Beauty and the Shapeshifter (Evil Rising Book 5) Read online

“Murray wasn’t married and didn’t have any kids. I saw the original file Kalger had on him. Now, he suddenly has a daughter who isn’t affected by our barrier spells and doesn’t know who her mother is. How old do you think she is?”

  “Shit,” muttered Cade. “She’s got to be mid-twenties.”

  “The thing that’s been bothering me about Murray is why he’s even alive. Kalger was a dick. If Murray failed him, he’d be dead. The only reason he’d let the doctor live was if he still thought he was useful.”

  Cade nodded. “But if he was successful in genetically modifying a living embryo, it would be a waiting game to see if it worked.”

  “Exactly. But Kalger was no dad of the year. He wouldn’t want to babysit some kid for over a decade, just hoping she’d work out. I think he let Murray escape, fully planning on collecting Ella when she was old enough. I killed him ten years ago. Probably just before she hit puberty.”

  “You think that’s why Murray hasn’t helped us?”

  “If Murray said he didn’t know or told us he failed Kalger, that would be one thing. But he’s refusing to talk at all. He is hiding something or someone, and I’ll bet you anything this girl is it.”

  Cade leaned against the counter and narrowed his eyes at Lucian. “So what are you going to do with her? Forced breeding doesn’t exactly sound appealing.”

  “Do you think that’s something I’d do?”

  “You’ve done a lot of shit to get to where you are.”

  Lucian decided it was best to not directly respond to that. “Besides, it’s going to take more than one girl to replenish the coven. We need to know what makes her different. How she could get onto our land and if she’s really the doctor’s daughter.”

  “So we’re going to force her to undergo medical experiments?” Cade shook his head and held up his hands. “This is too creepy, even for me.”

  Lucian looked out the doorway once again to make sure the coast was clear. “We aren’t going to force her to do anything. She’s going to volunteer.”

  Ella’s eyes drifted shut as the same old trees played in front of her for the thousandth time. She’d long ago established that the camera next to her father’s car wasn’t facing the road whenever he’d arrived. His car just appeared during the sway of the camera as it swung from its perch in the trees.

  Just to be thorough, she reviewed all the footage taken that day, hoping for some sight of Dad. So far she’d gotten nowhere. Lucian and his brother were apparently both bored enough that they left her on her own after only half an hour. She should go home. It was late enough. A glance at her phone showed it was already ten thirty.

  She didn’t want to leave until she found something that could lead her to Dad, but her exhausted eyes wouldn’t be able to detect anything in the endless sea of black and white.

  As though on cue, Lucian opened the door. “Hanging in there?”

  Ella rubbed her eyes and shook her head. “Not really. I don’t think I’m good for much at this point.”

  “You’re more than welcome to grab a nap in one of the spare rooms. I know you have a long drive home.”

  The last thing she needed to do was to sleep here. “Thanks for the offer, but I really can’t take advantage of you any more than I have.”

  He nodded. “At least come downstairs. We aren’t the best cooks, but we have some delicious frozen burritos. I should’ve offered sooner, but I’m not used to company.”

  “You’ve already done so much.” Ella pushed herself up and found herself just inches from Lucian. How did he always manage to get so close without her noticing? “I don’t know how I can thank you.”

  He looked down at her and quickly turned away, heading to the door. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” he said over his shoulder.

  She frowned. The words seemed sexual, but his tone was completely innocent. She decided the exhaustion was playing tricks on her.

  “Where’s Cade?” she asked as they entered the empty kitchen.

  “Around here somewhere.” He opened the freezer and examined the contents. “Let’s see...we have the aforementioned burritos, some sort of chicken bake thing and a pretzel sandwich.”

  Ella grinned at the bachelor pad menu. “Whatever is easier.”

  “They go in the microwave for three minutes. There really isn’t a difficulty scale in question here.”

  “A burrito is fine.” It was obvious the brothers didn’t cook much. The house itself was decadent and well maintained, but most of the kitchen was dated. The stove was probably at least ten years old. The only newer-looking appliance was the microwave.

