Haven 4: Back Roads (3 page)

“Okay, slow down.” Jory scooted around until he could stretch out on his side and prop himself up on his elbow. “Bannon is a shifter, and that means he can only mate another shifter. Is that right?” Galen nodded in defeat.

“And you’re not a shifter,” Kendall continued.

“So, you can’t be his mate,” Aslan finished with a disgusted huff.

“That’s stupid.”

Galen couldn’t agree more. “He won’t leave me alone, though. I don’t know what to do.”

“If Bannon says you’re his mate, maybe it’s true.” Jory shrugged when Galen glared at him. “It seems like he would know better than anyone. Just because you don’t actually shift doesn’t mean that you don’t have some shifter blood in you somewhere.”

“That’s the same thing Bannon said.” Galen sighed and rested his head on Kendall’s shoulder when his friend’s arm went around his back. “I’m scared.”

“No shit,” Aslan said with a snort. “I don’t know how any of you guys do it. Your men are enormous! Don’t you ever worry about them squishing you while you’re sleeping? And how the hell does sex work with them? I’d think they’d crush you.” There was a moment of silence before Jory, Kendall, and Galen burst into laughter. “Oh, just wait,” Kendall gasped. “Your turn is coming.”

“Sooner than you think,” Galen added with a smirk. “Have you talked to Torren yet?”

Aslan wrinkled his nose and looked away. “I haven’t even met him. I know what Jonas said, but I think Torren showing up in my room as a ghosty thing was just a fluke, though. If I was really his mate, wouldn’t he be here with me now?” Galen didn’t have a good answer for that, so he said nothing at all.

He had the exact opposite problem. His “mate” wouldn’t leave him alone. “We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

His friends chuckled in agreement. “Yeah, I guess we are,” Jory answered. “You guys have it easy, though. They want me to be a freakin’ elder! What do I know about being in charge of anything? Hell, I still need Stavion to order my breakfast half the time because I can’t decide what I want to eat.”

“You care, though,” Galen said seriously. “You have the biggest heart, and I think you could do a lot of good.”

“Besides,” Aslan butted in with a smirk, “you’ll outrank Stavion if you accept the position.”

This sent them all into more fits of giggles, and Galen was feeling much better. He was so lucky to have such wonderful friends.

“I don’t think Stavion has realized that yet. I can just picture his face when I tell him.” Jory grinned mischievously and wiggled his eyebrows.

“How long do you have to make a decision?” Aslan asked.

“I told Layke that I’d let him know by Halloween.” Jory became serious again. “There’s just a lot to consider.”

“Well, if it makes a difference, I think you’d be a wonderful elder.” Galen took Jory’s hand and squeezed it gently. “There are a lot more out there like us who need someone to speak for them, Jory. I know you’re supposed to represent the demons, but you’ll have the clout to help others, too.”

Everyone was quiet for a long time, and Galen was sorry that he’d ruined the light mood. “How about pajama night? We haven’t had one of those in a while. No mates, though,” he added sternly.

“What about Malakai?” Jory asked. “I haven’t seen much of him since he’s been back.” He shrugged and smiled. “I like him.” Galen liked the little vampire, too. “Okay, we can invite Malakai.

I say we do it in your room, though. Kendall has the baby, so that’s out, and mine and Aslan’s rooms are too small.”

“Stavion can stay with Cassius tonight if he doesn’t mind crashing on the couch and possibly a crying baby,” Kendall offered.

Jory grinned. “I’ll convince him.”

Happier than he’d been in weeks, Galen flopped back on his bed and sighed. He still didn’t know what to do about Bannon, but for one night, he wasn’t going to worry about it.

“I need you to locate a faerie by the name of Camdin Maywater.” Bannon frowned at Elder Winters. “I thought I was to find a witch?”

“You will, but we need Camdin located as well.” Torren rose from his seat and walked around the big oak desk.

Bannon had no desire to leave Wyoming. He’d seen a lot of the country since coming to America, and while it was exciting, it kept him far away from Haven for long stretches at a time, and therefore, away from Galen.

“This is the guy you want to name elder of the fae,” Raven said from Bannon’s side. “No disrespect, but why him?”

“He’s important, and he has something I need,” Elder Winters answered cryptically.

