Heir of Wings and Shadows Read online

  Some assassin I’d make.

  If only Little Miss was still here, I’d hop right on her back and ride off into the sunset.

  That gave me an idea.

  “Excuse me, could I use the bathroom please?”

  No answer.

  “Tom, Tommy, Thomas, may I use the bathroom?”

  “No,” he grunted.

  I put on my whiny voice. “I really need to go.”

  “No.”

  I blinked, scrunching up my shoulders like it was no big deal like I was just a sweet, innocent girl. “Why not? I’m just going to the bathroom.”

  “I’ve been given strict instructions not to untie you and not to listen to anything you say.”

  “Why?”

  “We were instructed that you have a talent for escape and that you are extremely persuasive. You are not to be trusted.”

  I let out a shocked gasp. “Me? Seriously? I just have to go to the bathroom. I’m not trying to escape.”

  His face rearranged into granite.

  “Please, I’m sure General Treadwell would let me pee. There’s no crime against that.”

  No response.

  “Could you go get him?”

  Still nothing.

  “I demand to see Treadwell now.”

  Apparently, my acts of persuasion were falling on deaf ears which probably meant the rest of my arsenal wouldn’t work either. I tried to push my claws out of my fingertips to slice the zip tie, but they wouldn’t extract.

  I fell back on the bed panting from the effort. It frustrated me that Treadwell was right. Iron did dampen Fae magic.

  Chapter Six

  DI

  Ben left soon after he got the sample. The drive to Cherokee Hospital seemed like an extravagant use of time given the present circumstances. Asheville General was much closer but anonymity was our strongest defense at this point. His technician friend told him he could have results in three hours if he got to the lab by ten. That was three and a half hours ago, and still no word, and still no Starr. She very obviously did not go on a run. That’s what I get for trying to be optimistic. Kicks you in the teeth every time.

  Frank got up and paced around. He stopped every few steps his face paling. It was the only indication the painkillers were wearing off. “Should we go out and look for her? Canvas the neighborhood? Go door-to-door?”

  I rubbed my knuckles against each other. “Frank, this isn’t a political rally, and you’re in no condition to go anywhere. If we go knocking on our neighbors’ doors, we’re just asking the cops to lock us up.” He winced. All the color drained from his face. “Need some pain killer?”

  “I’m fine.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Right. I’ll be right back. I left the bag in the car.”

  “Don’t go by yourself. Here,” he said, “I’ll come with you.”

  “Don’t be a hero. I can go by myself.”

  “Sit. I’ll go,” Coda said. “I need to stretch my legs.”

  When we got to the garage, Coda slid next to me and whispered, “I’ll go check all the doors and windows in the shop. We need to get out of this place.”

  “Do you think we’ll be safe tonight?”

  “I’m not sure if we’re ‘safe’ now. If Starr got picked up by the Organization, it’s only a matter of time before they come and get the rest of us. Didn’t she say, ‘Zero Exposure’?”

  I nodded.

  “The tension’s rising. I don’t like it,” he said before taking off to the front of the building.

  It was foolish for us to stay here. We probably should have left with Ben and went back to the Qualla Boundary, but with our leader missing, we were untethered. Someone needed to take charge. I swallowed hard. That, someone, was probably me, but I wasn’t ready to take the lead. No one could replace Starr.

  Coda and I met back up at the bottom of the stairs. Me with Frank’s pain meds. Coda with a heavy wrench.

  “Just in case,” he murmured.

  “I’ll pack everyone’s stuff together.”

  “Mine too?” he teased on our way up the stairs. Even in times of crisis, Coda provided the light banter I so desperately needed.

  “Your ass is on its own. Nothing wrong with you.” Yet, I added in my head—the pessimist enthusiastically returning in all its negative glory. So far, Ben, Coda, and I had gone unscathed, but how much longer? Ben was safe, at least for the moment. If anything went down tonight, Coda and I were the first line of defense. I fingered the taser.

