Haven (21 page)

“He shouldn’t have been able to do that.” Roy remarked grimly as
he grabbed the shaman’s arms to lead him out.

“Right.” Paul agreed. “I’m sure, the commander will have questions
for him as to how he was able to access his original form in exile.”

Liliana leaned over, hands on her knees as she took her first
deep breath in minutes. She’d told them Sergio was powerful, but she herself
had taken for granted him being in exile and not having his full power. It had
given her a false sense of confidence. Not that she’d be telling Leo that.
Rolling her shoulders, she stood straight, grateful it was over, and anxious to
be home.

Paul peeked out the front door to be sure they weren’t being
watched, then helped Roy guide Sergio to their SUV. They were all silent as
they drove through the neighborhood on their way back to the highway.

Roy tensed next to her, his gaze darting to the rear view
mirror. He cursed. “Hold on tight.”

Alarm sped her pulse and she grabbed the door handle tightly.
‘What’s happening?”

“We’re being followed.” He sped up the truck.

Paul turned in his seat and sighed. “We’re at a disadvantage
too.”

“In what way?” She fought to keep the panic from her voice.

Paul loaded a gun he’d grabbed from under the seat. “All of
these roads lead back to the highway. Evasive moves will be useless.”

“I’ll try to outrun them, but it will get hairy.” The SUV leapt
forward at his words.

She double checked her seat belt and braced herself. The black
car trailed them closely as Roy turned through the neighborhood, speeding
through stop signs. Two turns and the car fell behind until she could no longer
see it in the mirror. They were moving at a fast clip towards the highway and
for a moment she breathed a little easier. At least until the impact to the
back of the car. She screamed as they were hit again, this time causing the
truck to tilt.

They turned over, the air leaving her in a whoosh as the SUV
landed in a ditch. Paul’s loud expletives were the only sound in the car as an
eerie quiet descended. Liliana, afraid for her baby, remembered the panic
button. She hung upside down in her seat smashing the button repeatedly as
someone in a black mask rushed up to the jeep. Roy fumbled with his seatbelt
next to her, his movements slow and stiff. He dropped out of his seat,
whimpering in pain as he landed on the driver’s side door. The impact shook the
car.

She froze in horror as the male in the mask pulled out some type
of gun. As he got closer, she saw a dart sticking out the end of it right as he
shot at first Roy, then Paul. Magic swelled in the air, a curse or spell
thrummed and thickened the space in the car. Flipping back through her time on
Adro, she recognized it as dark magic and fervently prayed as she tried to
remember counter spells. Roy’s life force was diminishing right before her eyes
as fear threatened to take over her thoughts. First thing first, she needed to
stop the masked man. She registered the death grip she’d kept on her satchel
and ripped it open. She grabbed the small pistol she’d kept on her during her
time alone on Adro. The bullets would do nothing, but it would distract him and
buy Roy time. His shoulder whipped back with the impact of the bullet, and she
fired another one into his other shoulder. Dropping the gun, she started the
counter spell that popped into her head and pushed every bit of her power into
it. He staggered under the weight of the power, going to his knees. He clutched
his chest, narrowing his eyes on her.

Her eyes widened as he stood, moving towards the SUV with
purpose. He punched the glass of the back door and snatched Sergio from the
seat. They held eye contact as he backed away with the shaman thrown over his
shoulder in a fireman’s hold. His sinister smile raised the hair on her arms.
Her energy was waning, but she lifted her hands prepared to throw another spell
at him. With a small mocking salute he threw Sergio into his car and drove off.
She gingerly moved her body, working to unbuckle her seatbelt and help Roy.

***

A high piercing alarm filled Xavier’s office as Leo and Fallon
went through personnel records looking for his replacements. He cursed and
whipped out his phone.

“What is it?” Fallon asked.

“Liliana’s panic alert.” He hung up and dialed her number again,
worried with every ring on her end. “Shit.” He tried both Roy and Paul, his
anxiety climbing with every missed call.

“Not picking up?” Xavier sat forward in his chair.

