Fate Succumbs Read online

  No food hit the floor.

  “Holy shit!” Pizza Guy exclaimed. “How did you do that? You were like The Flash, dude.”

  “Ummm… I work out?” I straightened back up slowly, as if the action would somehow negate the super-human swiftness I exhibited saving my pizza from a tragic end. I looked up, hoping my somewhat embarrassed smile would keep Pizza Guy from asking any more questions. Once I met his eyes, I realized that wasn’t going to be a problem. He was too busy doing the open-mouthed-staring-at-Scout thing people tend to do.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. “Yes, I’m pale. Yes, this is my real eye color. No, I don’t dye or bleach my hair to make it look like this.” I shoved the money towards him. “No change needed. Thanks.”

  He didn’t take the hint.

  “You’re her.” His eyes had grown huge behind the tops of his cheeks. “You’re her. That girl.” He waved his hand impatiently in front of him. “What’s your name?”

  I relaxed my face and willed it not to flush. “Elizabeth,” I said, giving the response Liam had drilled into me.

  “No, that’s not it.”

  “Ummm… I think I know my own name.” My heart was going all kinds of crazy in my chest. Who was this guy? He didn’t smell like a Shifter, and Liam said we were at least a hundred miles from the Chase Pack’s den.

  “No, really.” He was clearly getting very frustrated. “You’re that chick on TV.”

  I laughed. It was just one loud burst, more of a squawk than a laugh really, but it was the first one to escape in longer than I could remember. “Nope. That’s not me.” I looked over my shoulder at the motel room with its stained once-was-shag-but-is-now-matted carpet and mismatched bedspreads. “I mean, would I be standing here in this room if I was?”

  He didn’t seem convinced. “I can help you,” he stage whispered. “I’ll get you out of here.”

  He didn’t reek of pot, so he hadn’t been smoking. My money was on pills. Lots and lots of pills.

  “It’s alright,” I assured him. “You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

  He still didn’t budge. I thought I was going to have to literally push him out the door when Liam stepped out of the bathroom.

  “Who are you?” Liam asked in his oh-so-friendly manner.

  “Pizza Guy,” I answered since Pizza Guy seemed frozen to the spot and incapable of speech. I suppose a six and a half foot tall glowering muscle man probably has that effect on some people. “He was just leaving.”

  Liam came up behind me and put one hand on the top of the door. “Thanks. See ya,” he said, nudging Pizza Guy out with the door. Once we heard him shuffle back to his car, which was several long minutes later, Liam turned his glare on me. “What were you doing?”

  “Getting our dinner?”

  That, apparently, was the wrong answer.

  “What part of ‘in hiding’ don’t you understand?”

  “The part where I hide from Pizza Guy?” Was he seriously yelling at me for getting our food? “What was I supposed to do there, Oh Wise One?”

  “Hand him the money, take the boxes, and shut the door. There was no need for discussion.”

  In a move of utmost maturity, I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for the love of all things shiny, not all of us can survive in the real world with glares and few well placed grunts. We have to rely on speech and social norms.”

  He turned the normal Liam glare up a few notches so it appeared laser beams were about to shoot out of his eyes. I’ve spent my whole life dealing with bullies - when you look like an escapee from the circus freak show they’re pretty much a staple in your life - so he didn’t scare me… much.

  “Come on, Liam.” I used my talking-to-a-two-year-old voice. “Use your words.”

  “How about these words? You. Screwed. Up.”

  I wanted to throw something, but since my arms were loaded with the food I fully intended on eating, I restrained myself. I did, however, growl and stomp my foot.

  “What? You think Pizza Guy is a spy for the Alpha Pack? That Sarvarna and her army is going to descend on the motel while we sleep?”

  A much more impressive growl escaped from Liam’s throat. “I told you not to talk to anyone.”

  “You’re not the boss of me,” I said, borrowing a phrase from my seven year old sister.

  Liam leaned forward, his nose hovering just inches from mine. I could feel the Dominance leaking off him, charging the air with feral energy. “Yes, I am.”

