Feral Craving (32 page)

“Ah … Christ, Angel…” He choked out the
words as his body exploded.

He felt her walls clamp around him as she
bounced on him, taking pleasure as she gave. Bari’s head fell back on his
shoulders. A shout came from his throat as his release pummeled into him. His
seed spent inside her in pulsing beats as she milked him relentlessly. A growl
erupted as the sound of his beast cut through the surface. Nothing had seemed
so in sync, so perfect, so meant to be, ever in his life.

They stayed like that for some time,
holding one another in the dark bar. Turning his head, he drew in a deep breath
from her skin before getting up, taking her with him, and set her on the bar.
He bent down and picked up her clothes, dressing her with much more care than
he had taken them off with, before righting his own clothing.

Bari reached back and pulled out his
wallet, seeing Curtis enter the bar again, and tossed some currency on the bar.
The flushed look on the male’s face stated that he must have gotten one hell of
a show from the surveillance cameras. And while the thought of anyone else
looking at Mackenzie made both the man and demon growl, Bari realized it didn’t
matter anymore. None of this did … as things between him and Mackenzie meant so
much more.

Chapter
Thirty-Three

He sat outside the park, watching,
waiting for the right moment. Those demons thought they could best him. Ha! The
false guidance and reports had sent the
Eurydice
in a complete opposite direction then from where he headed. It all worked out
too well, fit nicely into a puzzle.

A few sacrifices were all it would cost
him. He watched the little blonde-haired and gray-blue eyed girl run around,
her mother sitting nearby but not paying any attention to the danger lurking.
It would all work out so well. His plan was coming together and then his son
would realize the errors of his ways and join forces with the winning side.
There was no doubt about it. His strategy was flawless, perfect, and in the
end, he would conquer the entire Earth and be the ruler of mankind. There was
no chance of failure.

Rising, he smiled and walked with
purpose, his long strides closing the distance between him and his prize. No
one paid attention to him and with a final glance at the mother, he kicked off
phase one of his scheme, which came off without a hitch.

****

A sudden shift in the air caused a change
just before a blow landed across his jaw.

 
“Fuck!”

Bari’s vision dimmed, stars dancing as an
odd feeling came over him. He fell backwards, slamming into the mat with a
crack
.

Something was wrong.

He hit the ground, and air rushed from
his lungs, seizing from the impact. Bari’s attention to his body wasn’t there
and instead focused elsewhere. He rolled to his side, choking on a lack of
oxygen, coughing in a way that would make a doctor cringe. Inside, a red
burning inferno uncurled. Bari glanced up as feet came into view and saw the
concern and confusion marring Tyler’s features. Tyler’s lips moved, but no
sound reached Bari. He couldn’t tell if it was the blow causing the roar in his
ears, but unease prickled along his skin.
 

Something was so wrong. It was as if a
link, an invisible thread sewn into his soul and connected to the demon,
suddenly snapped. His chest appeared empty, as if he had been tossed out
of a spaceship and thrown into outer space without a lifeline. He knew the link
existed but outside of Mackenzie had never felt it before. Now that he felt the
cut, he understood he would recognize it always, distinguished it like a new
sense.

“Dude, what the fuck was
that?” Tyler’s voice finally cut through the roar, getting louder
with each passing second. Bari glanced at the male’s concerned face, watching
as his brother shifted uncomfortably as if he felt the same unease. Bari tried
to piece together what he felt and came up at a loss for words.

“Something is wrong.”

Bari paused, glanced around the room,
listened for anything out of the ordinary coming from the halls outside.

And found nothing.

“Where is Mackenzie?”

He knew the moment her face came to his
mind, it wasn’t Mackenzie. His skin crawled with the knowledge, bubbles rising
on the surface, his veins standing out in stark relief. Tyler
frowned, took a hesitant step back, his eyes glazed as if off in another
world. Bari shot to his feet in a smooth move and promptly dashed for the door.
He didn’t know what was astray, only that somehow, someway, something was very,
very wrong with one of his brothers.

The four of them held a precious link,
one he didn’t initially identify but since his change, understood now. An
invisible thread, one holding their minds together with a colorful braid. Each
of the threads held the colors of their eyes, the markings on their skin when
they changed, all weaved and braided into one. The link shot out through
darkness of their minds, bright like the sun rising over a flat desert. He
hadn’t understood it at first, but now he knew; now he understood. The braid
was shaking, stretching its threads, on the verge of snapping. Things were
about to go to hell in a handbasket.

Bari sprinted up the stairs, racing to
track down his brother. Tyler was right on his heels, shouting out for Mike.
The struggling braid pulled tighter, and he felt the power Tyler fed and tried
to replicate on it. Bari focused on his own power, unsure of whether it helped.
This was what they all feared, the breaking of the link, losing a brother, the
death of brethren. Without the link to hold you down, evil would consume and
push down, take over, and eventually turn you into exactly what you were
protecting the human race from. Only this being, a turned Justice Demon was so
much worse than anything else. A turned Justice Dealer was practically
unstoppable, its thirst for evil unquenchable.

And the worst part?

Each link that broke within the bond made
the rest of them susceptible to that very same evil.

Coming up on a door, Bari ripped the
remaining wrap from his knuckles and tossed it aside. He slammed into the wood,
splintering it in to a thousand pieces, and pushed into Mike’s guest room.
Tyler shouted. Panicked words flew from Tony’s mouth. He didn’t hear any of it.

Mike’s dreadful cry filled the tiny room,
physical heartbreak evident across his features. Such a terrible sound, Bari
shrank back, sadness washing over him in waves at the sorrow Mike pulsed
through their bond.