“No.” He pulled up the GPS, her last three pings were from the
same place. “We need to ride.”

He rushed from the office, Fallon hot on his heels on the phone
dispatching a patrol unit to follow them. He tossed his phone to Fallon as they
climbed into his GTO. He gripped the steering wheel, speeding through the streets
as Fallon called out directions. His heart was thumping, panic and fear for his
mate making him numb.

“There, Leo.” Fallon slapped the dashboard, breaking him of his
trance.

His stomach plunged as he came up on what looked like an
accident scene. The SUV the trio had driven off in that morning was turned on
its side, a deep furrow in the ground from where the truck had slid. What the
hell had happened? He rushed up the vehicle, breathing out in relief as he
found Liliana still in her seat, leaning sideways, but awake.

“I got you, baby.” He whispered, carefully inspecting her body.

“My seatbelt’s stuck.” Her voice was weak. “Roy needs help
first. He tried to kill him.”

His hands shook as he cut her from the seatbelt. He cradled her
body against his chest. She struggled.

“Roy needs help, Leo. He put a spell on him, I don’t know if I
stopped him in time.” She turned her body towards her guard.

“Fallon, has him,
ina
, relax, we’ll take care of him.” He
walked her back to his car, and placed her in the front seat. She smiled and
touched his cheek. Her head lolled to the side as she passed out. “Fallon,
let’s move!”

Leo slid across the hood of his car and got into the driver’s
seat. His hands shook as he started the car. Fallon rushed with Roy in his arms,
the warrior limp, his breathing erratic.

“Burn, Leo. I don’t know how long he has.”

He didn’t have to be told twice. He prayed the whole way back to
Haven, never taking his eyes off the road. He knew at his speeds taking his
eyes off the road for a second would be dangerous. Fallon was in the back seat
shouting orders into the phone, requesting a healer for the two of them. He
didn’t bother parking in the garage, instead pulling his car right up to the
front door. Careful not to jostle his mate, he rushed through the catacombs to
their apartment.

A Kira stood at his door awaiting him. He punched in the code
and guided her into their room.

“Lay her on the bed, please.” The Kira’s calm voice steadied
him.

He gingerly placed Liliana on the bed. He paced the room, growls
rumbling his chest as the Kira inspected her.

“Perhaps it will be better if you paced in the common area
instead.” The Kira smiled kindly.

He started to argue, but stopped. She was right. His tension
probably filled the room, and distracted her. He knew he shouldn’t have let her
go. Knew there was a danger to her. Xavier would more than likely chew his ass
out for it. It was a reckless, and for the first time Leo understood the worry
X had when he hunted.

After what seemed like forever, the Kira joined him in the
living room. Her footsteps were silent as she walked towards him.

“She and the babe are fine. Her sleep is from energy loss and
not injury. Your mate should be careful with the expenditure of magic for the
first few months.”

He sat down on the sofa dazed. “Babe?”

The Kira’s stern look softened. She pat his shoulder in a
pitying gesture. “Your son is strong and taking more than his share of his
mother’s energy. She’ll need to relax and stay out of high stress situations.
And as I told her earlier, you all will want to start your bonding exercises
soon.”

A son.

His chest expanded while his vision tunneled. He took quick
shallow breaths in panic. Liliana was pregnant. So soon. He was blown away, a
lump clogging his throat. All at once fierce pride brought tears to his eyes.
Though he’d only known his mate a few weeks, he found himself very excited at
the prospect of a child with her. A son. He blinked to try and take in the
news.

The Kira smiled. “I’ll see myself out.”

He heard the quiet snick of the door as she left. Xavier snapped
his fingers in front of Leo’s face a moment later.

“Yo. What’s up, how’s Liliana?”

He shook his head and looked around, unsure of when his brother
had even entered the room. “She’s pregnant.” He blurted.

A bemused smile lit Xavier’s face. “Congrats. May she birth a
hell raiser.”

