White Knight (16 page)

“That baby never should have been born.”

Brynn gasped, her hands flying to her flat belly.

“Who are you to make that decision?” Bishop asked, struggling to keep his tone even rather than accusing.

“Mixing and diluting Magi blood is too dangerous. The children are too unpredictable. Why do you think we used loup and vampire DNA for the triplets? There’s no telling what that baby will grow up with the ability to do.”

“No, there isn’t, because the baby died yesterday.”

Atwood looked so relieved that Bishop nearly punched him in his pointy nose.

“That baby was my niece,” Brynn snapped. “She never had a chance, because you made sure she died. You gave the hybrids tainted formula. They trusted you.”

“Their first mistake,” Atwood said. “My only purpose in keeping peace between us was to prevent them from attacking the Magi. Putting their attention on the loup garou was the best way to ensure that.”

“Only they hate you and the Magi as much as they hate us,” Bishop said.

“Did Desiree tell Shay that, too?”

“No, Fiona did. In her journal.”

“What journal?”

“The journal she stole from one of your scientists. The journal that details the things done to their mother, how the Magi really felt about the woman you used and then murdered. She believed the Magi were beneath her just like the loup, and so do her sisters. The two left alive, anyway.”

Atwood frowned. “Two?”

“Victoria was killed over a month ago.”

For an instant, he seemed stricken—as though the news actually upset him. The moment passed, and his expression went cold again. “So Desiree and Allison are still at large.”

“Correct. We managed to get Shay back from them. We also rescued the baby hours before she died anyway, as well as Leopold Butler.”

“Good luck with that responsibility. The boy was useless but we kept him alive to appease Chelsea.”

Bishop suppressed a growl, his disgust with the man growing with every minute spent in his presence. Atwood truly had no regard for lives that were not Magi.

“What else did Fiona’s journal tell you?” Atwood asked.

“She outlined her master plan to create a hybrid race that would be able to rid the world of all loup and Magi, and maybe the vampires, too, if they became a problem.”

“A master race?” Atwood scoffed. “How? Kidnapping scientists of her own?”

“No, by kidnapping my brother.”

He glanced at Brynn. “I don’t understand.”

“My other brother. White Wolves are the only loup who can breed with species other than humans. Fiona wanted him to impregnate the triplets.”

Atwood’s lip curled back in disgust.

“Fiona figured she and her sisters could put on a good show for you with one hand while attacking us with the other. Now that her master race plan has been shot all to hell and Fiona is dead, Allison and Desiree just want revenge.”

“Against you?”

“Against all of us.” Talking to the Magus was exhausting and infuriating.

“And the journal mentioned nothing else?”

Bishop was beginning to think Atwood had a specific piece of information in mind, and the evasion irked him. He knew something he wasn’t sharing with the rest of the class. “Such as?”

“Anything else that might be useful to our cause?”

“Ask me what you want to know, Mr. Atwood. I’m not a mind reader.”

Atwood paused, then shook his head. “Nothing.”

It was something. “Bottom line is the two hybrids are pissed at us, and they’re pissed at you. The only reason we’re here is because of that common ground.”

“You’re right about that, Alpha.”

“So how do we draw them out and kill them?”

“I have no definitive plans as of yet. However, I suspect that word of both of their enemies being together in one place may cause a reaction.”

Bishop tensed, unable to stop himself from glancing at their surroundings—something Devlin had been doing since they arrived.

“I don’t mean here,” Atwood said with a trademark sneer. “I told no one of this meeting. The other Magi would laugh me off the Congress if they knew I was here with you.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“I can’t keep speaking to you on the phone and risking detection.”

“Well, I’m not bunking over at your house.”

“Please. My request is to be allowed into your sanctuary town for a brief period of time, so we can strategize and perhaps provide a better target for the girls.”

It was Bishop’s turn to sneer. “You think I’d allow you into my town, when you’re the reason we’ve been attacked over and over? Do you really think I’m such a fool?”

“A foolish man would deny this request out of arrogance or hatred.”