  I rose up on my tip-toes, as if that would make me seem bigger and more intimidating. “No, you’re not.” I flashed my teeth, a sure sign Wolf Scout was in control. “I’m not going to come to heel like some whipped puppy just because you’ve got your panties in a bunch.” My hands flexed as if my claws were trying to make a reappearance. “He was just a guy delivering pizza. It’s no big deal.”

  “And if you’re wrong?”

  “Then I’ll get down on my knees and kiss your feet while begging for forgiveness.”

  He pulled back, and the energy in the room calmed. “Food,” he said, holding out a hand. Since there was no cheese to hold the “double all the meat” on his pizza, I made sure to give the box a good shake as I passed it over.

  Chapter 3

  The knock at the door sounded like gunfire to my super-sensitive ears. My nostrils flared, trying to decipher who it could be, as Liam pulled back the edge of the curtain.

  Hide! he mouthed, looking back at me in alarm.

  We were still in the world’s oldest and dirtiest motel somewhere just past the the Colorado border. The beds were the kind with wood panels along the edges, blocking the obvious hiding spot. Where? I mouthed back. Not like it would matter where I hid if it was a member of the Alpha Pack, but my nose was telling me it was just a normal human. I could smell a manly smell - a mixture of Old Spice and natural eau de boy - along with coffee, fried food and sugar. There was no hint of a wolf scent underneath, nor the tickle of power other Shifters and Seers give off.

  Liam looked around for a second before nodding at the paneled ceiling above the sink alcove. Lycan strength made it possible for me to hop onto the vanity, slide back the tile, and hoist my body up in a matter of seconds. I was just sliding the tile back home when the pounding on the door started up a second time.

  “Can I help you, Officer?” Liam’s voice drifted through the ceiling where I was folded up like a burrito. There wasn’t a lot of space between the the little drop down ceiling and the actual roof. Added onto the burden of having roughly a three foot by four foot by one foot space to squeeze in my five foot eight inch frame into, I had to be careful where I put my weight. I’m thinking even the most clueless of police officers could find me if I came crashing down through the ceiling.

  I fastidiously ignored the inch of dust and grime covering every inch of the crawlspace and the scampering noises.

  “I’m following up on a tip we received this morning,” came the voice of a man who sounded to be older than dad age, but not quite grandfather age. “Mind if I come in?”

  The door hissed against the carpet and the smell of coffee and donuts got stronger.

  Seriously? The cop smells of coffee and donuts? I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud.

  “Are you here alone?” Cliché Cop asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Were you last night?”

  There was a pause and the sound of something rubbing together. It must have been Liam rubbing the back of head, a habit of his, because his smell momentarily intensified.

  “I…ummm…” A gulp. “I had company last night.”

  “I see.” The cop was moving around in the tiny motel room. I heard him slide open a drawer. Did he think I was hiding in the dresser? “Don’t suppose it was your sister or something like that.”

  Liam made a sound which might have be a laugh, although it couldn’t have been since he didn’t know how. “No. Definitely not a sister.”

  “A friend?”
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  “Just a girl I met in the bar last night.”

  The cop was now standing directly below me. I made a conscious effort to breath more quietly, which of course made it sound like an elephant was panting for breath.

  “Don’t suppose you got her name and number?”

  “Beth. Or Elizabeth. Yeah, Elizabeth. That’s what she said her name was.” Liam sat down on the bed. “Listen, man, she told me she was nineteen. She said she went to college. I swear. I mean, I met her at a bar.”

  The cop ignored Liam’s extremely well done panic attack. “Was this the girl you were with last night?”

  The silence seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, Liam said, “No. I mean, that Elizabeth chick was a blonde and looked a little bit like this girl in the face, but she didn’t look this… weird.” My face flushed with embarrassment and hurt, which was just ridiculous. Of course Liam thought I was weird looking. I am weird looking. Somehow, though, hearing that didn’t help.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Man, I was a little buzzed last night, but not drunk enough to forget that.” Yep, definitely not helping. “Is this Photoshopped? Or is this chick for real?”

  “You don’t know who this is?”