VERITY PACED THE FLOOR OF THE CABIN, concern and aggravation
broadcasting in the hard sound of her heels. One of their members called an
emergency meeting and she was racking her brain to figure out why. She’d rather
be at her house going through her grandmother’s album. She’d yet to find a list
of names like her grandmother had promised, but she would keep looking. It had
been a rare lucid moment for her grandmother and therefore she was taking it
serious.

She turned her head at the shuffling sound at the door. The
Apophi demon came in dragging their shaman behind him. Verity's heart took a
hard tumble and panic threatened to overtake her. She'd used the Gu shaman for
a lot of underhanded deals and she wondered if it was coming back to bite her
in the ass.

“I keep a watch over the assets we use. I got a call a little
while ago that the Amanda were visiting our friend here.”

“Does he keep evidence in his home?” Someone asked.

“I’ve sent someone to go through his house. If there is evidence
left, there won’t be any for the Amanda to sift through. Unless they can bring
back ashes.”

A part of her was relieved to hear that. But what if the Amanda
had gotten evidence already? She swore and clenched her fists.

“Did he have time to give them anything? How long were they
there before you arrived?” Impatience made her words sharper than she’d
intended.

The Apophi’s jaw clenched at her tone, but he shrugged.

Her heart hammered as all the dirt she’d had Sergio conceal for
her ran through her head. He could bury her. She looked up suddenly and noticed
that not everyone is there.

“Where are the others?”

“Unable to get away.” The Cagyn answered.

She ran a hand through her hair. “I have contacts within Haven.
I’ll go find out how much they know.”

“We’ll meet back here in an hour’s time. Will that be long
enough?” Someone asked.

“Plenty.”

They all stood to leave, except the Apophi who stood guard over
the shaman. She was moving to leave when the Mina in their group pulled her to
the side.

“The Cagyn’s plan will not come to fruition.”

Verity reared back in shock. The Mina were precognitive, so she
had to take her at her word. “What do you mean?”

“Firstly, she’ll not allow harm to come to the girl, and we all
know what the spell encompasses.”

Verity nodded. They all knew. The spell was the darkest of
magic, and akin to torture. Getting knowledge from a person’s soul required
extensive pain. The Cagyn had had no trouble with their plan for the one
sister, she didn’t think using the second would be a problem. She said as much
to the Mina.

“She has grown attached to the younger sister. Trust me, she
wouldn’t allow us to do what needed to be done. More troubling than that
though, is that the tide of the war has turned. With the mating of Death’s
Messenger to the girl, our odds have decreased. My whole realm is nearly split
down the middle about who wins.”

“If that is the case, then why are you still here?” Verity
raised her eyebrow at the information.

“I keep my word, Dziva.”

She nodded. That she understood. “Is there a way to increase our
odds?”

“I have a plan to rid us of her.”

“The Cagyn or the girl?”

“The Cagyn. We can get rid of her, and possibly divert attention
from ourselves. You’ll need to go to Legba when you’re done at Haven.”

Verity growled. When had she become the messenger for this
group?

“Our time is coming to an end unless this works.”

“You’ll owe me.”

“Of course.” The Mina lowered her head demurely.

Verity snorted. Yeah right, she was demure. She shook her head
and left the cabin headed for the portal that would take her to Haven.

***

The energy in Haven crackled as she stepped through the back
door. Soldiers rushed through the hallways and she caught bits of information
about Leo’s mate having been hurt. Verity shuddered. Gods help the world if Leo
was unleashed. She made haste towards the security office, frowning when she
noticed her normal contact missing.

Damn it.

She put on a charming smile and sidled up to the guard manning
the surveillance feeds. “What’s all the fuss about?”

He frowned and shut down his displays. “How did you get in
here?”

His gruff tone surprised her, as did his stony face. She cocked
her head to the side and shook her hair a little. His eyes never left hers, her
enthrallment going completely over his head.

“You need to leave.” He motioned, and someone came over and
grabbed her arm.

Snatching her arm from the soldier’s hand, she walked from the
surveillance room. She prowled through the hallways until she came up to one of
their breakrooms. Spying someone she knew, she sighed in relief. She waved and
his eyes darted around the hallway.

