Darkness Awakened Read online

  But if things had worked out, he’d have been the one who’d fathered a child with Lyra instead of some nameless, faceless, irresponsible vampire. The chance of that kind of mating was impossibly rare, but in his fantasy world he and Lyra had a family together. At that thought, something tickled his memory bank. He tried to put his finger on it, but the thought was annoyingly elusive. He felt as if he should be remembering something, but couldn’t. As he racked his brain, his cell buzzed in his jacket pocket.

  It was Rene. Be there in five minutes. Finn relayed the message to Lyra who’d already ordered and drank half of her next drink. She almost seemed to relax at the news.

  But the more minutes that ticked by, the edgier they both got. One hour, then two passed. After texting Rene a dozen times, he placed a few bills on the table and they left.

  Once alone with Lyra in the parking lot, he readied himself for her rejection as he slid an arm around her shoulders. To his surprise she leaned into him and braced a hand against his chest. Leaning his chin against the top of her forehead, he was silent for a long moment.

  She broke the silence, her voice shaky as she pulled back to look at him. “Finn, there’s something I need to tell you—”

  His phone buzzed again, breaking them apart. Her breath caught as he looked at the caller ID. He shook his head. “It’s not Rene.” But it was Gabriel. He’d had his Guardian run Rene’s phone records before they’d even met with the guy. Normally Finn had someone else in his pack take care of stuff like this but he was playing everything close to the chest. Sure his pack knew he’d been housing a vampire, but Gabriel was the only one who knew exactly why she was there. He planned to keep it that way until he had a better grasp of what was going on.

  Rene’s phone off or dead. No way to track. Will keep trying. Also found listings of recently rented beach houses in area. Check email for addresses and advise further instructions.

  After what Lyra had told him about her daughter hearing the ocean, Finn had also had Gabriel run down a comprehensive listing of recently rented beach houses in the area. Since it was winter a lot of those homes would be closed, but it still might be a big number to search. He didn’t like the thought of involving anyone other than Gabriel in the search just yet. After seeing how many places there were to check, he would decide exactly who to involve. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his pack, but Lyra was still a vampire and some prejudices ran deep among his kind.

  “We might have a starting point,” he said to Lyra as he opened the passenger door.

  Her face was a mask, but her eyes sparked with too much hope for him to even think about letting her down. If he had to tear apart the entire city they’d find her daughter.

  He held the door for her, but as she slid into the seat, he heard a very soft clicking sound. She heard it too. Her eyes widened and before he could move, she used her lightning fast vampire speed and lunged at him. Using her strength and agility she wrapped her arms around his waist, shoving him onto the front of the car next to his.

  Rolling them, he placed his body between Lyra’s and the truck as they dove over the other car. An explosion ripped through the air, the concussion of the sound vibrating through his ears, making his teeth shake.

  Glass and debris rained down on them. Something sharp pierced his back and one of his legs but he kept his position. Lyra was shouting something at him but he couldn’t make it out. He was pretty sure one of his eardrums had ruptured.

  He blinked and shook his head as his hearing suddenly and very sharply came back. Thank God for supernatural healing.

  Lyra reached up and stroked his cheek, concern in her face. She wiped at his jaw line, fury in her gaze as she drew back blood. “You could have died,” she whispered, fear and more than that—raw anger—in her trembling voice.

  You could have too. Before he could point that out, her eyes narrowed, the raw rage pulsing off her like a live wire. He’d never seen this side to her before. “I know this might have been a setup by that guy Rene, but is it possible someone in your pack was behind this? Exactly who knew where we’d be tonight?”

  There were any number of possibilities of who was behind this kind of attack. None of them good. When he found out who’d tried to kill not only him, but Lyra, heads would roll.

  Chapter Six

  “What are you doing?” Lyra asked, wiping the gravelly dust off her pants as she hurried after him.

  “Hold on,” he muttered, his phone up to his ear as he strode across the parking lot.