  I handed Frank the bag along with a bottle of water. “Coda and I’ll pack all our things and load up the van. As soon as we hear from Ben, we’re leaving.”

  “But Starr…,” Frank said.

  “Starr will know where to find us.”

  Before he could argue because he was most certainly going to argue, I slipped into Christian and Starr’s room. I took the black canvas backpack I gave Starr all those weeks ago and stuffed it with random pieces of clothing—both Starr’s and Christian’s. Christian’s eyes fluttered open.

  “Hey Di,” he said sleepily. He sat up and looked around. “Where’s Starr?”

  “Starr’s not here.”

  He jumped off the bed. The sudden movement threw him off balance. He clutched his head. No doubt, the half a bottle of Jack was still with him. “What do you mean she’s not here? Where is she?”

  “Christian, Starr’s gone.”

  Chapter Seven

  DI

  Christian jumped up, swaying back and forth, clutching his head. I reached out to stop him from toppling over.

  “No,” he said, swatting my hand away. “I’m fine.” He shook his head. “Starr. Where’s Starr? Starr!” he yelled. “Starr!” he said again as he ran into the living room.

  Frank blocked his path, arms crossed, scowl the size of Texas. “She’s not here asshole.”

  Christian grabbed him. “Where is she?”

  Frank jerked away. His hands balled into tight fists. I stepped between them before Frank decided to smash Christian’s jaw. They both glared down at me.

  “Christian, it’s 1:30 in the afternoon.”

  He stepped away. “What? No. I never sleep that late.”

  “You never came home last night. You got in about three and a half hours ago.”

  He collapsed on the sofa. “I don’t understand. Di, seriously. Where is Starr?”

  Coda and I shared a long look. He nodded, his eyes filling with tears. I swallowed. Coda’s reaction was enough to undo me. Me, a girl who created a titanium suit of armor to guard against touchy emotional experiences, brought to tears by the weight of feelings born by a person she’d only recently met but had adopted as her family.

  “I left Starr this morning.”

  Christian sat up. “You left her? How could you leave her?”

  Frank stepped in front of him. “You better shut the fuck up and listen to Di, and if there’s anyone to blame here, it’s you—fucking you!”

  Christian’s eyebrows puckered. “I don’t understand. What did I do?”

  Coda placed the manila folder in Christian’s lap. The pictures fell across the sofa. “What the…. What is this? I don’t remember any of this. When did this happen?”

  “You tell us,” Frank said.

  Christian clutched his head. I stood in front of him. “Do you remember anything from last night?”

  He looked up at me. His desperation, his loss—I’d seen them before. I’d felt it. Those mornings after basement clubbing with Zoey wrecked me until I constructed my armor.

  “I remember getting into the car with Jude, then nothing, absolutely nothing.”

  “That’s convenient,” Frank said.

  Christian ground his jaw. He pushed Frank out of the way and stormed to the door. “I need to find Starr.”

  Coda rushed to him. “Hold up, buddy.”

  Christian tried to shrug him off. “What are we waiting for?”

  Coda cleared his throat. “Things are a lot more complicated than yesterday afternoon.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Your face is splattered all over the news. Well, yours and Di’s.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re accused of causing the accident that killed Starr, Sami, and Jovie, and Di is your accomplice.”

  He straightened his back. “It doesn’t matter.” He charged to the door. Coda and I each grabbed an arm.

  “It does matter Christian,” Coda said. “You can’t find Starr if you’re sitting in a jail cell.”

  The fight slipped out of him leaving nothing but a half-formed shell. “I need to know everything that happened from last night to this morning.”

  Jude appeared around the corner. “I can help with that.”

  Starr

  My stomach grumbled. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate. Maybe, lunch yesterday? We never did get that New York style pizza Jude promised. No, Christian was too busy hooking up with Sami and Jovie to worry about such trivial things as pizza and a girl he said he loved, but obviously, the girl knew better now.

