Piper

 

Three hours earlier.

 

“Do you think Balt suspects anything?” Dez asked as I hugged him tightly and then Enele.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. He’s been preoccupied, lately,” I said, distracted. “He just went somewhere, in fact.” I blinked as I realized he hadn’t told me where.” Oh, hi, Dr. Iyer, right? I’m Piper Weslark. Thank you so much for everything.”

The beautiful Indian woman standing off to the side with dancing eyes and a wide smile nodded and stuck out her hand. “Oh, Piper, it’s such an honor to meet you. Call me Kesari, please.” She had short dark hair waving around her head and pink cat-eye glasses. “I’m happy to help.”

“You have it?” I asked, swallowing hard.

“Yes,” Dr. Iyer said. “Although, I’ll want to run tests first, of course.”

Suddenly the floor seemed to move and she grabbed me to keep me upright. Enele slipped behind and took my shoulders, leading me to a chair. My heart was pounding and I bent my head as tears pricked my eyes.

We’ve done it. Balt, Electra, Athena – they can all be free of the Kazan curse.

“I apologize,” I said a moment later when I’d collected myself and looked up. “It’s been a long week and you guys took me by surprise.” I let out a dry laugh. “It’s a rarity, that, although lately, it seems to be the norm.”

Kesari sat down by me and took my hand, her brown eyes filled with warmth. “I completely understand. Enele and Dez told me everything.”

“Whatever you want or need,” I said to her, seriously. “You tell me and I will do it.”

“I don’t need anything,” Kesari said with a laugh. “But thank you.”

I loved this woman with all my heart and I’d only known her for a few minutes. “As soon as Balt gets back–”

There was a pounding on the door and Enele leaped to his feet to answer it. Kai pushed in, his hair wild and his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and rage. I didn’t even realize I’d gotten to my feet until I was holding his forearms and looking up into my brother’s face.

“Kai, what’s wrong?” I asked in a remarkably calm voice. I’d had him tailing Balt for the last few days ever since I realized he’d been meeting with Gregor.

And now I had a feeling I was about to find out why.

“Balt just got into a car and left Athens. He’s going to the Kazan estate,” Kai said grimly. “And you wanna know what’s worse? I just saw the Parasite. I think he was going to meet you tonight, I'm not sure. He got in a car, too.”

“Oh my God,” I muttered. “I knew it.” Swinging around, I turned to Enele, “I need you to stay here and guard Kesari, Dez, and Isla with your life, En.”

“No! I’m coming with you, are you kidding me?” my cousin snarled.

Shaking my head, I gripped his arm. “Enele, no. I already planned for this. But we have to leave now before they gain too much ground on us." My heart was in my throat.

On the rooftop with Kai, I’d realized something I wasn’t sure how I’d overlooked. From there, my growing plan had been altered. Now, I nodded at my brother and he pulled out his phone.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be alone,” I told Enele.

“I think we should all come, Piper,” Dez spoke up.

“Yes, what if that terrible woman tries to do another experiment on a Kazan?” Kesari asked. “I should be there – I can help.”

"Neither of you is trained for this," I snapped.

“Are you?” Dez asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Dez, we’re not writers. We’re secret agents.” I almost laughed when I said it and Dez cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“I just, well, I kind of had a feeling,” Dez admitted.

I shook my head. “I don’t have time for this. I need to get into gear, I need to get to the Kazan estate and stop Frost before she does something to Balt or those kids–”

“Balt’s in trouble?” asked a voice from the doorway. We all turned, Kai going red as Isla stood there, arms folded and glaring at us accusingly. “Whatever is going on or wherever you are going – I’m coming.”

“Isla, no.” I strode forward and pulled her in. “You need to stay as far away as possible. Balt would kill me if you came along. Especially since I know who was after you now and they will in all likelihood be there.”

Isla tilted her chin as her eyes flashed gold. “Good, I’d like to meet them.”

With a growl, I looked around the room at the stubborn set of jaws and determined gazes. My shoulders slumped. I knew a losing battle when I saw one. “Isla, Kesari, come with me. You need gear. Kai, take Dez and Enele to get ready. Everyone meet downstairs in ten minutes.”

 

Ten minutes later, we were in black gear and waiting on Kesari. She’d darted back inside and was now coming back, throwing a bag over her shoulder. “I’m bringing this with me.”

