The Link That Binds

  The Link That Binds

  Solomon’s Pride, Book 2

  Dawn H. Hawkes

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  Cover Artist: Reese Dante

  Editor: Jason Huffman

  The Link that Binds © 2011 Dawn H. Hawkes

  ISBN # 9781920501259

  Attention Readers: This book uses US English.

  All rights reserved.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. The Licensed Art Material is being used for illustrative purposes only; any person depicted in the Licensed Art Material, is a model.

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  Note from the Publisher

  Dear Reader,

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  Lodewyk Deysel

  Publisher

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  https://spsilverpublishing.com

  Dedication

  I would like to dedicate this book to my sister, Marianne and all the hard work she’s put into furthering her studies.

  Proud of you sis 

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast, LLC

  Harley: H-D Michigan, Inc.

  Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

  Wolverine: Marvel Characters, Inc.

  Superman: DC Comics

  Chapter 1

  Jace was so not fond of the colorful waves washing over him as he woke. He even ended up having to roll over to his side as a surge of nausea consumed him. “Oh, that’s not good.” He muttered as his stomach started cramping, threatening to lose its contents; even his leopard whimpered pathetically at the unappetizing sensation. At least if he did, he didn’t exactly have much to expel with the crappy servings the vamps gave him whenever they were feeling generous… which wasn’t damn often.

  “Here, try drinking this.” Casey held the bottle of water up to Jace’s mouth.

  Taking a sip, he groaned. The liquid swirled in his stomach, but soothed the woozies. Looking around, he noticed somebody seemed to be missing from their humble abode, “Where is mein Führer?” Jace asked, “Off burying a bone in the backyard or something?”

  Casey sighed in an irritated manner, “Could you stop? Zane’s my mate and I’d appreciate it if you’d knock it off already.”

  “You sure you wouldn’t rather be with a real man, one who doesn’t lick his chops every chance he gets?” Jace smirked at the beautiful male in front of him. And Casey sure took to the part of a beauty well, plus that magic vibe of his was simply tantalizing.

  “Sorry, Jace, I’m strictly a dog person,” Casey snapped.

  Jace couldn’t blame him. For those who didn’t know him, he could come off as a bit tiresome… of course, the ones who did know him also had a tendency to be annoyed with him whenever he was being a, quote, smartass.

  “Ouch,” Jace smirked, “but hey, if you ever change your mind…” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Then it’ll be your bones I’ll be burying in the backyard.” A growl sounded as two armed guards escorted Zane back into the room, one of them slamming the large wolf to the ground with a hit to the head. Jace didn’t think Zane had been hurt by the strike; more like he’d been thrown off balance. Jace could see why the hit didn’t affect him much; the guards appeared rather small in comparison to the oversized pup and he would bet big bucks they never would have treated him like they did without those guns of theirs. Puppy would have eaten their sorry asses for brunch.

  The werewolf appeared to be sporting quite a few fresh bruises as well and Casey was quick to help him sit down, fussing over his wounds. “What did Mika do to you?” he asked his mate as he started to clean the fast healing wounds, trying to keep them clear of infection… not that shifters in general were prone to any kind of diseases, let alone infections, but it seemed to calm Casey to have a part in handling them.

  “It’s fine, baby.” The wolf wrapped his arms around Casey and pulled him onto his lap, kissing his temple to let him know he was okay.

  “Pfft!” Jace snorted. “Dude, you look as bad as I feel! And right now, that’s saying something,”

  Zane glared at him and barked, “Aren’t they trading you off soon?”

  “Oh, you know Mika can’t make any decisions about such things in his current condition. I’ve seen him and he’s going through some pretty hefty withdrawals.” Jace sighed, “I’m guessing his biggest decisions right now involve whether he should wipe his ass or not after taking a dump.”

  Jace was becoming increasingly irritated with the whole damn situation. His incarceration in the lovely den, as the former asylum was so adorably called, had soon become way too dreary for Jace’s liking. And it still really rankled him that he’d gotten himself caught… again.

  “He’s been throwing off donors too; the last one looked to be pretty badly beaten. Zeke’s got him under his protection as he heals, but I doubt the kid will ever be the same. Mika’s been tripping something fierce since Leo got away,” Zane informed him.

  “Yeah, no kidding,” Jace agreed. “Surprising really, how soon Leo was able to warm up to Maddox if you think about it.” He reflected back to the beaten, bruised little guy that the lion-shifter had brought in off the streets. Having been kidnapped and used as Mika’s personal feeding bag, the kid had been more skittish than a newborn kitten… except when it came to Maddox, “So, who’s this Zeke guy anyway?” Jace asked.

