Conrad, p.2
Conrad, page 2
The volcanic island rose out of the aquamarine waters. He circled the island, searching for any signs of life. A house sat high up on the side of a rocky outcrop. It was large with huge glass windows giving a perfect view of the sea and the small jetty that led from a small white sanded beach.
Conrad revved the engine and circled once more to alert Wyatt to his approach. His friend wouldn’t take kindly to him not announcing his presence. Something he could easily have done, except Wyatt, was as deadly as any of them, and he had a little less tolerance for anyone overstepping any boundaries he set. What those were on this occasion, Conrad was clueless about, which was a position he’d not been in for many years.
Over the years, their friendship had sustained Conrad, kept him from doing something daft, like killing all the council leaders. Something on his to-do list before he had met Ben. Though the guy had been an ass to start with, finding his fated mates had mellowed him somewhat. And Conrad liked both Teilo and Nico. Their deal was far worse than anything Conrad had suffered. Their fuckheads had left them to die. Yeah, in Conrad’s book that was inexcusable, and what the assassins had done to them was nothing more than they deserved from what he’d overheard.
As he pulled the speedboat up to the single jetty, Conrad felt the brush of wards that tingled across his skin as if determining who he was. Whatever the wards found, they let him through and as he scanned the area from behind his aviator shades, he knew he was being watched.
His lips formed into a welcoming smile, waiting for Wyatt to reveal himself. Seconds later Wyatt appeared out of the tree line, wearing raggedy cut-off jeans and nothing else. His gaze narrowed in on the bite mark on the top of Wyatt’s chest. Holy fuck, Wyatt has met his mate!
Conrad’s smile widened until his brain started to shuffle pieces together. His stomach took a dive as he waited for Wyatt to get to him as he took off his glasses.
Was that the missing piece? Was the Devil Wyatt’s mate?
Would the Fates fuck with his friend?
A wave of dizziness came and went as he forced himself off the boat and jumped onto the jetty.
“You know, don’t you?” Wyatt said as he came to a stop a few feet from Conrad. His dark eyes flashed a warning as Conrad’s gaze moved beyond Wyatt to the figure now standing in the tree line watching them, dressed much the same as Wyatt. Wearing an equally large mating bite at his throat.
Conrad’s gasp couldn’t be contained when he stared into eyes that were the same as Beaumont’s. Well, I’ll be damned!
“That is who you went to kill? That’s Beaumont’s son! He was this Devil person?” Conrad asked without preamble. They didn’t need to hedge with each other.
“He is my mate… James. Whatever connection he had to Beaumont, the fuckheads bred it out of him.”
Conrad swallowed carefully, knowing exactly what that meant. His nose burned for Wyatt at what that involved. Conrad kept his emotions to himself and nodded slowly, keeping his gaze on the man now snarling at him. His eyes flashed with a possessiveness Conrad had witnessed from Ajani, and latterly Duron, towards their mates.
It was a good sign, Conrad supposed. That didn’t mean his friend liked it. “You okay… with this?” What else could he say?
Wyatt’s expression revealed nothing as he continued to stare at Conrad silently.
He’d not considered having a mate until Marvin and Ajani. Then Duron found Beaumont and now it would seem Wyatt had found his.
Did it suck that the guy was a… “What… how… argh fuck! Tell me you’re happy. Give me something here! You’re my brother… I need to know you’re okay. That I don’t need to do something to help.”
The growl that came from the man who was now mere feet from them, barely got a reaction from Conrad. What did was Wyatt, who walked to the man who gave a good impression of a devil with how his eyes drilled into Conrad with pure hate.
Wyatt tugged the man into his chest, his hand going to the back of James’s neck, holding him closer. “He is my friend and nothing more.” At that Wyatt kissed him with what looked like hard possession. The show of dominance and how it flowed from Wyatt got Conrad looking away when it made his body react.
He’d acted that way many times with his bed partners, he’d just never expected it from Wyatt.