  I turned away from the window. Even the sun reminded me of Christian and my broken heart. Thomas hadn’t moved from his position at the foot of my bed. Evidently, blinking wasn’t a necessary biological function of one of Treadwell’s recruits.

  The door opened and General Treadwell walked in. “How’s the prisoner?”

  “Is that what I am?”

  “Starr, I once wanted you as an assassin, but you’re much more valuable to me as Jessalyn Silverlain—the long-lost granddaughter of Lord and Lady Silverlain.”

  “I should have known it would all come down to money and connections, but before we discuss the finer nuances of your plans for me, may I use the bathroom? Your clone won’t even let me pee.”

  A proud smile crossed Treadwell’s face. “Thomas, you may release her.”

  Thomas took something out of his pocket. He pushed a button, and a long, shiny knife flashed up. The blade could gut a deer without even slowing down.

  With detached emotion, he positioned the tip of it along my wrists and lifts. The ties moved with him bringing my wrists a kiss away from the sharp blade. I showed no fear, as he sliced through. Once my hands were free, he made quick work of the tie between my ankles.

  I hurried to the bathroom without invitation or consent. Treadwell was mistaken if he thought I would yield to him. In the bathroom, I’d call on my Fae nature, and get out of this place.

  “Oh Jessalyn,” he said, his voice cruel, taunting. I didn’t pause. I didn’t react. I just kept walking. I was Starr Bishop. Jessalyn Silverlain disappeared into the night twelve years ago, never to return. “You won’t find any windows to escape from this time.”

  Indeed, he was right. In place of where a window might be, there was a large picture of the foothills of the Smoky Mountains with a small lake beside it. Another cruel reminder of my time with Christian, so perfect in fact I was sure that Treadwell chose it to mock me and cause me pain, to remind me who was in charge. I wanted to smash it over my knee, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. I didn’t have to look at it though. That I could change. I took it down and flipped it over, setting it on the bathroom floor. In its place were the skeletal remains of a window. Someone, probably a recruit, probably Thomas himself, plastered and painted the area.

  Pressing against the new construction, I searched for a weak spot, some penetrable place the wall would give way to the outside, to freedom, but there was nothing. Nothing but hard wall between me and another life.

  On my return to my prison, Treadwell lifted his lips in amusement. “I told you.”

  I crossed my arms and sat in the rocking chair. “So, what sinister plan do you have in mind for me?”

  “Back on the bed. Thomas needs to tie you up. Can’t have your fangs or claws popping out can we?”

  Gripping the arms of the chair, I glared at him. “You don’t have enough confidence in your abilities to keep me here?”

  “Thomas,” was all he said, but it was enough. General Clone marched over, grabbed my arms with his giant paws, lifted my body without even a grunt, and deposited me on the bed. In five seconds, my wrists and ankles were restrained. Thomas was efficient. I’d give him that.

  Treadwell nodded in approval at the perfect execution of his orders. “Now, where were we? Oh yes, my sinister plan for you. Originally, I planned for you to lead a team of recruits and become a major contributor to the Organization. This young man took the test with you all those weeks ago. He’s very promising in his dedication to our work and his uncompromising ability to follow orders. He also possesses gifts the Organization finds particularly useful.” Thomas straightened his already straight back. Was he a Fae like me or something else entirely? Maybe a Goon Demon? Was that even a thing? “But you,” he swung back to me, “your escape, and your wherewithal to remain hidden for all those weeks, leaves something of a challenge for me. You’re stronger-minded than even the exams and studies suggested. You’d take two to three times longer than most recruits to train to my satisfaction, but the potential to create the most efficient assassin the Organization’s ever trained far outweighed the time factor. There would also be the prestige associated with one of our trainees joining the Shadow Fae Court—one can’t buy that kind of reputation.” He cracked his knuckles. Distaste filled my mouth. “Of course, trust would always be a concern, but I was confident in my training techniques. You witnessed yourself what my men did to Mr. Evergood.”

