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  Not Quite Whole

  Not Quite, Volume 6

  Kaye Draper

  Published by Kaye Draper, 2021.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  NOT QUITE WHOLE

  First edition. July 6, 2021.

  Copyright © 2021 Kaye Draper.

  ISBN: 979-8201092009

  Written by Kaye Draper.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

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  Also By Kaye Draper

  About the Author

  I value every one of my readers and friends who support me in the crazy, wonderful adventure of writing. Thank you to all my patrons. A special thanks to Jennifer Sapa, RepunZill Oriana, Kate McKenney, and SG for helping me create, and to Frank Boston for the alpha reading and constant encouragement. I couldn’t make this dream into a reality without you!

  Chapter 1

  Fucking three-headed giraffe fiends. That’s what we were dealing with. I dropped the binoculars to hang around my neck and picked up my rifle, using the scope on that to watch the herd instead. “Headed right toward us,” I said into the com that was stuck in my ear and wrapped around my cheek, connecting me to the leads of the three hunter guilds we were currently overseeing.

  Emerson shifted from foot to foot beside me, his gaze glued to the screen of the device he’d invented using Theo’s money and the new tools that kept magically appearing in his possession. “They’ll reach the target in two minutes, fifteen seconds,” the ogre-cross said, his deep voice hushed, like being quiet would make everything work out as planned.

  I frowned while I waited for the massive herd of murder beasts to reach the trap we’d set up for them. This was the third herd of large, angry, mindless fiends to get this close to the city walls this week. Not that it didn’t happen, but that was too frequent. Usually, the scouts that manned the towers interspersed around the walls would catch sight of a big, dangerous herd just a few times a month. Then they’d call on the hunter association to send a guild to clean them up or drive them off before they reached the city. No problem. The most frequent stuff was usually lower level—smaller, less dangerous fiends that couldn’t breach the wall in any number big enough to cause real danger—and the hunters took care of them pretty quick.

  This new influx of threats—all of them aimed right dead at the city—wasn’t a coincidence. Me and my guild had been sent to supervise the other hunter guilds, just in case something unexpected happened. And because these things were nasty. I’d never seen this kind of fiend before, which was saying a lot, given how much time I’d spent in the wastelands. But shit interbred at a staggering rate out in the wild.

  The giraffes loped along at a moderate pace that ate up the distance between us in the blink of an eye thanks to their long, knobby legs. They didn’t move like Earth giraffes. Their long, sinuous triple heads undulated like the body of a snake, quick and flexible—more Chinese dragon than land mammal. I watched as one head darted downward to snap at a hunter in passing, narrowly missing the guy’s arm and revealing foot-long fangs in the process. Just wonderful.

  The guilds closed in around the herd and started firing, hitting them from three sides. The first volley of gunfire didn’t do much to slow them down. But luckily those long legs tangled up just as easily as I’d predicted. The hunters’ fire drove the beasts into the wire rope we’d laid earlier. The rapidly approaching herd halted, falling over our barrier and each other in a writhing pile of necks and knees.

  “Don’t get too close,” I said into the com as I watched the chaos of the hunt from my position on a small, barren hill. “And don’t try to collect any trophies, hear me, assholes? Those heads probably function independently or something. You’re bound to end up giraffe chow if somebody missed one.”

  Fin and I kept our guns trained on the chaos, squeezing off a shot now and then when a hunter didn’t watch their ass the way they should. I focused on the task at hand, making sure no one died on my watch.

  It was a responsibility I still wasn’t sure I wanted.

  Once the fiends were down and nothing was twitching, I gave the hunters the okay to collect pelts and parts. “Keep your eyes peeled for weird shit,” I told the guild masters through the com. Then I started packing away my gear.