They weren’t going to get any further information, and Bannon knew it. “So, I’m to find a faerie and a witch. When do I leave?” The elders exchanged a glance, and Torren looked apologetic when he returned his attention to Bannon. “We need Galen’s help.”

“No.” Bannon shook his head firmly and crossed his arms over his chest. “He’ll not be goin’.” Anger welled up in him at the thought of the elders using Galen in such a way. His mate was no warrior, and he was going to bloody well keep his ass at home where it was safe. “I’ll bring back whoever you’re wantin’, but you’ll not be usin’ my mate.” He didn’t realize his slip of the tongue until it was too late and Torren was smiling in triumph at him. There had been speculation, especially after Galen dreamed of him while he was being held prisoner in Nevada. Until he’d just blurted it out, no one knew for sure that he and Galen were mates, though.

It wasn’t even so much that he’d said the words, either. His angry reaction to the news was all the proof they needed. The big question was why they were so interested in digging out the information.

“You have to claim him.”

“Whoa, Torren. What the hell, man?” Raven stepped forward, waving his hand indignantly.

“We need Galen,” Torren answered simply. “I know what he can do, and his powers will be stronger—along with Bannon’s—if they’re bonded.”

“Why?” Bannon was so furious that it was the only word he could get through his clenched teeth. It was bad enough that they wanted to use Galen in whatever scheme they’d cooked up, but to force them to claim each other was taking it too far.

A mating between a destined pair—or trio or whatever—was sacred. Claiming a mate was the most intense and personal thing a paranormal ever did. Marriages ended in divorce every day. There was no calling it quits once you claimed a mate.

To make matters even worse, Bannon was totally onboard with making Galen his own. Galen was far from being ready for something like that, though.

“Being bonded will make both of your abilities stronger. We don’t have a lot of time, Bannon.”

“How long do I have?”

“Until Halloween,” Elder Winters answered quietly. “We need to locate them before The Council meeting.”

“Them? Who exactly are we trying to find?” Raven tilted his head to the side and frowned. “This sounds fucking shady as hell.”

“We need two witches, Raith and Lynk, before the Halloween festival.” Torren sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “It would be best if we could find all twelve of them, but that seems unlikely in the short timeframe.”

“A dozen?” Raven choked. “Who are these witches?”

“My brothers.”

“So, why can’t you just dial-a-bro?” Raven crossed his arms over his muscled chest and took up a similar posture as Bannon. “What are you hiding? I don’t mind doing my job, but this reeks of bullshit.” Bannon couldn’t agree more. They wanted them to find a faerie and twelve fucking witches, but they wouldn’t tell them why.

The elders exchanged another look, and this time, Torren huffed in defeat. “My brothers have been in hiding since our father was executed. We’ve spread out over the country—possibly the world. We don’t keep in touch because it would be too dangerous.”

“Divide and conquer,” Raven mumbled. “It seems to me that it would be safer for you to stick together.”

“You’d be wrong. We tried it at first, but because of our combined magic, it was easier for the Trackers to find us. After we split up, we kept in touch by phone until Raith was caught. All it took was a simple check of the contacts in his phone to trace us to the cities we were living in. I barely escaped, and I haven’t spoken to my brothers since.”

“So, you don’t even know if they’re alive.” Raven dropped his head and bobbed it several times. “Okay, I get it, but why are we looking for them now?”

“Phillip McCarthy is the simplest answer. We can’t get the location of the Book of the Banished from him. I’m sure you’ve both heard the legends about Halloween.”

“It’s when the veil is the thinnest between our world and the next,” Bannon answered immediately. Of course they’d heard the legends.

“Well, it’s not a legend. If the book has fallen into the wrong hands, what happened in that cemetery in Nevada will look like a fucking Mother Goose fairy tale.”

“Should we not be lookin’ for the book then?”

“The book is untraceable. Besides, we wouldn’t have enough time before the thirty-first. It could be virtually anywhere, though I think it’s a safe bet that it’s still in the U.S.”

“Okay, so let me see if I have this straight.” Raven uncrossed his arms and scratched at the back of his neck. “That spell book is lost, or hidden, or something.” He waved a hand around to indicate the lack of importance to him. “It may or may not be in the hands of some wickedly evil witches who might use it to raise an army of the undead on Halloween.”

Torren simply nodded.

“And where do your brothers fit into this?”