Long minutes later, he cleared his throat trying to be heard over the desperate sounding moans coming from the men mere feet from him. The scent of arousal—even outside—thickened the muggy air and every breath Conrad inhaled, it tortured him. His needs came to the fore, and he worked to control his breathing and his body’s reaction. Wyatt or his mate did not need to know the effect their display was having on him.
When Wyatt, appeared to have made his point, the noises stopped. Conrad shifted his gaze back to the two flushed and aroused men. “I think you’ve answered my question,” Conrad said pointedly to both men.
James gave him a hard stare and walked away, back towards the tree line. “Don’t be… long,” he murmured, then was gone.
“Fuck, Wyatt…”
Wyatt came to him then and hugged him hard. His scent different now and brought with it the stark reality that Wyatt was on the island of his own free will. “You want this.”
It wasn’t a question, but when Wyatt pulled back, he nodded. “I do. James can’t be around others, his nature and what they have done to him…”
When he left it there, Conrad could easily fill in the gaps. What James had done couldn’t be undone. He was a man the council wanted dead for his crimes, crimes they had aided and abetted in by creating a monster to do their bidding. The same as they had with Wyatt, Duron, Ajani, Marvin, Ekon and many more like them. Conrad finally understood what Duron meant by his cryptic message. Beaumont knew—he’d faced Devil that day and he didn’t want his son held accountable for the council’s crimes, he wanted them to take responsibility.
Duron was going to be appointed as the hybrid lead and he would stand for them all… including James, despite his crimes. Crimes they had all committed in the name of the Shifter Council.
“Duron is going to be on the council and represent us… James. You are both safe. Beaumont isn’t going to come looking for you or James.”
What appeared to be relief came and went before Wyatt nodded. “I’m going to turn off my tracker now.”
Conrad shook his head. “You knew I’d come.” His nose was back to burning.
“I did. You are my kin. I expected nothing less. I’m okay. We are adapting to this new world.” A look came and went that fired Conrad’s blood. “I’m taking a few leaves out of your book and enjoying exploring what you talked about… a lot.”
Conrad’s rich laughter caused a couple of birds to cry above them. “Hey, how else was I supposed to kill time when we were waiting around? At least it’s helpful now.” He got closer and lowered his voice. “And I’d say you’re a quick learner and your mate has no issue with you being in charge.”
Wyatt winked and chuckled. “You can say that. I had to contain him, and the stash of stuff in one of your spare packs came in very handy.”
Conrad rolled his eyes. “You took my off-grid pack… thanks for letting me know!”
“I am. Now you better go before you get a show I know you’d enjoy.” Wyatt nudged him back to the boat.
Conrad instead gave him a hard hug. “I’m gonna miss you,” he whispered. “If you need me ever, you know how to find me. Nothing will change that, nothing.”
“I know, and I do.”
“Be happy.” Conrad stepped back, his vision blurry as he leaped onto the boat.
His last view was of Wyatt walking back up the beach towards the waiting man, who wore a smile that revealed more humanity than Conrad expected. Yet, deep down, he wasn’t surprised that Wyatt had brought it out of the other man. Wyatt’s soul was a bright fucking light, and Conrad had firsthand experience of how it could defeat the darkness.
For the first time since Conrad received the message from Duron, his shoulders relaxed enough that they no longer felt like they were hugging his ears, and his animals took a chill pill.
He started the engine as his cell phone alerted him to a message. He reached for it and his gaze narrowed on the screen when he saw the name: Duron.
His heart rate kicked up a notch when he opened the message, his gaze scanning the screen. His hand was steady as his nostrils flared.
Kylo needs an assassin to go to Paraguay to help search for Devil. The job is yours. You know what to do…
Conrad looked up at the empty beach, his jaw firming with resolve. He would keep James safe for Wyatt. His cage brother deserved whatever happiness he found with James, whatever that was. And Conrad would use every skill he’d learned from the fuckheads to ensure Wyatt got it.
No one argued with the Fates, and they had decided that Wyatt and James were perfect for each other. Conrad trusted they knew what they were doing. After what he’d witnessed with all the other fated mates, how could they be wrong this time?
He shook his head. No! Wyatt was entitled to his happy ever after.