  “What the hell happened?” Bo asked. Either he’d seen the explosion on a video feed or one of his employees had told him.

  “Someone rigged my SUV to blow. You get anything on video?” Because Finn knew the half-demon had the entire place under surveillance.

  “I’m scanning the videos as we speak. You guys okay?”

  “We’re fine. I’m leaving though. I’m sending some pack members to clean it up.” Including one of his trackers to see if he could find anything Finn hadn’t been able to scent. Normally he’d stick around, but he wanted Lyra far away from this. Glancing over his shoulder, some of his tension eased when he saw that no one from the club was coming to check it out. Bo was probably keeping everyone on lockdown for the time being.

  “All right. I’ll keep the scene secure. Humans won’t be a problem,” he added.

  Finn already knew that though. The place was back far enough from any main roads that unless you knew where it was, no one should be in the vicinity of the warehouse. And Bo owned all the surrounding property as an extra buffer. If for some reason human law enforcement showed up, someone at the club could convince them to leave using psychic persuasion. As a rule Finn didn’t like the practice, but when it came to hiding the existence of supernatural beings, he made an exception.

  The second he hung up, Lyra gently touched his forearm. The feel of her fingers on his skin was electric. After all these years he shouldn’t be affected by her so damn much. Looking down at her, he didn’t pause. “I want you away from there.”

  She frowned, but kept stride with him. “I didn’t scent anything other than explosive materials, but we might have missed something. We should go back.”

  He knew she was right. But that wasn’t happening. If the explosion was part of a staged attack, it could have been the first element in a strike against him. Or more likely her. He couldn’t completely rule out someone trying to take over his territory; that this had been orchestrated because a new Alpha wanted to move in. But he was ninety-nine percent sure it wasn’t another Alpha. No self-respecting shifter would resort to these tactics. It would make them appear weak. Another Alpha would just challenge him to a fight to the death.

  No, his gut told him this had everything to do with Lyra’s missing daughter. Glancing away from her, he shot off half a dozen texts, sending orders to his packmates. One to Gabriel, four to his most trusted warriors and one to his best tracker. “I’m sending a tracker in,” he murmured as he read his packmates’ affirmative responses.

  Sliding his phone into his pants pocket as they reached a neighboring, empty warehouse, he stopped once they were behind it for privacy. No security floodlights flipped on, but with their eyesight and the moonlight, they could see everything clearly. For a mile behind the warehouse was another gravelly area of flat land so he wasn’t worried about a surprise attack. After he’d scanned the surrounding area visually and using his heightened scent, he turned to face her. “My trackers are better at hunting unique scents than you or I.”

  Her lips pulled into a thin line as she nodded. “I figured. I just don’t like leaving the site unsecured.” She peered around the corner of the warehouse in the direction of the totaled vehicle before moving behind the building once again.

  “Bo is watching it and my packmates will be here in less than five minutes.” Gabriel had already been on standby when Finn had told him he was coming to Bo’s place. His Guardian had been pissed Finn was going alone with Lyra, but he didn’t give a shi
t.

  She crossed her arms over her chest, her expression fierce, though worry lingered in the depths of her eyes. “What now?”

  “Gabriel’s on his way with a new vehicle for us. While my packmates try to hunt down the scent, we’re going to start hitting up addresses of newly rented vacation homes along the beach. There are a lot.”

  She blinked as she digested his words. “Of course. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.” She shook her head, her self-disgust clear.

  Reaching out, he tugged on one of her hips, pulling her close. To his surprise, she leaned into him, her piercing gaze on his. “That’s good, but what about unused places? If someone is trying to hide my daughter they might just use a home closed up for the winter, not rent a place.”

  He nodded at her reasoning, something he’d already thought of himself. The truth was, whoever had taken her daughter could even own a home, which would make searching that much more difficult. But he had to narrow down search zones somehow until he had a better lead. “It won’t be just you and me hunting for her. My Guardian will be helping us and so will four of my warriors. The tracker will be trying to hunt down any scents from the bomb, but—”

  “You told your packmates about my daughter?” She tried to step back, but he held firm.