“Now that The Council is undergoing a complete overhaul, it’s time that we all come out of hiding. Our family was charged with guarding the Relegatis, but it was lost after our father died. We have to recover it.”

“Aye, ya do. That’s still not tellin’ us why we’re needin’ your brothers before Halloween.” If Bannon didn’t start getting some straight answers, he was leaving. Being a Tracker was a fine job, but he wasn’t going to go charging into the fire without a damn good reason.

“Raith and Lynk are the strongest besides myself,” Torren said without a hint of cockiness. “We’ll need them if we can’t recover the book before then.”

“You said the book could be anywhere. What makes you think that trouble will be coming to our doorstep?” Bannon glanced at Raven, then back to Torren. It was a reasonable question. Torren was a smart man, though, and always thinking two steps ahead. If he felt the need for added protection, there was still something he wasn’t telling them.

“The Relegatis needs a key to be unlocked. My brothers and I have the key, or more to the point, we are the key.”

Raven’s eyebrows drew together, and he cocked his head to the side. “So, you’re telling me that you unlocked the book for McCarthy’s brother?”

Torren sighed in obvious exasperation. “He didn’t have the book with him, Raven. How could I have unlocked it?”

“Can ya be gettin’ to the fuckin’ point?” Torren wasn’t the only one exasperated. Bannon prided himself on being the most tolerant of his brothers. He was about two seconds from losing a lot more than his bloody patience, though.

“Torren, man, your story isn’t adding up. How did Phillip use the book if he didn’t
have
the book? And how the hell did he get the spell if the damn thing can’t be opened by anyone other than you and your brothers?” Raven was shouting and snarling by the time he finished his questioning. It was a terrifying look for the vampire, and one Bannon hoped he never saw directed toward him.

Not that he was afraid of Raven or anything ridiculous like that.

He was just smart enough not to stick his neck out where it might be chomped into like a piece of beef jerky.

With that being said, a few things were starting to come together for him in this twisted tale. “Ya think one of your brothers is openin’ the book for McCarthy.”

Torren looked uncomfortable as he nodded. “The youngest six of us have a different mother, a shifter. They’re strong, but would more easily fall under a vampire’s compulsion, especially if he’d been drugged. As for Phillip not having the book, it would be easy enough to memorize a spell. Unfortunately, Phillip memorized it wrong.”

“Once the book is opened…” Raven trailed off, looking as though he was trying to determine how to phrase his question. “Do you need to unlock it each time it’s opened? Or will once do the trick?”

“Each time the book is closed, it must be unlocked with a key, a spell that only the guardians of the book are taught.” Bannon’s head was spinning with information overload. What he knew so far was that Torren had twelve brothers, six of which were hybrid shifters, and all of them were missing. Adding to that, a book that could bring the end of the world as they knew it and could only be opened by a Braddock was currently lost somewhere in the world with a high probability of it having a “key” sitting right fucking next to it.

Gift-wrapped Armageddon. Hooray!

“So, where does this faerie guy fit into all of this?” With all the hoodoo witch talk, Bannon had completely forgotten about the nominated elder of the fae.

Elder Winters shook himself as though coming out of a daze at Raven’s question. “He has nothing to do with the Relegatis. Finding him and bringing him to The Council is imperative, however.”

“And if he’s not wantin’ to come with us?” What Bannon really wanted to know was how much force he’d be allowed to use if the guy didn’t cooperate. Never had he failed to bring in someone he’d been assigned to locate. He wasn’t planning to start with Camdin Maywater.

“Bring him back,” Elder Winters said simply. “Don’t harm him, but bring him back.”

Sighing in defeat and just plain exhaustion, Bannon nodded his understanding. “Galen won’t be comin’.” He’d never made conditions on an assignment before, but this seemed like a good time to make a stand.

“He will. Jory is going to talk to him tonight. I’m sure he’ll be eager to help when he hears what we want from him.” Something inside of Bannon snapped, and he launched himself at Torren. Luckily, before he could do something so incredibly stupid that it would surely end up with his head detached from his shoulders, Raven grabbed him around the waist and hauled him back.

Underneath his rage, Bannon felt betrayed. Not only had Torren gone behind his back, but Jory as well. While he didn’t know the witch that well, he liked the hell out of Jory. The man had become a friend over the past several months, and to know that Jory not only backed the elders but actually played an active role in their deceit was like a hot poker to his chest.