Outcast (Hunter: A Thieves Series Book 4) Read online

  Gray turned to me. “Why did you put clothes on? And it’s his. You smell like him. Take it off. What the hell have the two of you been doing while I was gone?”

  I stared at him, thinking seriously about walking out.

  Trent groaned. “How did you win her over in the first place? You are a charmless bastard. Watch how it’s done, buddy.” Trent moved in front of me. “Baby, Gray’s an asshole and he doesn’t want you to smell like me because he’s jealous. We have some things to talk about before we figure out the sleeping situation. Why don’t you go change into some PJs or you can get naked and then we’ll all feel better.”

  “I’m sorry, Kelsey.” Gray sighed and scrubbed a hand over his head. “It was a difficult day.”

  I pulled the T-shirt over my head again and tossed it aside. I really did like being naked. It felt natural. “Yes, it was. We got to meet Myrddin Emrys today.”

  Gray’s eyes widened. “He’s here? He’s in this building?”

  Trent nodded. “He’s in conference with Donovan and Quinn as we speak. There was a big reception this evening. Even your father attended. It looks like the wizard might stay for a while.”

  Gray’s eyes started to go dark, irises beginning to fill out. “Then it is beginning.”

  I put my hands on him because I knew that wasn’t the only thing that was beginning, and I couldn’t deal with another prophecy. I had enough of them. “Don’t, baby. Stay with me.”

  His eyes focused on me, returning to the gorgeous deep purple they normally were. “Sorry. It’s a habit now. So you’re worried about Lee being around the wizard. That’s the only reason you would bring him with us.”

  “Worried isn’t the right word.” Trent had started to pace, something he did when he was thinking or upset. I rather thought both of those were in play this evening. “She was terrified when she found out Myrddin was coming, and she headed straight for Lee. Naturally he’d snuck in.”

  Gray looked at me, a grave expression on his face. “Beware the spawn.”

  I nodded. It was good to know I’d gotten some of it right. “He’s Merlin Satanspawn.”

  Gray put his hands on my shoulders. “Yes, Kelsey mine. Very good.”

  “What does that have to do with Lee?” Trent asked.

  I looked up at Gray. “You told me if he ever knows how Heaven tricked him, his fury will be a thunderstorm. ‘He’ is Myrddin Emrys.”

  “That’s what I said,” Gray replied, his voice a little breathless, as though it excited him I was finally catching on.

  “That’s not a yes,” Trent pointed out.

  Gray’s jaw tightened, his frustration welling.

  Trent didn’t understand, and it was time he started to. It wasn’t easy being a prophet. “He can’t say yes or no.”

  “What does that mean?” Trent was looking at Gray, but the question was obviously for me.

  “It means he’s a prophet and they have specific rules that suck ass, but there’s no way around it,” I explained. Months of living with Gray had taught me all the weird rules that came with being a dark prophet. It wasn’t like he’d been given a handbook, but his mentor, Jacob, had taught him a lot. We still often fumbled. “Gray can’t elaborate and he can’t explain. When he tries, his voice shuts down. He can’t write an explanation out either. We’ve tried it all.”

  It frustrated the hell out of both of us. All he could do was repeat what he’d said and look at me like I should understand it. The way he explained it, in his head it all made sense. But when I asked questions, he couldn’t do more than repeat the prophecy no matter how hard he tried. I would love to meet whoever set that rule up so I could punch him or her in the face. Or it. It could be an it. Hopefully with a face I could punch.

  “Gray, should we take Lee with us to Wyoming?” Trent asked, his voice devoid of the sarcasm he’d had earlier.

  “History plays itself out again and again, mothers and fathers giving more than mere advice to their children. They give blood so the story continues,” he said sadly.

  Trent looked at me.

  I shrugged. “It’s all we’re going to get. I have it written down if you want to study it.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably not my strong suit,” Trent admitted.

  “The path is set,” Gray concluded. “Summer is almost here.”

