I gently pried the dagger from the shifter’s fingers, and stepped over his writhing body. “Sorry,” I muttered. “Take it up with your boss.”
Leaving him there, I returned both weapons to the halter at my back, and walked over to the shop’s entrance, trying to keep my senses as alert as possible. There was no way Corrigan was idiotic enough to think that one measly little teen wolf could stop me, whether he was a member of the big scary Brethren or not. There had to be more shifters around here somewhere, and I was damned if I was going to let any of them even begin to get the better of me. Studying the splintered wood where Wold’s front door had clearly been kicked in, I was starting to get an idea about where they actually were. And that made me royally pissed off.
I nudged the door open with the tip of my shoe, creating enough of a gap to slip through. Muffled angry voices floated over from deep within. Bingo. Taking care to stay as quiet as possible, so that I knew just exactly what I was dealing with, I edged forward. Despite the obvious signs of carnage that Corrigan’s minions had left in their wake, it was clear the Batibat kept a considerably tidier and cleaner shop than Balud. Of course, Balud didn’t live in daily fear of having his very life-force drained from him by a crazy necromancer. That in itself would probably provide incentive enough to do a daily dust.
The voices seemed to be coming from behind a half-open door at the far end of the corridor. I inched towards it, making sure I stayed planted against the far wall to avoid casting any telling shadows which might give my presence away before I wanted to advertise it. What I really wanted to know was what on earth Corrigan was actually up to. A few words were starting to drift over and it appeared that it was the shifters who were doing all the talking.
Moving close enough to catch more, I sidled up to the door, and cocked my head to the side to listen.
“You’re going to tell us everything you know sooner or later,” barked a steely voice.
Good grief. That line was straight out of a Hollywood movie. These guys weren’t exactly subtle.
“Except I don’t know anything.”
Figuring that had to be Wold herself, I twisted around to peer through the crack in the hinges. The Batibat was cowering in a chair, and there were three other figures – shifters – all standing around her. At that point one of them, who had his back to me, reached round and smacked her on the face.
“Listen up, you ugly bitch. You’re going to tell us where your slimy boss is cowering and you’re going to do it now.”
I recoiled. Brute sexist intimidation. Why they thought that would be successful in getting information, which the bloody Batibat probably didn’t know in the first place, was beyond me. A tendril of bloodfire reached up and squeezed its way round my heart. Maybe Corrigan wasn’t quite as nice and balanced as I’d come to think after all. Regardless, there was no way I was going to let this continue on any longer.
I thumped loudly on the wall, causing all four of them to jump, and then stepped out and slammed the door fully open with a sharp crack. The three shifters were already taking up attack positions, teeth bared. Wold, whose resemblance to the Haughmond Hill Batibat was really quite remarkable, was leaning back in her chair, eyes wide, as if in a bid to get herself as far away from this new threat as possible.
“He said she might show up,” growled the shifter to the right.
“Well, I guess he was fucking right,” I responded, then leapt up and scissor-kicked the offending shifter in the chest, knocking him backwards and onto the floor. He groaned, tried once to get up, and then fell back down again, clutching his chest.
The familiar prickle across my fingertips alerted me to the return of my green fire. Smiling humourlessly, I shot out a stream to the one on the left who was already in mid-shift. It instantly lit up the fur that was beginning to appear across his skin, and he shrieked in horror, falling to the ground and twisting this way and that in a vain attempt to put out the flames. That just left the bully boy. He threw himself at me, apparently realising the space was too small, and the time too short, for him to shift into what would be his most effective attack form. It wouldn’t have mattered what he’d chosen to do, however. Using my energy in a manner that Thomas, my old teacher, would have been proud of, I simply pushed out my hand and grabbed him by the throat.
“That was almost disappointingly easy,” I commented, bringing his face close to mine. “Now tell me, what exactly are you trying to achieve by torturing one of Endor’s victims?”
He choked, eyes bulging. I shook him slightly. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. You’ll need to speak up.”
A floorboard creaked behind me. Shit. There were more of them than I had thought. I was about to use my free hand to pull out one of the daggers again and throw it behind me when I heard a familiar, stomach churning voice speak up, dripping with hatred.
“Let go of my wolf, kitten.” There was a pause. “Now.”
Chapter Four
I turned around slowly, not relinquishing my grip on the squirming shifter. So much for keeping out of his way then.
