Cupid's Light Page 17

  “Don’t ever run away from me again when we’re arguing,” he demanded as he snapped his seatbelt.

  “Yes, Dad,” Jonas mumbled. Matt was reasonably certain he’d learned his lesson. “Are we going to rescue Rachel?”

  Josh looked over his shoulder from the front seat, staring at the boy. “Do you know anything about it?”

  Jonas paled. “Just what Courtney told you. She hates it. She doesn’t agree with their views,” he added, as if he needed to defend his girlfriend.

  “That’s good to hear, son,” Nick told him reassuringly. “I figured you wouldn’t go for someone who believes that crap.”

  They drove a few miles down the road, and as they passed an old, run down church, Brendon suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

  Matt slammed on the brakes. Luckily, there were no other vehicles on the road at the moment.

  “Over there,” Brendon said, pointing at the church. A glimpse of red could be seen through the branches of the trees and bushes, nearly entirely hidden behind the old church.

  “That’s an abandoned building,” he explained. “Why the hell is there a truck parked behind it? And I smell shifter.”

  “And human,” Josh confirmed, rolling down his window and sniffing the air. “Rachel.”

  “Hang on,” Matt said, and he drove a little further up the road, until he found a place to pull off to the side and park. “Let’s come up with a plan before we just go in, guns blazing.”

  “Whatever the plan involves, you stay here, Jonas. Got it?” His father gave him a stern look.

  “I think I’ve had enough fun for one day,” Jonas replied shakily.

  “Good,” Matt said. “Now, what’s our plan?”

  Chapter 13

  “THIS is crazy, Shay,” Rachel protested when Shay, with her hand securely wrapped around Rachel’s arm, marched her back toward the old abandoned church. Adora followed in their wake, staying as close to Rachel as she could.

  Shay didn’t respond.

  “What’s going on? What are you doing? I thought you didn’t care that I was human?”

  When they reached the propped open back door, Shay gave Rachel a shove, sending her stumbling into the structure. The poor woman was going to have permanent scars on her knees and palms. Assuming she survived this experience.

  Adora stepped into the dilapidated building and Shay thrust out her arm, halting her in her tracks.

  “I’ve got no beef with you, Cupid,” Shay said. “And I don’t give a rat’s ass one way or the other about you. So if you want to get the hell out of here, feel free.”

  Her comments surprised Adora. “What about Matt? I thought you were upset that I’d slept with him. I thought you wanted to mate with him.”

  “Other than being a shifter, he’s not my type. Have at him. Although I’m not gonna lie, I do think inter-species relationships are fucked up.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Shay waved the hand she’d used to block Adora’s entrance. “It’s just weird. And what about the pups? Don’t you think they’re gonna be made fun of for being different? Plus, who’s to say the mixing of different blood types isn’t going to mess with their brains?”

  “Not that,” Adora said impatiently. “I mean you and Matt. Why were you giving off the impression you were interested in him?”

  “He was my ticket to getting close to the pack master. My brother isn’t exactly Mr. Social. I don’t think he’s ever even shaken hands with the pack master, and he’s been part of that pack pushing twenty years, so he was useless, in that respect. When I found out my niece had the hots for a kid with the same name as the pack master, I thought that would be my in, but she’s a little miss goodie two shoes. So when I met Matt, and it was obvious he was interested, and then he said he was the pack master’s cousin, well, it all sort of fell into place at that point.”

  Adora felt a great sense of disappointment that her Cupid senses had been so very off when it came to Shay. Or maybe they hadn’t been. There had been warning signs, but Adora had stoically ignored them, thinking it was her own jealousy clouding her decisions.

  “Now, why don’t you go fly away like a good little Cupid, while I deal with the pack master’s mate.”

  As tempting as it was to fly away and avoid any sort of violence, Adora thrust out her chin and said, “I am not leaving Rachel.”

  Shay shrugged. “Have it your way.” She gave Adora a push, sending her stumbling into the building.

