Haven 4: Back Roads (14 page)

“I can’t tell you that, because our dreams are not safe. Free me from these shifters, and I can give you the book.” It wasn’t a demand so much as a plea.

“Do ya know Phillip McCarthy?”

Camdin’s face paled, and his lips pressed together in a thin line.

He shook his head quickly. Bannon didn’t think it was in denial, but in refusal to answer the question. That was all the answer he needed, though.

“Can ya tell me nothin’ of where you’re at?” Now that he knew witches were involved, the idea of venturing into Camdin’s dreams was even less appealing.

“It smells like blood, feces, and dead animals where we’re being held. The room is small, but I think the building must be much larger.

The voices echo when people talk. There’s no floor, only dirt. That’s all I can tell you.”

“Camdin, I’m going to send ya back now. Someone will be there soon. Is Lynk Braddock with ya?”

“Yes.”

Bannon bobbed his head. “Okay, then ya just sit tight.” Releasing his hold on Camdin, he slowly began collapsing his dream, reversing the steps he took to construct it. When he’d finished, he closed his eyes and basically willed himself awake. He didn’t really know how any of it worked, but being able to wake himself at will was damn handy when things went wrong.

The fact that he knew where to begin looking for Camdin and Lynk was just sheer dumb luck. His Da had insisted the Murphy boys pulled their own weight, which meant Bannon had a job by the time he was fifteen. He’d hated every minute of that summer, but it was damn helpful now. So, silver lining and all that jazz.

Flipping back his eyelids, he yawned hugely and pushed his hair out of his face. Rolling his head to the side, he grinned when he found Galen staring back at him. “Hello, sweetheart.”

“You’re back,” Galen whispered. “I was worried.”

“Ah, now I’m fine. I told ya not to worry yourself.” He reached out and tapped the tip of Galen’s nose with his finger. “I think I know where he is. And guess what?”

“What?” Galen asked, playing along with a silly smile on his lips.

“Lynk Braddock is with him.”

“Score!” Galen did a little fist pump that made Bannon chuckle.

Sitting up straighter, he leaned up between the two front seats and cleared his throat. “We need to stop here.” Surprisingly, the wolves didn’t argue. Hell, the driver didn’t even find a parking lot. He simply pulled over to the side of the road. “Uh, thanks.”

“What are we doing? Where is he? How do we get there? Do we need backup?”

Bannon held his hands up to cut off Galen’s frantic questions.

“Easy, darlin’. I’m callin’ Torren now.” Pulling his cell phone out, he hit the speed dial and waited for the witch to answer. “I know where to look for Camdin,” he said by way of greeting when Torren answered.

“Tell me what you need,” Torren replied, all business.

“Raven and Demos by tomorrow night, and a list of slaughterhouses within a hundred mile radius of…” Bannon trailed off and looked out the window as if that would give him some idea.

“Where the bloody hell are we anyway?”

“I think the last sign said Carbondale,” the passenger answered.

Bannon thought his name might have been Scott, but he couldn’t remember. After seven days, anyone would think he’d know their names. It wasn’t like he didn’t care. The wolves just weren’t big into sharing.

“Within a hundred mile radius of Carbondale, Pennsylvania,” he repeated to Torren.

“Why the fuck do you need slaughterhouses, Murphy?” The smell of feces, blood, dead animals—dirty floors, cavernous rooms, and hollow walls—it all brought back memories from the summer he’d spent working that slaughterhouse in Limerick. “That’s where we’re goin’ to find them.”

“Are you ready for this?” Raven asked.

Galen was ready for anything. He finally had his hotel room, a hot shower, and decent food. That hot shower had included a very gorgeous and naked shifter with dreamy green eyes, so he was pretty much feeling like he could take on the world.

He’d also had an epiphany. While he’d been sitting in the backseat of that hellish Tahoe watching Bannon sleep and worrying if he’d see him again, he’d also been damning himself for giving in and letting his mate send him away. Bannon knew what he was doing, so it would have made more sense for Galen to trek into Camdin’s dreams. Then if something went wrong, Bannon—hopefully—could have rescued his ass.

If something had gone wrong for Bannon, the man would have been on his own, because Galen didn’t have a clue how to rescue him.

