Banded Brothers 03 - To Enchant An Eagle (7 page)

BOOK: Banded Brothers 03 - To Enchant An Eagle
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Chapter Seven
M

arty lay there for a moment. He could feel the spell breaking down, chipping away beneath the onslaught of his will. His hawk half still slumbered, but maybe he could at least get his human part moving.

“What the hell happened?” Carey walked into the room with Broden quickly following.
Opening his mouth, Marty still couldn’t speak. His one scream had apparently taken all his sound ability for the moment.
“I don’t think he can talk, love,” Broden said. The cat shifter examined Marty with an unnerving stare. For a moment, he had a flash of insight of a bird’s emotions when spotting a cat stalking it as prey.
“That sorcerer friend of Eaton’s was going to stop by here,” Carey said.
“Well, he did some sort of spell, that’s for sure. This place reeks of magic,” Broden wrinkled his nose at the scent.
“Hmm, I’m going to call Denton and Harris. I need to rally the troops. Eaton wouldn’t abandon Marty like this. Something happened.”
“I’ll call my cats in also. If Eaton has been taken, we have the best trackers.”
“We can look from the sky.”
To Marty’s surprise, Tim, one of his hawk shifters, entered the room with a couple other hawks on his heels.
“You want to help?” Carey’s surprised tone reflected Marty’s viewpoint.
Tim folded his arms and looked directly at Marty. “We didn’t get upset because you wanted to stay in one place, Marty. We were upset because you didn’t ask us to stay with you. We will follow you anywhere, but you just gave up on us. We’ll help get your mate back even if he doesn’t like us, but we’d like to have a group meeting afterward.”
“I’m sure he’d be happy to talk to you,” Carey spoke for him. “Let’s hope the spell wears off soon.”
Broden sniffed. “It’s already fading.”
“Good.”
“Tim, you go gather the hawks. Broden, get your cats together and I’ll call my friends.”
“Don’t forget your father,” Broden said. The big cat shifter winced after he said those words.
Carey laughed, but shook his head. “We might have to do this without Dad. He left town.”
“Damn, the one time I was hoping to see Aden,” Broden muttered.
“I’ll text him what’s going on and get his advice,” Carey said. “He can help us remotely if necessary.”
Everyone scattered. Marty had to admire the quick thinking Carey used in marshaling his resources. No wonder Eaton spoke so highly of a mere human.
Marty had to agree with Broden though. This was one time he would’ve been happy to see the slightly psychotic father figure.
A cramp went up his spine. “Crap,” he muttered.
Excitement rushed through him. Marty tried to sit up. He laughed when his muscles obeyed and he gained full mobility. The aches and pains from his broken bones had all disappeared. If Gallen weren’t such a backstabbing mate stealer, he’d kiss the man right then.
Wiggling his fingers and toes, he sucked in his breath. Pins and needles stabbed him as his circulation returned.
“Oh good.” Carey smiled at seeing Marty mobile. “Get dressed. We’re meeting in the living room in thirty minutes.”
Marty nodded. He’d wait to tell his story until everyone had assembled.

A half hour later and Marty found himself the focus of the strangest collection of shifters ever. By nature, avian and furred shifters didn’t mix, but that didn’t stop the hawks and assorted cat paranormals from crowding the living room at Carey’s behest.

“Hello, everyone. A sorcerer has captured Eaton. He goes by the name of Gallen Theos. He claims to want Eaton to be his bonded and that he will take good care of him. However, in order to do this, he is stealing Eaton’s will by using a necklace to control him.”

