Chapter 75

(**Rayne**)

Darkness is all that greets her when she wakes. Even with her wolf's senses, the darkness is impenetrable. Her senses tell her that this darkness isn’t natural. There is magic at play here. A dark magic that feels like a living thing. She can practically feel it slither over her skin like a snake.

Three thoughts flood her head as she lays as still as she can on the floor. At least she thinks it is the floor.

The first thought in her mind is of Parker. Has he tried to reach out to her at all, or is he still in his funk? The second thought is for her child. Please let whatever that bastard injected into her not harm the baby. The last thought she has before she passes out was for the man who took her.

*You made a mistake by taking me. Parker will kill you and if he doesn’t, my father will.*

When Rayne wakes again, the magical darkness is gone. The room is still dark, but the eerie feeling from before is absent. Looking around the room, she learns she was correct. She is laying on the floor. Thankfully, it is carpeted.

The room she is in is empty of furniture except for one beat up leather chair. There are three scents she can pick up. Two are werewolves and one is human. The human has her attention more than the werewolves.

The human reeks of dark magic.

Before she can think of that further, the door to the room opens. The first person through the door is the same man from the docks. His blond hair is slicked back, revealing a very prominent widow’s peak. His pale blue eyes shrewdly look her over as he walks to the chair.

The other werewolf, a female, follows close behind him. She stops behind the chair once he sits down. This woman’s beauty is striking. Emerald eyes glitter with emotion that Rayne can’t decipher. The woman’s auburn hair is loose and left free to brush her bare shoulders. The dress she wears is black and skintight.

It was the human that draws Rayne’s attention away from the other two. He is tall with an athletic build. The aura coming off him is breathtaking, but not in a good way. The look in his coal-black eyes makes her shiver as fear courses through her.

“It is nice to see that you are awake. You had Killian worried that he gave you too much of his drug. It is a new design that he likes to call Naptime. The name is horrible, but it is what the drug does.”

The warlock walks further into the room, then stops next to the man she now knows as Killian.

“So, you are the one who intimidated Granger into shooting my mate.”

Killian nods his head. The look he gives her sends chills down her spine. It is a look of a predator. One that she has never seen from another werewolf before.

“I like that you get straight to the point. Let’s get the introductions out of the way before I get to why I brought you here. As you have already known, I am Killian. This lovely lady next to me is my new right hand, Ayasha. The gentleman on my right is Nathaniel, a very powerful warlock.”

Ayasha merely nodded her head in Rayne’s direction. The anger in the woman’s eyes confuses her. Until tonight, she has never seen this woman before. Why the hostility?

The smirk on Nathaniel’s face draws her attention back to him. Something about him seems familiar to her. She is positive that they have never met before, but the feeling remains. She can tell by his expression that he knows what she is thinking.

“Now that the introductions are made, let’s get down to business. You and your mate surprised me. I have heard about what you two do. Noble, brave, and very foolish.”

“Tell that to all those who we have helped.”

“I would if I could find them. I think what you are doing is a good thing for our kind. In other circumstances, we could even be allies. I have the resources to help you. I have a warlock, but you have three amazing witches.”

How the fuck did he know about Arabella, Lynn, and Jazmine?

“I can see that little piece of information has shocked you. Would you like to know how I know so much about your little ragtag group?”

In response to the question he asked, Killian merely looks at Nathaniel. Who the hell is this guy? How does he know anything about us? Rayne cocks her head to the side, then studies the warlock. Where has she seen his face before?

“Do you have the feeling that you have met me before?” Nathaniel asks.

“Yes, and I don’t like it.”

Killian and Ayasha share a look, then they both laugh.

“What the fuck is so funny?”

“We love your feistiness. I can see what draws your mate to you. You have an inner fire that I would love to tame. Maybe if your mate and his brother don’t comply with my wishes, I will do just that.”

The look in his eyes shows he means business. From the evil smirk on his face, she can assume his way of taming her would involve lots of pain. Pain that will kill her baby.

