Crossroads

Chapter 9

Holt and Jacobson Investigations sat tucked away at the edge of the Central Business District. The windows were covered with thick blinds and a faint feeling of magic that spoke of strong wards, probably Jackson’s work.

Derek fought panic as he shoved through the unlocked door, panic that doubled when the sick scent of death slammed into him. The front of the office was a mess, with papers and computer equipment scattered all over the floor. Several upended file cabinets sat in one corner. The room was dark, most of the light coming from the open door at the back that led to the rest of the office.

Slight movement to his left drew Derek’s gaze, and his heart seized. Kat was tucked into the corner, so small and silent he hadn’t noticed her. Her scent was lost in the sharp smell of blood that hung in the air and stained her hands and clothes. She stared blankly ahead, her only reaction a flinch when Andrew’s pain-filled groan rose in the back room.

Nick touched his arm. “Kat needs you,” she whispered. “I’m going in the back.”

The words propelled him out of his daze. “Check on Andrew,” he managed in a tight voice as he crossed the room. “Then come tell me. Please.”

“I will.”

Kat didn’t move as he approached. Her eyes stayed fixed on some distant point, dull and unseeing, but he could hear her heart pounding. “Kat. Sweetie.”

No response.

He knelt a foot away and reached out, alarmed at how cold her tiny hands were when he enclosed them in his own. Her breathing hitched, but it could have been in reaction to another pained noise coming from the back room.

Derek rubbed her hands to warm them. “Look at me, Katherine. Tell me what happened.”

She blinked once and licked her dry lips. “I didn’t kill them,” she whispered, her voice so pained it nearly broke his heart. “I didn’t kill them, but what I did was worse. Alec—Alec was scared. Of me.”

He’d spoken with Alec on the drive over, but the man had told him only that there had been an attack, and Andrew was clinging to life, but maybe not to humanity. And Kat—

Derek heard Alec’s voice again. “Just a little bruised up, nothing big.” At the time, he’d taken the tense tone as concern, but there had been something else there. Something a little like fear.

The idea of Kat doing something terrifying enough to scare Alec made Derek queasy. “What happened?”

She pulled her hands free and looked away. “I need Jackson.”

“Kat—”

“Now.”

Nick hurried into the front room. “Franklin Sinclaire is back there trying to stabilize Andrew. It looks pretty bad, but Alec said he’s…” She stopped and looked away. “Alec said he’s already healing.”

He steeled himself against emotion as he rose and dug in his pocket for his cell phone. “Better than dying. Kat wants to talk to Jackson. Can you call him on my phone while I go—”

“Jackson’s not here?” Kat’s voice broke on a hitched sob, and Derek choked on the protective rage that fought to break free. There was no one here to kill, no one he could punish for terrorizing Kat and destroying Andrew’s life. Futile, helpless fury tightened his fingers around his phone until plastic cracked.

Nick’s hand slid under his collar. “Derek, stop.” Her other hand pried at his until he opened his fingers and let his ruined cell phone fall to the floor. “Jackson can’t leave the safe house right now, but you can take Kat there.”

That meant leaving Andrew. Worse, it meant leaving Nick. With the scents of blood and death heavy in the office, the idea lifted the hair on the back of his neck. “I don’t know if I can leave,” he whispered roughly, not wanting Kat to hear the words. “Not until I know Andrew’s going to be all right.”

“We still have to get her to Jackson, or she’s going to break down. Tell me what you need.”

He nodded and turned back to Kat. Another wave of rage washed through him when she whimpered at the sudden movement. It hurt to go slowly, but he knelt in front of her and eased his hands up to frame her face. “Katherine. Listen to me, honey. Nick’s going to take you to Jackson. Nancy—Jackson’s mother, remember? Can you go with Nick? I promise I’ll take care of Andrew.”

Kat finally looked up at him and shivered. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

“You won’t,” he promised, hoping like hell he could believe his own words. Then again, if Kat’s empathy had been functioning, his rage would have had her clawing his eyes out. Shock or fear had apparently dulled her senses—and Nick had to get her away from Andrew’s pain before it wore off. “Come on.”

Nick followed his lead, keeping her movements slow and easy as she helped Kat to her feet. “Just outside. Come on, sweetie.”

Derek paused at the door to check the street for anyone who might find the sight of a bloody secretary staggering from the office to be worthy of investigation. When the street was relatively clear, he glanced over Kat’s shoulder at Nick. “Thank you.”

“Be safe,” she whispered in return. “Take care of Andrew, and I’ll do the same with Kat.”

It hurt like hell to watch them walk away, but the animal inside him trusted Nick with Kat’s life.

It trusted Nick with everything.

When they’d gone, Derek crossed the paper-strewn office and stopped at the door to the back room. The scene inside unfolded in snapshot nightmare images. Andrew bleeding on a table while Franklin bent over him, stone-faced. Alec on the other side of the table, with some sort of metal instrument that held Andrew’s belly open. Chairs overturned, blood spattered on the walls, and in the corner…

Two naked men, both covered in blood and reeking of wolf. Dead, glazed eyes stared up at the ceiling, still etched with the remnants of fear. It made Derek’s skin crawl. If it weren’t for the awkward angle of their necks, he would have sworn the two men had died of fright.