  Despite the streamers of light cutting through the dusty air from holes in the roof and walls, the interior of the church was a sharp contrast to the bright sunshine outside. Adora became disoriented for a few moments while she struggled to adjust to the dim lighting. When she felt movement to her left, she instinctively shied away from it, until she heard the whisper of a female voice.

  “Go,” Rachel said. “Use your magic to fly away and warn Josh and Matt.”

  Adora grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “No way. I would never leave you here, at the mercy of these two.”

  “I hate being human,” Rachel muttered. “I don’t like not being able to defend myself, having to rely on others to take care of me.”

  “It’s not always a bad thing. Although right now, in this particular case, I have to say I agree with you.”

  Shay stepped up behind Adora and gave her a shove. “Move.”

  She fell against a grimy, cobweb-covered wall. Her stomach churned but she managed not to throw up. So far. She was mildly disappointed in that fact. Maybe if she could puke on Shay, it would be enough of a distraction to allow her and Rachel to run away.

  They stumbled along a darkened hallway until it ended, and then Shay reached around them and twisted the knob on a door to Rachel’s right, unceremoniously pushing them through the doorway.

  After helping Rachel to her feet, Adora took in her surroundings. They were in the church vestibule, standing next to the altar. Wind whistled through broken panes in the high, stained-glass windows. Shards of glass and chunks of wood and roofing material mingled on the floor with dust, dead bugs, and bird droppings. Glancing up at the ceiling, she saw countless birds’ nests tucked into cracks and crevices around the wooden beams. They were all empty. Apparently, the birds had already headed south for the winter. Or perhaps they hadn’t liked the intruders and had flown away in protest. Adora wished she could fly away, but she would never leave Rachel alone.

  Behind a broken chunk of wood that must have been the podium lay a headless statue that once had been a marble carving of Jesus. Rotting wooden pews faced the altar in a semi-hexagon shape.

  The sound of the door closing echoed throughout the room and frightened away one last remaining bird. Adora and Rachel both turned to face Shay.

  “I thought this would be appropriate,” Shay said, speaking to Rachel. “This is a human venue.” She waved her hand to indicate the church. “An abandoned human venue. Left to rot. Seems like the perfect place.”

  “For what?” Rachel asked.

  “To kill you.”

  Rachel gasped and shrank back against Adora, who put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, even as she racked her brain for a way out of this predicament. Unfortunately, Cupids were not normally involved in these types of situations, and the only thing she knew to do was to flee from the danger. Which Rachel couldn’t do.

  “Why do you want to kill her?” Adora asked.

  Shay laughed, a slightly hysterical sound. “She’s human, which really should be enough. But if it isn’t, she’s also mated to the pack master of the Detroit shifter pack.”

  “Those are terrible reasons to want to kill someone,” Adora scoffed.

  Shay narrowed her eyes. “It’s a terrible crime for a human to steal a shifter from his own pack.”

  “I didn’t steal him,” Rachel protested. “It just sort of happened. Honestly, I never expected it. I just—it just happened,” she repeated helplessly.

  “Th
ey’re in love,” Adora said primly. “Haven’t you ever experienced love before, Shay? Don’t you know what it’s like?”

  Shay’s eyes flashed with hot anger. “Yes,” she snapped. “I was in love once. And she took him away from me.” She stabbed her finger at Rachel, who looked at her in bewilderment.

  “Josh?”

  A sour look crossed Shay’s face while she shook her head. “No, you idiot. Kent Pantera.”

  Rachel backed up another step, treading on Adora’s slippered feet, her fear so palpable it practically shimmered in the air.

  And Adora had no idea why she was more afraid now than she had been a moment earlier. “Who is Kent Pantera?”

  “Only the greatest shifter to ever have lived,” Shay proclaimed, her voice full of reverence.

  Adora glanced at Rachel, who shook her head.

  “He was crazy. Certifiable. He kidnapped me and forced me to seduce Josh in order to distract him, so Kent could undermine his authority and turn the pack against him.”

