Born to Raise Hell: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book Three Read online

  “I can tell you now, I probably know my parents better than you know your aunt . . .”

  “I don’t even know her that well at all,” Emily corrected.

  “Right. I can vouch for my parents,” said Joanna. “If they say the evil rove is The Man, then it’s either true or it’s a lie that they believe is true. I can always tell when they are bullshitting me.”

  “We can know for sure . . .”

  “By accosting your aunt?” asked Joanna. “That’s a bad idea.”

  “No,” Emily said. “Michael. He’s a warlock. He’ll side with us. He should have the ability to look into your parents’ minds and find out if their memories have been tampered with.”

  “And if they haven’t?”

  “Then we know for sure that The Man is our true adversary,” concluded Emily. “And that we’re truly screwed right up the ass.”

  At that, Joanna’s lips turned up into a little smirk. “Okay, but we have other pressing issues. The Alfreds are still a threat to us. We need to deal with them.”

  Emily remembered that Joanna had told her she had a plan as they were going into her parents’ room. “Yeah, what was our plan again?”

  Joanna smiled. “We’re going to get Marion’s blood and make that weapon before Anastacia wakes up.”

  Emily’s shoulders collapsed. “You mean you want us to go against Aunt Anastacia? We’ll need a magician to get us out of here.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we have one, isn’t it?” Joanna didn’t waste any time walking over to Michael’s door.

  She knocked once. There was no response. She knocked again. No response. She glanced at Emily, confused.

  “Maybe he’s asleep,” Emily postulated. “Magic can take its toll on the human body.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Joanna groused as she pushed open the door. “Lights!”

  As instructed, the lights came on, revealing the room in a disheveled state. Piles of clothes were strewn around. Books littered the place—and was that a slice of pizza on the bed?

  Joanna walked straight to the bed and picked the slice of pizza up from a pile of dirty sheets. She threw a querying glance at Emily. “Seriously?”

  “Hey, don’t look at me. He’s my half-brother, not full brother,” Emily replied with a chuckle.

  Joanna dropped the pizza slice on the floor and harrumphed. “Where could he be?” she looked around as though Michael could be hiding in the corner or something.

  Emily thought of something. “Hey, what’s with Rina and Michael?”

  Joanna glanced at Emily and grinned. “You think she’s into him?”

  “Well, I suspect he’s into her, but I’m not sure the feeling is mutual,” Emily replied. “Remember that time we saw them by the car?”

  Joanna nodded. “Maybe he’s in her room.”

  “Or maybe he’s gone back out to train.” Emily grimaced at the thought of Michael with Rina like that. “But sure, we can check Rina’s room.”

  With that, they walked out of the room and went a few doors down to the door labeled Rina. Incidentally, it was directly opposite Emily’s room. As they came to the door, they could hear soft whispering and the occasional moaning.

  Emily instantly felt irritated. “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “They’re getting it on. Hot damn!” Joanna flashed a shy smile.

  Emily poked her in the arm. “That’s not funny. The fate of the world is at stake, and these two are going at it like bunnies?” Emily banged on the door three times. “Hey, Michael, get off Rina!”

  The reaction was instant. There were hurried movements in the room. Someone yelped as they tripped onto the ground. Joanna laughed aloud.

  Emily didn’t give them time to recover from the sudden intrusion. “I’m coming in in five seconds!”

  “No!” Rina yelled back out, her voice a cross of shock and terror. “I’m—”

  “Five!” Emily counted down, her voice drowning Rina’s.

  “I do not permit you!” Rina complained.

  “Four!” Emily continued.

  The sound of movement in the room quickened. There was soft whispering in hurried tones that punctuated the occasional tumbling and crashing into things.

  “Three!”

  Joanna continued laughing, but Emily wasn’t finding this funny. Michael had been in the meeting with Aunt Anastacia and the other men. He should know how dire the situation was. Maybe he had used this knowledge to take advantage of Rina’s emotionally compromised state. Or was it magic?