Firing the engine, Conrad shoved the cell into his shorts pocket and took hold of the throttle. Waves splashed up as he chased them, his mind already working out how to take Kylo on a ride that kept him occupied and distracted. Nothing on planet Earth would make him give up his cage brother, nothing.
Chapter Two
Kylo
They lied to me. Everyone fucking lied to me. Kylo was back at the mausoleum—his name for the house that plagued his nightmares. Devil’s house. The place the man who’d evaded Kylo’s reach for decades had been hiding, thumbing his nose at law enforcement while weaving his spell of fear and compliance among locals and the criminal element.
The place stank of blood. Despite the scrubbed tiled floors, Kylo doubted the place would ever smell clean. Even if every trace of blood and guts were removed from the grouting, the place would still stink of the evil that was the very soul of the man who’d lived there. The fact that none of the blood that filled Kylo’s nostrils was Devil’s, ate at Kylo’s insides like a cancer.
There has to be something! But even as Kylo paced the floors, his eyes scanning every inch of the marble that was becoming as familiar as the back of his hand, Kylo knew he wouldn’t find anything. Someone had helped the Devil escape. Someone who was unaffected during the carnage Duron and Beaumont had clearly caused—that someone had spirited Devil away to safety.
Realistically, it could’ve been anybody. Devil’s reach had thwarted Kylo so many fucking times over the decades, ever since he’d first heard that name whispered. Kylo wasn’t stupid—his instincts were telling him that someone close to Duron and Beaumont was responsible. He just didn’t know the why, how, or who, and that kept him awake every fucking night.
Beaumont—two-faced alligator shifter and head of the Shifter Council—yes, clearly, he still had some fighting mojo, as evidenced by the scene he and Duron had left for Kylo and his team to find. Kylo had never seen as many bodies in one place outside of a cemetery before. With the air ripening in the growing heat, there were times when it was all Kylo could do to keep his stomach from hurling the remains of lunch into the messy remains. But he’d persisted, searched, determined to find the one man who’d eluded him among all others… and came up short.
Had Beaumont stuck around for a debrief? Even given any explanation of what had gone down in the house of horrors? No. The bastard. The only thing Beaumont and his mate left behind was smashed furniture in the bedroom and a cheque to cover the replacement costs. By the time Kylo had gone to look for him, the council lead was on a plane with his mate, probably laughing at the mess he’d left behind.
Finding out, not that long afterward, that Beaumont’s mate Duron had been made a leader for the hybrid shifter community just increased Kylo’s anger.
Kylo hadn’t had an issue with the council while his brother Ben was in charge. Sure, he used to tease his younger brother at times for his fancy clothes and the way he didn’t like to get his hands dirty. When Ben tracked his mates to Kylo’s neighborhood, that’s when Kylo’s life turned into a shit sandwich. The level of depravity, the state Teilo and Nico had been in when they were found… Kylo could see Devil’s calling cards all over the place, and his need to find the elusive man increased and hardened.
Kylo’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he grabbed at it, angry that he was being disturbed. “Selina’s at the house,” his brother Nori said shortly. “She wants an update on her father.”
“She’s the fucking all-seeing-eye with her woo-woo magic—she should tell us.” Kylo ended the call. His brother didn’t deserve his anger, but Selina added another layer of hurt to his anger and frustration. She had been a trusted friend of the family for years.
There had been a short time two years earlier when Kylo fancied Selina might welcome his courtship. He was tired of living in his family home, surrounded by the constant noise and intrusion into his personal life, and longed for a place to call his own. He was constantly on edge, with no one to hold him at the end of a long day. So it was relatively easy to imagine things differently.
Kylo could see himself settling down with someone fragile and innocent—someone who struggled to navigate the real world due to her lack of speech. He pictured himself as her protector, keeping her safe while she nurtured him in return. It wasn’t so much her stunning looks that captivated him, but the serene strength that surrounded her fragile soul.