Bari’s skin flamed on fire, his heart
thundered, the sound clanging off of the walls.

His body shimmered, that same erotic haze
tingled across his skin. Bari’s eyes darted around the room, the four males
shifting at once. He looked to his own hand and the skin, a midnight blue,
pulsed with designs, which seared and popped, burned through his skin.

Lights flickered once before going out,
and even though there wasn’t a light on in the house, it was anything but dark.
Electricity bounced off the one male in the middle of the room, his skin an
inky green, his designs standing out in abundance with browns and deeper shades
of red.

Everything clicked like a well-placed
puzzle, grief taking over the male, spreading to them all. Bari greeted the
panic as it rose to the surface, welcomed the beast charging ahead. The house
stilled and then a manipulative crack snapped through the air. Splitting pain
shot through his body before a loud roar shook the very foundation of the
house. Then all went black.

Chapter
Thirty-Four

How long had he been out?
What in the fuck happened?

Bari groaned, rolled over in bed and shot
a quick look at the clock. The red fuzz of numbers pierced his sensitive eyes,
sending screaming pain in his body as he fought a wave of nausea rolling
through him. He was full of aches and pains, his stomach curling around itself.

It could only mean one thing … he had
turned. Fuzzy memories dimmed the pain. They tried to talk to the demon, tried
like hell to reach the man but overcome with grief, it swelled in the room
until the beast had risen to the surface like a seal hunting prey and burst
out, taking complete control of Mike’s body and mind until the man didn’t exist.

Groaning, Bari maneuvered on the bed,
grunting as he sat up, and tossed his feet over the side. Covered in a thin
layer of sweat, aching with uncertainty at being used, he shuddered. He pushed
off the bed, and his weight immediately staggered, his muscles like
noodles as he weaved past his furniture. Mike was missing, and by fuck’s sake,
they needed to find him. The link, that precious bond holding the four of them
together, slowly unraveled, the thread threatening emancipation. It held, but
not for long. Straining under the pressure, before too much longer, it was
going to snap.

****

Bari stood outside the front door of the
house, his brows drawn down in a frown as he stared at the wood separating
them. His key to his bike in his hand, his body holding each of his weapons,
but even then, there was no mistaking the turmoil that rolled through him. To
be honest with himself, it wasn’t so much of wood that seemed to separate him
and Mackenzie. No, it was more than that. It was as if Mike had built up a concrete
wall, cutting out the building emotions they discovered. He felt lost at sea
with the grief plaguing him, as if thrust into treacherous, rolling black waves
with no life jacket.

The
Eurydice
were all scared fucking shitless at losing their brother, as now, it was a very
real possibility. They had been unable to track him down and now, as Bari got
ready to head out, he stood with uncertainty at Mackenzie’s door. He wanted to
go to her, take some measure of peace and comfort, needed it so bad he practically
tasted it. But right now he was a threat to her, and he couldn’t bring himself
to take the additional steps. If that link broke, who knew what would happen
with him. Would the evil take over? Would he become like his father? He didn’t
know the answers but yet again, he fought with the need to protect Mackenzie
and Byron rather than taking care of himself.

“Fucking hell…” Turning, he made his way
back down the walkway and away from the one person who would bring him peace.
It wasn’t right; he didn’t deserve the peace she instilled in him. There was no
way, especially not when one of his brothers was hurting and in need.

Mike had been someone he laughed with.
Someone who came into his life and showed him a different side. Bari took the
world entirely too seriously. Mike was the joker of the unit, the one who
always cracked a wise ass comment at the worst of times, the one who recognized
each and every damn time it was needed.

As Bari tossed a leg over his bike and
pulled on the throttle, the engine roaring to life, he thought on Mackenzie and
just how much she had taken over, when he never gave control to anyone. In
response to that control, she had been his in every way. She didn’t hold back,
gave herself completely over and in return, it was the sweetest gift he could
have asked for. With Mackenzie, there was a quiet acceptance of everything he
was, faults and all. She took both the man and demon, his dark beast into her
life and accepted them both as hers. Any other female would have run for the hills,
refused to accept that life was not as everyone knew it. Mackenzie acknowledged
it with a whole new outlook. She gave him peace, a quiet of mind and soul. She
brought him calm in the rage of his life.

His hands itched with the phantom feel of
her beneath his fingers and squeezed his fists on the handle bars to prevent
turning the bike around and going to her. He needed to focus and with Mackenzie
in his head, thoughts of how her sweet body unfolded beneath his…

Not helping!

Bari pulled up outside his house and
scanned over as Tyler and Tony stepped out. He let out a deep breath and
turned his head toward the mission ahead, knowing without a doubt they’d all
get the job done. They had to. There wasn’t any other option. None of them were
going to accept anything less. For now, the entire fate of the planet depended
on it. Including Mackenzie and Byron.

****

The helicopter landed soft, speed not
needed currently. They were cautious about remaining under the radar rather
than coming down with a bang. They had to find Mike, had to track down his mate
Samantha and make sure their daughter, Rosalie, was okay. None of the
Eurydice
could reach Mike.

Or Mike’s family.

It didn’t make any sense.

Bari glanced out of the darkened windows.
They were each scanning their surroundings, searching, protecting,
anticipating. The helicopter's doors unlocked with a hiss of air and stepping
out, Bari grabbed his gear, sliding the pack on his back before looking over at
Tyler and Tony. Worry and exhaustion met his own and deep down inside.

They needed to find Mike.

It couldn’t be said enough.