  “You must have been in love right from the beginning,” Adora said knowingly. “For something like that to work. Josh is very dedicated to his pack.”

  Rachel’s smile was watery. “I suppose we were, although we didn’t realize it at the time.”

  “Few do,” Adora said.

  “Enough of the sappy bullshit,” Shay snapped. “Josh Tigre killed the love of my life!” Her eyes bugged out of her face and her cheeks flushed with anger. “Kent Pantera should have lived and Josh should have died. He should have been the pack master. He would have been great. He didn’t deserve to die. It’s your fault—you killed him, you-you human!”

  “You just said Josh killed him,” Adora pointed out.

  Shay growled. “It’s her fault Josh killed him.”

  Adora looked to Rachel for an explanation.

  “After I realized I was in love with Josh and decided I wasn’t going to let Pantera control me anymore, he kidnapped me and forced Josh into a duel. He figured Josh wouldn’t shift if I was there, because at the time I didn’t know he was a shifter. Pantera assumed he’d win by overpowering Josh, since he was in the form of a panther, and Josh was still in human form. But then I figured out what was going on and told Josh to shift so he wouldn’t get killed. He didn’t kill Pantera during the fight, but Pantera ended up dying a few days later from the injuries, because he refused to let the Lightbearer healers help him.”

  “It’s not natural,” Shay said, a dark look on her face.

  “In their world, it’s perfectly natural,” Rachel said. “And by the way, he would have lived if he’d allowed them to heal him.”

  “Yeah, well he didn’t. So now he’s dead. And now I’m going to kill you, as revenge.”

  The room went silent for several heartbeats, save for the whistling of the wind. And then Shay smiled. It was not a cheerful, happy, perky smile. It was filled with malice and evil anticipation. “Run,” she whispered.

  And then she shifted into the form of a panther. A nod, Adora presumed, to the man who had died, the one she professed to love. But based on Rachel’s accounting of the situation and Adora’s own experience as a Cupid, it sounded more like an obsession, a dark fascination spun out of control.

  “Don’t run,” she commanded as her wings sprouted from her back and began fluttering madly. “That’s what she wants. It’s a game. Cats love the chase. The kill won’t be nearly as satisfying if you do not play the game. Just stay here.” Her feet left the ground as her wings beat more furiously.

  “I—I’m scared,” Rachel whispered, her gaze riveted on the prowling animal.

  “Me too,” Adora admitted.

  Growling ferociously, the panther stalked to within a few paces. “Oh, God,” Rachel said, and despite Adora’s warning, she ran. She turned and bolted up the middle aisle, toward the back of the church. The panther gave another growl and chased after her.

  “No!” Adora took flight, dashing after the pair.

  The panther lunged, and Rachel darted to the left, rushing down a narrow row of pews. But she tripped over a broken piece of wood and went sprawling on all fours. The panther’s claws skidded on the floor and it scrabbled for purchase, smacking into a row of pews. They splintered under the impact and the panther found its footing, shook off the after-effects of the collision and once again headed for its quarry.

  A glittering shiny cluster of lights zipped past, right in front of the panther’s nose. It sniffed the air and immediately turned its head, searching for the sparkling lights. Its gaze locked onto Adora, who hovered on the other side of the church, and then it began to stalk, its human prey momentarily forgotten.

  Adora saw Rachel clamor to her feet and bolt for the back of the church. A scant second before she reached the doors, she was tackled from the side and thrown into the nearest wall with a bone-jarring crunch. When the dust settled, she could see Rachel lying on the ground on her back, with another woman lying next to her.

  Jeannine.

  If Adora were remotely the sort of person who was used to people with manipulative ways, she might have wondered earlier where the other woman had gone to. But she had focused her entire attention on Shay and attempting to keep Rachel alive.

  “You aren’t escaping,” she heard Jeannine say. The older woman laboriously climbed to her feet, but before she had the upper hand, Rachel kicked out at her, knocking her left leg out from under her. Jeannine cried out and collapsed, but she still had fight in her. Adora figured the only thing saving Rachel at the moment was the fact that Jeannine hadn’t shifted into an animal. Instead, she attacked while in human form.