Alec glanced up and followed his gaze to the corner. “That’s part of a Conclave strike team. Pretty much the scariest motherfuckers around.”

Derek tensed. “What happened to them?”

“Kat happened to them.” Alec turned his attention back to Andrew. “From what I got out of her before she clammed up, the team ambushed them and someone hurt Andrew. So she fried their brains.”

Derek didn’t have time to ponder the terrifying implications of that statement. Franklin tossed down what looked like an oversized pair of tweezers with a clatter. “Almost there. I need another clamp.”

“Got it.” Alec reached out to dig through the bag at his side without looking up, but he addressed his words to Derek. “Did I hear Nick leave with Kat?”

Franklin accepted the clamp with a bloodied hand and swore. “She shouldn’t have left. She could be going into shock, especially after what happened.”

Derek’s gaze drifted to the two bodies in the corner again. “So what did she do to them? Knock them unconscious? I’ve never even heard of her using her empathy as a weapon before, but I guess she could have…”

“She fried their fucking brains, Gabriel.” Alec’s voice was hoarse. “They were drooling vegetables when I got here. Killing them was a fucking mercy.”

It was impossible to process. Kat was his harmless little cousin, the one who was practically his bratty kid sister. Brilliant and precocious, but always alarmingly unprepared for the dangers of the world she inhabited. In the supernatural underground of New Orleans, psychics were barely more than human. Kat’s dogged determination to play with wizards and shapeshifters was what got her shuffled off into protective custody every time shit hit the fan.

She was helpless. She was harmless.

And the most intimidating shapeshifter in New Orleans was scared of her.

Don’t forget that she’s traumatized and trapped in a car with the woman you want to protect.

Alec glanced at him. “Where’s Nick taking her? To Jackson?”

“Yeah.”

“Kat’s probably not going to flip her shit before they get there, but you need to call Jackson and give him a heads-up. He may have to do something to keep her from leaking all over everyone, and I don’t know if she needs to be cuddling up to Michelle right now.”

Derek hesitated. “What about Andrew? When will you know?”

Franklin looked up and fixed him with a piercing green stare. “If the wolf hadn’t taken hold already, he’d be dead. For now, he’s stable. He’ll live.”

“As one of us?” A second-class citizen scorned by a society who thought anyone not born a shapeshifter might as well not be a shapeshifter.

“As one of us,” Alec confirmed, and the slight emphasis on the last word made it clear he wasn’t making any such distinctions. “Go call Jackson. Tell him about Kat. Tell him…” Alec hesitated and cast a helpless look at Franklin. “Shit, have you ever seen a psychic in shock?”

“A few.” He swabbed Andrew’s inner elbow and opened a plastic package. “Make sure someone there knows how to recognize the physical symptoms of shock. Emotionally, she’ll probably lose whatever barriers she has, at least temporarily. She might be so drained she can’t do much, but it could uncomfortable for everyone around her.”

“Jackson will know,” Alec said. “Hell, Aaron probably will too.”

“Got it.” Derek spared Andrew’s still form one last look before hurrying into the front office. He skirted around Kat’s desk and stopped at Alec’s. Two deep breaths ensured he wouldn’t end up crushing the phone, and he dialed Jackson’s cell phone from memory.

“Alec?”

“It’s Derek.” He drew in a breath. “Alec wanted me to call you. Nick’s on her way back with Kat, and Kat’s…not in good shape.”

Jackson swore. “Is she hurt? What about Andrew?”

“Andrew’s got Alec and Franklin up to their elbows in his guts, and will be howling at the moon soon.” The words came out too harsh, but he couldn’t seem to stop them. “I guess Kat watched an elite shapeshifter attack squad tear him up and then flipped her shit and used her empathy to erase their minds.”

It took Jackson a long time to answer. “Okay. We’ll handle things here. Tell Alec to call me as soon as Andrew’s out of the woods.”

The words were too calm, and they grated on Derek’s already ragged temper. “Did you hear me? My cousin took down a pair of fucking commando shifters with her brain. Can you keep her from doing the same to you?” To Nick, goddamn it?

Though he remained calm, the wizard’s voice held a sharp edge. “I’ll know what to do when she gets here and I see how bad off she is. The only thing I know with any certainty right now is that Nick doesn’t have a clue what happened to those men, or she sure the fuck wouldn’t be happy about bringing Kat to the safe house where her pregnant sister is hiding out. Do I have a solid grasp of the situation, Gabriel, or would you like to yell at me some more?”

Derek forced himself to breathe, but the air in the office still reeked of blood and fear. He shuddered and exhaled on a sigh. “Sorry, Jackson. Not my best day. Just—take care of both of them, and I’ll be there as soon as Andrew’s okay.”

“I’ll take care of them. You can count on that. You just look out for yourself.”