  “My brother,” Zane replied as he let his arm caress his mate’s side and took in Casey’s scent, who was still trying to clean his mate’s wounds, trying to help them heal with little sparks of magic.

  “He’s an Alpha,” Casey added when he gave up the healing spell. “Zane use
d to be his beta before the vampires…” He caught himself and went silent.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Zane told him before directing his attention to Jace. “We were a small, but strong pack who happened to be situated on a piece of land the vampires wanted. Some of our pack-mates were killed, but a lot of them, like Zeke and me, are being kept here as man-power.”

  “That sucks man, I’m sorry,” Jace said, meaning every word of it, pack or pride… it was still family. “If you ever get out of here, I can pretty much guarantee you have the support of our pride. Solomon’s pretty noble that way… takes in the little guy.” He chuckled; he’d once been one of those little guys.

  “Solomon your Alpha then?” Zane asked.

  “Yep, ‘cept we don’t call our leader an Alpha. That’s a doggy thing. Solomon is Sorena… roughly translated, means something along the lines of tribal leader,” Jace clarified.

  The conversation didn’t go much longer before a red-eyed Mika burst through the door along with the sleazy Shamus and some other dumbass with a gun. Jace was surprised, though, at the absence of Christa, a high-class psycho that kept bouncing around Mika like a bitch in heat.

  “Get up, kitty cat, we’re going for a little trip.” The lead vampire sneered.

  Jace huffed as another wave of nausea hit him when he got up with a little help from Shamus. The sleazy vampire decided to give him a helping hand when he took too long, yanking Jace off the ground and shoving him out the door. Pissed off, Jace hissed at the pathetic vamp, even letting his nails sharpen, but Mika instantly had a gun at his jugular and Jace became more than a little aware of the shakes in the vampire’s hand. A tripping vamp definitely did not constitute a reliable vamp, particularly with his finger placed on a goddamned trigger.

  “Why don’t you try something, kitty? See how far it gets you,” Mika threatened, clearly not in the mood for any funny business.

  Jace backed off, but glared at Shamus as he was pushed forward through the dark, dank hallways. “Where are we going anyways? You decided to make good on your promise to turn me into a rug?”

  “I have a little project going and you’re gonna help me.” Mika chuckled.

  “You gonna try for another trade? Didn’t exactly get you anywhere the last time, now did it?” Jace snorted. “Besides, you know Maddox will never let Leo out of his sight again,”

  “Not Leo we’re after this time,” Shamus let out before being smacked over the head by Mika.

  “Bite it, Shamus,” Mika warned.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” Jace muttered. Seemed his Pride had gotten hold of somebody important… nice. Maybe he wouldn’t have to spend his remaining days at leach-a-palooza.

  “You won’t be reuniting with your friends just yet, doctor,” Mika said as he shoved him into his limo. “First, you’re going to help me with a little something, whether you agree to it or not.”

  * * * *

  During the trip in the limo, Jace nearly launched for Shamus’s throat five fucking times. And people thought Jace could put a strain on the mentality of man! Mika seemed to be mildly amused, but had his gun at the ready whenever Jace got too pissy with Shamus’s taunting and his leopard started to push through to the surface. It would be Jace’s pleasure to turn both their asses into his own personal scratching posts.

  After almost forty minutes of endless torture, they arrived to their new location. Jace had to admit that he was a little miffed when he saw they’d arrived at a bar. Well, more of a hip pub-type place actually. A lot of black with dark brown leather booths around the place and dimly lit, the place didn’t exactly scream torture chamber. So why the hell had Mika brought him there? Somehow he didn’t see Mika offering him a drink.

  For now, the bar was fairly empty, people just starting to mill in off the streets. Mika walked closely behind Jace, his gun, tucked between the two, pointed directly at the shifter’s spine in warning. Mika directed them to the bar where two guys were serving drinks. “Link!” Mika called out to the guy with his back to them.

  And DAMN! When the ponytailed man turned around, Jace almost drooled. That was pure man candy right there. With dirty-blond hair pulled back in a neat and bouncy little ponytail and a deep penetrating gaze of moss green eyes, and the body… fuck, it was equal to that of a goddamned Hercules… but… Link?

  Oh, double fucked!

  Jace nearly groaned. Please don’t let the guy be the same drug dealing bastard Leo’d told him about. The same fucker he and Liam were supposed to meet when Mika and his goons had shown up and hijacked their trap with one of their own.