“What’s going on around here?” She lowered the timbre of her
voice and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He shook her off. “I don’t have time to help you today. Two of
our soldiers went down today.”

She feigned concern. “Of course, that’s terrible. I can wait in
your room until…”

“That won’t be necessary.” He lowered his voice. “The commander
has been on a rampage about giving out information. I can’t help you anymore.”

He brushed past her, not once looking back as he blended into
the crowd of soldiers milling around. She cursed in earnest. Getting intel was
out. She’d just have to make sure they were too distracted to do anything about
any possible information the shaman gave them.

She made her way upstairs to the club level, sneaking past the
employees prepping for the hundreds of guests expected to pour into Haven. It
gave her an idea.

“Hey, what night is tonight?” She grabbed a passing servant.

“Fight night.” He inclined his head towards the ring being
constructed in the middle of the floor.

Perfect.

She dismissed him, making her way to the VIP level, where they
would host a variety of beasts feeding on the aggressive energy sure to be
pouring from the crowd as they watched the fights Haven would put on for them.
Walking through each VIP room, she whispered a spell of amplification. Every
ounce of magic pouring out of these rooms would be multiplied. They would be
breaking up fights all night, and not just in the ring.

She smiled.

That should keep them busy enough to forget about their shaman.
She sneaked back down the stairs and out the door, her next stop Legba. She had
some rumors to spread.

***

Where was she? Liliana opened her eyes, careful not to move.
There was a weight across her stomach, and for a moment she thought she was
still pinned. A whimper escaped and she jerked her body. Slowly the room came
into focus and she forced her body to relax.

Leo lifted his head, his eyes dark with concern. “How are you
feeling?” His deep voice calmed her further.

She opened her mouth to say fine, but then thought of Paul and
Roy. “How is Roy, did we help him in time? And Paul, is he okay?”

He kissed her forehead. “They’re both fine. Roy is grateful to
you for saving his life.”

“I really didn’t. I froze in fear for the first few minutes. I
could’ve helped him sooner.”

His answer was a small grunt. “Go back to sleep. You need to
rest.” He nuzzled her neck and his hand stroked down her stomach.

The tenderness in the gesture soothed her. His love and
excitement trickled down their connection. She turned her face into his and
kissed him.

"You know don't you?" She rested her forehead on his.

He lowered his head and resumed his nuzzling against her neck.
"The Kira told me. How do you feel about it?"

She looked down at his large hand stroking her still flat
stomach. It would be flat for a few more months. Eshu pregnancy lasted a year.
She’d have twelve months to get used to it.

“I’m a little scared. What does this mean for us? It’s kind of
soon, don’t you think?” She closed her eyes.

“I love you.”

Said simply, his words burrowed deep into her soul. Her heart
skipped and tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. “I love you too.”

He smiled and warmth flooded her body. Gods, but he was a good
looking man. She grabbed his face and kissed him deeply. She sighed in pleasure
as they separated.

“Now. Go back to sleep.”

She laughed at his persistence. She lay back down, his head on
her chest.

Wait.

She pushed him off and sat up. “I almost forgot, the crystals!”
She rushed from bed, bracing her arm on the wall as a wave of dizziness hit
her.

Leo grabbed her around the waist. “You should be in bed. What
are you talking about, what crystals?”

She ran a hand over her hair. “From the shaman. They’re in my
bag.”

“It can wait, love.”

She shook him off her and tried to use magic to change her
clothes. Damn it! She was weak from the counter spell she’d used to save Paul
and Roy. She turned to Leo. “I need clothes.”

He frowned at her, making no effort to move from the bed. They
stared at each other for a moment until her body started relaxing, warming
under his scrutiny. She sighed, breathing deep as nerve endings along her
thighs started tingling. Blood flow through her body heated, loosening her
tense muscle, throbbing at her center. Her nipples beaded, poking through her
nightgown and thoughts of joining her mate in bed pushed everything else into
foggy oblivion. She’d taken a step towards him before she realized what was
happening.

