Lure of Oblivion

She gave him a mocking smile. Maybe if she pissed him off, his focus would remain on her and he’d forget about hurting Yvonne. “Oh, you’re waiting for me to be scared and start to cry? You should have packed a lunch, Moore—this is gonna be a long night. Although I might have taken you more seriously if you hadn’t raised a kid that tempts me to OD on birth-control pills.”

Pain exploded behind her cheekbone as he slapped her hard enough to send her head whipping to the side. Brandt laughed. And for a reason that she couldn’t explain, Gwen laughed too . . . which sort of cut Brandt’s laugh short.

The lights flickered, and floorboards creaked. Nelson’s eyes widened and darted around, searching for the source of the noise. The others looked just as uneasy. Ha.

“Kenny won’t like this, you know,” said Gwen.

Alarm briefly flashed in Ezra’s eyes. “Yes, he made that clear. I agreed to leave you be. He’ll never know it was me.”

Was he for real? “He’s gonna guess, Moore. It won’t exactly take detective work to figure it out.”

Sidling up to Ezra, Moira snorted. “It’s not like you and he are close.”

“But I’m still his daughter. He warned you to keep away from me, didn’t he, Ezra? Warned you to keep Brandt away from me. So this . . . yeah, he really won’t like it.”

“Who’s ever going to believe that I would work with shifters?” Ezra shook his head. “No, Rory will take the blame . . . though he doesn’t know it yet.”

“Rory didn’t tell you anything about himself, did he, Moore?” Gwen gave him a look filled with pity. “He won’t let you live to tattle on him. He won’t honor any agreements he made with you. In fact, he’ll probably kill all of you and any mercenaries who survive so he can then pocket your money and whatever else he can steal from you. The guy is fucked in the head . . . a little like your son, actually.”

Moira slapped her, sneering, “Don’t you talk about my boy. Because of you, he’s in absolute agony as we speak.”

Cheek stinging, Gwen sighed. “Moira, I’m gonna have to ask you to turn down the neurotic thing you got going on just a bit, okay. Seriously, there are such things called consequences. Brandt faced them for what he did. He was punished.”

“Well, now you will be too,” she spat. “You’ll be punished for betraying your own kind.”

As long as it wasn’t Yvonne being hurt, Gwen could take it. Zander would come soon. He’d help her. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. What is this? Is it that you want to die? Is this, like, a suicide mission? Because I can get behind that.”

“Shut up,” Moira hissed.

“If you hurt me, you will die. Zander will never let it go. He will hunt and track and rip you into little pieces.”

Ezra scoffed. “He won’t live through this night. He’ll be killed by his own kind, just like my son was betrayed by his own kind.”

“Are we still on that? I didn’t betray anyone’s kind. I told the truth. You should try it some time.” She tensed as Ezra raised his hand, but he didn’t slap her this time. “Seriously, you really haven’t thought this through, Moore. Let’s say your plan works, all your mercenaries earn their pay, and you manage to kill me. Do you honestly think that Zander’s pack and their allies won’t retaliate? They will kill you. All of you. Every. Last. One.”

Unease rippled across Ezra’s face. “If they come for anyone, it will be Rory.”

“No, Moore, because they’re not stupid like you.”

Brandt snarled. “All we’ll have done is killed two measly humans. You and Yvonne are no one to them. They won’t bother avenging you.”

“Yeah, little boy, they will . . . because I’m part of the Mercury Pack now too. I mated Zander.”

Ezra’s face went slack. “That’s a lie.”

Gwen smirked. “No, talking bullshit is your thing. I wear his mark. He wears mine.”

Nelson hissed a curse. “She’s no better than one of them now, Ezra. Let’s get this done. We need to get on with this and leave. If she’s telling the truth, he’ll feel her pain through that weird mating-bond thing. He’ll come for her.”

Very true, and that made Gwen smile.

“I’m not rushing this,” said Ezra.

“Then we need to go down to the second floor and do it there,” insisted Nelson.

Ezra’s face scrunched up. “Why?”

Nelson’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I don’t like it up here. I heard the third floor is haunted.”

Ezra snickered. “Don’t be so ridiculous.” But his eyes darted around, wary.

Gwen hid her smirk, but Yvonne didn’t as she said, “He’s right, you know. This floor sees the most paranormal activity. Didn’t you notice the lights flashing on and off? Don’t you feel that draft? I don’t think the ghosts like what you’re doing.”

“Ask them for me after we kill you and you join them,” Moira snarled. And then she backhanded Yvonne so hard that the woman almost fell back against the wall.

Without thought, Gwen lunged for the bitch, but Nelson wrapped his big, thick arms around her and pulled her out of the way.

“Now you get to watch as they hurt her,” Brandt said with a cruel smile. “You get a front-row seat.”

Ezra’s boot slammed into Yvonne’s stomach, and Gwen tried lunging again. She failed again. One of Nelson’s arms released her, and cold metal dug into her forehead.

“Try that again, and I’ll shoot you right now.”

Fuck.

The wolf clamped his jaws around the leg of the barely moving cheetah. He spun the cat, sending it sliding into the murky river. Then he stood, sides heaving. His fur was matted with blood, mud, and the odious marsh water. His injuries burned, but the wolf ignored the pain.

The mercenaries were strong. Fast. But they did not work as a unit—not like the wolf, his pack mates, and the Phoenix wolves. That made the mercenaries vulnerable.

Sharp teeth dug into his rear leg. The wolf whirled hard enough to dislodge the attacker. The fox tumbled, rolled. The wolf pounced, biting down on the fox’s neck and raking open its stomach . . . watching as the life left its eyes.

At the sound of a roar, the wolf snapped his head up. A lioness was charging through the high grass, eyes blazing. The wolf braced himself, snarling.