“And a wise man would do what? Allow an elemental Magus into his home, around his people, when he could incinerate us all with his magic?”

Atwood seemed to fight against whatever he really wanted to say. “Alpha, I give you my word on my daughter’s life that I will only act against your people if I am first so attacked. And then only in defense of myself.”

“You aren’t just making that promise on your daughter’s life.” Bishop hadn’t meant to let that cat out of the bag, but it was too late. And he had to be sure Atwood wasn’t lying.

“Explain yourself.”

Brynn took a step forward, her chin trembling. “He means you’ll be swearing on my life, and on the life of your grandchild.”

Atwood’s slim eyebrows raised toward his hairline.

“I’m pregnant,” she said. “Rook and I will be parents.”

He stared at his child, seemingly caught between instinctive disgust that she’d been with a loup, and a father’s pride in seeing his line carried on. Knowing Brynn was part-loup, he had likely never entertained ideas of her having children. And now she was. He’d admitted to being party to the death of Fiona’s child—his first grandchild—and that baby was only a quarter loup.

What would he think of a grandchild that was three-quarters loup, raised in a sanctuary town with a loup father?

Cars whizzed by on the highway, the only sound during their long standoff while Atwood digested the news.

“I don’t know what to say,” was his final declaration.

“How about starting with ‘I won’t poison this kid’?” Devlin snapped.

Despite the sarcasm in Devlin’s tone, Atwood took him seriously. “I won’t. I swear it. I do not wish to cause Brynn any more pain. I’m simply stunned.”

“We were a little stunned, too,” Brynn said. “We all assumed that because human-loup half-breeds are sterile that I would be, too. And I’m not.”

“But there is risk to the pregnancy,” Bishop said. “Fiona’s journal described how her labor nearly killed her. Gestation times for loup and Magi are different. Our doctor is taking very good care of her.”

“By allowing her to come out on these kinds of trips?” Atwood said. “She should be at home resting, not traipsing across the state.”

“I wanted to come.” Brynn stepped closer to her father, nearly within touching distance. “I wanted to see you, and I wanted to tell you this in person. I need you to know that this is what I want. A family with Rook.”

Atwood smiled fondly at his daughter. “I believe you. Now I understand why you are so happy. You don’t have to hide who you are when you’re with the loup. That’s a valuable thing for anyone.”

“You’re right. I’m no longer an embarrassment. I’m Rook’s wife. I’m Shay’s sister. I’m about to be a mother. And in a way I suppose that’s thanks to you.”

“In what way?”

“My vision of you. It hasn’t changed, but I never would have gone looking for Rook if I hadn’t seen you dying.”

“When you first told me about it, I vowed never to leave the city. But if saving our people, if saving the Magi from the hybrids I helped create is what my life is now for, then so be it.”

Bishop blinked hard, stunned by the fierce statements. Atwood would sacrifice himself to save his people. The same way Bishop or Rook or any of the other loup would do the same for their run. The man was a cold-blooded killer, but he was loyal. Loyalty was something that Bishop could respect.

He didn’t want Atwood anywhere near his town or his family, but the Magus was offering him an invaluable chance to observe the man. And to potentially gather more damning evidence against him. Devlin had been recording the entire conversation with his phone, so they had Atwood on record saying “the hybrids I helped create.” All they needed was proof Atwood kidnapped or forcefully removed Chelsea Butler from her run, and then he’d be at the mercy of the other Alphas. The Congress couldn’t possibly turn down their demand for justice.

Chelsea deserved justice. So did Shay, Leopold, and Brynn.

When all was said and done, Atwood could rot.

“I see you wear my gift,” Atwood said. He pointed at the necklace around Brynn’s neck—a medallion sent to her by her father weeks ago, said to glow when the hybrids were near. As far as Bishop knew, she hadn’t taken it off since its arrival.

“I do,” Brynn said. “I trust it will do what you said.”

“It will.” He reached beneath his shirt collar and produced an identical necklace. “I wear one as well now. It seemed prudent.”