For a moment, I hesitated, then I nodded. “Dez, you hang onto the Capitis Leonis, alright?”

He patted his pocket. “Got it safe in here.”

Climbing into the black SUV, my heart was pounding and my fingers were tingling with adrenaline. Enele expertly navigated us out of there and I watched streets flash by. Looking down, I realized my fingers were tightly wound around the fesootai. But I couldn’t feel a thing.

My lips twisted in bitter amusement. Now I know exactly how Balt felt.

The ride both felt interminable and all too short. As we parked away from the Kazan estate and crept forward, watching the walls rear up, we then stopped a hundred yards away.

“Enele, Kai – I want you to go check things out. But be careful,” I whispered, the hair on my neck rising. “Something is off.”

Enele grinned at Kai. “First time shifting and scouting together. Try to keep up.”

Kai rolled his shoulders. “Guarantee I’m faster than you, cuz.”

As we waited in the darkness, Isla seemed the calmest. Kesari was bouncing on her feet and Dez kept glancing around nervously. Fifteen minutes later, Enele and Kai returned, wearing identical expressions of grimness.

“Tell me,” I said tartly, folding my arms.

“TLO has the place wrapped up tight. Guards and goons everywhere,” Enele said, his mouth thin. “Not only that, but they’ve got a bunch of little kids held hostage, along with their relatives.”

“And Balt is in that big house, with Frost, some French dude, an old lady and a little kid,” Kai said. “She’s got syringes, Piper.”

“Shit,” I muttered. At that moment, my phone buzzed. “They’re here, come on.”

We ran down the hill and across the dark lawns to a copse of trees. Dez was panting, but everyone else seemed fine. Kesari, if anything, seemed more excited.

Among the trees, two dozen Shifters of Anubis agents slipped forward. All of them were wearing gear ranging from stealth to heavy combat and I grinned.

Including one Director Herrod, who was frowning at me in both shock and rage.

Enele sucked in a breath and grabbed my elbow. “Piper – what did you do?” he hissed.

I didn’t have a chance to answer before Director Hank Herrod stomped forward and glared down at me. He was an older agent with a notorious reputation for following the rules and punishing those who disobeyed him.

But more than that, his team was the best Black Ops in all of the Shifters of Anubis.

They should have been in the jungles of Malaysia. But they were here.

“Weslark, what the hell is the meaning of this? Where’s Drax?” he demanded.

Kai let out a smothered chuckle, but I tipped my head up and planted my feet wide. “We have a hostage situation with children up at the Kazan estate, about twenty TLO goons and three of the most wanted enemies of SoA.” Enele was shaking his head off my right, I sensed, while Kai grinned. “We need to move fast, otherwise lives could be lost. I will–”

“You will?” the man spluttered, his green eyes narrowing at me. “Is Drax even here?” The Director asked, catching on and going white with rage.

“No,” I said evenly. “Now, please, listen to me.”

“You’re already on probation and you pull this shit, Weslark? We’re supposed to be in Malaysia, not Greece. I don’t care who your Daddy is, girlie, you’re not taking my team and barking out orders – we don’t know anything about this. We can’t just go marching in there without more information and an all-clear from HQ.”

“Baltsaros Kazan is in there and his life is on the line,” I said in a soft, dangerous voice. “As are those of the children and countless others. We will be going in there and you will be listening to me, Director.”

“The Kazans dug their own graves long ago – I don’t care if Baltsaros is in there, we’re not–”

His statement ended as my arm flew out. A second later, Director Herrod hit the ground, unconscious and I blew on my fist. “Who is second in command here?” I asked coolly.

A woman stepped forward and smiled at me. “I am, Director Weslark. What’s your call?”

I grinned at the blonde Australian who’d been a rookie with me. “Faye Knight, how nice to see you. Now, listen…”

Five minutes later, along with Kesari, I was sneaking through the empty halls of the main house and listening hard. The cold, precise feeling of battle had come over me and I took every step carefully. I had to, even though I wanted to run, burst in there and take a swing at Frost.

Finally, we were on a small balcony, overlooking the ballroom in which Frost was taunting Balt. My blood was rising rapidly as I listened to her and watched the scene play out.