  “He’s really concerned about summer.” He mentioned the season often. I had to stop myself from running my hands over him and trying to ease him into bed. He looked tired all of the sudden.

  He looked up at me like he wanted to say something. “There is strength in numbers. So much strength in the blood.”

  Trent shook his head. “That’s frustrating, man. I can’t imagine what it’s like to see everything and not be able to simply explain it.”

  I reached out, unable to contain myself. I stroked my hand down Gray’s side, touching the dragon there and feeling the flare of heat from his skin. Almost immediately Gray relaxed a bit.

  “Zoey says she thinks the prophecy stuff isn’t really about changing the future,” I explained. “It’s more of a guide on how to handle it when it happens. When you think about it, if the path is set then nothing I do is wrong. Lee is coming with us.”

  “And you won’t tell me why,” Trent said.

  “I need you to trust me.” I kissed Gray’s back and then moved into Trent’s space. This could still go okay for me. They weren’t at each other’s throats. Maybe some ménage sex would put the guys in a better mood. “And it’s worse, baby. I was serious about you not talking to the king about it.”

  Trent’s whole body tensed. “I made an oath to Daniel.”

  I put my palms on his chest. He didn’t have a handy tattoo I could stroke that would force him to relax. “And that is the problem.”

  My wolf frowned, his brow creasing. “You’re worried I’ll pick the king over you?”

  “She’s worried the king can bend you to his will.” Gray moved to the bed, standing at the edge of it, and I could tell from the tightness of his jaw that he was in pain. When he fought whatever it was that kept him from explaining his prophecies in plain English, he always got a headache. They usually made him super cranky.

  “Why would he do…this is about Myrddin.” Trent turned to Gray and he’d obviously put his thinking cap on. “She’s trying to keep Myrddin from spending time with Lee. There’s a rumor that the wizard has some kind of power over the king. I think I saw it in play tonight. Daniel seemed in awe of the man. I’ve never seen him kiss anyone’s ass before. Well, except for that time I opened the wrong door.”

  “It is already in place. The trick and the trap,” Gray said with a groan.

  “Stop,” I told him, getting down on my knees. “Stop thinking about it. You’ve done your duty. Things will play out as they will. I’ll be careful, but I need you to stop or you’re going to make yourself sick.”

  Trent moved to the opposite side of the bed. “Let’s go to sleep. We have enough to deal with in the morning.”

  “You can sleep in the guest room,” Gray said mulishly.

  I could be just as stubborn. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  His hand still holding his head, he stared at Trent like they hadn’t ever agreed on anything. Like they had nothing in common. Like he was the enemy. “He killed my brother. Why should he get to sleep in my bed?”

  “It’s my bed, buddy,” I pointed out. “Although when you think about it, this whole place was Marcus’s. Should I call him and ask if it’s okay for Trent to sleep here?”

  That got me a growl from both of them.

  I was done. I had a job to do in the morning and it was obvious I wasn’t getting any more out of these guys tonight. I turned off the light, plunging us all into darkness. “Sleep where you want to. I don’t care.”

  “Hey,” Gray said.

  I heard Trent sigh. But I was through. The day had been shitty and now I had to worry about Lee. I had zero idea when Myrddin would leave Dallas. I didn’t know if
this was a lengthy stay or a fun weekend. The job in Wyoming wouldn’t last forever, and Donovan would catch on at some point. We might be able to fool him for a day or two, but he would want to know where his son was eventually.

  “Kelsey, we should talk about this,” Trent said.

  “Talk to Gray. You two seem to know everything,” I shot back, pulling on the covers. My eyes had adjusted, and I could see the outlines of my men standing on either side of the bed. Well, when I swung my gaze back and forth I could. They seemed desperate to keep a good ten feet between them when they weren’t punching each other.

  I wasn’t going to have my happy ménage. Gray wouldn’t allow it. He was going to let his anger fester and boil over and keep us all apart. It might have been better if I’d signed the contract and descended.