The man wasn’t stupid, Bishop would concede that. But Bishop was no one’s fool, either. “If you wish to come to Cornerstone, then I have one demand,” Bishop said.

“I’ve already sworn not to hurt anyone.”

“Not that. What information did you expect to find in Fiona’s journal? Does it have something to do with the scent of sage we noticed at their hideout?”

Atwood’s surprise would have been comical if the situation wasn’t so serious. He waffled, probably not wishing to give up whatever ace he’d kept up his sleeve.

“Mr. Atwood, I need full transparency if this is going to work.”

“Yes, I suppose it is about that scent. You loup and your noses.”

“Is someone else working with Desiree and Allison?”

“Yes.”

Bishop’s pulse jumped. “Who?”

“His name is Paul Melina. He’s a full-blood loup.”

“Shit,” Devlin said. He stared at Bishop with wide-eyed shock, the name obviously meaning something. “That’s the kid Colin told you about. Tanner and I talked about it once a few weeks ago, and he told me the kid’s name. The one who lost his tail.”

All of the tumblers fell into place for Bishop. Alpha Corman of Rockpoint and the teenage loup he’d sentenced to lose his tail for falling in love with a human woman. Disfigured and depressed, the boy had disappeared into a river one day, according to the stories. “How?” Bishop asked.

“Fiona gave me a few details that day we met in Philadelphia.” The day Fiona bartered with Atwood for Brynn’s continued safety. “She was quite proud to have a loup garou man working to destroy his own people. She said a pack of feral loup and half-breeds found him and took him in. They traveled east, and they were one of the first small groups that Fiona and the triplets attacked. For whatever reason, they toyed with Paul instead of killing him outright.”

Probably because of the missing tail. It would have left his skin form with a pronounced limp and physical scarring on his lower back.

“Paul managed to tell his story and proclaim his hatred of all run loup. He agreed to help them in their mission to see all loup destroyed. He assisted in convincing other pockets of ferals and half-breeds to fight on the hybrids’ behalf.”

Horror and rage curled tightly in Bishop’s chest. A former run loup was responsible for leading the attacks against Springwell and Skydale. A run loup so full of hatred toward his people, thanks to a grim and serious Alpha’s archaic method of punishment, that he wanted them all dead. In some ways, Corman’s cruelty had contributed to his own son’s death at the hybrids’ hands.

“Thank you,” Bishop said. “That information is incredibly useful.”

Atwood tilted his head. “I hope I’ve proven my desire to work with you, rather than against you.”

He was going to take a lot of shit for this decision but he had to make it. This might be the choice that ended the siege.

What would Thomas McQueen do?

He would make the decision that had the potential to save as many lives as possible. Even if no one else understood him. “You have,” Bishop said. “Two conditions.”

“I’ve already sworn against violence on my daughter and grandchild, as well as given you all information I possess. What else do you require of me?”

“Different conditions. First, we pat you down for weapons, phones, or any other kind of electronic devices, and those go back into your car.”

“Fine. The other condition?”

“Your car stays here. You’re riding with us.”

Atwood scowled, but he didn’t protest.

Devlin had way too much fun being unnecessarily rough while patting the guy down.

Rook is going to shit himself when he sees who I brought home to dinner.

Thundering footsteps startled Knight awake. He jerked to all four feet, already growling at the perceived threat. The ground beneath him was soft, and someone squirmed by his legs. His mate. On a bed.

He’d fallen asleep with Shay.

“I need everyone in the library in five minutes,” Rook said, his voice booming through the closed bedroom door.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“Bishop met with Atwood a little while ago and we have information. Five minutes.”

Rook’s footsteps moved away.

Knight leapt off the bed and shook, stretching muscles that had cramped during sleep. As much as he loved the safety and strength of this form, he had to shift back so he could communicate. He had to be vulnerable again. Less able to protect himself.

She touched his head, and he pressed into her palm. He loved her touches. “I know it’s scary, but you have to come back to me, love. Can you do that?”