And while he’d been thinking of that, he’d also realized that if his lover couldn’t save him, there was a very real possibility that he’d end up dead. The major epiphany was that he didn’t care. If it meant that Bannon would be safe, well, that was all that mattered.

He was chomping at the bit to share this new awakening with Bannon, but it just didn’t seem like a good time. They’d either been strategizing or sleeping. Neither presented the ideal opportunity for his declaration. There’d been the shower of course, but he didn’t really want to say the words for the first time with his lover’s cock buried in his ass. That just seemed kind of tacky.

“Galen? Are you ready,
a ghrá
?” Bannon touched his arm lightly, skimming his fingers over the skin and making it break out into goose bumps.

“What?” Galen shook himself and looked around the room at the other men.
Crap!
He’d completely missed the entire conversation.

“Where are we going?”

“Back the way you came,” Demos answered. “There’s a slaughterhouse just north of Carbondale that’s been shut down for a couple of months now. It’s the best place to start.”

“It’s just going to be us?” Galen didn’t know how many shifters there were, but he still assumed they’d be grossly outnumbered.

Bannon had said something about witches. What if the place had some kind of protection spell around it?

“He really does think of everything,” Raven complimented him when he addressed his concerns to the group. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time to wait for backup to get here.”

“There’s a good chance that the witches already know we’re here,” Demos added. “If they don’t, they will soon. We have to move now.”

“What about Raith and the little boy?” Galen knew it wasn’t really important to their current predicament, but he couldn’t get that little pixie out of his head.

“They have the little boy and arrested the alpha, beta, and two Enforcers,” one of the wolf-shifters, David, answered. Turned out they did have names, and after getting them out of the SUV, they weren’t really such bad guys.

It must have showed on his face because the other wolf, Scott, smiled at him and winked. “I’m sorry about what I said in the car. It was out of line, and I have no good excuse for it. You have a good mate there.”

“Thank you.” Galen glanced over at Bannon and felt his insides go all gooey. No one had to tell him that he had a winner.

“I’m sorry for being such a dick, too,” David added with a grin as he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “We were having some personal issues before Blaise assigned us to this job. I guess you could say we weren’t exactly happy about taking this job, but we still shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Galen waved him away. “I get it. I haven’t been the easiest to get along with, either. Eight days inside a car would do that to anyone, so you’re definitely forgiven.” They all shook hands, and even Bannon joined in with his own apology for decking Scott.

“So, what about the little boy?” Bannon asked once they all finished with their how-do-you-dos. It warmed Galen’s heart that his mate was taking the situation seriously. He also got the feeling that it was only because Bannon knew it was important to him. Who couldn’t love a guy like that?

“They don’t even know where to begin looking for the boy’s parents, so they’re taking him back to The Council,” Scott said.

“That’s all the information we have for now.”

“What about Raith Braddock?” Demos asked.

Both shifters shook their heads.

“They can’t locate him. Torren’s on his way, but it sounds like there’s some bad mojo going down in Missouri.” David rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed. “If they can’t find him by the time we’re done here, we’re supposed to drive you back to meet Torren.”

“Fine. Then let’s do this so I can get the hell back home,” Raven said as he pushed to his feet.

Galen agreed. It had only been eight days, but he was ready to get back to Wyoming. He missed his bed, his friends, and not being in constant fear that someone would try to exterminate them before they could reach their goal.

They were so close, too. Their enemies had already given them a two-for-one deal with Camdin and Lynk. If they were lucky, Torren would find his other damn brother on his own, and then they could all get on with their lives.

“Is there a possibility that we could die?” Demos shrugged unconcernedly. “Sure. There’s always that chance when we go out on an assignment.” The way he said it sounded more like he was explaining to Galen the chances of them getting a flat tire on the way to a baseball game. Yeah, it could happen, and no one would ever see it coming.

It wasn’t the candlelight and soft music that Galen had imagined in his head, but knowing Bannon might not return, he wasn’t about to let him leave without getting one thing off his chest. “Can you guys give us a minute? We’ll meet you in the car.” Everyone mumbled their agreement and filed out of the room.

Galen watched them leave and waited for the door to close behind them before he turned to look up at his mate. “I need to tell you something.”