  I thought about putting on some PJs but I wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction of turning the light back on and going to the closet. I settled myself in. Not that I would sleep. I would spend the entire night thinking about where I’d gone wrong, worried about where I was going to go wrong.

  All in all, not how I’d thought my day would go.

  “Scoot over.” Trent was on my right side, gently pushing me.

  “Not too far.” Gray had already gotten in on the left side. He pulled the comforter over us and squirmed as though trying to find a good position. “This bed is too small.”

  Trent turned on his side and his arm came out, wrapping around my waist. “One thing we agree on. We’re getting a bigger bed.”

  “It’s fine when it’s just me and…” Gray sighed and I felt him cuddle against my back. “All right. We’ll get a bigger bed. And we’ll figure out the arrangements for Wyoming tomorrow. That should be interesting.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Trent said. “If I know Dev he’s found something spectacular.”

  “It’s rural Wyoming,” Gray pointed out. “I don’t know if even Quinn can make it into a luxurious getaway.”

  But I didn’t need luxury. I was cuddled between the two men I loved more than anything. I had all I needed.

  “I’m sorry, Kelsey mine,” Gray whispered in my ear. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t hate his scent.” He put his nose against my neck and breathed me in. “I can smell him on you and sometimes it enrages me. Sometimes it just makes me want you more. I can’t seem to control it.”

  “You’re still in mourning,” Trent said and I could hear him yawn.

  “I was fucking talking to…” Gray stopped. “See, I don’t know where that came from. I don’t hate Trent.”

  Mourning could be an odd thing. I sighed and put my arm over his. “We’ll figure it out, babe. If it’s bothering you, I could take a shower. I was upset earlier and…”

  “Shh,” Gray said, kissing the nape of my neck. “You don’t have to be upset to need sex. And no one has to ask my permission. I’ll try to temper my reactions. Things are changing. Events are in motion and I think it’s unsettled me. Can you be patient with me?”

  “Yes,” I replied.

  He chuckled. “That was for Trent.”

  “I am a very patient predator, Gray,” Trent assured him. “We’re going to be okay. I know it deep down.”

  “And no amount of warm water and soap would clear his scent,” Gray said, but I could feel him smile against my skin. “He’s here.”

  They were both right where I wanted them to be.

  I drifted off to sleep, safe between them.

  Chapter Five

  “This is the coolest place in the history of time.” Lee Donovan-Quinn said, looking around the dingiest motel I had ever seen.

  Devil’s Tower Motel looked like about five hundred people had probably been murdered there. It was super brown. Like reddish brown, so it could cover up the blood.

  Lee had a totally different version of cool than I did, and I realized I was super fucking old. I couldn’t see the beauty in this place. Not one inch. Especially after our incredibly luxurious flight. Or maybe because of it. We’d flown out here on Devinshea Quinn’s Bond Aeronautics private jet. It was like a flying luxury suite, right down to the steam shower and complete list of snacks I loved.

  So why the hell was I standing in the lobby of a murder motel?

  “We should have a reservation.” Gray was taking the lead. “We need…how many rooms do we need?”

  He looked around because we had a big group and we might not have counted all of them. I knew damn straight Liv hadn’t counted on one of us. Meredith Kyle was standing next to Casey, her bag over her shoulder and green eyes sparkling. Liv had a pinched look on her face that said she totally didn’t mean that she didn’t care about Casey, but she was scared about the companion thing.

  Not that I pointed it out. She was good at revenge. Super good.

  There was a rickety ceiling fan working overhead, and I stepped out of the way because I wasn’t completely certain it wasn’t about to fall and decapitate a few of us. I moved closer to the big reception desk. It looked like this guy didn’t spend much time at this end. There was a thick layer of dust here. On the wall behind the desk hung a large painting. It was of wolves in the winter, a big strong alpha leading the pack through the snow.

  I was glad it was springtime because that snow was deep.

  The man behind the desk didn’t look like he cared if he survived the next ten minutes, much less if we had an actual reservation. His eyes were red and it was obvious that whatever liquid was in his coffee mug wasn’t coffee. “I got two rooms left.”