  The thought infuriated Emily more. If it was magic, then this was statutory rape, and he was going to pay, brother or no. As the anger bubbled in her mind, she felt the fire demon stirring a smoking pot of fire in her belly.

  Emily skipped two and went straight to one. “One!” she boomed and yanked the door open. Naturally, it shouldn’t open since Rina was the occupant of the room and she had spoken her desire not to permit them. But then magic didn’t work on Emily the way it worked on others. So the door gave way without fuss.

  They walked in on Rina and Michael. They were both partly dressed and breathing heavily. The air was thick with sex. Even the light had dimmed, and there was romantic music playing out of thin air. Magic, of course.

  “Lights!” Emily commanded.

  Bright lights exploded in the room, showering the two pissed-off occupants. Michael shaded his eyes with one arm and buckled his belt with the other. He was bare-chested, revealing a well-developed upper body. Emily was impressed, but she didn’t show it.

  Silently, Michael grabbed his polo shirt from where he had thrown it to the side. Rina already had her blouse on, but the way she hid under the sheets, Emily could tell that she was naked the rest of the way.

  “I can’t believe you would do this!” Emily accused Michael.

  Michael glared at her. “You have no right to be here!” His eyes began to flash with tendrils of electricity.

  “Seriously?” Her anger was mounting. This was obviously not the right way to go when you intended to ask someone for help, but Emily couldn’t help herself. She had a suspicious feeling that Zee was fueling her anger and egging her on internally.

  Michael sighed and let go of his magic power. “What do you want, Emily? We have till dawn to go out, am I not allowed to do what I want?”

  Emily shook her head in pity and glanced at Rina. “What did he tell you?” she asked. “Did he force himself on you?”

  “What?” Michael blurted, confused.

  “No!” Rina frowned. “Eeew!”

  “Wait, you think I’m making her do this?” Michael asked, commanding Emily’s attention back to him. Emily could see that he looked genuinely hurt.

  “What, you think you’re the only cool one in the family?” asked Michael. “Poor little Michael can’t get a girlfriend?”

  “Wait, what?” Joanna came in at that moment. She pointed at Michael and then at Rina and then back at Michael. “You two are—”

  “Thanks for noticing, Joanna!” Michael spat. “Yes!”

  “No!” Emily cried.

  “Yes!” Both Rina and Michael exclaimed.

  “Okay, walk me through it,” Emily said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass about you, Emily,” Michael retorted. “What I do in my personal time is my business, not yours. You’re not my mom. Heck, you’re not really even my sister!”

  Emily had opened her mouth for a comeback, but that was before he made his last statement. It broadsided her, sending her reeling. She was really his sister, though. How could he say that? She just swallowed hard and shut her mouth.

  A heavy silence followed. Michael seemed to realize that what he’d said was inappropriate. But he was still frowning, and he wasn’t taking it back, which probably meant he had no intention of taking back his words.

  “Rina?” Joanna said, breaking the ice.

  “Not that it’s any of your business,” Rina started, “but yes. We’ve ha
d feelings for each other for a while.” She shrugged. “I guess we’ve just been too busy to acknowledge it. There’s nothing like perspective to really take note of things that matter, right?”

  “What perspective?” Joanna asked.

  “Perspective that the world was ending, and that we were probably going to end with it,” Rina said. “I kissed him. He reciprocated, and you jerks ended something good.”

  Michael hissed at that point.

  “The world doesn’t have to end,” Joanna said, “and it was my idea to come here.” She turned to Michael. “We need your help.”

  “What makes you think I’ll help you after the stunt you just pulled?”

  Emily shrugged. “The fact the world is coming to an end?”

  “Look, we’ve figured out a way to stop all this, or at least delay it,” Joanna said, her tone now serious. “You can either help us, or we’ll find another way.”

  “What do you need?” Rina asked, her tone more accommodating now.

  “We need Lover Boy over here to get us out of here.” Joanna gestured toward Michael.

  “Why?” Michael said.

  Joanna bobbed her head. “We’re going after Marion Alfred.”