  “How did the tracker work?” I asked Emerson with a nod at the device he was fiddling with. As usual, he’d found some way to combine magic and tech. The thing was an upgrade to the tech he’d developed to sense vibrations in the ground. This one could give us movement speed and trajectories that helped with timing for things like the little trap we’d set up today. He had some sort of plans for a temperature setting too, something that would let us know if a particular fiend was about to breathe fire or blow shit up by rocketing explosive eggs out its ass (I’d seen it happen) or something equally fun.

  Em grinned like the happiest nerd in the world. “It was great,” he said as he carefully packed the device back into its case. “It’s amazing how much easier it is to build stuff like this with the right tools.”

  I huffed a wry laugh. Emerson was used to cobbling things together using whatever scrap parts and cheap used tools he could find. Having Theo’s equipment available for his own use was a serious upgrade. But of course, the phoenix hadn’t been content to leave it at that. Just this week, he’d sat Emerson down and bestowed some title or other on him, then he’d given the big lug a workspace at the mansion just for his tinkering. He’d also asked me about setting up a shop for the ogre cur at my cannery, for when he wanted to work on projects for the general public or when he just needed some space. He knew how much Emerson loved to work in peace and quiet.

  Part of me wanted to tell Theo to knock it the fuck off. He said he didn’t want to act on the fiend instinct that wanted to make me his mate. Fine. I got it. He had more important shit to focus on, what with being the ruler of Westhold and all. Plus, I was a giant asshole. And it was hardly like I needed another romantic complication in my life. We were good...I hoped. But he just couldn’t seem to stop himself from showering me and the people I loved with ridiculous, thoughtful gifts. I knew I should tell him no, draw some hard lines so I didn’t feel like I was taking advantage of him all the damned time. But when he insisted on taking care of my mates...I couldn’t deny them all that comfort and happiness just because of my own guilty conscience.

  And that just led my mind off on the tangent I’d been avoiding during this whole job. Now that no one was in danger of getting their head ripped off by spotted death machines, my stupid brain apparently decided it was time to get back to its obsessing, the way it had been ever since I tied myself to a certain siren.

  I immediately wondered how Angel was doing. I knew he hated to be left behind while I trotted off to kill shit with my other mates, but he understood. Hunting wasn’t his thing. He could probably hold his own for a while if he absolutely had to, but he didn’t enjoy it. And I think Theo and I shared the opinion that we’d like to keep our siren out of danger for as long as possible. One brush with death was enough, thank you very fucking much.

  Theo had dragged Angel off to a meeting with some uptight city group, where the siren could use his frightening powers of manipulation for the greater good—and where he’d be sa
fe. But I really hated being away from him, even for a few hours. Was he okay to be using his powers again this soon? Did he need me close in case it sapped his reserves and he needed to recharge? If I got back and he had that dull, tired look in his eyes that he’d had after his injury, I was going to murder everyone in the mansion.

  Gods, what the fuck was wrong with me? I was such a sappy weakling these days.

  I slung the strap of my gun case over my shoulder and grabbed up the rest of the crap I’d brought with me but hadn’t needed. Being the viceroy meant I wasn’t usually down in the thick of it anymore—unfortunately. I think the only reason I got to go out with the hunters at all was because Theo knew I’d probably take out my pent-up need to hunt on him and his staff if he didn’t let me off my leash every now and then.

  My position with the sovereign was weird. Sometimes I sat in on meetings. Sometimes I yelled at the ruler and told him how stupid he was and what he should do to handle certain groups of curs or fiends. And sometimes I killed shit. But hey, it was still better than spending a night in the wastelands hoping nothing new slithered up out of the cracked earth before I could get home and cash in enough monster pelts to pay my bills. Mostly.

  I was packing all my stuff into the armored SUV we’d driven to accommodate Emerson’s size when one of the guild leads approached. She wasn’t someone I had worked with too much in the past, but the woman had that hard-bitten, leather-tough look that said she’d survived in the hunting business long enough to know what she was doing.

  “Sabertooth?” she called, waving a hand to get my attention.