He’d do anything for her.

The shift back to skin hurt, as it always did. His ribs twinged more than usual, and he remembered why once his torso had reset itself. Dell. Gun. Luke. He needed news. He groaned as his tail retracted and his spine changed. Pop. Snap. Pain. Fur disappeared, replaced by skin. Naked skin.

A blanket settled over him before he’d finished the shift. His jaw popped into place, and then it was over. He rolled his shoulders, then pulled the blanket up around himself. He wasn’t ashamed of his body, but he didn’t like being that vulnerable anymore. Shay had been so wonderful and patient about the requests he couldn’t verbalize. She understood him and that was invaluable.

“I’ll let you get dressed,” she said. “See you downstairs.”

He wanted her to stay but she left before he could ask. He dressed slowly, disliking the bloody jeans but at least the spot had dried. He only needed them for the brief walk to his room. He changed into clean clothes before descending the stairs to a packed library.

Rook, Jillian, Shay, A.J., Mason, Jonas, Tanner, Rachel, Agnes, Jeremiah, and half a dozen other enforcers were crammed into the library. Some sat, most stood. Everyone was apprehensive. Knight reached out and did a general calming of the crowd, uneasy himself about the purpose of the meeting. Rook appeared confused while Jillian looked downright pissed.

Knight slipped over to stand by Shay, who’d taken up his favorite window spot by the wall. Darkness was settling in outside. They’d slept for longer than he thought.

“Everyone in this room is here because we trust your loyalty and your discretion,” Jillian said in her fierce Alpha female voice. “And I am asking for your complete cooperation in the matter at hand. Understood?”

A round of head-nods did nothing to quell her anger.

“Today, our Alpha met with a Prime Magus named Archimedes Atwood,” Rook said. “He’s one of the Magi responsible for creating the hybrids we’ve been fighting these last few months. He’s lost control of them, and he’s asked for our cooperation in destroying them. After a face-to-face discussion, Alpha McQueen has agreed to work with Atwood, as we have a common enemy.”

Knight kept his surprise off his face. The meeting had happened already? No one had told him. Granted, he’d fallen asleep but someone could have woken them up. Shay looked as taken aback as everyone else.

“Alpha McQueen trusts the Magus’s intentions?” Jonas asked.

“He does,” Jillian replied. “The hybrids hate the Magi as much as they hate loup. Atwood seems sincere in his desire to stop the hybrids before they set their sights on destroying the Magi. I trust our Alpha’s judgment in this matter.”

A round of agreements rippled across the room.

“The reason we invited you all specifically is because we needed to drop this particular bomb slowly. Atwood is coming to Cornerstone.”

Ice skittered down Knight’s spine. The idea of a Magus so powerful in their town terrified him on a very basic level. Atwood could wait until the hybrids attacked again, and then burn them to the ground in minutes. All of his problems taken care of in one fell swoop. He’d probably even be able to defend his actions to the other run Alphas and—

“I’ve already informed the other Alphas,” Jillian continued, as if reading his thoughts. “They know what is going on, so that if a single floorboard gets singed, Atwood will be to blame. We have a recording of Atwood admitting to his part in creating the hybrids, and the file has already been sent to Alpha Weatherly. Atwood’s own people don’t know what he’s doing so he’ll have no support from the Congress.”

“For how long?” Knight asked. Once word spread, anxiety across the board was going to skyrocket.

“As long as it takes to get the hybrids out in the open and then in the ground,” Rook said. “Endgame for all of us is them dead and peace restored.”

“And then Atwood the hell out of our town,” Jillian added.

And our lives.

True peace seemed like such a distant, foreign concept. Something Knight vaguely remembered, and yet couldn’t put his finger on. Life would never be as easy as it was before all of this began. The darkness was still there, and it might never go away.

He pressed his shoulder to Shay’s, needing the simple contact with his mate.

“We need two volunteers to be Atwood’s personal security while he’s here,” Rook said. “He’s never to be left completely alone.”