Hindsight was a funny thing. When he first realized Selina had betrayed him, betrayed his family, Kylo’s first feeling had been relief. If she’d accepted his clumsy efforts to let her know about his shifting viewpoint about her, then he’d have been forever tied to a traitor. And that went against the core of who he was. Kylo wasn’t perfect. He fully recognized and accepted his flaws, but he was as honorable as the day was long—even when he struggled to be.
Kicking at a discarded shoe left behind, Kylo went outside, breathing in the fresh air, as he made his way over to a fallen log and sat down. Somewhere in the trees to his right, a bird called to another. That was new. The first time Kylo had gone to the address left for him, there wasn’t a twitter from birds or a peep from insects. It was almost as though the trees themselves held their breath, unwilling to breathe in the evil from the house. Months later—fuck, has it really been that long—the birds were returning, and while Kylo was sure the living energy of the area would be forever scarred by the events that unfolded, he also believed nature was resilient. It would find a way to survive and thrive.
While I’m left to wallow in my thoughts, driving myself completely bonkers, because I have no fucking leads. Pulling out his phone again, Kylo checked the time. Another assassin was coming to town. Kylo didn’t know which one and he didn’t care. All he knew, from what he had gleaned from the Thalassas, from Ben and his mates, and from watching Beaumont and Duron together, was that the assassins were a tight-knit bunch.
It was clear they weren’t supposed to be, but Duron and Wyatt’s ability to communicate without words, and the trust they showed in each other while they viewed the rest of the world with distrust, spoke volumes. Even in the heat of the midday sun, Kylo shivered. The skills those assassins had were unnatural. Duron, with the test Kylo gave him, picking up impressions of people from words on a page—who could do that?
Selina? Someone else who wasn’t natural with her use of magic. Whatever happened to the good old days? Kylo sighed as he followed a bird’s progress through the leaves of a nearby tree. Criminals used to be so predictable. They’d do stupid stuff, either because they didn’t have two brain cells to rub together, or they were driven by a need, or even voices in their head. For Kylo and his brothers, the process was simple. Gather scents, track those scents down, sniff out the lies criminals inevitably told, and close the case.
Devil changed all that.
Kylo had no specific idea of what the man had actually done, mainly because the people working for Devil never spoke about him. They went to their deaths, keeping their loyalty to a man who’d been nothing more than a shadow in the darkness.
Then Selina was found and introduced into their lives by another family friend. She’d put up wards around their family home, supposedly to keep them safe… wards that were spying on us for her father, who turned out to be the Devil himself. Fuck.
Kylo ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t remember just how many conversations Selina would’ve overheard. It was a clear indication of one of the many ways Devil had remained so elusive for so many years. He knew what Kylo and his men were doing before they’d done it.
And then there was the assassin, Wyatt—another unanswered question. Kylo didn’t know for sure if Wyatt had anything to do with Devil’s disappearance. With all the smells of death in the house, it was impossible to isolate the scent of an assassin he barely knew. Wyatt had supposedly gone undercover—infiltrating Devil’s gang. His body wasn’t at the house when Beaumont and Duron left it, either.
So was he off on another mission? Or still part of the gang and therefore still one of Kylo’s problems? Or had he taken Devil for his own nefarious reasons, turned traitor on his assassin band of brothers?
It was the not knowing that itched at him like a burr under his fur. Kylo believed in honesty in all things, whether or not it did him any favors. It meant he could face himself in the mirror each morning and look himself in the eyes with a clear conscience.
That itch was why Kylo called Beaumont and demanded another assassin. Who better to track down an elusive assassin than another hybrid trained in the same ways?
Kylo was well aware of how horrific that training had been. He had read the information found in his own traitor’s office in the precinct, and the information Todd Thalassa had sent through about his brother’s mates. He’d seen for himself the state Nico and Teilo had been in when they’d rescued them. The scenes of death in the other cages was another frequent visitor in Kylo’s troubled brain when he tried to sleep at night. And, because he’d dealt with scum for most of his life, Kylo imagined a lot of what he’d read only skimmed the surface of what those shifters had been through. It had been horrific, there had been no other word for it, and Kylo didn’t wish that experience on anybody.