“Thanks, Jackson.”

“You’re welcome.”

He dropped the phone back into its cradle and stared at it. The last thing he wanted to do was go back into the room where Andrew struggled for life and two dead men served as a reminder of what Kat had done, of what she was capable of.

There was no alternative. So he squared his shoulders and did what needed to be done.

Nick had seen people on the verge of a breakdown before. By the time they made it out of the city, she’d almost turned the car around a dozen times. Kat sat in the passenger seat, unmoving, and stared out the window.

Derek would never forgive Nick if his baby cousin lost her grip on sanity on her watch. She gripped the steering wheel and tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind.

Finally, she said, “Andrew will be okay. Franklin will make sure of it.”

Kat made a quiet noise, something that sounded almost like a whimper. “I need Jackson. He can stop me.”

The words didn’t make sense. “Stop you from what?”

The girl fell silent again.

“Kat—” Nick choked on the words as fear and something darker flooded the interior of the car. “Kat, please.”

“I can’t talk.” The hoarse words sounded like she’d forced them out around broken glass. “I can’t think, Nick. I can’t—can’t do anything until Jackson is here to keep you safe. To keep everyone safe.”

“Okay.” Nick focused her attention on the road. Whatever had happened in Alec and Jackson’s office had traumatized Kat even worse than she’d feared. “It’ll be okay.”

Kat didn’t respond, simply turned her face back to the window and rode in silence.

Jackson opened the passenger door before the car came to a full stop. “Hey there, Kat. Come on, honey.”

Fear tore through the car, strong enough to make Nick’s heart hammer even though the emotion wasn’t her own. Kat spilled into Jackson’s arms as a wrenching sob shook her. “It was me—my fault—”

“Shh. Come on.”

Nick jumped out of the car and hurried around to help him. “Have you heard from Derek or Alec yet?”

He ignored her as he drew Kat out of the car. “Let’s get you inside, sweetheart.”

Kat yanked free of him and stumbled back two steps. “No. Her sister’s in there! And your mother. You can’t let—Jackson, you have to stop me!” She took another step away, directly into a shaft of moonlight that had filtered through the trees surrounding them.

She looked terrified—and terrifying. Her once brightly colored cotton sundress was liberally soaked in blood, blood that was beginning to dry on her bare arms and legs. It was drying in her hair too, making it stick to the side of her ashen face. But all of that paled compared to the look in her eyes, a panic bordering on madness.

“I can make you sleep,” he whispered, “but what if you dream, Kat? What kinds of emotions would you be projecting?” He held out his hand. “We trust you. Come inside.”

Kat wavered, and her gaze jumped to Nick. “Didn’t Alec tell you?”

He hadn’t, but Nick was pretty sure the sinking feeling in her gut meant some part of her had already figured it out. She fought a quick battle against the urge to get Kat away from the cabin, away from her sister, and finally took a deep breath. “It’s like Jackson says, Kat. Come inside.”

“I lost control.” It came out as a hoarse whisper, and Kat curled her fingers toward her palms, clenching her hands until her knuckles turned white. “They said they were going to take me somewhere and make me talk. Make me tell them about Alec’s safe houses. Andrew—” She choked on a sob. “He just wanted to protect me and they hurt him and I lost control and they shifted and he just kept bleeding—”

Nick caught her before she fell, and they hit the grass together. Jackson made a noise of protest, but Nick held up a hand.

Kat shuddered, fear and self-loathing heavy in the air. “I had to do it. I had to stop them. Because it was my fault they attacked him. It was my fault.”

Nick’s arms tightened around her. “It wasn’t, Kat. They thought you had information they wanted, and they decided Andrew was in their way. They would have killed him.”

“Because of me!”

Pain lanced through Nick. “Because of my family,” she corrected quietly. “My sister’s here, and Alec is helping me hide her.”

Kat stiffened in her arms, but her voice stayed quiet. Tense. “You really believe this is happening because of you.”

“It’s the truth. Michelle wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t run away from it all. From New York and my family and—” And my responsibilities. She remembered the stricken, enraged look on Derek’s face when he’d seen his cousin covered in his best friend’s blood. “None of you would be hurt if it weren’t for me.”

“Andrew wouldn’t be hurt if I’d—” She shuddered again, and this time the shivering didn’t stop. “I did worse than kill them, Nick. I raped their minds until there was nothing left. I b-broke them…”

“You did what you had to do, and now you’re going to forget about it for a while.” Nick moved until her eyes met Kat’s. “We’ll get you inside and cleaned up and then call about Andrew, okay?”

Kat’s face went sickly pale. “I’m covered in his blood.”

Shit. “Come on, sweetie. You can take a shower.”

“I’m covered in his blood.” The words rose in pitch and volume, a sure sign of oncoming hysteria. “I had my hands in—in him—”

She could chase Kat down if she needed to, but the woman was going to go crazy if Nick kept holding her. She let go, and Kat scurried away across the damp grass. She made it a few feet before losing the contents of her stomach, retching until sobs overtook her.