Denton made a derisive snort. The croc shifter sat on the lap of his mate Isaac, a puma shifter.
“Something you want to say?” Marty challenged.
“Eaton can’t be spelled; he’s been inoculated,” Denton explained.
“Really? The necklace looked like it was working,” Marty said, not daring to hope his beloved was truly safe.
“It might have initially, but when the counterspell kicks in, he’ll be fully cognizant,” Carey said.
“That might not be a good thing.”
Marty turned to the new speaker. He knew without the sight of the bear shifter standing protectively near that the interloper was none other than Rohan, leader of the vampires. The man’s supernatural energy whipped through the room like an electric shock, setting the shifters on edge. Marty wondered how Harris could stand being that close to the vampire.
“Why not?” Marty couldn’t understand why Eaton controlling his own thoughts could be dangerous.
“Because sorcerers enslave their better halves, if you will.” Rohan made air quotes around better halves. “In order to be bonded with a sorcerer, you have to give up your will. If they find out that Eaton can’t give up his free will, they might kill him to keep their secrets.”
“Then we’d best save him quickly,” Marty said, his heart sinking at the news.
“I’d like to offer my vampires to assist,” Rohan said unexpectedly.
Marty saw Carey wince at Rohan’s words. He remembered the human didn’t like vampires, but he knew from their interactions that Carey wouldn’t refuse anyone’s help if it would get him back his friend.
Biting back a smile, Marty nodded. “Welcome to our rescue group.”
“Thank you. Harris told me how much Eaton’s friendship means to him.” The vampire’s gaze settled fondly on the big bear shifter, who blushed beneath his regard. “I don’t want him upset.”
“Well, thank you for coming,” Carey sounded as if he had to scrape the words off his soul in order to get them out, but he said them nonetheless.
“Does anyone know where the sorcerers live?”
Most of the paranormals tended to stick to their own neighborhoods. The shifters mostly stayed in Queen Anne, Green Lake, Fremont and West Seattle with a few dotted through downtown. The vampires took over Capitol Hill and part of First Hill. There were rumors of necromancers living in Ballard, but no definitive sightings. Humans still took up most of the space, but there were pockets where non-paranormals shouldn’t go at night. Marty had heard the Fremont Troll had rampaged during the last earthquake, but the media had hushed it up.
“They are in Magnolia,” Rohan offered. His tone brooked no argument.
“Where?” Carey asked.
Rohan shrugged. “We aren’t certain. There aren’t a lot of places for them to hide. I’ve always suspected they were squatting on Fort Lawton property. Too many times the Army has changed their mind about what they wanted to do.”
Marty turned to the hawks. “You guys do a fly by and check it out. Report back anything suspicious. Pay special attention to any possible magical influence.”
They shifters nodded and left the room.
“We’ll wait for their report,” Marty said. He sat down on the closest surface, a beautiful upholstered couch.
Carey gripped his shoulder. “It will be okay. We’ll get him back. Eaton may look delicate, but he’s pretty tough.”
“How tough can he be without his guns?” Marty asked.
“You’d be surprised. My dad trained him on how to protect himself. He won’t go down without a fight.” Carey patted Marty on the back before moving on to talk to the others.
Marty put his face in his hands and didn’t even look up when the couch cushion dipped beside him.
“I could not help noticing you are apart from your hawk,” Rohan said in his softly accented voice.
“Gallen suppressed my hawk nature so I couldn’t find Eaton as easily,” Marty explained.
“I can fix that for you.”
Marty sat up, giving Rohan his total attention. “How?”
“Many don’t know this, but vampire blood helps break enchantments. If you were to take a sip of my blood, it would awaken your inner animal,” Rohan explained.
Joy rushed through him until Marty realized it would mean taking someone else inside of him. He held back his instant agreement. “I already lost my mate because I selfishly thought of myself instead of what was best for my beloved. I don’t know how he would react to my taking your blood,” Marty replied honestly.
Rohan nodded. “From what Harris has said, he is a good-hearted man and would want what was best for his mate.”
Marty nodded. “He is, but I’ve already made a lot of mistakes in our relationship. Maybe I should ask Carey, he knows Eaton best.”
“Harris has told me about his friend. Frankly, the human terrifies me.” Rohan’s wary glance toward Carey made Marty laugh.
“Thank you for the offer. I’ll think on it.”
Rohan nodded. The vampire stood and walked straight back to Harris who smiled at his approach. Marty could almost see the hearts floating in the air around them.
Half-hearted conversation sputtered and died as they all waited for the hawks’ report.
An hour later, the flock returned. They headed directly to Marty to give their report.
“What did you learn?”
Tim served as the group’s spokesman. “If you approach the fort on foot, it looks like an abandoned Army base, but if you fly over it, you don’t see anything.”
“So you didn’t see any sorcerers?” Defeat weighed heavy on Marty’s chest.
“No, you don’t understand,” Tim corrected. “You don’t see anything. It’s like the entire place vanishes.”
“Magic,” Marty said with satisfaction. “At least we know where they are hiding. Now we have to figure out what we’re going to do about it.”