Several hands went up around the room.

“Jeremiah and A.J.,” Jillian said. Two of their best and most loyal enforcers.

The pair shared a look—not quite declaring war on the incoming Magus, but it left no doubt in Knight’s mind that Atwood would be under careful, constant supervision.

She scanned the room, meeting everyone’s gaze who offered. “I know this is an unusual move, and it comes with potential dangers. But we need your support and your help in keeping gossip to a minimum. Any second-guessing of the Alpha’s decision will be
dealt with.
”

No one needed clarification. Jillian wasn’t asking for them to quell rumors and to be positive about their new guest. She was telling them.

The meeting was dismissed.

Knight didn’t move, and Shay remained by his side. Jillian and Rook stayed behind as the rest of the room emptied. The last person out shut the library door behind him.

“Is Bishop out of his mind?” Knight asked before he could censor himself.

“Maybe,” Jillian replied, “but I understand his decision. The hybrids hate the Magi as much as they hate us. If Atwood has anything useful to add toward killing them, he’s an asset. He’s sworn not to use his magic unless he is attacked and forced to protect himself, which is why I want him guarded. As much for our protection as his.”

“So he thinks having Atwood here will . . . what? Make the hybrids go nuts and attack?”

“It’s a possibility. More than that, Bishop wants evidence. He wants to somehow acquire proof that the Magi stole Chelsea Butler from Stonehill, so that Atwood can be brought to justice and the Magi held accountable.”

Shay made a soft, rough noise. Without thinking, he took her hand and squeezed tight.

“It’s a huge risk,” Knight said.

“Yes it is. Let me ask you, then. If your father was in Bishop’s place, what would his decision have been?”

Thomas McQueen took calculated risks, but he always acted in the best interest of the run as a whole. He would take an acceptable risk if it meant the town’s safety. “He’d do the same thing Bishop is doing.”

Rook nodded, silently agreeing.

“It’s risky, but it’s a good call,” Shay said.

Jillian gave her a mildly startled look, like she’d forgotten Shay knew a thing or six about security and keeping the run safe. “None of us want Atwood here. We’ll do whatever we can to make his stay brief.”

“How long until they arrive?”

“About thirty minutes. Mrs. Troost is readying the room on the third floor.”

The last empty room in the house, now that Leopold was there.

Jillian held Knight’s gaze. “I’m sorry for the extra burden his presence will place on you.”

Knight shrugged with more nonchalance than he felt. He and Agnes were both strained by current events, but this presented a chance to end everything once and for all. He’d do his part. “This is what has to be done.”

Rook and Jillian left the library, subtly closing the door behind them, giving Knight and Shay privacy. She fell easily into his arms, a warmth he needed to feel as much as he needed air to breathe. He couldn’t explain it. He didn’t want to explain it. He only wanted her. He inhaled deeply, filling his senses with her scent, delighting in her.

Her anxiety bled through, and he whisked some of it away. “What’s troubling you, love?” he asked.

“Having Atwood so close makes me nervous. He allowed horrible things to be done to my mother, Knight. Disgusting, brutal things. I don’t know how I’ll look at him without wanting to kill him.”

“You’re allowed to want to kill him. I’d only advise you acting against the impulse.”

She laughed, a gentle sound that stirred something deep inside of him. “I’m sure I won’t be the only one with that urge.”

“No, you won’t. No one wants him here.”

“Except perhaps Brynn?”

“Brynn is likely excited by the chance to see her father again. He was her sole family for most of her life, and there is a bond there. But she also knows what he’s done and what he’s capable of doing.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I can’t imagine discovering something so horrible about my father.”

“Me either.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’d like to go visit Luke. I’m sure Tanner would have mentioned a change if there’d been one, but I owe him that much.”

“Would you like company?”

His heart thrilled, and he squeezed her hand. “I’d love it.”

They walked hand in hand, and Knight felt no shame or embarrassment in it. He wanted to shout to the world that this woman was his, but he hadn’t claimed her yet. He hadn’t admitted his feelings or asked her to be his and no one else’s. Rook was making a phone call on the front porch, and he flashed Knight a smile as they passed. Then he winked.