  I rolled my eyes. I hated that fucking nickname, but I guess it was better than viceroy. My life couldn’t get any more ridiculous. “Yeah?”

  I turned as she came to stand in front of me, something clutched in her bloody hand. “I thought you might want to see this,” she said with a sardonic lift of her eyebrow. “I think it falls under the category of ‘weird shit.’”

  She dropped a bloody lump of metal into my hand and I held it up, examining it, but not sure what I was looking at. “Where’d you find it?”

  She nodded back toward where the guilds were skinning the fiends. “In the biggest one—probably the alpha. It was just under the skin at the base of one of the heads.”

  I sighed. “Thanks. If you find any more, just bag them up and send them to the sovereign’s estate.”

  She gave a sharp nod and ambled off to finish her job. I held out my hand so Fin and Emerson could see the lump of metal. It had a few thin wires sticking out of it that made it look like a square spider with spindly legs. “What do you think it is?”

  Emerson carefully pinched the device between his big fingers and took it, tilting it this way and that as he studied it. “I can take it apart when we get home,” he said as he frowned at the thing, clearly wishing he was back in his mad scientist workshop. And I wasn’t even going to acknowledge that he’d just referred to Theo’s mansion as “home” like it was no big deal. “But if I had to guess?” the big guy muttered, oblivious to my thoughts. “I’d say it was probably meant to rile up the leader of the herd. Maybe make them more aggressive? Maybe somehow drive them toward town?”

  That was what I was afraid of. Not that I was surprised. Theo’s cousin seemed to be willing to go to all sorts of stupid ass, round-about lengths to fuck with Theo without actually taking any risks himself. What a chicken-shit.

  “If you think it’s safe, bag it up and we’ll take it home,” I told Em with a shrug. It wasn’t like it was exactly news that Carlyle was trying to destroy Westhold, and Theo right along with it.

  Fin was packing up his gun, but he stopped to give me a smirk, his red brow arching as his green eyes flashed with teasing humor. “What’s the matter, Sam? You in a hurry to get back home?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Oh, shut the fuck up.”

  He snorted. “You’re so easy to read.”

  I bared my teeth at him. “Oh, yeah? Maybe I just decided to go back and live at the cannery instead. Alone.”

  He rolled his eyes and slung his equipment into the vehicle. “Right. Like you’d last a day without laying eyes on your precious, smarmy new mate.” He shook his head and made a sad face. “How the mighty have fallen, Sabertooth.”

  I snarled at him and flipped him off before I swung into the car. “Stop fucking calling me that.”

  I wasn’t really mad. And neither was Fin. He was just teasing me because he could. In actuality, everyone seemed to be stupidly okay with the shifting dynamics of my little...guild of mates. Also...I couldn’t really argue with Fin’s observations, since he was absolutely fucking right. I had tumbled right down the slope and into the depths of needy, mate-drunk idiocy, just like I’d always feared would happen if I bonded to Angel. Luckily, everyone seemed willing to deal with it, for now.

  Grumbling to myself, I started the car and drove us back toward home.

  Chapter 2

  I ambled into Theo’s office and made straight for the liquor cabinet. Pouring myself a tumbler of the good stuff, I went and plopped myself into the leather chair in front of the sovereign’s desk. Jules had promised to fetch our bird-brained boss, and I was past wondering over the weird changes in my life—if there was thousands of dollars of whiskey and an ass-hugging chair in my life, then I was damned well going to enjoy it. I didn’t even pause to wonder how I was being manipulated or owned anymore.

  It should be terrifying...except it wasn’t. Huh. I guess that’s what trust felt like. Weird.

  I sipped my drink and closed my eyes, tilting my head back to rest against the chair as I melted into the soft leather. More and more often lately, I was realizing just how tightly-strung I was. All of the sudden I’d find myself relaxing. It was fucking crazy.