  The small table and chairs in the corner were in the same Victorian style as the outside of the house and the cabinets were a dark chestnut.

  There were a few windows, so maybe the kitchen looked better when some sunlight got in. Lucian had just popped the burrito into the microwave when Cade appeared in the doorway. He must’ve been somewhere on the first floor because she hadn’t heard the stairs creak. “Lucian. Aleksander’s on the phone. It’s important.”

  Lucian shot Ella an apologetic glance. “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.”

  Ella nodded and tried to imagine who Aleksander was. Someone important in the defense game apparently. Did Cade and Lucian work for him? Was he high up in the US government?

  Or some other government?

  A metallic clanging sounded from below her and Ella jerked around at the sound. What the heck was that?

  She shook her head at her own jumpiness. Just because the house was old and slightly creepy didn’t mean she needed to jump at every strange noise.

  Then she heard it again.

  The lingering uneasiness she’d felt ever since she entered the strange house now reached fever pitch. She took a deep breath and told herself it was nothing. This was an old house and old houses made strange noises.

  Metal clanged against metal.

  “Lucian? Is that you?”

  No answer.

  She approached the hallway, moving closer to the origin of the sound. She looked left and right but saw no one. Not that she expected different. The sounds came from beneath her. The clanging metal sounded again and Ella estimated it was right below her.

  “Cade?” she called.

  Again, no answer.

  She should go back in the kitchen. Lucian would be there and he would take her back to her car.

  It was probably an old furnace or water heater. The noise sounded again and Ella couldn’t take it anymore. No furnace made noises like this! She would just peek downstairs and see what it was so she could calm her frayed nerves.

  She turned down the hallway, trying to see whether Cade or Lucian were anywhere nearby, when she stopped in her tracks. The open door led to a darkened staircase.

  That door wasn’t open a second ago. She was sure of it.

  Ella took a deep breath. Stop imagining things. This house isn’t haunted, and there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this. Just go down the stairs and see for yourself.

  Upon closer inspection, the stairs weren’t as dark as she thought. A faint light shone at the bottom. At least she wouldn’t have to fumble for a light switch. Houses like this one tended to be covered in cobwebs.

  She assumed. She’d never really been in a house like this before.

  Ella didn’t consider herself scared of spiders, but she still wouldn’t want to sneak up on one.

  Each stair creaked and moaned as she stepped; she paused. It wasn’t as if she were sneaking anywhere. If Lucian or Cade came around, she’d tell them the truth. She’d heard strange noises repeatedly and hadn’t been able to get either of them to check it out.

  Really, she was doing them a favor.

  She grinned at her logic as she made it to the end of the stairs. Looking around, her heart dropped out of her chest.

  She’d expected to see normal basement stuff: storage boxes and the ugly appliances no one wanted on the upper levels.

  She f
ound a dungeon.

  Her breaths came in short pants as she stared down the dark, narrow hallway. Two doors on either side, each with a small, barred window. She should go. Turn and run. A mile wasn’t that far. If she left right now, she could probably make it to her car before Lucian did. Probably.

  She twisted back to the stairs before a sickening realization filled her. Dad’s car was right outside Lucian’s property.

  Flooded with the urgency to escape, Ella pushed past her fear and ran to the doors. The first two cells were both empty, containing only a depressing-looking bucket and a bare, metal bench.

  The third one was exactly the same, except for the small man huddled in a corner. All she could see was messy, white hair and a tattered brown sweater, but she knew exactly who this was.

  Lucian had her dad locked in his basement dungeon.

  “Dad!” she whispered.

  He twitched at her cry; his white hair shook with the movement. “Ella?” He squinted at the door, as though his eyes weren’t focusing.

  Her hands fumbled at the door, the dim light making it hard to see. She threw up a silent prayer of thanks when she saw the locking mechanism. She didn’t need a key. It was just a massive deadbolt from the outside.