Kesari, at my side, was listening intently. Somewhere nearby, Enele, Kai, Dez, and Isla were together. As were some of Herrod’s team. The rest had been sent to secure the children and the rest of the Kazan family. As soon as they were safe, Frost would be in for a nasty surprise.

“Almost done, ma'am,” came a whisper in my earpiece and I sucked in a deep breath.

"Your family has taken too much. Too much power, too much money and too many lives." Frost was saying, the light hitting her blonde hair as she opened a box with a syringe. Next to me, Kesari pulled in a soft breath and I glanced at her. “We all became orphans that night, Baltsaros. You, me, and Isla.”

I winced as I listened to Kyría and Athena. But when Altair came out, sneering and tormenting them, I had to dig my nails into my palm to keep my temper from exploding.

You bastard. We’ll see how you like jail.

I glanced at Kesari who was peering at Frost, or more specifically the syringe. When she sensed my gaze, she looked up and shook her head, eyes wide. Pointing at the syringe, she drew a finger across her neck and my heart seized in my chest.

Hurry up! I screamed in my head at Herrod’s team.

Athena was shouting at Altair now and it didn’t surprise me that he’d teamed up with Frost to take down his grandmother. I’d been right, though it gave me no pleasure. All he grasped after was power.

I chanced a look at Balt and saw his face was set. Anger and horror were in his eyes, but he wasn’t moving and I knew it must have been killing him to stand there and listen to this.

As though unable to stop himself, Balt lashed out, “You can’t do this. Holding their lives like bartering goods. Be better than the selfish bastards who corrupted our pasts.”

“I plan on it.” Frost retorted. “I’m starting tonight.”

“How?” he asked, muscles straining with the effort of staying in place. “What do you want, Lilian?”

I almost laughed at the look on Frost’s face, then I froze and stared in horror as I listened to her reply. “I want to repeat history of course. Your uncle took my mother. Now I take you.”

A strange look flitted over Balt’s face as he stared at her and my heart was thundering in my chest. “Revenge?” he asked, his voice almost gentle.

No, this is can’t be happening, I thought. We have the cure. No, please. Hurry, I begged in my head. Please hurry. Before it’s too late.

Kesari reached out and looped her fingers around my forearm, squeezing it reassuringly. Somehow, I took a steadying breath. 

Stall, Balt.

Instead, I watched as Balt strode forward and stuck out his arm with the mark. Athena and Kyría were calling out, but I barely heard them.

I almost leaped off the balcony then, but Kesari steadied me.

There was a hollow, roaring sensation where my heart was and I had to place my palms flat on the ground to keep myself from falling over.

“I told you, it’s not just about you.” Frost was tracing her fingers over Balt’s mark and I wanted to throttle her. I could feel her thin throat between my fingers. “It’s also about Piper.”

The bottom fell out from under me and I began to shake. No, no, no…

"She will stop you, Frost," Balt spoke with absolute confidence, adoration, and pride in every note of his voice, even as he clenched his jaw. "Make no mistake."

“Mm, possibly,” I heard Frost say. “If you were alive and by her side, fawning over her. She does like to be adored, just like Kai, doesn’t she? Like all Weslarks, really.”

My eyes blurred as Frost lifted the syringe. Balt was so still, he looked like a statue and I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. I stared at his face and saw the bravery, the selflessness.

Everything was screaming at me to go to him, but I was frozen in place.

He’d want you to save the children, said a voice in my head as my eyes swam.

“Piper, yes, could have stopped me. But think of it, Balt. Right now, she’s standing at the Ercetheion, looking around and realizing I’m not coming. That she failed you.”

I dug my fingers into the floor and choked back a scream. Just wait, Frost. My eyes were still on Balt’s face and I saw a look I knew come into his eyes – a look of absolute and utter joy – and he stared into the distance. He was thinking about me.

“And in about ten minutes, she’ll feel the second you die, Balt,” Frost continued and I watched as he gasped in pain. My body went cold as I saw the needle was in his arm.

The roaring in my ears was growing louder and louder. Pain lanced through my throat.

“That fesootai tattoo will burn, so the stories go. But she’ll also feel it – like someone ripped out her heart.” My mind had gone blank. In slow motion, I saw Balt hold his arm and fall to his knees, the mark rippling across his skin like a hungry stain. “Just like when her mother died.”