  The bed springs creaked. “I’m telling you, I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

  “That’s interesting,” the cop said in a way that said he found it to be something a bit more than interesting. “Haven’t you been watching the news lately?”

  “The news? No. I can’t really afford cable at home, been laid off from the plant for six months now. I’m actually on my way up to Denver to see about a job my cousin thinks he can get me.” Liam shifted on the bed again. “Has something happened to this girl? Is she missing or something?”

  “Or something,” the cop said. The sound of paper on paper and then, “Here’s my card. If you change your mind, decide maybe this is the girl you were with last night, give me a call.”

  “Of course.” Liam stood up and moved towards the door. “Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. I hope they find this girl, and she’s okay and everything.”

  The cop snorted. “Don’t count on it.”

  I was going to wait until Liam gave me the all clear before coming down, but then I felt something on the back of my neck. Something hairy and crunchy.

  I rolled out of the ceiling and onto the vanity, pulling chunks of hair out in my attempt to get the hell spawn off of me.

  Liam was completely unaffected by my hysterics. While I frantically searched my body for creepy-crawlies, he turned the TV to CNN. After a story about yet another celebrity entering rehab after making a complete and total idiot out of themselves within twenty feet of someone with a video camera, which is to say “in public”, my face appeared on the screen.

  “The search still continues for Harper Donovan, granddaughter of Senate Majority Leader William Harper,” the anchor woman said as I stared at my senior yearbook picture. “Donovan has been missing since a car crash over two weeks ago. The crash occurred just miles from her home, and according to the Senator’s spokespeople, was the work of a radical militant group known as God’s Army of Defenders.”

  The screen changed to show a video of people examining a crash site in what appeared to be the Land Between the Lakes National Forest near my home in Lake County. It was hard to see past all the emergency response vehicles, but the cameraman finally got an angle clearly showing the car my grandfather gave me for graduation wrapped around the trunk of a tree.

  “The crash occurred around 3:00 a.m. on the morning of August third. According to a statement given to police by the girl’s parents, Donovan had been camping with her brother and some friends that night. One of the crash survivors, Talley Matthews, said a large, unmarked black SUV began following them as soon as they left their campsite to head into town for provisions. When Donovan, who was driving, tried to lose the vehicle, they began nudging the smaller Toyota. Eventually, Donovan lost control, crashing into a tree at what experts believe to be about forty miles per hour.”

  The screen cut back to the studio where a stone-faced anchor woman relayed the lies of the night I went missing. “In a press conference given two nights ago, local police stated that after the crash three men in masks approached the car. Two of the men held guns on the other occupants as a third lifted an unconscious Donovan out of the vehicle and carried her back to their SUV.

  “Four people were in the car when it crashed. Matthews and Jase Donovan, Harper Donovan’s step-brother, both escaped with minor injuries. Charles Hagan, the third passenger, is still in critical condition due to both injuries sustained in the crash and a bullet wound inflicted when he attempted to stop the abduction of the senator’s granddaughter. Although his wounds are extensive, Hagan is expected to make a full recovery.

  “Another unidentified man who came to assist when he heard the car crash is also in critical condition due to a gunshot wound inflicted during the incident. He is reported to be on life sustaining equipment and doctors are not hopeful about his prognosis.”

  I sucked in a breath and then couldn’t let it out again thanks to my throat, which decided to close itself off.

  “The incident was kept under wraps until just three days ago when Senator Donovan released a statement to the press stating he had received a ransom demand from known members of God’s Army of Defenders. The letter was received by his office on August fifteenth and verified by government intelligence officials as legitimate twenty-four hours later. In the letter, of which CNN has been able to obtain an exclusive copy, a member known as Michael Avett asks for several members of both his organization and the Secret Brotherhood be released from government holding facilities by the end of the month if the senator wants to see his granddaughter alive again.

  “As you may remember, Senator Harper has been very outspoken--”

  “Turn it off,” I choked out through the tiny opening that was once my throat.

  “--Many experts believe his vote on Senate Bill--”

  “Turn it off!”