  She slid the lock loose and ran to her father. “We need to get you out of here.”

  Her father shook his head frantically. “How did they find you? I never told them, I swear! You need to leave. They cannot know about you!”

  Ella’s heart broke at his garbled ramblings. “Please, Dad. Can you stand? We need to get out of here.”

  Could she make it to her car? Dad seemed so weak. He’d never be able to run and it was only a matter of time before Lucian realized she was missing.

  “You need to go!” he shouted.

  Ella froze for a moment, listening for footsteps pounding on the stairs. Nothing.

  “Not without you,” she whispered. She wrapped an arm under his shoulders and hoisted him up. Once he was standing, he was more compliant, supporting his own weight and walking on his own.

  She tiptoed to the stairs ahead of him and looked upwards. No sign of the brothers. What the hell were they doing with a dungeon in their basement? Had they planned to put her down there? Why hadn’t the thought of her calling the police scared Lucian at all? He was the one who suggested it.

  Ella crept up the stairs, pushing the questions from her mind. She would have to deal with the whys later. For now, she had to focus on getting Dad to safety.

  He didn’t have any obvious injuries, but it was too dark to know for sure, and he seemed so weak. When she reached the top of the stairs, she forced herself to peek into the hall, though it would be hard to hear anyone approach over the thunderous beating of her heart.

  The coast seemed clear. The front door was just twenty feet away. Freedom was so close. She reached behind her to where her father slumped against the rail. “We’re going to run, okay?” She squeezed his hand tighter. “I’ve got you. Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

  She started for the hallway, but Dad pulled her back. “Ella. They’re monsters.”

  “I know, Dad. You’re going to be okay, though. I promise.” Determined not to overthink it, she ran for the door. With her father trailing behind, she couldn’t work up to a full sprint, but soon enough she and Dad made it into the fresh, summer night.

  The relief was immediate, but she couldn’t fully relax yet. She reached in her pocket to verify her keys were there. Her phone was in her purse, but she couldn’t risk going back in for it.

  Without her phone, there was no frantic 911 call. She wouldn’t be getting any police escort home. It was just her and Dad.

  Just like always.

  She pulled her father toward the bridge. “We have to go a mile. Then you can rest.”

  “They’re monsters. They’re going to take you from me,” he mumbled.

  Ella fought tears back at the sight of Dad. His head hung low, feet shuffling over the ground, his eyes bright with worry. “You’re almost safe. Let’s just keep going.”

  They made it over the creaky wooden bridge and kept up a slow jog for a few minutes until Ella could no longer see the lights from Lucian’s house of horrors and Dad wasn’t able to run anymore.

  She slowed to a walk but couldn’t stop glancing around in a circle with every step. When Lucian first approached her in these woods, he hadn’t made a sound. How did she know he wasn’t stalking her at this very moment? Playing with her and her father like a cat plays with a mouse. Just waiting for the best time to pounce.

  Every snapping branch made her jump. Every bird flapping its wings had her looking at the sky, somehow expecting Lucian to fly down from the darkness of the treetops. She listened for the telltale electronic hum of a camera, turning to follow her every move.

  She needed to get off Lucian’s territory.

  Ella didn’t remember the exact path she’d walked with Lucian, but she knew she was walking in the right direction. If they didn’t come out by her car, she’d just have to flag down the first driver she saw. She’d rather take her chances hitchhiking than with Lucian dragging her and Dad back.

  When the road finally appeared in the distance, Ella let out a pent-up breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. “We’re almost there, Dad.”

  They took three more steps before Dad fell to the ground, screaming and clutching his head. “Ahhhhh!”

  “Dad, what’s wrong?” She tried to pull him up, but he curled into the fetal position as his cries got even louder.

  The sharp sound in the still night had Ella keeping her eyes on the horizon. If Lucian was looking for them, surely he would’ve heard that.

  He broke away from her and scrambled deeper into the woods and away from the road. When he was fifteen yards from where he’d collapsed, he leaned against a tree, exhausted eyes falling shut. “They won’t let me leave,” he moaned.