“What would that be?” Bannon didn’t look apprehensive in the least. Hell, his smile was so big, Galen feared it might split his face in two.

His heart hammered, his palms began to sweat, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. “I…I…” He’d never uttered the words to another human being. Not his friends, his mother, or even Dallas Zeppler had been worthy of the words or the power within them.

Bannon was different, though. Bannon was everything. “I love you.” Once they’d passed through his lips, the words didn’t seem quite so scary anymore. In fact, Galen felt liberated, like he’d been carrying a big burden, and it had suddenly been lifted. “I’m never going to feel about someone else the way I feel about you. I’d willingly die for you, Bannon Murphy, because you’re the most important thing in my life.” Galen yelped when Bannon’s arms shot around him like steel bands, lifted him off his feet, and swung him around in circles. “Ah, ya make my heart pitter-patter, darlin’,” he teased. His lips found Galen’s, and they shared a brief but sensual kiss before Bannon set him on his feet and became serious.

Cupping Galen’s cheeks in both hands, he bent so that they were eye to eye. “I love you,” he said very clearly.

That was all he said, but really, what else was there? It was good enough for Galen, and he didn’t know if his heart rate would ever return to normal. If that was the price he paid for having the love of a man like Bannon, he’d gladly pay it. Hell, he’d take out a loan for it if he needed to.

“We should be going,” Bannon said after another long pause where they just stared at each other.

“I’ll make you a deal.”

“What deal?”

“You get us out of this alive, and you can claim me.” Bannon grinned as he stood up straight and took Galen’s hand, tugging him toward the door. “I’ll hold ya to it.”

* * * *

He absolutely hated that Galen had to be there with them, but his little mate had become their secret weapon. It was easier, faster, and a hell of a lot safer for Galen to do a scan and tell them how many and what type of paranormals were inside the building. Once his job was finished, he was going to stay put in the car to wait whether he liked it or not, though.

“Do ya need to move closer?” Bannon prayed his lover said no.

Galen closed his eyes and leaned against Bannon’s side in the backseat of the SUV. They could see the abandoned slaughterhouse up the road, but hopefully, they were far enough away that no one could see them.

“One…two…five…seven shifters,” Galen said after a minute, apparently counting them as he came across their—well, whatever it was he could sense. “A faerie, a witch, and I think a goat.”

“A goat?” Raven asked from the driver’s seat. “Seriously?”

Galen opened his eyes and shrugged. “Real animals are harder than shifters, but I think it’s a goat.”

“Well, here’s hoping that witch is Lynk Braddock,” Demos murmured before pushing open his door and climbing out of the vehicle. “Let’s rock and roll.”

Galen reached for his door handle as well, but Bannon stopped him. “Stay here.”

“Okay.” The smaller man slouched back in his seat and kicked his shoes off into the floorboard.

“That’s it?” Bannon had been prepared to beg, plead, and bribe.

Galen’s easy acquiesce left him stumbling for what to say next.

“I can’t fight. I have no super powers, and I don’t heal like you guys. I’m just going to get in the way, distract you, or get hurt. I don’t really care for any of those options, so I’ll stay here. Should I honk the horn if I see someone coming?”

“No. Stay down and keep quiet.” Though it would be nice to have advanced warning that the cavalry was coming, he wouldn’t risk Galen exposing his hiding place. Pulling a dagger from the sheath on his belt, he flipped it around and passed it over handle first. “Take this.”

Galen looked like he’d refuse, but Bannon growled, and he eventually rolled his eyes and took it. “Same thing as last time,” he said firmly. “Come back to me, Bannon Murphy, or I’ll get someone bigger to kick your ass.”

Chuckling under his breath, Bannon bent and kissed Galen’s plump lips before sliding out of the car and jogging over to meet his fellow Enforcers. “Stick together or spread out?” he asked Raven, who was technically in charge in Stavion’s absence, though the Cloud Peak Pack Enforcers could probably care less who gave the orders.

“Stick together until we get inside. We’ll reassess from there.” Everyone nodded their agreement and took off toward the dilapidated barn-like structure that looked downright creepy standing there in the moonlight. Keeping low and sticking to the fences near the paddocks, Bannon was the first to reach the small side door. It was slightly ajar, and looked like it would fall off its hinges if he so much huffed at it.