*Ruby. Can you hear me?*

When there is no response from her wolf, Rayne frowns.

*Ruby, I need you to help me.*

Silence greets her as a response.

“Are you trying to reach your mate? Don’t bother. The drug in your system prevents your mind link. I also warded this room to block all telepathic communications.” Nathaniel says. His eyes sparkle with humor.

Well, isn’t that just her luck? Kidnapped by psychos with a pet warlock.

An image suddenly clicked in her head. A painting in Arabella’s library. At the time, she thought it was just a beautiful family portrait. Now she knows it was something else. In the painting, Arabella’s eyes held love as she looked at the man beside her.

That man was now standing in front of Rayne.

“You were he lover.”

“Ah, I see it finally clicked for you. Does she still have that old painting we had commissioned?”

“Is that how you knew about the spell’s flaw? You read her spell books?”

Nathaniel chuckles before he answers. “I was with her for nearly one hundred years. Then one day I found my soul mate, Olivia, only to watch her die two years later. I went to Arabella for help to save her life. She refused me. Spouted off something about upsetting the balance of life. Claimed it was Olivia’s time to die and trying to change that would bring dire consequences to me.”

“You tried to save her anyway. Didn’t you? I am guessing that your attempt to save her failed.”

Rage fills Nathaniel’s eyes. “If Arabella had helped me, Olivia would still be alive. Between the two of us, the magic level we had would have been enough to save Olivia. Arabella was too set in her ways to help me.”

The more he talks about the past, the darker the room gets. His coal-black eyes glitter with hatred as he speaks about what happened. The past is not dead and buried for him. It is still alive and fueling his revenge.

Fear like nothing she has ever felt before spreads through her body. If Killian doesn’t kill her, Nathaniel will. Does he know what she means to Arabella? Does he know how close the two of them are?

“Yes, I know everything.” He says. “I will use you to enact my revenge. It is time for me to bring my love back from dead. You will be the perfect host for her.”

What? Holy fuck! This just went from a kidnapping to body snatching.

“I am pregnant.” Rayne says the only thing she can think of to stall. There are two souls in her body. There sure as fuck isn’t room for a third.

“I can remedy that real quick,” Ayasha growls.

“Enough!” Killian yells. “Until I get what I want, no one touches her. If they don’t comply with my demands, which I highly doubt, then she is mine! Not yours. Do you understand, Nathaniel? You agreed to help me with my plan, but I never agreed to give her to you for your revenge.”

“You may be powerful in your world with what you do, but there really isn’t anything you can do to stop me. I will give you time to come to terms with that. Now, I must go see to the other part of our plan.”

Nathaniel turns on his heels and glides out of the room. Not walk, but he literally glides out of the room like he was just floating on air. If she wasn’t terrified for her life and the life of her child, she might have been impressed.

“Let’s see how long it takes for your mate to come looking for you. If he is anything like his brother, it won’t be long now. We will leave you to your thoughts while we wait.”

Killian laughs as he stands up.

“Parker will kill you.”

“Many have tried.”

Then she is left alone to pray to the Moon Goddess to help her.

(**Parker**)

Three hours. That is the time it took him to call everyone he could think of for help. Now he looks around at all their faces. Each studies him as they waited for the last person to arrive.

All he can think of how much of an asshole he was to Rayne the last time they spoke.

Fear of losing her and the baby swamps him. If anything happens to either of them, he will kill whoever hurt them. Anger spikes within him as he looks at the door. Mortimer is taking his sweet time getting to the bar.

“If you know who took Rayne, why are we not going after them yet?” Spencer asks.

Parker rounds on him with rage in his eyes. “Because I don’t know where the FUCK he is!!!”

Spencer growls at him, but backs down. The bell above the door rings, signaling another arrival. Parker turns around to see who it is. Morty and four other vampires are standing in the doorway. Beckett Hawkins and his crew, The Four Horsemen.

“I brought backup. There are more outside, but they didn’t want to come inside.”

Relief floods through him as he looks at five of the oldest vampires he has ever met. If anyone can find Rayne, they can. Thank the Moon Goddess for their help.