A bang on the window had everyone spinning around to see a pigeon slamming against the glass.
“Stupid bird,” Carey opened the glass door to shoo the creature away.
To Marty’s surprise, the bird flew inside. A few people made half-hearted swipes to encourage it back outside, but it easily escaped the motions.
The small bird landed in the middle of the Oriental rug. Before anyone could grab it, a shimmering glow surrounded the pigeon and in its place stood a fully dressed young man wearing black jeans and a red T-shirt.
“There are pigeon shifters?” Carey asked in astonishment.
“No. There’s not,” Marty replied absently. “Not naturally.”
The young man gave Marty a bitter smile. “You have that right. However, never try to break up with your sorcerer boyfriend or he can turn you into something you hate. Let’s just say if I were to do it again, I’d find out if my ex could do magic before I tossed his clothes on the lawn when I caught him cheating.”
A world of pain lived in the young man’s grey eyes. Marty wondered how long he’d been cursed. “What are you doing here?”
“Are you Marty? You match the description I was given,” he muttered.
Marty nodded.
“Just so you know, if you let Eaton down, I will follow you around and crap on you for the rest of your life. That’s kind of my superpower,” the pigeon shifter said.
“What’s your name?” Carey asked.
“Kurtis. Eaton freed me and sent me here. He wanted me to tell Marty that he was trapped at Fort Lawton and to tell Harris that the vampires’ new donors might have poisonous blood.”
Marty saw Rohan whip out his cell phone and begin dialing. Even kidnapped, Eaton tried to save others. “How did he rescue you?”
“My asshole ex keeps me in a cage in the lobby. Eaton picked the lock. I think the guy with him is beginning to regret kidnapping him. I heard him say he’d try to get him out of there. Theos, the head sorcerer, is kind of an asshole though. I don’t think he lets anyone leave voluntarily. If he finds out Eaton freed me, there will be hell to pay.”
“Do you have anywhere to go?” Carey asked.
Kurtis shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I mean there are shelters and stuff.”
“You can stay here while you get on your feet. It was nice of you to come here when you could’ve just flown off,” Carey said.
“I always pay my debts,” Kurtis said.
“Good, then you can let me repay mine,” Carey said with a friendly smile.
“Thanks.” Relief crossed Kurtis’s face. Marty couldn’t blame him. Stay at a beautiful mansion or live on the streets—not a super hard decision.
“Maybe we can look into fixing your curse,” Carey offered.
“I’d like that,” Kurtis replied.
Rohan got off the phone, his face hard and a new resolve in his eyes. “Three of my vampires were poisoned and might die because of the sorcerers. Eaton’s warning saved the others in time. We will go first to counter the sorcerers’ attack. It is the least we can do to repay Eaton’s help.”
“All right,” Carey agreed. He turned to Marty. “How do you want to do this?”
Marty smiled at Carey for turning over the leadership to him. He knew the human usually took charge and was only deferring because he recognized Marty as Eaton’s mate.
“I think Rohan makes a good point. Send the vampires in first to block out any magic, then shifters. The hawks first then Broden’s people. Everyone agreed?”
A chorus of agreement resounded.
“Where do you want me?” Harris asked.
“Here,” Rohan said promptly. “I don’t want you in the line of fire.”
Carey burst out laughing. “That’s not quite how it works, vampire. When one of us is in trouble, we all go to the rescue.”
Denton and Harris nodded.
“Then I want Harris next to me, where I can keep an eye on him,” Rohan insisted.
“Agreed,” Harris said.
“Okay, let’s arm up,” Carey announced.
Denton and Harris moved the large coffee table out of the middle of the floor. Carey whipped back the carpet to brackets and pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked it.
At Carey’s nod, Harris pulled on the ring and lifted the solid door. It banged open to one side. Carey reached inside and flipped a switch. Unable to resist, Marty stepped closer to look. His jaw dropped open as row after row of weapons were revealed.
The staircase went down into the darkness with enough guns, ammo and grenades to blow up Seattle. Carey waved a hand to the bunker. “Welcome to the armory, gentlemen. Take what you need. We always have more. Please return reveal a large door. It had iron a ring for a handle. The human everything when you’re done.”
“I think I’m going to like being part of this family,” Marty said.
Rohan raised his eyebrows as Harris pulled out a weapon that looked big enough to take out a submarine and shoulder.
“What?” the widening at finding himself the object of Marty and Rohan’s stares.
“Nothing, beloved,” Rohan said. “I was merely thinking your weapon suited you.”
“It should. Aden bought it for my sixteenth birthday.” With those words, Harris grabbed a couple of grenades with one hand and sauntered off.
“Well, you can’t say they are boring,” Marty offered.
Rohan bared his fangs. “I think I need to meet this Aden,” he replied.
Marty smirked. “You might regret that wish.” propped it comfortably on his

bear shifter asked, his eyes
Chapter Eight
“I
I had hoped my son wouldn’t follow in his father’s footsteps,” a feminine voice spoke behind Eaton.
BOOK: Banded Brothers 03 - To Enchant An Eagle
13.68Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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