  Soft footsteps approached, but I didn’t open my eyes as the office door snicked closed. As much as I hated to admit it, I think I was getting attuned to the damned fake human ruler. Plus, Theo’s magic was ramping up as he cycled toward his phoenix shift. It would be hard to miss. Though, most people would probably just assume he was wearing protective charms like some of the rich humans did. I’d fallen for that bullshit too, at first.

  “You look comfortable,” Theo said, a touch of humor lacing his voice.

  I just smiled. “I am. Go away so I can nap.”

  He huffed a laugh and I heard him settle into his office chair on the other side of the desk. “I trust the cleanup went well? I don’t see any blood or other body fluids on you today. And you don’t smell like you rolled in something foul.”

  I cracked one eye open so I could glare at him. “Fuck you.” I didn’t always come in from a hunt wearing my prey. Much.

  His mouth curled up into a wry smile that held a hint of fondness at my antics. “I’m afraid that would complicate things. Besides, don’t you get enough fucking with that herd of mates you always have in tow?”

  I opened the other eye and sat up so I could take another sip of my drink. Gods, if he was going to talk about my sex life, I needed something stronger than whiskey.

  “They were giraffe fiends,” I said, ignoring his commentary on my love life. “We took care of them. A couple hunters were a little roughed up, but no one was seriously hurt.”

  He nodded, as if he had every bit of confidence that would be the case, since he’d sent me out to supervise. He was insane enough to have faith in my ability to keep the situation under control. Poor bastard.

  “Unfortunately,” I said with a sigh as I sat forward and leaned my elbows on his big-assed desk. “That isn’t the only thing that goes into the report. The hunters dug some sort of tech device out of one of the fiends. Em thinks it was used to rile them up and send them toward Westhold.”

  Theo’s blue eyes lightened for a second there, flaring with the internal flames he was currently holding at bay. “That certainly explains the increase in dangerous herds lately,” he said in a deceptively calm voice. It was quite the trick, the way Theo always managed to keep his
calm in place. Personally, I’d be swearing and removing Carlyle’s head from his body with my bare hands. But eh, each to their own, I suppose.

  I leaned back and leveled a look at the crazy sovereign over the top of my glass. He looked...tense. “Something happened while we were gone, didn’t it? You’re about to go all flaming dodo on me.”

  He gave me an unimpressed look. “Flaming dodo?”

  I shrugged, trying—and failing—to suppress my grin. “Seems like an accurate description to me.”

  He ignored the insult for more important shit. “I received demands,” he said with more of that scary calm that wasn’t fooling me one fucking bit. “Abdicate my position and leave Westhold or Carlyle reveals what I am and lets the populous form a good old fashioned lynch mob. He gave me until the end of the week.”

  I raised an eyebrow. We all knew that exposing Theo as a fiend was the idiot cousin’s eventual next step. And yeah, the increasing herds of fiends were probably some part of that whole elaborate fiends are all monsters bullshit. But Theo insisted he was going to reveal himself before Carlyle had a chance to use what he was as ammo. I could see his point. He wanted to rob the asshole of the one actual bit of power he had over Theo.

  But I also knew it would be a fucking mess. One that Theo wasn’t likely to survive. And I had to admit, a part of me was worried about my mates now too. If Theo self-destructed, he was going to take our home and security with him.

  Which just pissed me off. Since when did I rely on anyone else for security? For fuck’s sake.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked, tossing back the rest of my drink in one gulp and setting it aside.

  Theo stood and went to the bar, but I could tell he was only using the excuse to keep from pacing. It was amazing how much I saw, now that I had some idea what the asshole was dealing with on a daily basis. “I’m still hoping the teams I have looking for him can smoke him out before then. But I won’t let him expose me. That would take the power of the moment from me and put it into his hands. If I come out to the city on my own, it will seem like a power move, like I’m building trust. If I let him expose me, it will seem like I was lying to them. It will color people’s perception of me and destroy their trust in what I’m attempting to build here.”