Tanner was in the waiting room at Dr. Mike’s when they arrived. “Rachel is checking Luke’s wound and dressing,” he said. “I was asked to stay here.”

“How is he?” Shay asked.

“Holding strong.” He glanced at their hands, but made no comment. “He’s a Westfeld. We’re a tough line, hard to take out with just one bullet.”

“My thoughts are with him. He did a brave thing.”

“He did what he stayed to do.”

“And for that he’ll always be an honored guest in our home.”

Knight wasn’t sure if she was speaking for the McQueen home or their future home, but he nodded his agreement. “You both will.”

“If we all live through this,” Tanner said. His tone was matter-of-fact, rather than glum. He knew the challenges they still faced.

Gentle footfalls descended the stairs to the right of the waiting room. Rachel appeared with a small basin in her hands, smiling respectfully for everyone in the room. She was half-human and despite her marriage to Devlin, had a difficult time looking many of the Black Wolves in the eye. “He’s still resting,” she said to Tanner’s chin. “But you can sit with him now.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Tanner said.

“How are you feeling, Shay?”

“Almost back to my old self,” Shay replied. “A few more of Mrs. Troost’s excellent meals, and I’ll be one hundred percent again.” She shivered, hinting at a half-truth.

“You’ll tell us if you feel any dizziness or weakness.” Not a question.

“Of course.”

They followed Tanner upstairs to the second room. The same room Shay had lain in for days, semiconscious, while her body healed and her mind tried to hide away from the world. He’d spent countless hours by her side, needing her well again so he would have hope that he could heal, too. That some hurts weren’t permanent black marks on your soul.

Luke’s white-blond hair was practically golden next to the pallor of his skin. He was breathing without assistance, and except for the bandages swathing his chest, could have simply been asleep. Tanner took the chair next to the bed and curled one hand around his brother’s. Knight ached for the man. He knew how it felt to see a brother so close to death and be unable to do anything except hope.

“You probably can’t hear me,” Knight said, “but thank you, Luke. You saved my life. I can’t repay you for that. All I can do is promise we’ll find Dell Jones, one way or another.”

“The Alpha said finding Jones wasn’t a priority,” Tanner said.

“I know. But this siege won’t last forever, and I have a notion that Jones won’t be able to stay away from his remaining family for long. Either way, we will find him and make him pay for this.”

Tanner watched him, silently assessing. “You feel responsible.”

“Not as much as I would have a few weeks ago, but tangentially yes. I do know that the bulk of the blame lies on the hybrids, and once they’re dead, we’ll avenge Luke’s pain.”

“Count me in.”

“And me as well,” Shay said.

Knight smiled. He liked this side of Shay—strong and vengeful. It spoke to something deep inside of him that had been hidden for a long time. Something burned in his belly, an awareness of her that spread outward. Consumed him from the inside. The thing he’d felt earlier in the day when they’d shared their first kiss.

Is this still really the same day?

He regretted running from her the way he had, chased off by a simple question with a complicated answer. They hadn’t talked about his reaction to her tackling him to the ground. There hadn’t been time. And now more than anything he wanted to be alone with her.

“You don’t have to stay,” Tanner said. “I’ll call if anything changes.”

“Thank you.”

“Has the Alpha assigned you a new bodyguard?”

Knight blinked. He hadn’t considered it, and he wasn’t certain Bishop had, either.

“I’ll be by his side,” Shay said, her tone leaving no room for argument. The possessiveness of her statement made his beast stir.

Tanner made no comment, so Knight excused them. A cool breeze rustled piles of fallen leaves, sending a few dancing across Dr. Mike’s lawn. With Atwood’s pending arrival, he didn’t want to go far from home. Shay didn’t protest when he settled on Dr. Mike’s porch steps. She plunked down next to him, shoulders and knees touching. He loved that he hadn’t scared her away.