  She could have shoved him off if she’d truly wanted to, but she stilled, which told him all he needed to know. She was welcoming his touch even if she was angry. His other hand searched out her other hip. “I just texted them with orders to meet me to form a hunting party. Gabriel and I will divide the addresses when they arrive. My warriors didn’t know about this meeting if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  At his words she relaxed a fraction. “So what are you telling them?”

  “The truth. That an old friend needs help finding her kidnapped daughter and my pack will be providing all the services she needs. And, that no one else is privy to this information.”

  “You trust these warriors?” Her voice was hesitant.

  He nodded. “With my life. They supported me before I defeated my uncle.”

  She swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay. If you trust them, I trust them.” Placing her palms gently against his chest, her fingers dug into him for a moment.

  The feel of her set him on fire. He hated the circumstances, but having Lyra this close was making his wolf crazy. Making him crazy with a hunger he just couldn’t contain anymore.

  She continued. “Thank you for doing this. You don’t owe me anything and—”

  Taking himself by surprise, he bent his head and crushed his mouth over hers. They’d have less than sixty seconds before his men arrived, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want her gratitude, he just wanted her. Had from the moment he’d spotted her in that bar all those years ago. Right now he also wanted to make her suffering stop. To give her just a few seconds of peace. Her hands fisted the front of his shirt, twisting it tightly as his tongue stroked hers, hungry and urgent. She met him stroke for stroke, her tongue flicking against his in a way that reminded him of raw fucking.

  Her taste was addicting.

  Erotic.

  And everything he’d been missing for seventeen years.

  Abruptly he pulled back, breathing hard and trying to will his body under control. His erection pressed painfully against his zipper and he wished they were anywhere else under any other circumstances. Not one where she was worried out of her mind for her daughter. Finding Vega, giving Lyra peace, that he could do. Hell, he’d tear this damn city apart to find her daughter. Yeah, because it was the right thing to do, but also because this was Lyra. He would do anything for this female. “I’m sorry,” he said tightly, stepping back from her.

  She looked as if she might respond, but at the sound of vehicles approaching they both paused and looked around the corner of the warehouse. “Is that your pack?”

  “Yeah.” Once the headlights turned off, he clearly recognized all six vehicles.

  Seconds later four warriors, one tracker, and Gabriel and Victoria got out of their respective vehicles. Gabriel must have asked Victoria to follow so he’d have a mode of transportation. That wasn’t a surprise. They had an interesting relationship; one the pack had speculated about, but Finn knew the truth. They were more like brother and sister than some true pack siblings. They would both die for each other, but anything sexual—hell no.

  “Come on,” he murmured to Lyra as they headed across the lot.

  He watched out of the corner of his eye as Lyra continued scanning the area, ever vigilant. As they neared his packmates, he sensed the tension rolling off them as they eyed her. Well, from everyone but Victoria. She just watched Lyra with open curiosity but that was it. No hostility or anxiety. It was one of the reasons he liked the tall shifter. She almost never judged you unless you gave her a reason to.

  Knowing there was no time to waste, he looked at his tracker Spiro first. “Someone rigged my vehicle to explode with me in it. See if you can pick up a scent on anything.” He placed a light hand on Lyra’s shoulder and watched as seven sets of eyes tracked the movement, but he ignored them. “Rule out her scent now. Anything else unusual, report to me immediately. Track if you can.”

  Nodding, Spiro moved into action, the lean shifter not questioning his order. Next he focused on the remaining warriors. “Did you all receive the list of addresses from Gabriel?”

