Curran, Vol. II: Fathers and Sons (Curran POV #2)
Author: Ilona Andrews

FATHERS AND SONS

GORDON AND ILONA ANDREWS

I floated for eternity in a sea of agony. Sometimes if I concentrated and blocked out the pain I could hear her voice, from far away. I focused on the sound, willing myself slowly toward it. Finally, after how long I didn’t know, I came around and could even make out a bit of what she was saying.

"…seems like a decent guy. Now they are stuck…"

He had someone, she had someone, nobody was talking, and Kate did not know what to do.

I opened my eyes. She looked tired and battered. Still, I had never in my life seen someone more beautiful. Nor had I ever been happier to be near her. For some reason the answer to her dilemma came to me far easier than all the things I really wanted to say.

"Have you tried the Second Chance Law?" I asked quietly. Her eyes did not open. Maybe we were sharing a dream. I explained as best I could and hugged her as hard as I was able.

Finally she looked at me.

"You stayed with me," I whispered. She said something I could not quite catch, but it didn’t matter as much as her being there to say it. I smiled and fell back to sleep. Real sleep this time- no red haze, just darkness. I knew she would be there when I came back to the world. No matter what. Eventually I woke again. Something was in my arm and I wanted it out. As I located the source of my irritation, Kate came into the room carrying what smelled like soup.

"What is this shit?" I demanded as I pulled the IV needle out of my arm.

"It kept you alive for eleven days," she informed me.

Almost two weeks! I had laid like that for nearly two God damned weeks, and she had stayed with me. It was not the IV that had kept me alive. The truth of it stunned me.

She handed me the soup. I set it aside and pulled her close. We held each other for a time. Soon however, Derek’s familiar knock broke our reverie and short-lived reunion.

"Kate," he inquired quietly, clearly asking permission to cross the threshold. With an authority in her voice that I had never heard, she instructed him to enter.

The kid did so. "I have a wolf out here who wants to see you. He says it’s an emergency. Probably another challenge…"

Challenge? For me? Every muscle in my body tensed. Really, were they f**king crazy? I almost died and they are queuing up to get a piece of what is left of me. I glanced at Kate and her face said it all. She wore a look of weary resignation and the fractured pieces fell into place.

Not me. They were challenging her.

Hell no. This shit was going to stop right now.

Derek saw me and abruptly fell silent.

"Bring him in. Don’t tell him that I’m awake."

The young wolf closed his mouth, turned and departed quickly to carry out my command. He had always been a smart kid.

"Help me up?"

Kate grabbed my hand and pulled me upright. I would be damned if they would see me laying in bed like a weakling. My body screamed for food. I picked up the bowl she’d brought earlier. The sooner I got some nutrients in, the faster I’d bounce back.

As I sipped the soup, Jaime Alicia strode into the room as if he owned it. So eager to harm my mate and take what was mine. One of Clan Wolf’s best fighters and a boxer in his youth, he was tall and well built. I had seen him fight; he was strong and fast. I was also sure that Kate could cut him into little pieces before the soup got cold. I would never admit it, but she was damn good with that sword of hers. Not that she would have to- he would be dead before he touched her.

None of them would ever harm her again. I would see them all dead first.

Jaime stared at me, his jaws slack.

I finished my soup and spoke. "Yes?"

The wolf dropped into a crouch and stared at the floor. Had he hesitated for a second I would have pulled his lungs out through his chest. Claw, reach in, yank out. It would be easy and I would enjoy it immensely. I could smell his fear. I wanted to roar at him.

"Do you have anything to say?"

With his gaze still firmly affixed to the floor, he shook his head no. Now we knew again who was who and what was what. Order needed to be restored and the rest of them needed to be reminded why I was the Beast Lord.

"The Council is due for a meeting in three minutes. Go down there and tell them to wait for me, and I might forget you were ever here." For his sake I hoped he never forget how close he was to a savage and painful death, because I would not give him a second chance.

He walked out. The floor went one way, I went the other. Kate grabbed at my arm to steady me, but her leg gave way and we crashed together onto the couch. We were a long way from top form, but it would have to do. Together, even in our current state, were more than a match for any of my subjects. Well, as far as they knew.

Almost as if she realized what I was thinking, Kate asked, "Are you sure you’re ready for a Council meeting?"

I turned to her, willing my face into a mask of determination and menace. "They better be ready for me."

We had to make a show of strength. We could not continue to be seen as anything less than the Beast Lord and his Mate, undisputed masters of the Pack.

It is the nature of our kind that we value power and violence above all else, ruthlessly exploiting any weakness. Authority must be exercised at all times or lost. My people did not have to love or even like me, but by God they would obey me. If they had forgotten why I was feared, I would remind them. If I had to kill a few as an example, then so be it.

I made my way to the bathroom. I fell twice, but my strength was returning. The soup was kicking in. A couple of minutes later I was ready to make it down to the Council room on my own. On our way, Barabas, one of the Pack lawyers and one of B’s favorite troublemakers, fell in behind us and kept pace.

I stopped. "Barabas, have you come to challenge me too?" I knew even as I said it that the challenge from him was unlikely. Barabas was slightly crazy and could be insubordinate at times, but he was not stupid.

His usual look of amusement evaporated, replaced by one of complete shock and disbelief. "No, my Lord, I am bound to the Consort."

Apparently the entire place had gone to hell while I was asleep. I turned to Kate and waited for some sort of explanation.

She shrugged. "I made a deal with B, and she gave him to me as a sort of adviser. I will tell you all about it later."

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know; B never did anything out of altruism alone. She wanted something. I dimly recalled Kate telling me about it, but the details escaped me. Had she assisted Kate in some way? A thought struck me. "Barabas, how many members of the Pack have challenged my mate while I slept?"

He paused, clearly attempting to recall, finally he turned to Kate and asked, "Twenty-two?"