and Brody was real tempted to deck him.

Slater was already calling someone else.

“Evening, Slater.” Robert said on the other end.

“
Someone took Fallon. Jess says she’s flying. Brody says she’s hurt. Get your tracker out here now and find the sons of bitches, because my wolf is about to lose his shit.”

“
We’re on our way.” He hung up.

“
You hear that Brody? The mages have this. You’re going to chill, and as soon as we know something, we’ll go to her.”

Brody was incapable of words. He just clenched his jaw so hard it cracked. He should be out there, looking for her. He could still feel her. She was going toward their place.

Slater was already on the phone with Hayden, relaying the same information.

His vision grayed out and the world seemed to spin as a new wave of phantom pain spread through his hip, down his leg and up his side. He heard the ring and nearly dropped his phone as he scrambled to answer it.
“Fallon, where are you?” He hated knowing there was nothing he could do to help her.

“
Your… our house. Balcony. Shifting, going to stay put.” The phone went dead and he broke free of Slater, and ran for his truck.

“
You’re not driving, you’re too on edge.” Slater tore the keys from his hand before he could get the door open.

Brody didn’t argue, he didn’t think he could drive this freaked out. He jumped into the bed of the truck
. Slater fired up the engine and took off as soon as the twins were in.

They arrived at his house in record time, and before Slater pulled to a stop Brody jumped out at a dead run. He sprinted around his house and climbed up to the balcony. He didn’t see her but he caught her scent.

It was mingled with bird, cat and a tiger?
What the fuck?
He turned slowly, taking a closer look. Beneath one of the two chairs he found a calico cat curled up. She was unconscious and her back leg lay totally wrong. He moved the chair out of the way and dropped to his knees.

With a gentle to
uch, he stroked behind her ears. “Fallon, is that you, baby?” he said softly. “I’m here.”

Had to be her because she opened the greenest eyes he’d ever seen and let out a pained mewl.

The bedroom door opened and Jess stepped onto the balcony with Jamie on her heels. Slater followed right behind.

“
Shit,” Jamie whispered.

“
Got to switch back, sugar” He ran his fingers along her jaw. “Got to see how badly you’re hurt.”

She did, and he was surprised to find her fully clothed, but he was more concerned that her leg was clearly not in the socket. Her hand wrapped around the back of his neck and she tried to pull herself into his lap with a sound caught between a whimper and a cry.

“Stop. Baby, stop. I don’t want to hurt you.” He moved so he could curl around her. He wanted to hold her still but offer comfort at the same time.

Fallon was pale, sweating, covered in blood and trembling uncontrollably. Brody looked
back down at her leg and wanted to do something, but he was afraid to touch it.

“
Just dislocated.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Hurts, but it could be worse.” She took a few shallow breaths and laid her head against his chest. “I had to fly to keep off it, and so they couldn’t track my scent.”

“
Shh, shh.” He gave Slater a desperate look, but Slater was on the phone again.

“
Jess, Jamie,” Fallon moaned. “You know how to fix this. Please, just put it back.”

“
Lay her down on her back,” Jamie told Brody, and he shook his head. She gave him a tense smile. “Fallon will feel better afterward. She’ll still be sore, but better than this. You’re going to have to hold her shoulders down. Jess and I can deal with her hip.”

It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he did as they said. He lay Fallon back and sat behind her so her head was cradled in his lap, and then took her shoulders in a firm bu
t careful grip. Jamie straddled Fallon’s stomach and placed her hands on her hips. Fallon cried out as her body shifted.

Jess put one hand on Fallon’s hip and the other on the leg and shoved the joint into place. There was a loud wet crack.

Fallon screamed until she passed out a few seconds later. That sound would give him nightmares for a long time.

The twins moved away. Brody
pulled Fallon into his lap as gently as he could, and searched her body with tender hands. Her wrists were red and bruising. The blood wasn’t hers, but there was an awful lot of it. He hoped to God she killed whoever did this to her or he would take them apart himself.

Slater’s phone rang.
“Got some news?”

“
Yeah, found a burning van. Isaac and a vampire were in there.” Robert hastily explained. “The vampire is ash now, but we can’t find Isaac. His blood is everywhere. Fallon must have cut him open. We’re following the trail.”

“
Keep looking, I think Brody wants a piece of that bastard.”

“
Let me talk to him,” the mage said. Brody took the phone as Slater held it out. “I didn’t find any of her blood, but she nearly blew the van apart. Isaac’s in bad shape. He couldn’t have gone far.”

“
Good,” he growled into the phone.

“
How bad is she? I know she has to be hurting. She only blows things up when she loses control. That only happens when things get really bad and she loses her temper.”

“
The bastard dislocated her hip. Says she flew back here. She stayed on the balcony because she was having a hard time getting up.” Brody took a deep, shaky breath. “I’m going to kill him,” he vowed.