  The screen went black, and I concentrated on pulling air into my lungs.

  “Charlie…” Oh God. I had left him standing there in the middle of all that carnage knowing the rest of the Alpha Pack was closing in. What did they mean critical condition? Two weeks in critical condition was bad, right? I mean, if he was going to get better, he would have by now. And a gunshot wound? I had heard the gun go off, and I kept running. I chose my life, my freedom, over Charlie’s. What the hell was wrong with me? “What will they do to him when he recovers?”

  “Depends on what happens to Stefan.” Liam began moving around the room, shoving the few things we had back into the two duffel bags that had been in the trunk of the car when we made our escape. “If he lives, he will be under the protection of the Alpha Male, putting him on the exact same level as any children Stefan and Sarvarna might have. Even if he dies, Charlie will probably be offered a position in the Alpha Pack.”

  I opened my mouth, shut it, and then tried again. “Charlie shot Stefan.”

  Raising a single eyebrow, Liam said, “You shot Stefan.”

  “No, I’m pretty sure it was Charlie.” There may be many things wrong with me, but memory loss isn’t one of them. It was the night of my trial, after the Alphas delivered the guilty verdict. Not one to keep an innocent girl wasting away on death row, the Stratego led me out in the woods to dutifully remove my head from my shoulders. My arms were handcuffed behind my back. Charlie had hugged me, a last goodbye, and then pulled a gun. He shot Stefan in the chest before the Stratego tackled him.

  Charlie shot Stefan and killed Mandla. Liam killed Hashim. I killed Travis.

  “How do you explain Charlie’s gunshot wound?”

  “Bob? Cory? Rocco?” I named off the three Taxiarho, the Shifters in the Alpha Pack stationed just below the Stratego who also oversaw my care.

  “No, it was you. You managed to get out of your handcuffs and attacked the guards. Because of t
he life debt, Charlie was forced to protect you in the battle, although he tried very hard not to actually inflict any true damage to any member of the Alpha Pack. Once they were all dead by your hand, you shot Charlie, knowing he would bring you back to face your rightful punishment. He had, after all, shown the strictest of adherence to Shifter rules and traditions.”

  “What are you talking about? That isn’t what happened at all.”

  Liam walked over the sink and began to gather up strands of hair. “Makes more sense than Charlie turning on the Alpha Pack, who considered him a friend, and then shooting himself.”

  My butt slammed down onto the corner of the mattress when my knees finally gave out. “I… What…?” I shook my head, hoping to clear some of the confusion but only jumbled my thoughts further. “I don’t understand.”

  “Charlie worked for two weeks to gain the confidence of the Alpha Pack. He claimed the life debt, which gave him an excuse to be near you, but it also gave him the appearance of someone who followed the old traditions. The Alpha Pack likes the old traditions. It’s what gives them absolute rule.” Liam’s hair scavenging duties took him to the bed where I slept. “By the time your trial rolled around, he was highly regarded by Stefan. I even heard the Alpha Male offer him a position in the Alpha Pack as they walked to your execution sight.”

  I nodded. I had heard that too.

  “When the Taxiarho finally made it to the clearing after hearing the first shots fired, they found three dead Stratego, a mortally wounded Alpha Male, and Charlie with what was supposed to be an almost life-threatening gunshot wound.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I told him to watch the artery. Dammit. I should have Changed back and done it myself.”

  With nothing else to do for two weeks, I had plenty of time to think about what happened that night. It was obvious Charlie and Talley had been working with Liam. I mean, they both knew where the truck would be, and Talley had shown me through our more-special-than-most Seer-Shifter link where to go. Since the clothes found in the trunk of the get-away car were made for Liam’s hulking body as opposed to Charlie’s much shorter and more lithe frame, I knew Liam had been a part of the plan from the beginning, not just a guardian wolf who happened to show up at the right time. But hearing the plan aloud, realizing that it was more complicated than just asking Liam to take me away and hide me, seeing it was Liam’s plan all along… There was an actual threat that I might go catatonic from information overload. My brain was in serious danger of completely shorting out on me.