“I tracked her scent to the docks but lost it about a half mile down the road.” Parker says.

Beckett nods to Ashir, who turns and walks back outside. “I am sending Ashir and his fledgling to where you found her scent. They will report back in when they find something. For now, why don’t you fill us all in on what is going on here.”

“I will sum it up quickly. An Irish mob boss is here for something he wants back. To persuade us to give it to him, he blackmailed someone into shooting me. When that didn’t work, they took Rayne.”

“What does they mob boss want?”

Parker hesitates for a moment, then looks towards the corner booth where Owen is sitting. Turning back to look at Beckett, “Something that he can’t have.”

Beckett nods in understanding, then walks over to the bar and sits. As he does, there is a swirl of purple smoke in the middle of the room. When the smoke clears, Arabella, Lynn, and Jazmine are revealed. Rage is the first thing that Parker notices on Arabella’s face.

She knows who has Rayne.

“Where is she?”

“I can’t find her. Something is blocking me. Or shall I say, someone is.”

“Killian is not a witch. He doesn’t have the ability to block magic.” Owen says.

“That may be true, but he is working with someone who does.”

Edmund walks into the room with Argyle behind him. Both men look pissed. No doubt because the mates they don’t want are here.

“You two need to grow up. There are more important things going on in our world than your love lives.” Parker yells.

Edmund stomps over to them and gets right up in Parker’s face. “I know what is on the line here. MY daughter is a hostage because YOUR brother is here.”

Parker snaps at Edmund’s comment about Owen. His fist connects with Edmund’s nose before he has time to stop it. Shock crosses the other man’s face before Argyle steps in between them.

“You are unbelievable. Your daughter is missing for Goddess’ sake!” Arabella yells.

Edmund’s eyes form slits as he turns to her. “You again! Late again! What good is having magic if you can’t stop things like this from happening? If my daughter or grandchild gets hurt, I will hold you responsible for it!”

Arabella sucked in a breath. Pain clear in her eyes. “Then the rest of what I have to tell you will make you hate me more.”

“Oh, I assure you, that isn’t possible.”

Arabella reached out her hand and slapped Edmund so hard that his head jerked back. Then she turns to Parker with grief in her eyes. “Some of what is happening now is on Owen’s shoulders. The person helping Killian is someone I knew well. I thought he was still in South America, but I was wrong.”

Giving Edmund an angry glare, Parker pulls Arabella away from him. “Argyle, don’t waste time with what you have been given.”

Argyle looks down at the floor as Parker pulls Arabella away. Then he looks up at Jazmine. “I am coming to that conclusion, boss.”

Parker led Arabella to the corner booth where Owen sits. He can feel how upset Edmund’s words made her feel. The sadness coming off her makes him wrap his arms around her shoulders.

“Tell me who this witch is that is helping Killian.”

“A warlock. Nathaniel was once a White Witch, like me. That was until his soulmate died. After Olivia died, he spiraled down into the darkness. He blames me for her death.”

Parker frowns at that. “Did you kill her?”

“No, she had what we now call breast cancer. I saw her death in a vision. It was inevitable. Back then, there was no knowledge about the disease. Even if I were to use magical means, she would have died anyway.”

“Nature and balance.”

“That was one of the reasons I told Nathaniel that I wouldn’t help him. He didn’t take that well.”

“Why would he be helping Killian?”

Arabella looks down at her hands. When she looks back up, many emotions flow across her face until her eyes fill with tears. She reaches a hand into her pocket, then pulls something out. An antique silver locket is cradled in her palm.

“That holds why Nathaniel is here.”

Parker takes the locket from her, then opens it. Shock is the first thing he feels. The woman in the mall picture could be Rayne’s twin. The only physical difference between the two women is the shape of their eyes.

“He wants to bring Olivia back.”

*Author's Note*
I introduced The Four Horsemen in His Redemption, so I didn't describe them here. They are based off Vampire Live Action Roleplay characters my brothers and I played when teens.