“
Oh, I don’t doubt that for a second. Should I send a healer her way?”

Brody looked up at Slater.

Slater shook his head. “Clint is already on his way to get Dakota. Simons is staying with Jolene and Jacob just in case. We’re getting the right people covered.”

Brody relayed the information. Robert said,
“Okay, I’ll call you if we can figure out where Isaac went.”

* * * *

Hayden was on the way to the scene of the crime. Slater called to fill him in on what he knew, which wasn’t enough. Someone took Fallon, most likely the Dales but there was no other information.

The mages were going to be there shortly. Hayden had met Robert years before, and he was a good guy. Preston was a wild card, and
had a reputation for being a playboy and a smartass.

His phone rang. He gritted his teeth as he looked at the caller ID. Dacia. Perfect.
He didn’t have time for her shit, but he hit send, and growled into the phone, “What do you want?”

“
Not coming into the bar?” Her high voice grated his last nerve.

“
I have real work to do. You’re off the hook for now.” He hung up and hoped she’d leave him alone. After her little strip tease, he wasn’t sure what was going through that woman’s head. Even when she wasn’t trying to get at Brody, she was acting cagey. Something was up.

First, there was the report of something flying out of her yard a few nights back, before she tried to pick a fight
with Fallon. Then he saw something that matched the description fly out of the parking lot when Malachi paid Fallon a visit. Just yesterday, she made an attempt on Fallon’s life.

Hayden had to wonder if she was working with the Dales.

There was just one flaw to that theory. Malachi was supposed to want Fallon to work for him, which meant she had to be alive. Fallon’s reasoning for letting Dacia walk made sense. He’d still rather have her locked up until the situation was resolved, but he couldn’t keep his eyes on her 24/7.

He pulled up behind a brand new Maserati of all things and rolled down his window as the mages climbed out. Hayden called,
“May as well climb in. We can ride together.”

Preston climbed into the front, Robert into the back.

“Drive. I think they took the first left.” Preston pointed the direction, “I feel them over there. Not far.”

That was a joke. Right?
“Feel them?”

“
Yeah, I have a read on their energy, which is a lot more accurate than going by smell and whatever else wereanimals use to track.” Preston pointed again.

Fine, he’d play this
the mage’s way. For now. “Do you know who attempted to take her?”

“
Yeah. A weretiger named Isaac Monroe, and a vampire I’ve never encountered. The vamp was weak, maybe a year dead. I feel a trace of dark mages, but they’ve scrubbed the trail from there.”

Hayden shot Preston a look.
“And how do you know this?”

“
I’ve known Isaac for years, I know his signature. He was out here, they were pulled over by where we parked. I’m not making this shit up.”

Robert sighed.
“Look, I know my partner can be a prick. But he is trying to help. Can you give him a break? He’s the best tracker we have.”

“
Right. Of course.” Hayden muttered.

“
There, look.” A van had plowed into a tree and was on fire. There was also a trail of blood leading into the woods.

Hayden parked far enough away that if the van blew, his SUV would be untouched.
However, it looked like it had already blown apart. What was left of the side of the van was curled outward and smoldering. He climbed out and jogged to where the blood started and followed the gore into the woods.

Robert headed to the van, and Preston passed Hayden as he ran into the forest, following the bloody mess the weretiger left behind. They ran nearly a mile through the woods to the next road
where it ended in a puddle of blood. It looked like Isaac’s legs gave out and he had tried to crawl away while his entrails dragged behind. There were hand prints in front like he tried to pull himself further. Then there was nothing.

“
Shit.” Preston kicked at the road, and balled his hands into fists.

Brody had to be going through hell right now. H
ayden wanted to serve Isaac up on a platter and let Brody have at him.

He
closed his eyes and turned around slowly. He could only find the sharp scent of pain and coppery smell of blood, but no cloying sweetness of death.

Robert caught up, and stopped dead beside him.
“Preston. Please, tell me she killed Isaac.”

“
I’m sorry, I can’t. He was alive when they took him. Not sure if he can survive much longer though. The dark mages covered his tracks. I have no clue where they went. Fuck, I hate this.” Preston scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fallon’s energy streaked up into the sky from the van. That must mean she’s all right.”

“
She shifted into a bird?” Hayden asked.

Robert nodded.
“She can, and she’s resourceful. I’m sure she’s the one who blew the van open. She probably went home. I’ll just let Slater know what’s up.”

That was a relief. He didn’t know if Brody could handle losing a mate, not after Sarah.
He wanted to get to the bottom of this. “I’m going to take a closer look. There has to be some sort of clue we can follow.”

Preston rolled his eyes.
“You’re not going to find anything concrete. These mages know what they’re doing and how to block anyone from finding them. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with the bastards.” Preston started back the way they came. “Good luck.”