  “What do you want, Mika? I thought I told you to stay the hell out of my pub,” the man told him in a cold, icy tone.

  Damn, that frost was kinda hot when coming from this guy. He could totally see what Leo meant with the guy having a few screws loose, but damn, even his leopard reared its head in the man’s direction, practically purring its interest.

  “Be nice, Link.” Mika smirked at the man. “Unless you want the cops making an appearance and going through your nifty little hideaway, I’d suggest we take this in the back.”

  Clearly aggravated by Mika’s nerve, the man cussed. “Trey, take over,” he ordered the other man behind the bar who simply nodded before serving up a couple of beers to some of the newcomers.

  The backroom looked to be part storage, part meth lab and, Jace had to admit, he was mildly jealous of the man’s equipment… and not just the machinery.

  “What do you want, Mika?” Link asked again, the tone not even the least bit warmer; disturbingly monotone even.

  And damn thrice, the no-bullshit manner of this man sure was something. No way this guy could be human with an attitude like that, and Jace couldn’t help checking the man out, from top to toe.

  Yum.

  Why did the hot ones always have to be drug dealing vampire cohorts? Or republicans?

  “Lose the attitude, Link. I just need you to look over some stuff for me. I got this guy working on something, but he’s headed in a slightly different direction than I’d intended. It’s slowing down the progress and someone is having issues persuading him otherwise.” Mika growled as he snapped his fingers at Shamus who quickly brought forth a briefcase and slammed it onto a desk, opening it for Link to see. From what Jace could see there were a few files and some vials of what looked to be blood as well as a couple of… floppy discs? Man, you didn’t see those too often nowadays.

  Link went through some of the files. “Mind telling me what I’m looking at?”

  “Those vials are the beginnings of a cure for some lame human blood disease. I want you to modify it… make it burn off some things in certain other blood types.

  What the…? Jace frowned. Mika couldn’t possibly be thinking of…

  “What exactly are you referring to? And who the hell is this guy?” Link asked nodding his head in Jace’s direction. “Another one of your impotent lackeys?”

  Lackey? “Oh fuck you, dick face! If you were paying any damn attention to the situation you’d notice I’m here at fucking gunpoint.” Jace snarled in tune with his leopard, insulted and who the fuck was he calling impotent!?

  Link gave him an odd look before catching a glimpse of the gun pressed against Jace’s back. “So what, you brought another donor for me to test?” Link asked, checking out Jace’s body and damn if he didn’t feel the gaze burn as it tracked over him.

  Mika chuckled, “Oh, I wouldn’t drink this little filth-bag if he was the last blood source on the planet. His kind tastes like fucking muck.”

  “Oh stuff you, Mika! Like you’re a fucking yummy treat, you inbred dick,” Jace hissed at the vampire, earning himself a smack across the head. “And I am not some damn boy-toy either,” he directed to mister tall, intoxicating and smoldering. “If you wanna get with me, you better fucking get down on your knees and beg.”

  Shamus let out a laugh. Great, not like Jace needed a fucking vampire fan club. “Oh, shut up, Shamus. You I wouldn’t touch wearing a damn
hazmat suit.”

  “Well, he’s probably right about that one,” Mika smirked again, “but he is here for a testing of sorts. You see, Link, Jace here isn’t what you’d call human and I want you to isolate his shifter DNA and use the drug to make something that will destroy it and you have ‘til Saturday to do so.”

  Jace did not like a sound of that. It wasn’t exactly a secret Mika happened to be one sick puppy, something he’d proved on several occasions, but seriously? Could the bastard even spell overkill?

  Jace could only hope he would be returning home alive and not in a goddamned body bag. And just as soon as he had the thought, he felt a sting at the side of his neck and went down hard.

  Chapter 2

  Ah fuck! Shamus had nailed him with another one of those damn shots when he wasn’t paying attention. Jace woke up in a damn cage with the mother of all headaches to boot. This wasn’t what he had in mind when Mika dragged him along… not that it really surprised him either.

  “Fuck!” Jace groaned as he sat up and the whole world threatened to come crashing down on him… man, he hated drugs… how Leo had ever managed, he’d never know. Sitting up felt really awkward, especially when Jace could feel his cat still struggling to wake properly.

  “Here.” Link walked over to him, handing him a couple of pills and a bottle of water. “They’ll help with the nausea.”

  Jace took the pills and sniffed at them. “You wanna tell me your ingredients for these wonderpills?” He queried the handsome devil, not trusting him one bit.

  “They’re aspirins.” Link frowned; seeming somewhat insulted that Jace appeared to think they were laced with rat poison or something.