  “We’re leaving. It doesn’t matter what they ‘let’ you do. I’m getting you the hell out of here.”

  Ella grabbed at his arm and pulled him toward the road, but he held his ground, shaking his head at her efforts.

  “You’re going to kill him.” The rumbling voice came from behind her.

  To her credit, she didn’t jump. She’d been half expecting him to materialize out of the darkness this entire time.

  She bit her bottom lip to keep her defeat from showing as she faced him. “You son of a bitch.”

  Lucian cocked his head at the insult. “You’re probably right. I didn’t know my mother all that well.”

  Dad pushed himself away from the tree. “Leave her alone! I’ll go back with you. I’ll do whatever you want.”

  Ella’s eyes widened as Dad tried to throw himself at Lucian’s feet. She narrowly managed to snag a piece of his shirt and hold him next to her.

  Lucian dispassionately considered the offer. “I think I know your secret, old man. This is what you’ve been hiding.”

  Dad shook his head and tears escaped his eyes. “Please, no.”

  Ella nervously gulped. She’d never seen Dad cry. Not once.

  “Just let us go. The road is right there. We won’t tell anyone about this. I promise.”

  Lucian turned his glacial gaze on her, the blue of his eyes almost black in the darkness. “You can go,” he offered. “There’s nothing stopping you.”

  She stared him down for a moment, waiting for him to rescind the offer or to attack. For all she knew, Cade was hiding in the shadows.

  When he said nothing, she pulled on Dad’s shirt. “Let’s go,” she whispered.

  Lucian stepped forward. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  She knew it. “But you just said...”

  “I said you could go. Your father can’t.”

  Ella shook her head in denial. The tears she’d been fighting finally made their way past her defenses and trickled down her cheeks. “Please let him go. What has he ever done to you?”

  He cocked his head at her again. I
t was such an animalistic gesture. Just another reminder of his predatory nature she’d sensed since the moment they met. “I don’t intend to hurt him. I need him and he refuses to help me. I’m desperate and he might be the only person who can save my people. You expect me to let him waltz off into the sunset because you start crying and asking nicely?”

  Ella looked to Dad, gauging his reaction.

  “You have to leave.” He sounded so hopeless and desperate. How could she leave him?

  “Please,” she breathed. She couldn’t just abandon Dad, to be thrown back in that prison cell.

  Lucian took a step toward her. She wanted to retreat but refused to put her father between Lucian and her.

  “You need to understand. Your father will die if he goes to that road, and I won’t be the one killing him. Not directly anyway. I have a barrier spell around my property. Humans cannot enter without one of my people moving them past the spell.”

  It all made so much sense now. Lucian was bat-shit crazy. “Of course humans can cross. I did.”

  The corners of his mouth curved in a wicked grin and Dad moaned again.

  “Ella, run!” he shouted, pushing her away from him.

  Ella stumbled toward the road, but stopped herself before she fell. Lucian soundlessly appeared right next to her, steadying a hand on her arm. She jerked free from his grip. Had he walked over to her? How did he move so silently?

  “Your father has been keeping secrets from you. The reason you can enter here is because you are not human. At least, not fully.”

  She shook her head. “You’re crazy,” she mumbled as she inched backward, cursing every additional centimeter added between her and Dad.

  “Twenty-five years ago, your father worked for us. We haven’t had a child born to my race in centuries. Through the wars and battles, our numbers are dwindling. He was supposed to help. Give us a female who could bear our heirs.”

  “What’s wrong with you? Are you even listening to what you’re saying?”

  A sudden and chilling wind ripped through the woods, pushing Ella’s hair in her eyes and making her feel even more overwhelmed.

  “Now that we bring him back to finish the job, he’s refusing to say a damn word. And here you are. Mid-twenties. No idea who your mother is. Somehow able to walk onto my property without so much as a headache. Why do you think the cops didn’t look into your father’s car? Why do you think your father was in so much pain?”