The wall of muscle pressed his finger against his earpiece and squinted. Seconds ticked by like hours, and I could feel the pack’s desire to kick down the door and ransack the place growing.
I whispered, “easy, boys,” under my breath just as the bouncer nodded at a directive I didn’t hear.
“Okay, you can go in,” he said to Kat, “but only four of your crew. The rest stay here.”
Four…
There was no way I was getting left behind, and Knox damn well knew it. If I went, Grizz would be at my side no matter what. The alpha knew that, too. That left him with only one of his wolves to join him, and it seemed he wouldn’t have to make that choice, either. Brunton pushed his way to my side and looked over me at Knox.
Kat glanced at the four of us lined up, then smiled at the bouncer. “Mack,” she chided, “spooks too easily.” Then she headed for the door without looking back. “C’mon, kids. Let’s go make the alpha’s day.”
Knox sent the others back to the fleet of vehicles before we made our way to the entrance. A serious case of déjà vu washed over me as we walked into the vast space, but this time, the crowd was distinctly different than the time before. Instead of a mixed group filling the club, only a wave of magic and the power of supernaturals greeted us. And the second we crested the threshold, they all went painfully still. Like cyborgs being controlled by a single source, their heads turned to face us—the beings that didn’t belong there—and they growled in unison.
“The welcome wagon leaves a little to be desired,” Kat muttered to the rest of us.
“Well, well, well,” Mack said as the room quieted. He strode through the throng of werewolves and assorted other sketchy supes, headed for where the five of us stood. I dared a glance over my shoulder to find a handful of wolves blocking the way we’d just come. Our day was about to get really fucking interesting. “Looks like the tables have turned.”
“Why must you talk?” Kat sighed. “You look so much better when you’re silent—”
“I don’t have time for your shit, Mack,” Knox said, taking a step further into the club, “so you’re going to shut your mouth, and I’m going to say what I have to say, then leave.”
Mack looked at his room full of wolves—some of whom had surely been in the pack when Knox had led it—and laughed. They quickly joined in. “I think you’ve forgotten that you’re not in charge here anymore.”
Knox’s shoulders tensed, and I edged closer to him. I looked up to find a deadly smile spread across his face. “It wouldn’t take much to change that…”
Mack bristled at the insult. “Maybe...but you don’t have much of an army besides the half-fey bitch.”
I heard Grizz crack his knuckles behind me and wondered if it was him I needed to worry about—if my guardian was about to be the match to light this powder keg.
“The fey royals have reunited, and one way or another, they’re going to be a problem,” Knox said, not taking the bait. “When that problem arrives, you’ll have two choices: be their slaves—maybe worse—or be a part of the army that brings them down. Your choice, but as someone who knows what it’s really like to be owned by the fey king, I suggest you choose wisely.”
“Maybe you’re weak,” Mack replied. His hubris knew no bounds, his false sense of security with his pack at his back only fueling it further. But it was that hubris that would mean their deaths when the fey arrived. If he thought the royals had need for him, he was high. Maybe delusional.
“And maybe you haven’t had the pleasure of my mother’s company,” I said, leaning into Knox’s side. “If you think she couldn’t crush you with a flick of her wrist, then you’re even dumber than you look. She’ll stomp on you and your pack without breaking a sweat.”
“Then why would I want to fight her?” he countered.
“Because, you raging asshole,” Kat said, “she’ll do it if you don’t, too. Your only chance to beat her is to join us. With Piper and our other allies, you’d stand a chance. On your own…” She sucked a breath between her teeth. “You won’t get the chance to give me the most disappointing five minutes of my life that you promised.”
Her words seem to permeate his ego long enough for reality to settle in.
“What’s in it for me?” he asked.
“Besides the chance to keep breathing?” Knox asked.
“Yeah.”
The alpha at my side prepared to play his final card. “Name your price.”
Mack’s eyes went wide at the prospect. “Who’s backing you? Because I know your raggedy crew doesn’t have the money to front for this kind of venture.”
“The vampire king.”
Mack laughed yet again. “Figures you’d turn to your bloodsucking boyfriend for help.” Knox went rigid.
“Name it or we’re leaving,” I snarled, tired of Mack’s bullshit. After all we’d done to him—after what he’d watched me do—I couldn’t believe he was still too stupid to see the writing on the wall.
Perhaps he needed a reminder.
The wolves behind us shifted, and a strange magic pressed down on the room. My ‘oh shit’ alarm went off, and it seemed the others’ weren’t far behind. Something was brewing beyond the fight we’d half expected.
“I think that, once again, you’ve underestimated me,” Mack said as he sauntered toward us. “I can’t be bought that easily. Money, I have…it’s other things that interest me. Power. Notoriety. Women…” His lusty gaze shifted to Kat, and my stomach roiled. “So I did what you told me to after we last met—I groveled to the fey king, and wouldn’t you know it, he was willing to forgive my transgressions if I did one little thing for him.”
“What’s that?” Knox asked.
Mack’s vicious smile widened. “Kill you.”
“I think our offer was less of a death sentence,” Kat chimed in. “Looks like you chose poorly, Macky-boy.”
“Did I?” he asked as he moved closer. With every step he took, I could feel magic wash over us. Familiar magic. Magic that jarred my bones and rattled my DNA.
Fey magic.
“Knox,” I whispered as dread crept up my spine. My fingers dug deeper into his flesh, and I swore he could feel my fear. Or maybe he could smell it as it seeped from my pores.
Mack eyed Kat like he wanted to play out his fantasy of fucking her and killing her right then and there.
“Come here,” Mack said, and that press of fey magic grew heavier still. Knox went stiff under my hand.
Kat cocked her head at the alpha of NYC and stared. “I’m confused; did you want me to kill you? Because I kind of assumed that the good old boy system was still in place and you’d want a male to fill your shoes, but I’m game for a rematch if you are.”
“I said come here!” he bellowed, and the wave of power behind it nearly bowled me over. I looked at Knox, who was breathing hard, the strain in his expression plain even in the dim light of the club. Beyond him stood Brunton.
Knox’s third took a step forward, and realization began to dawn.