  Which, much to Adora’s relief, played to Rachel’s advantage. The older woman limped toward her, while Rachel crab walked backwards until she bumped into the wall. Jeannine stumbled and fell at her feet, grabbing her leg and pulling her closer. Rachel cried out and kicked at the other woman, who managed to deflect most of her blows and land a few of her own. As Adora watched, the tables turned, and it appeared Rachel was losing the battle. Adora had no idea what to do. She didn’t want to fly close to the fighting women for fear of bringing Rachel’s presence to the attention of the panther that was still leaping around the room, trying to get at her while she assumed the form of a swirling mass of lights.

  And then Rachel found a last burst of adrenaline. Cocking her fist, she let it fly, slamming it into Jeannine’s face. The sound of bones crunching, followed immediately by Jeannine’s stark cry of pain, echoed throughout the vestibule. Shay’s panther head whipped to the side, her gaze zoning in on the human woman, now splattered with blood from Jeannine’s undoubtedly broken nose. Another crash and the church doors flew open, allowing sunshine to pour into the area. Panicked, Adora flew into Shay’s line of vision, much too close, as she tried to distract her so she would not go after Rachel.

  Without warning, the panther lifted up onto two legs and caught the swirling lights in its front paws.

  Chapter 14

  THE warped, dry-rotted wooden doors leading into the vestibule shattered under the pressure of three men pushing on it, and Matt, Josh, and Brendon burst through, Matt instantly scoping out the scene.

  Rachel, seated amongst the rubble and dust and bird droppings, was propped against the wall, covered in blood but very much alive. Jeannine rolled on the floor, holding her face and sobbing.

  “Rachel,” Josh cried out, and rushed to his mate.

  Across the room, Matt spotted a panther—a shifter—eyeing a cluster of dancing lights.

  Adora.

  And the panther must be Shay, based on the information they’d learned from a call made to the pack master of her pack, prior to rushing to the church to save Adora and Rachel.

  “Kent Pantera.” The man had practically spat the name. “He could do no wrong in her eyes. She worshipped him. Fantasized about becoming his mate.”

  “He killed his first mate,” Matt had pointed out. “He admitted it before he died. Not
to mention the countless other people—humans and shifters both—he killed.”

  “He never mentioned her once,” Brendon had added, as the call had been on speakerphone. “And trust me, he was thoroughly interrogated.”

  “Pantera’s whole existence was centered on eliminating our pack master and taking over the position.” Matt had glanced at his cousin at that point, who grimaced and turned his head to stare at the church in the distance. “If he thought killing her would have helped him achieve that goal, he wouldn’t have hesitated.”

  “That’s what she found so attractive about him,” the other pack master had explained. “Unfortunately, I’m in charge of a bunch of hicks and assholes. Shifters who would just as soon revert back to caveman days. Usually, it’s just a bunch of stupid meetings, people getting together to drink and bitch about the fact that humans think they rule this world. But after Shay met Pantera, that changed. Shit got more real. She likened him to a god.

  “Hers and Steve’s father was a real tool,” he added. “I never could prove it, but I’m pretty sure he abused her when she was a pup. I’m sure it’s her daddy issues that attracted her to that Pantera guy.”

  When they disconnected the call, Josh muttered about shitty pack leaders not taking care of their packs, until Matt reminded him they might be short on time. After that, they focused on figuring out the best way to enter the church and save their mates. Tagging Brendon to go along with them, they left Nick in the truck with Jonas and headed toward their mission.

  And it appeared they had arrived in the nick of time.

  Rachel, at first glance, was clearly injured, but her eyes were open and had lit up the moment they caught sight of the three shifters rushing through the door. Adora appeared unharmed, if the fact that she was dancing around in the form of sparkling lights was any indication. Matt hoped to hell it was.

  And then the lights zoomed past the panther’s nose, much too close, and—“Adora!”