She shook her head, clenching her thighs together to still the
burn. “No fair.”

“Who said anything about fair? I believe you set precedent for
our negotiation tactics.”

Damn him. Yes, she attempted to seduce him into letting her see
the shaman. She hadn’t expected him to use his Cagyn powers on her.

“Please, Leo.” She whispered and clasped her hands together in a
pleading gesture.

His magic dissipated, leaving still horny, but grateful. He
snarled and made her a pair of lounging pants with a matching tunic. She smiled
her thanks, rushing to put them on. “You brought my bag in right?”

“Liliana.” He stepped in front of her as she headed for the
door. “Stop, baby. Why is this so important?”

She took a deep breath, far more winded than she should’ve been.
“Sergio was the one corrupting the Oras. He made copies of everything he did.”

“Copies? What kind of copies?”

She waved off his question. “We didn’t get into an accident.
Someone purposely ran us over and took the shaman. They’ll probably be back for
the Oras.”

He snorted. “Ain’t nobody crazy enough to storm into this place.
Xavier wouldn’t even leave a stain for identification purposes.”

“I’m sure with the amount of Oras Sergio was hiding, they may
attempt it.”

Leo frowned. “If they wanted the crystals they would have taken
them and killed the shaman.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think they knew.”

He reared back in surprise. “We need to see what’s on those
crystals.”

“Exactly.” She rushed into the living room and breathed out a
sigh of relief at the sight of her bag on the coffee table. “Do you want to
have your brothers meet us in the surveillance room?”

“No, Xavier's office. Fallon said he’s having issues with
information leaking from the security office.” Leo shook his head in disgust.
Along with the soldier who’d sold out his room information, Fallon said he’d
found two others leaking information.

His brother was determined to root out each and every leak in
his security. There were soldiers taking bribes and passing on confidential
data. He felt sorry for the next ones they found. Fallon had not been light in
his punishment so far. The deeper down the rabbit hole the leaks went, the
harsher his brother was likely to be.

He walked over to the intercom on the wall by the front door. He
should warn Xavier that they were coming.

“Hey, X. Liliana and I are headed to you with something big.”

Static filled the air a moment before Xavier growled into the
speaker. “Can it wait?”

“No, definitely not.”

“It's crazy right now, Leo. Someone spiked the power coming out
of the observation rooms and it’s brutal on the floor. I don’t recommend your
mate being out in this, man.”

Leo sighed. He turned to Lily, sighing as her chin raised. “No
can do, X. Liliana’s visit was successful.” He didn’t go into detail, in case
someone was listening in.

“Shit.” Was his brother’s reply.

“Roger that.”

“Shield her. Tight. I don’t want my nephew subjected to this.”

A nonplussed smile tilted his lips. He turned to his mate. One
hand covered her mouth, her luminous eyes softened.

“Roger.” He breathed out past the lump in his throat.

Leo strengthened the shield around his beast and gathered
Liliana close to him. He prodded their mental connection, satisfied with the
shield she’d built around herself. Prepared for the worst, they left the room.
Leo winced at the level of power in the hallway. If it was this bad, so far
from the club floor, he could only imagine how bad it would get.

“Tighten your shields,
ina.
”

She shuddered. “You don’t have to tell me twice, I can feel it.”

He put his hand on her belly and felt for his son. Gods, his
son. He was scared as hell about what the energy could do to his child. A small
tentative touch ghosted across his subconscious and he was floored. Their son
was strong. Only weeks old, and his soul reached for him. He sent a reassuring
wave of energy to the tiny being. He tucked Liliana closer, picking up their
speed down the hallway.

They reached the end of the underground catacombs and the very
minute they hit the ground floor of Haven, power swelled. His beast immediately
put up a fight, bashing against his mental shields. Leo swayed with the effort
to stay in his human skin. Commotion from the club floor was filling the space
of the hallway and Liliana’s eyes widened. Her fear trickled down their
connection, stroking the beast more. He rushed her towards Xavier office. His
brother’s office was shielded against the energy from the club nights. X said
it was the only way he’d get any work done.