  Somehow I didn’t see me, Gray, Trent, Little Lee, Liv, Casey and all his computers, and Meredith, the doc in training, fitting into two rooms. I couldn’t seriously imagine that any beds in this place were even a queen, though I did think the mattress might be stuffed with a dead hooker.

  “We had reservations,” Gray insisted.

  The guy shrugged. “I don’t take reservations. You probably talked to my daughter. She’s uppity like that. I don’t know what’s got into this generation. It’s first come, first serve. Had a couple come in yesterday and a man showed up late last night. Was I supposed to tell them to go camping ’cause some uppity city folk had a reservation?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I expected you to do.” Gray gave the man his best Texas Ranger look, but I didn’t think it was going to help.

  I wasn’t sure what Gray thought he was going to do. Trent was already on the phone, likely calling back to Dallas to let Quinn know his logistics had broken down. Casey was playing around on his tablet and yawning because despite the fact that he could daywalk, he was still mostly nocturnal. Liv was staring at Meredith, and Meredith proved she might be a good doc, but she wasn’t great at picking up signals from non-sick people. She kept smiling and chatting about everything from the flight we’d just taken to a TV show she’d seen on dude ranches. I was fairly certain Liv was coming up with a spell to do something terrible to the poor companion.

  I moved back to the window that looked out over the parking lot. It was late afternoon and I hated the fact that we were going to spend the majority of the day trying to find someplace to stay. Some serious guilt would be hitting me hard if another body turned up while we were trying to get our shit together.

  I looked out the window, storm clouds threatening. We might be running around the woods wet and cold. All in all, not how I thought my first trip with both of my men would go.

  “I think we could totally fit into two rooms.” Lee was at my side, staring out the window with a forlorn look on his face. He’d been thrilled when his mom had put him on the plane this morning. He hadn’t mentioned being disappointed about not spending time with the wizard once. He’d simply taken the seat next to mine and talked all through the flight. I was grateful for it because despite the fact that we’d all slept in the same bed, the men were back to sniping at each other. So I’d ignored them and played games with Lee.

  “Oh, I don’t see that happening, buddy.” One of the motel room doors opene
d and a large man stepped out. I couldn’t see his face. His head was covered with a trucker hat, hiding the planes of his face with shadows. I did note the fact that he was dressed in camo. Hunter, though not the strange wolf-bred kind. Human hunter, and that meant potential trouble. The rabid wolf wouldn’t care that the dude had a permit.

  “I can sleep on the floor,” Lee offered.

  A chill went up my spine. Something about the way the man walked was familiar to me, and not in a good way.

  “I don’t need much space,” Lee continued. “I can sleep on the floor and Trent can sleep in wolf form. You and Gray can take the beds. Liv and Meredith are super tiny anyway. They can smoosh together and Casey can take the last bed. See, it all works out.”

  Yeah, that would go so well. The man was walking toward a big truck. He slung his rifle over his shoulder. It was a Remington with a scope.

  A vision of my stepfather assaulted my brain.

  He brought the rifle up, the scope to his eye. He took the first shot and the blood began to flow.

  Bile rose from my gut as I remembered what the man everyone had told me was my dad had done to those wolves that day in the woods.

  “Kelsey?” Lee asked.

  “It’s not hunting season,” I said absently, waiting for the moment when the man would turn around, or at least to the side. He was a big man with broad shoulders. I hadn’t seen the man who raised me for years. Not since I was a teenaged girl. Sometimes I’m certain I made him bigger in my brain, larger and more predatory than he really was.

  “It’s not big game season,” the man behind the counter agreed. “But there’s a bunch of wild turkeys in those woods. It’s prime season to bag a couple of those. There’s always hunting to be had around here, and none of that celebrity crap. We eat what we kill.”

  But not if what that man was hunting was a werecreature. I needed him to turn around. I needed evidence that I was merely letting the fact that we were hunting a stray and going into the woods remind me of all the times my “father” would do the same.