Chapter 80 (End of Crossover)

(**Rayne**)

Twenty minutes after Killian closes the door, Rayne hears voices inside the church. Killian, Ayasha, and one voice she knows well. Owen is here. He kept his word. To trade his life for hers. Her heart aches at the thought of what Killian plans to do with him.

Nyla will lose her mate. Their newborn daughter will lose her father. All because a madman can’t let go. However, she knows something that Killian doesn’t. There is no way Parker lets his brother come here alone. He and all the others are out there somewhere close.

She can feel him.

When the door opens, they pushed Owen inside, then the door closes behind him. As he turns to face her, a gasp leaves her lips. Killian beat him before he threw Owen in here with them.

“Are you alright?” Owen asks. His voice is barely audible so that no one beyond this room can hear them.

Sebastion stands from the cot to help Owen sit down. The way Owen’s nostrils flare as he smells the blood on Sebastion’s hands makes her reach for him. “He didn’t hurt me. Sebastion helped me when I needed it.”

“Why is your blood on his hands?”

“I was manhandled, and it caused me to hemorrhage.”

Concerned flares into his eyes as looks down at the blood-soaked shirt pressed between her thighs. “Oh, Goddess, Rayne! Are you and the baby alright?”

“We are now. My wolf helped heal the damage done. I can feel that the danger is passed. Why did you come, Owen?”

He grins, then winces as his lip splits further, causing fresh blood to spill down his chin. “I am here to play my part in the coming fun.”

Rayne gets his meaning instantly. Paker is waging a war against Killian. A war that the Irishman is going to lose. She smiles for the first time since she left the bar earlier today. She reaches out one hand to Owen and the other to Sebastion.

“Has the drug worn off, Sebastion?”

“I can feel Aries in the back of my mind. He is sluggish, but I think he will be ready when they are.”

“Then I think we should all play our parts. We will both Keep acting like we are still under the influence of the drug they gave us. It will make Killian think we are still at his mercy. Then when Parker makes his move, we act.”

“Rayne, you can’t shift. What are you going to do?” Owen asks. Concern for her clear in his eyes.

She points the below the cot. Owen lifts the edge of the blankets so he can peek under the cot. When he looks back at there is a surprised smile on his face.

“While everyone is fighting, I am going to slip under this cot, down the ladder to the basement room below. Parker and I have been here before. We set up some supplies down there. With the cot over the hatch, no one will know it is there.”

“How do you know Killian didn’t come here before he brought you two here?”

“His scent wasn’t inside the church when we arrived. If he had been here today, it would still be here.”

“Well, then we have a plan. Let’s hope Parker has all Monroe’s men ready.”

This time it is her turn to be surprised. She hadn’t thought her experience with him was that profound to cause him to come to her rescue. Again. “Monroe is here too?”

“No, he is on his way, but until he arrives, he gave Parker command of the rogues.” Owen swings his gaze to Sebastion. “Your Luna is on her way.”

Anger and shock cross Sebastion’s face. “She is pregnant, for fuck’s sake. What would she risk coming here?”

Rayne reaches her hand to him as he crouches on the floor next to her. He grips her hand in return. “You are her mate, Sebastion. Irina is an alpha wolf. She will need to come to help in any way that she can.”

“How did you know she is an alpha? I didn’t even fully realize it until a few weeks ago. She hid her power well.”

She smiles down at him. “There were three witches, eight vampires who are all older than we will ever know, and the Alpha King, at my wedding. She may have been trying to hide her true nature, but there are some among the supernatural world that we can never keep secrets from.”

(**Parker**)

Parker looks down at his watch to check the time. It has been twenty minutes since Owen walked into the church to do his part to get Rayne and Sebastion free of Killian. In twenty minutes, many things can go wrong. Fear for his mate and his brother grip his heart as he waits for the signal Owen came up with.

Monroe was true to his word. His rogues are in the woods surrounding the church. Every man and woman loyal to a man who is far stronger than they know. Parker will forever have their gratitude if they pull this off. He will owe Monroe a great debt in return for the use of his rogues.

Looking up at the moon as it shines over their head all he can hope for is a swift rescue. From the scents inside the church and the surrounding cemetery, there are eight hostiles. All werewolves except one. Arabella picked up a trail of dark magic coming from the man guarding the door to the church.

She hesitated to define what he was since she also sensed a light in him. He was something she has never encountered before. A man of both light and dark magic. An oddity among both witches and warlocks.

Parker has tasked Beckett’s group, Morty, and Arabella, to deal with that one. All others are fair game and must be taken down as silently as possible. Then, once they deal with the outer threat, all the rogues will surround the church. Eight of the strongest will crash through the tall windows along the sides of the building. If all goes well, they will be in and out in under an hour.

“Look, Parker, is that what we are looking for?” Argyle points to a swarm of bats as they circle the back part of the church.

“That is Owen calling to bats nearby. That is our signal.”

Parker raised his hand to signal Declan, who is up on a tree branch as an owl. Declan lets out a series of hoots that are the signal to the vampires and rogues to move in. As predicted, the five guards are taken down swiftly.

Arabella appeared silently beside the sixth man, teleported him away in the cover of darkness with the help of Nic’s abilities. Not a single life was taken. The reason that they didn’t kill the guards was because Edmund got a peek inside their leader’s head.

They were only hired to do a job and planned on turning against Killian in the night while he slept. Remorse for what they did to Sebastion, anger at what he almost caused to happen to Rayne. That thought caught Edmund’s attention instantly.

They captured then every guard outside the church restrained with silver cuffs to deal with later. Now, their focus turns to the inside of the church. It is time for Killian to pay for the mistake he made by taking Rayne.