  At their nods, he continued. “This is my friend Lyra. Her fifteen-year-old daughter has been kidnapped and is being held somewhere in the city. Our objective is to rescue her. Her captors should be taken alive if possible, but dead works too.” The only reason he wanted them alive was to question them. Then he would take their lives. As an Alpha, he couldn’t let the kidnapping of innocent females in his region go unpunished. Even if it had been acceptable among his kind, his own moral compass would never allow it.

  “At this point all we know is that we’re looking for a location near the ocean. Lyra and I will take the first ten addresses.” From there he ordered his four warriors to each take the next set of ten, making sure the locations they would be searching were near each other so no one was wasting time driving too far in between residences. Finn could have told them over the phone but he wanted everyone to see his support—and possessiveness—of Lyra firsthand.

  He had no clue what the future held for them, but he knew what he wanted with her. To make that happen, he had to make his feelings and loyalty toward her clear now. Even more than he wanted to show his pack, he wanted it clear to her that he had her back. That she could trust him.

  Jason, one of his youngest pack members, but also incredibly strong, cleared his throat. “Why are we searching for a missing vampire?” When Finn growled low, Jason held up his hands, palms out. “I’m only asking what everyone else wants to know. This vampire shows up, it’s the first we’ve ever heard of her and now we’re helping look for her daughter—I’m just curious.”

  “Do you need a reason to obey your Alpha’s orders?” Lyra asked, her voice dripping with ice.

  Finn’s inner wolf smiled, all razor sharp teeth ready to strike this pup. He liked that his female—and she would be again soon—didn’t back down to anyone.

  Jason straightened, his jaw tightening in annoyance. Before Finn could respond, Victoria snorted. “If you need a reason to help find a fifteen-year-old kid in trouble, then you’re an asshole, Jason.”

  The other three warriors chuckled lightly, dispelling the growing tension. As they all started to head to their vehicles, Finn stopped them. “The parameters of this mission don’t leave this group for the time being.” Which meant even the mated ones wouldn’t tell their significant others. Something he didn’t have to specify to these hardened men.

  Once everyone but Gabriel and Victoria were gone, Finn looked at Lyra. “You ready?”

  “How do we know she isn’t lying? Or this isn’t part of some other scheme to start a war between us and vamps? You don’t even know if she has a daughter.” Gabriel’s voice
was challenging, his expression deadly.

  Victoria, who had already made it halfway back to their vehicle, turned on her heel, her green eyes wide. “Gabriel, what the hell?”

  “My word is good enough, that’s how you know.” He pinned his Guardian with a hard stare, his inner wolf daring Gabriel to question him again. For how tightly he was wound, he was walking a tightrope of control right now.

  After a long moment, Gabriel lowered his gaze, though nothing about his stance or expression reflected the submissive gesture. Despite his attitude, Finn knew he wouldn’t have a problem with the other wolf. They butted heads all the time, but Gabriel always supported him. Even if he didn’t always agree with him.

  Once Finn and Lyra were in his SUV, Finn plugged the nearest address on his list into his GPS. He was familiar enough with the city that he knew where most neighborhoods were, but he didn’t want to waste time.

  Lyra let out a long breath as he steered out of the parking lot. “I’m sorry for any issues I’m causing with your pack.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. If they don’t like it they can leave or challenge me.”

  “I’m still sorry,” she said quietly. The truth pulsed off her in a wave of tension he felt and scented. “For so long I hated you for pushing me away when I came to you.”

  Surprised by the statement, his entire body turned to ice. He might have known she’d harbored anger, and yes hate, toward him, but hearing the words was like a silver dagger to his chest.

  “Now I think you might have been right,” she continued. “Even if we’d run away together, no one would have ever accepted our relationship.” There was such a stark note of sadness in her voice it just embedded the dagger even farther.

  “I questioned my decision every fucking day, Lyra.” And every day he buried his pain just a little bit deeper. Being separated from her had given him the edge of rage he’d needed to kill his uncle. It was like he’d lost part of himself when she’d gone. And he’d blamed his uncle, his rage simmering and growing every second of every day.