  His words, a blast to my gut. I bit my cheek to keep from crying out.

  He marched to the front of the room, with his hands clasped behind his back pacing back and forth. “Then a number of events fell into place. First, I discovered it was you who rescued Mr. Evergood.” He stopped and turned to me. “Frankly Starr, I’m surprised at you. His family history is not the most respectable. His kind and the Fae are mortal enemies. He should have died along with his parents.”

  The bastard. He just confirmed what we suspected—well, what Christian suspected, and we agreed with. The Organization was behind his parents’ deaths and my dad’s. He, they, all of them must be stopped.

  Wolf shapeshifters and Fae were mortal enemies? Guess that explained why he betrayed me at the first opportunity. His wolf nature took over. That was probably what Ben, Coda, and he were arguing about in the bedroom after my Fae nature revealed itself in the tunnels of my grandparents.

  “Second, during a visit to the creator of the Organization, I found out their long-lost granddaughter showed up at their estate and then disappeared. The similarities between the Silverlain’s granddaughter and the recruit we were searching for were uncanny.” He stopped to face me. “Isn’t it ironic, that the girl they’ve been searching for all those years turns out to be the very same girl we identified at such a young age?”

  I lifted my chin to him. I would not be beaten. I would not.

  “You know what’s even more ironic? You thought you could persuade one of my men, one of my top recruits to join you.” He shook his head. His incredulity filled the room, gagging me. “Did you honestly believe he would follow you just because you’re a beautiful young woman?”

  Di, Frank, Coda, Ben, even Christian were right, and I was over-confident. Jude was never on our side.

  “I let him stay with you, build your trust, find out what you knew about us, but all games must come to an end, and there can only be one winner. We both know who that winner is, don’t we?” Treadwell and his rhetorical questions made my head hurt. “Like a bad Shakespearean play reenactment, your overconfidence is your tragic flaw.”

  He would not break me.

  He curled his lip. “Do you know what time it is?”

  I ground my jaw. I hated this man.

  “No? Well, right about now, my men are picking up the remainder of your team.”

  Fury built within me. He pushed too far.

  “Leave them alone. They have nothing to do with this.”

  He smiled that cruel, knowing smile that made my stomach roil. I cursed myself. My reaction was just what he wanted. “Wrong, Jessalyn. Thanks to you, they have everything to do with this. This…,” he swept his hands wide, “is all your doing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make a phone call to your grandparents to let them know their granddaughter is in my possession and for the right fee, she’ll be returned.”

  So that was his play.

  I was the prize purse.

  Chapter Eight

  DI

  Never accuse Jude of being too sensitive. He spared no details in his retelling of Christian’s escapades the night before. Every damning, spit-swapping detail.

  Christian raised his chin, seemingly unaffected by the details. “We need to find Starr.”

  “How do you know she even wants to be found after what you did last night, lover boy?” Frank growled.

  “I am not discussing last night with you. My only concern is finding Starr. Starr loves me and I love her. We can work through anything. I hope,” he choked. His resolve faltered before our very eyes. “The only thing that matters is finding her. Where’s Ben?”

  Jude raised his head.

  “Ben got called to work,” Coda said, covering smoothly for him. “He wanted to pick up some extra hours, but Christian we need to leave headquarters. There’s no sign of a struggle but someone obviously left the pictures for her. Even though we don’t know what happened to her, we need to leave immediately.”

  His body slumped. “What if she comes back looking for us?”

  Frank said, “She knows what to do.”

  “Is that why you were packing her clothes?” Christian asked me.

  “Yeah, I have a few things left, but I’m almost ready. Coda, you have everything you need from our bedroom?”

  “Yep, all packed up,” he said, patting his duffle bag.

  “Christian, check your room for anything I missed. I’ll finish packing.” Frank and Coda followed me into our room. I quietly closed the door and tilted my head. They followed me over to the far corner of the room. “So how do we get rid of Jude?”