  11

  “You’re kidding, right?” Michael snorted.

  “No, we’re not kidding,” Joanna deadpanned. “Tell them, Emily.”

  Emily was a bit startled that Joanna would bring her into the discussion. She was still reeling over Michael’s statement. And as everyone turned to look at her, she couldn’t stop the hurt and shame that welled up within her.

  “Emily?” Joanna repeated.

  Emily cleared her throat. It was awkward meeting Michael’s curious gaze. So she decided she wouldn’t hold it for too long. She’d just act normal. No need to give him the impression that his words held such sway over her mind.

  “I don’t trust Aunt Anastacia,” Emily started by saying.

  “Well get in line,” Michael said, interrupting her.

  Emily swallowed audibly. “She’s hiding something from us.”

  “She’s always hiding something from us, but you don’t see me whining about it.” Michael rolled his eyes.

  Emily shut her mouth before she said something she’d regret. She glanced at Joanna for help.

  Always the faithful friend, Joanna came to her rescue. “Michael, lay off a bit, okay? Rina, tell him.”

  “Michael,” Rina muttered.

  “Yeah, okay,” he gasped and plopped onto the bed.

  “We want to reach out to Marion,” said Emily. “If we can get his blood, we can make a weapon that can strip the Alfreds of their powers.”

  “Isn’t that already the plan?” Rina looked from Emily to Joanna.

  Emily had to give it to Rina. She’d changed. She wasn’t the cranky, annoying reporter girl from school anymore. She was calmer now. More relaxed. More grounded. She looked . . . endearing. Emily wondered what happened in captivity that changed her so.

  “Yes, that’s the plan,” Joanna said. “That’s their plan. But if we beat them to the punch, if Marion sees us four—his classmates—maybe he can see reason. You get my drift?”

  Rina shook her head.

  “Not really,” Michael added.

  “Think about it.” Joanna spoke slower, as if explaining something to children. “If it were you, and you saw Anastacia the witch and Everet the vigilante and Kendrick the giant, would you be willing to hand over your blood?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “But then you see four familiar faces, including the face of the one you love.” Joanna winked at Emily. “I believe we can reach out to his heart. I don’t think Marion wants the world to end. Maybe he’s doing all he’s doing under duress or something. He can’t want all of the beauty and freedom in the world to go to hell, right?”

  “So you believe we stand a better chance reaching out to him as his friends than the adults?” asked Michael. He was looking at Emily, so Joanna refrained from answering.

  “Yes,” Emily said. “Of course, there’s the chance that he’s been playing me and just wants to get all four of us in the same room for him to snatch us up . . .”

  “But you don’t believe that, do you?” Rina asked. “You believe what he feels for you and what you feel for him.”

  Emily wasn’t exactly talking about her feelings, especially not when they were toward a would-be mass murderer. But she realized how important it was to convince Michael and Rina of this plan. So she simply nodded. “I do. Yeah, I really do.”

  “So let’s go get him,” Rina concurred. “If we convert him, we can have eyes and ears in the Alfreds’ stronghold.”

  “We can make short work of their company,” Michael interjected.

  “There’s a downside to all of this,” said Joanna, “which we should really consider.”

  “And what is that?” asked Rina.

  “The Man,” Joanna said quietly. “If he really does exist, and he really is as powerful as he’s suspected to be, then we’re massively screwed if he rises up and decides he wants to end this.”

  “He still needs me and Emily, right?” Michael jumped in. “When we take care of the Alfreds, we could go on the run.”

  “That’s not going to mean much,” Joanna argued. “New Haven is only important because both of you are here. If he tracks you to New York, he can cast the spell there and raise the beast. It makes no difference. The world will still burn.”

  “Yeah, so we stay here then.” Michael got louder. “We amass as many supernaturals as possible. We fight this big scary Man. We get other roves to help out.”

  “That’s dangerous,” Emily squealed. It was not to counter Michael, but to state the obvious. “Bringing in other roves can be a problem. What if they side with The Man? The Alfreds did. What did he promise them? Riches? Power? A place at his side as he rules the world?”