(**Rayne**)

The sound of glass shattering causes Rayne to jump from the cot. Sebastion lifts it up, then holds it while Owen opens the trapdoor. She scurried down the ladder as fast as she could manage. The knowledge that Parker was out there with all their friends made her extremely elated.

“Don’t you dare come up this ladder until you hear it is all clear from Parker and only him? Do you understand me?” Sebastion demands.

“No, you are going down there with her,” Owen says.

“What? No. I can fight.”

“That, I know. However, if there is one thing I know about Killian, he leaves nothing to chance. He will have a backup plan. If anyone comes through that door that is not on our side, I want someone down there with her.”

Sebastion growls but soon he follows Rayne down the ladder. Owen closes the trapdoor, then puts the cot back in place. From the silence above them, all she can assume is that Parker pulled their plan off successfully.

Minutes tick by as she waits for Parker to come for her. For her to have his arms around her again. Fear slides back into her mind as time seems to come to a crawl. “What is taking them so long?”

“I can’t hear anything. There is too much between us and them. If it were bad, I think we would have heard fighting, growling, or smelled blood by now.”

“That is not really reassuring, Sebastion.”

Sebastion walks away from the ladder. His eyes are on the floor above their heads. “I can hear voices, but I can’t make out what is being said.”

*Rayne, my love, it is all clear. Morty is above you at the hatch. He will bring you to me.*

At the sound of Parker’s voice, she sags back against the wall. “Sebastion, we are in the clear. The hatch is going to open, and we can go up now.”

The sound of the cot being moved over the hatch is heard, followed by the hatch itself being opened. Morty’s voice calls down to her. “Rayne, my dear, we have rescued you.”

With Sebastion’s help, she climbs up the ladder. When she reaches the top, Morty gently pulls her to her feet at the top of the hatch. He hugs her briefly, then pulls back when he smells the blood on her. “I will explain that later.”

She moves aside for Sebastion to join them. Morty tenses for when he sees her blood on his hands. “I didn’t hurt her.”

“If I thought you had, you would never have made it to the top of the ladder.”

With that said, Morty takes her hand, then leads her out into the main room of the church. The sight that greets her is grim, however, it puts a smile on her face. Killian is down on his knees with a gun to the back of his head held by her father.

Ayasha is on the floor beside Killian in a pool of her own blood. Her head is no longer attached to her body. Rayne can’t really say she is sorry to see the woman dead. Ayasha never hurt her, but she told her all the things she would do to her if Owen didn’t show up.

Sensing her presence, Parker spins around to look behind him. When their eyes meet, she lets go of Morty to run the short distance to her mate. The moment he wraps his arms around her, she lets out a sob of relief.

“I knew you would come.”

“I will move mountains to find you, my love.”

A cry from the doorway of the church makes Parker turn around to see who joined them. Irina and Monroe are in the doorway. Then she is running up the center aisle to where Sebastion is standing. He meets her halfway.

Two pairs of mates reunited.

“Well, isn’t this a lovely ending?” Killian laughs.

“Shut the fuck up!” Edmund screams.

“We could have spared all this trouble had Owen done the right thing”

“That is something you and I agree on.” Edmund says.

The look he sends towards Parker and Owen makes her raise a brow. Since the situation is still tense, this will probably be a conversation to be had when they are at home. If she has her way, it will not happen until tomorrow.

Right now, all she wants is to leave this place behind. Then a hot bath with Parker to hold her close, and to fall asleep in his arms. This has been one hell of a day.

“I have to say that I am impressed and surprised by this show of force. I underestimated what you found when you came here, Owen. Now, if you are going to kill me, I suggest you get to it already.”

Owen looks at Killian, then reaches for the gun in Argyle’s hand. Rayne hadn’t heard the vampire approach them but seeing him here with them makes her heart swell. Which makes her look around the room to see all the faces of her friends and allies.

They all came for her.

Well, some came for her and Sebastion. What matters to her is that they came. It let her know she is never alone in this world. That is a long way from the scared nine-year-old girl she used to be.

“I need to know why you did this. Why did you go to all this trouble to get me back? You let me go. Why did you come here now?”

“You cheated me.”

“How so?”

“That psychotic brother of yours what not what you told me he would be. All he talked about was you. All he wanted to do was eliminate the thing that took you away from him.” Killian swings his eyes to Parker. “I can see he failed in that too.”

“Why did you come here? Did you really think that I would come back with you?”

“I came to make you honor your oath. The one you made me to me when I made you my second in command.”

“You let me out of that when you agree to the buyout.”

“I changed my mind when you left me with crazy Frank. Then when I learned you found your family again, what they have built here, I knew you would never come back willingly.”

Owen pulled the trigger, dropped the gun, then walked out of the church. Everyone left in the church looks between his retreating back and Killian’s now dead body. Rayne felt Killian deserved it after all the man had done for Owen to be the one to kill him.

Within moments, everyone who remained inside dispersed. Monroe orders his rogues to recover the bodies and make sure they left no blood behind. Parker scoops her up in his arms, then carries her to where he left his jeep.

Sebastion, Irina and their two guards follow behind them. Parker growled at the sight of her blood on Sebastion’s hands. “He helped me, Parker, not hurt me. I will explain when we get home.”

“It better be an excellent explanation.”

“You will thank him for his quick actions, I promise you.”

Without waiting for anything further to be said, Parker put her in the Jeep. Once the others had climbed in the back, he took them all to the beach house. It is time to put this day to an end, time to rest and be thankful for all those who rallied to save her and Sebastion.

The world they live in still has good in it.