“My Lord,” I stated emphatically, injecting in as much venom towards Corrigan as he had managed for me.
For a moment, a flicker of surprise crossed the Lord Alpha’s face, then his jade green eyes fixed on mine, turning flinty and emotionless. I felt a tiny measure of satisfaction that there were dark shadows underneath them, but was beyond irritated at the fact he still managed to look so good despite the apparent lack of sleep. Until ten minutes ago, I’d have been thrilled to bump into him; right now, after witnessing the Batibat’s interrogation, my feelings weren’t quite so clear cut.
“Release him,” he repeated.
I raised my eyebrows. “Make me.”
Corrigan sighed and ran a tanned hand through his jet black hair. “Mackenzie, don’t complicate my life further. Let him go and get out. I will take things from here.”
I growled. “Take things from here? Take things from fucking here? What does that mean? That you’ll break out the hot irons to make sure you squeeze every single bit of information you can from her? She’s as much a fucking victim here as we are! How dare you send your minions here to treat her like an enemy combatant? What gives you the fucking right? Oh, the majestic Brethren, sweeping in to save the day and torture innocents. Is that how you get your kicks?”
His eyes flashed pure fury before shutters came slamming down again, masking his thoughts. “So now you think we’re monsters again, do you? It didn’t take you long to change your mind.” His voice was soft, but edged with steely menace.
“What else do you expect me to think? You can’t go around acting as if you’re the fucking Gestapo! You can’t treat people like that, Corrigan!”
“As a Batibat, she’s not technically a person,” he said mildly.
“You know damn well what I mean when I say that. What Endor has done, what he is doing, it’s not her fault!” I spat the words out, still appalled at what he’d sent his shifters here to do.
“She’s not entirely innocent,” he reminded me. “We know that he used this place to get the money he needed to begin his campaign. Right now she’s the best lead that we’ve got.”
“And beating that lead to a pulp is going to help?”
Wold let out a squeak from behind me. I didn’t turn around; instead, in return, I tightened my grip infinitesimally around the shifter’s neck. He gasped, but otherwise made no other sound, his eyes trained on his lord and master.
Corrigan took a step towards me and I caught the sudden scent of his aftershave. The familiar headiness of it momentarily made my senses reel. A swirl of heated bloodfire rose up from the pit of my belly. Damn him.
“I was unaware of what was happening.”
“Bullshit!” I exploded. “Every single one of these shifters knew to watch out for me and not let me in. And they’d been told to do that by you. They wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”
Corrigan’s fists clenched. “Get out of here.”
“I already told you I’m not going anywhere until I get fucking answers! You can’t…”
I stopped mid-sentence as I realised he’d not been addressing me. The two shifters on the floor painfully pulled themselves up, eyes downcast, and scuttled out of the door. Corrigan raised his eyebrows at me. I sighed and loosened my grip on the wolf. He half fell down, letting out a small whine that belied his current human form, then bolted out on all fours.
Once he’d gone, Corrigan spoke again. “I didn’t know what was happening until I got a call saying that they were here and under attack. I just happened to be in the vicinity anyway.”
I should have aimed for the heart of the shifter hanging around outside. My face twisted. “Stop fucking lying. I thought better of you than that. At least be honest with me, Corrigan.”
A tinge of red lit up across his cheekbones. “You mean like you were honest with me? Fucking me and leading me on one minute then discarding me the next?”
“I had my reasons!” I spat. “And stop the changing the subject. Own up to what you’ve done and what you are. Coming here and doing this makes you almost as bad as sodding Endor himself.”
For a moment I thought he was going to strike me, then his muscles relaxed slightly and he composed himself. “I had decided, in light of our,” he paused for a heartbeat, “relationship with each other, that it would be wise to withdraw myself from this situation with the necromancer. I instructed Staines to take the lead. He has exceeded his authority and, believe me, will be dealt with.”
The formality of Corrigan’s words lanced through me. Then his green eyes softened for a moment and he looked over my shoulder at the Batibat. “Ma’am, you have my apologies, along with those of the entire Brethren. This will not happen again.”
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut, realising the shifters had only referred to ‘he’. They hadn’t mentioned Corrigan himself. He could very well be telling the truth. But Staines was still Corrigan’s henchman. He wouldn’t have done this if he’d thought that it would really piss his Lord Alpha off. My eyes narrowed slightly.