  “That’s true,” Rina agreed. “Power corrupts. I’ve researched enough world leaders and national histories to know that power corrupts.”

  “Then we reach out to people who would ally themselves with us,” said Michael. “Dad should know. Aunt would know. We reach out to family and friends. We amass against The Man. It’s going to be a hundred against one.”

  “And he can wipe them out without lifting a hand,” Emily exclaimed.

  “In that time, we can take him down.” Michael looked at all the girls. “Can’t we?”

  “Like Aunt Anastacia said, not much is known about him.” Emily bit her fingernail. “That’s why he’s so powerful. If we can find out who he really is.” She paused and chewed her fingernail some more. “And Marion is someone who can give us a clue! If we can win him over, he can be our contact on the inside. He can stall the Alfreds while we research who this Man really is. I think if we’re moving in the right direction, we can discover information about this evil rove and we can begin to level the playing field.”

  “So, what do we do now?” Rina questioned.

  “Now, we go topside and locate Marion,” Joanna announced. “My dad said he always has his cell phone. We can simply call him.”

  “Yeah, right. But the problem with that is I don’t have his number,” Emily pointed out. “Do any of you?”

  “I don’t,” Joanna admitted, then glanced at Michael. “You?”

  Michael shook his head. “But I know where we can get it. We have a logbook back at the vigilante headquarters, where we register every new entrant into the town. We put down all their information pending when we can investigate them for supernatural activity.”

  “It has his phone number there?” asked Emily.

  “Yeah, we—”

  “Oh, come on, guys, is anyone going to ask if I have his number?” Rina sounded perturbed.

  Everyone glanced at her, surprised.

  “Do you?” Emily's heart was beginning to beat faster.

  “Of course, I do.” Rina pulled out her phone. She tapped it for a moment, then threw it to Emily.

&
nbsp; Emily caught the phone effortlessly, looked at the screen, and sure enough, there was a contact saved for Marion Alfred. “How?” Emily muttered, but she didn’t really care about the how. Her mind was already whirling at the thought of speaking with Marion on the phone. What was she going to say? How was she going to convince him? Why were they even doing this in the first place?

  “He’s a new member of the school, from a long-time New Haven family no less,” said Rina with a shrug. “I’m a reporter for the school’s magazine. I trade in information. Hence, I have contact info for almost every person in the school.”

  Michael beamed at her with pride. Gross.

  Joanna growled at him. “Go on, make the call,” she said to Emily, oblivious of Emily’s struggle.

  “Um, what am I going to say to him?” Emily asked, looking at Joanna for help.

  Joanna rolled her eyes. “Now’s not the time for cold feet, Emily.”

  “No, seriously, we’ve gotta be careful here; otherwise, he’s just going to blow me off,” Emily said. “I’m not sure he’s too happy I showed up in their mansion and he had to save me. I put him in an impossible position, and he chose to betray his family.”

  Joanna sighed. “Babe, have you ever stopped to think that maybe he’s hoping to hear from you?”

  “Yeah, maybe he’s feeling lonely,” Rina added with a wink.

  12

  Emily seriously doubted Marion was feeling lonely. He probably had a lot of world-destruction to partake in that would keep him occupied.

  She looked at the phone again. Marion Alfred. Texas area code. She collected her thoughts.

  You don’t need to fret, Selena reassured her.

  Easy for you to say, Emily replied, glad that Selena had spoken to her and annoyed that it had taken her this long to chime in.

  No, it’s not, Selena said. I can feel every one of your emotions, remember?

  Oh, yeah, right. That makes me feel so much better. It was a snide remark Emily didn’t mean to make. She was just under so much emotional pressure. That’s why she was being cranky toward Selena. Yeah. That was it.

  Look, you don’t need to convince him of anything, Selena said again. All you need to do is get him to come out to meet you. No need to mention that your friends are with you—so you don’t scare him. I’m sure he’s more eager to see you than you think.