“She was told to put you down when she discovered there were two of you in there. And if she didn’t, we were to put her down. She didn’t listen. She ran—hid. And now, look where we are.”
Her heart ached for the woman who’d carried her, who’d cared enough about her to give up her babies so they’d be born in freedom. “We’re here because of you,” she told him. “If you hadn’t gotten involved, everything would still be fine.”
“Really? It’s fine to let abominations walk the earth? The Elders may deem it so, but our pack follows the old traditions,” he sneered. “By doing my job, I’ll be paying my debt to the warriors of old.”
“Why didn’t you take me when you killed my friends?” she demanded.
“We don’t want you near us. We tried that once, with Steele. We don’t want twins, abilities or not. My pack figured they’d lock you up and throw away the key. Drug you. Keep the shift at bay. And if you had abilities, the other Dires would find you. That was fine with the rest of my pack but I couldn’t let it end there.”
Her father’s eyes widened at the admission and a tear ran down her mother’s face—they only understood part of what the older wolf was saying, but it was enough.
“Why not just give me to the other Dires to begin with?” she asked.
“We don’t help them. They’re the reason our kind is nearly extinct.”
“I’m not locked up anymore.”
“You will be when they find you here, your parents dead in the same way your friends were killed and you, guilt ridden, mentally ill and shot by your own hand. I wanted you to be here to watch them die. Abominations deserve pain—you reap what you sow.”
Let him go to report back to the pack that she was dead. He was obsessed with the twin curse, knew nothing of the ability.
She freed her hands from under her thighs and Uncle Sam told her not to move.
She stood anyway, moved threateningly toward him, aware that Sister Wolf was ready to take the reins. Her canines were already elongated and she was never more sure of anything than this.
The bullets ripped through her chest and she crumpled after taking a few more steps. Her breath grew harsh, her eyes hazy and the last thing she saw were the Blackwells’ faces before she closed her eyes.
Her final thought was of Jinx and then everything went black.
Gwen had to fight Rifter to be allowed to come on this stakeout. Now that the Dires surrounding her began to drop, she was so grateful she’d followed her instincts.
“Gillian,” Jinx cried out. “She’s been shot.”
Gillian’s death didn’t fell the other Dires immediately, but they all stopped moving within moments, their bodies pained. It had happened before, many times over the years and it always hurt like hell, but this time, Jinx wasn’t upset.
It meant he’d been right—Gillian was immortal. Of course, he’d kill her later when he talked to her about what a chance she’d taken.
“What now? If she’s dead, there’s no one to protect her parents,” Kate said as they stared into the window at the scene in front of them.
“She wouldn’t know that when she’s killed, the others die too and they recover together,” Gwen said. “Kate, stay here with them—Liam, come with me.”
Gwen’s wolf was eager to come out but she didn’t want the Blackwells to see a wolf coming at them. Instead, she slammed through the bulletproof glass with her foot, then leaped through the rest, not stopping for a second, moving over furniture to pin the man down seconds before he shot the Blackwells.
Liam was shouting, grabbing the gun, and Gwen raked her claws across the wolf’s left cheek so he’d be easy to find—and then she let him run.
“Tell Cyd to stay close to him. If he gets and keeps his scent, maybe he can lead us to Gillian’s twin,” she instructed and Liam called Cyd and did just that.
She moved to where the Blackwells were passed out, but alive. She smelled the chloroform he’d used and wondered why he hadn’t killed them on the spot.
“I hope Kill comes to soon, because he’s got to plant some new memories,” Liam mumbled.
“Or maybe not,” Gwen said. “Maybe they have a right to know.”
“And maybe you’ve gone crazy.” But he was smiling as he said it.
Cain tore through the woods behind Cyd. Keeping up with the Dire wasn’t easy, but the strong scent of his fear certainly helped. And suddenly, Cyd stopped on a dime, Cain skidding to a stop behind his twin.
Cyd shifted fast, as did Cain and they watched the Dire pull out a long sword from behind one of the trees. He’d done this purposely, known someone would try to track him.
“I failed,” he said to no one in particular.
“We’ve got to stop him,” Cyd said, leaped over the brush to get to the Dire before he ran the sword through his heart. Cain watched as his twin got there just in time, surprising the Dire just enough so the sword flew. But Cyd was no match for the Dire—hell, both Cyd and Cain combined weren’t. And holding the sword to him wasn’t much incentive, because the Dire wanted to die.
“Where’s Gillian’s twin?” Cain demanded. The Dire smiled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” were his last words before he ran straight to Cain. The force of his body hitting the sword slammed Cain into the tree behind him. He watched helplessly as the wolf died in front of him.
Gillian woke slowly, painfully. Gwen was standing over her, putting cool water on her face and Gillian sat up. Too fast, because the room spun.
“Gillian, it’s okay. Your parents are safe. Cyd’s tracking the Dire. Everything’s okay,” Gwen assured her and Gillian gripped the doctor wolf’s hand.
“Thank you.”
“You started it.”
“And you finished it,” Gillian said. “Where are the others?”
“Here,” Jinx said, limping in.
“What happened?” Gillian asked, confused as all the Dires walked in behind him like the centurions they were.
“When you die, they all . . . die,” Gwen explained.
“Shit, I had no idea,” Gillian said.
“Maybe next time, explain things thoroughly, Jinx?” Vice said. “And you wonder why I told her about the mating.”
With Gwen’s help, Gillian got off the floor and went to hug Jinx. Gwen told her that her parents were in the other room, resting.
“I have to see them,” she said and Jinx held her hand as they walked in. They looked all right, but shaken.
“Baby girl, can you ever forgive us?” her father asked. She hugged him first, then her mother.
“I already have. And I’m sorry I scared you all these years.”
“I don’t understand why that woman’s family would do such a thing to her,” her father said.
“The less you know, the safer you’ll be. Just please, get the search for me called off. Clear me. Get my face wiped from the news.”
“You can say this was a robbery gone bad,” Jinx said. “You’ve been on the news so much and everyone knows how much money you’re offering. I’m sure the police will be here soon, so let’s get the story straight.”
Which meant they needed to leave. Gillian hugged her parents again and her mother said, “Will you visit? Both of you . . .”
Jinx nodded and Gillian embraced her mother again. The only one she’d known. It hadn’t been perfect but it had been hard on them too. “We’d like that.”
