Sword of Inquest (La Patron's Sword Book 1) (21 page)

Angus nodded.

“Be careful with the Alphas. They are only top layers because they are new and easy to see. But they are dangerous. Each of them will lie, cheat and steal for what they want. They have already done that to gain their positions.” He looked at Angus, Hawke and then Asia. “When an Alpha is removed from his position, it creates a vacuum. A hole. The pack suffers. When one packs suffer, we are all at risk of discovery. I am asking that you consider carefully who you target and what you do with the information you discover. All of the Alphas on that list aren’t bad, just misguided. But they lead others. Someone must fill the void or the structure, pack structure, will collapse.”

Hawke stood. Angus and Asia stood and walked Radoff out the entrance. Something pierced Asia’s chest. Surprised she looked around, saw Hawke on the ground.

“Hawke,” she screamed through their link as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground.

Chapt
er 33

“
Asia… dammit Asia answer me
!” The words rolled across Asia’s mind but she couldn’t grab hold of anything to respond. A jolt of energy sped through her, clearing bits of fog in her mind.

“
Asia… Asia. She’s not answering me Silas. Have you reached Angus? I need to know what’s going on. Asia… Asia
?” Another jolt cleared more gray clouds from her mind.

“
Tranquilizers
…” she moaned.

“
Silas she said tranquilizers
.” The next moment Asia sensed a rolling movement through her system. A burning sensation exploded through her veins. Her stomach clenched, rebelled and then emptied. She spewed the contents across the floor.

“
Asia?”

“Mistress
,” she whispered feeling a little better. The bitter taste of the tranquilizer remained on the back of her tongue. She tried to wipe her face and realized metal cuffs secured her arms to the table.

“
Sorry to be so heavy-handed, but you winked out so fast it scared me. I’ve been calling you for fifteen minutes. Can you talk
?”

Still fuzzy, she opened one eye and shut it from the glare of the overhead light. “
We were leaving…. And got shot with tranqs. Didn’t… sense or see them.”
She exhaled and opened her eyes half-mast.

“
Do you know where Angus is? Silas can’t get through to him.”

“We
… we were all together
.” She tried to break through the hazy clouds loitering in her mind to put the parts of the puzzle together. “
I don’t… know where I am.”
Something nagged at her from the corner of her awareness
.
A yawning silence filled her chest. It took a few seconds to figure out the problem. And then it hit her.

“Hawke?
” Asia called and received no response. “
I can’t reach Hawke. As his mate I should be able to reach him all the time, right?
” she asked Jasmine needing reassurance. At the same time she battled fears of what would happen if the Liege reprogrammed him again.

“
Silas says yes. But you may need to be closer or something. You’re the only one responding so we need to get you up and running to find the others first
.” Warmth, like running water surged through her system and she knew La Patron assisted his mate. Grateful for the hand of experience, the last two jolts from her Mistress set her teeth jarring. The remnants of the serum dribbled down the side of her chin.

“
Hawke
,” she called again and then again, unable to stop seeking that part of her. “
He is not answering.”

“Is he in the same area?”

Clearer of mind and armed with purpose, Asia scanned the area. There were ten full-bloods in the immediate vicinity. Angus was in another area. Hawke was missing.

“
He is not here
.” She called him again and sought their link, finding it blocked. “
Hawke, you stop locking me out.
” Silence.

Pushing away her fear and anger, she pressed forward to hear a conversation on the other side of the building.

“He is on his way. Lord Roderick wants the other one and dispose of the others. Radoff got away but I have his beta,” someone said. Although the voice sounded familiar, she couldn’t place it.

Asia frowned in concentration. Nothing made sense except Alpha Radoff. She was glad he escaped and could send help. Maybe he saw which way
these guys took them and would send reinforcements. Who knew how long that would be or if that happened.

She couldn’t wait.

Hawke was in trouble, she had to find him.

The one-sided conversation continued. “No Greggor, no extra help this time. Last time in forest I lost four of my best, no sending more. I gave him another shot and then put in truck to be putty in your hands.”

Greggor? Extra shot? Hawke? It took her mind a few seconds to make the connections. This person had sent those wolves before to attack Hawke in the forest when Greggor shot him. She listened more.

“Lord Roderick in country? I do not know. Ask your uncle.” Asia heard the contempt in the speaker’s voice and wondered why he worked with Greggor if he despised him.

“Black wolf kept separate. No one can touch. I put thick gloves on his hands before lifting him.” He paused. “I do not know why the gloves, just followed directions. I must go.”

Asia kept her eyes closed and told Jasmine all she heard.

“
I don’t know why Hawke’s not responding. Can you reach him through your link?”

Asia searched the link again, but it remained closed. Hawke may have picked something up and shut down their link to protect her. They needed a long discussion on acceptable mate behavior. “
No, I can’t
.”

“
Can you leave wherever you are and find Angus?”

Asia scanned the room for surveillance cameras.
“There is a camera in the corner but I don’t think they’re paying attention to me. Angus is the big fish. I’ll loosen the cuff so I can take out the next person who comes inside the room.”

“Be careful.”

Keeping her eyes closed, Asia pulled the metal cuff on her right arm inch by inch. The sound of the stretching metal echoed in the small room. She hoped they didn’t have audio on the camera. Once it was loose enough to slip her hand through, she rested her arm so the torn flesh on her wrist could regenerate.

“Okay, I’m ready. Come here,” she whispered, hoping the bastards would come into the room. The low hum of the camera, the tick of her watch and the vibration of the light fixture grew louder in her mind with each passing second her mate was with Greggor.

Impatient, she clenched her fist, ready to rip off the metal cuff from her left arm and break down the door. “Pacing and timing,” Alpha Radoff warned. On one level she understood and agreed, but each second that passed without contact with her mate scraped her skin raw, leaving her vulnerable, exposed. Her throat tightened and she couldn’t breathe.

“Asia?”

“Mistress, I need Hawke
,” she whispered, opening and closing her fist in desperation for her mate. A thousand ants raced across her flesh, she bucked against the restraint to dislodge them. Deep, piercing pain struck the base of her neck.

She screamed and dropped her head forward. Her chin hit her chest. “Hawke…” She screamed into the silence of their link, and heard the echo of her cry.

“Asia… Asia, calm down. Breathe. You can’t help him if you lose it. Calm down… calm…”
Warmth like the early morning sun spread through her allowing her to breathe, to swallow, and to think.

Think
Asia, she commanded her mind. Think beyond the present. Think five steps ahead, no more short sighted plans. She exhaled. First, escape this room. She inhaled. Second, get Angus and leave. She exhaled. Third, go to Hawke. Her breath hitched, but she continued. Four, leave the castle with Hawke. She exhaled. Five, go to Chacal’s with Hawke and Angus.

“Thank you, Mistress. I will contact you when I am on my way to Angus. I will need La Patron to prepare him to move.”

“Okay, he’s still working on him. They gave him more of that shit than they gave you so it’s taking a little longer.”

“
Okay.”

“Asia?”

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“Remember I told you
not to start shit in that country?”

Asia bit back a smile
at Jasmine’s tone. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Forget that shit. Do whatever you need to do
to get those guys outta there alive. If you need me I’ve got your back.”

“Yes,
Ma’am. I know you do. I think someone is coming.”

Eyes closed, heartbeat racing, Asia waited. “One, two, three, four,” she counted off in her head bringing her heartbeat to a slower than normal rhythm. She had no idea who her captors were and what abilities they had, she focused on the sound of the footsteps.

The door opened.

“Oh shit, he messed up the floor.” She saw an outline of the full-blood as he stepped closer. “Damn.” He took her chin between his hands and tapped her face to wake her.

The tingling of the chameleon started in her arms and stopped when she stood in front of her old body, holding the chin in her hand. She searched his memories. Hiry, Pack Beta and her personal escort to the main room for termination. Karma was indeed a bitch.

She pulled out his cell phone and made the call. “Sir, this one’s dead.” She listened to her “Alpha” question her about the new corpse and wondered why they did not speak link to link like La Patron did with his Alphas. He had not been on the extraction team at Chacal’s and did not know anything.

“Get up here. Lord Roderick’s people are delayed but will be here within the hour. I need to make a call.”

Grateful to leave the foul smelling room, Asia stepped into the hall and sought out Angus’ room. It was in the opposite direction of the area she needed to go. Damn. The clock ticked inside her mind. Hawke hadn’t responded. Angus was dead weight,
literally.

Each second of her separation from Hawke, a thousand needle points pierced her skin, digging and then scraping as if searching for him beneath her flesh. She took her time walking into the common area where six other full bloods sat or stood. They nodded at her but didn’t say anything, which suited her fine.

“I do not know what the delay is, my men left already. If he’s not there and you want him faster, go look for him. I am not your personal servant to search for your toys,” the Alpha said standing in the corner with a cell phone next to his ear.

Asia noted
the positions of each full-blood and the camera positions in the room. Those devices needed to be disabled, and the footage destroyed. After the destruction of the castle, the Liege would look for similarities in the incidents. They may notice the way she led with her right metal arm, her fighting style and the strength of her metal legs and guess Asia Montgomery had shut down Lord Boris’ castle sending the bounty from eight million to ten. That was the last thing she wanted or needed.

The door slammed and Asia turned, getting her first real look at the Alpha Andrei. She should have known. This man looked nothing like the soft spoken Alpha at the meeting a few days back. The long flowing robe he wore to the meeting covered the colorful artwork on his arms. Today he had tied his long reddish brown hair into a long braid that brushed against the base of his neck. His piercing green eyes radiated anger.

He pointed at her. “Go check on the bastard.”

She nodded and turned. “Yes, Sir.”

“I want to see more respect around here,” the Alpha snarled as she left the room ignoring the glares of the other men. When she approached the room where Angus lay, another full-blood patted her down and then opened the door.

Angus lay prostrate on a table in his underwear and gloves. She estimated the temperature in the room at around forty-five degrees. Chill bumps were all over his skin.

“Mistress, I found Angus.”
She explained his condition while moving around the room checking to see if he was alert. She saw the pool of serum on the floor where it dripped from his mouth. Good, at least his body had a break from the full dose.

“
Silas is still working on his system and needs a few more minutes before he’s done.”

“
Okay.”
She started toward the door. Angus’ eyes flickered and then opened. He nodded at her and then closed them again. She strode out the room and headed toward the Alpha who stood in a small room off the main area.

“He still out, Sir,” she reported closing the door behind her.

Andrei stared toward the monitors and she wondered if he had seen Angus respond to her. It had been quick and if she hadn’t been staring at him she would have missed it.

“Get the case, give him another shot.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said moving toward a small office where they kept the drugs.

“Did you say other one died from serum?” Andrei asked stopping her.

“No, Sir. I said other one dead when I went in room.” She waited for him to question her further. She planned to destroy or dilute that serum before leaving this place. First thing, Hawke needed to make an antidote for his concoction. 

“We wait to give him more. Stay here, watch monitors. I don’t know why, but Lord Roderick excited over that one.” Andrei turned and left the room. She watched him step into the room containing the serum supply. Once he entered she watched him through the
monitor.

“
Mistress, I am in the room monitoring the security cams. Whenever Angus is ready to make his move he can. I need Jacques to set up a virus or something to disrupt the cameras. We will fight our way out of here and I don’t want anyone to see that footage
.”

“Got it. I’ll tell Silas and Jacques
.”