by Paige Tyler
“I’m a little roughed up,” Alyssa admitted, afraid to talk too loud with her bruised throat. Carefully getting to her feet, she walked over to them. “How about you guys?”
Zoe shrugged even as Chloe moved closer to blink at her through the darkness with those big, expressive eyes of hers. “The same. We got a few bruises when those things manhandled us out of the club and into a car, but nothing too bad.”
Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief. That was something at least. After the horror story Davina had told them, she’d been worried the vampires had already killed the twins—or worse.
“What’s his name?” Chloe asked suddenly, her voice a barely audible whisper. “The other werewolf who tried to help us at the club?”
Alyssa glanced at Zoe before turning back to the quieter of the two girls. “His name is Jake Huang. He’s a cop from Santa Fe. He told us he’d picked up your scents in a diner there and somehow knew the two of you were in trouble. He got a look at you on the diner’s surveillance camera and followed you out here. He couldn’t explain why he did it, but his gut told him he had to. He freaked out after the vampires grabbed you. We had to almost physically restrain him from taking off and scouring the city, hoping to come across your scents.”
Zoe exchanged looks with her sister, who kneeled there with a blatant I told you so expression on her face. Alyssa was about to ask if the vampires had told them what they had in store for them when a woman cleared her throat from somewhere to her left. She spun around to see two more cells on that side.
Alyssa moved over to the woman huddled close to the bars, relief coursing through her when she recognized Lindsay Carr, one of the missing girls she’d come to LA to find. Behind Lindsey, in the deeper shadows of the cell, two more women lay on the floor. Alyssa tried not to let herself hope too much, but every instinct inside her screamed they were Stacie Bryant and Georgie Sparks, the other girls who’d gone missing.
She’d found them, and they were alive!
Alive, yes, but not in the best of shape.
Lindsey looked pale and tired. Her dark hair was limp around her shoulders, her feet were bare, and her dress was dirty and torn in a few places. Worse, she seemed emotionally beaten down. A quick glance at her arms revealed bruises and several barely visible scars similar to the puncture wounds Alyssa had seen in those pictures of the dead woman from the landfill.
“Please tell me someone knows you were kidnapped.” Lindsey reached through the bars and desperately grabbed Alyssa’s hand. “That someone will come looking for you.”
Alyssa almost said no one knew and that, while she’d be missed, it might not be for a while. That wasn’t what these girls needed to hear though. “Yes, Lindsey. Someone knows I was kidnapped. And they’ll rescue us. Soon.”
Lindsey blinked at her in confusion. “You know my name?”
Behind Lindsey, one of the other girls pushed to her feet and shuffled over to them. It was Georgie Sparks. If possible, the blond looked even more beaten down than Lindsay.
“Are you a cop?” Georgie asked, her voice as hollow as the dark rings under her eyes.
“Yes,” Alyssa said. “I’m an FBI agent, and the people I work with are going to get all of us out of here.”
Hope began to shine a little brighter on the girls’ faces at her words. Seeing their expressions change was enough to make Alyssa know she’d done the right thing telling them that. She only prayed it turned out to be true—that Zane and his friends would figure out where she was and they’d be able to get all these girls to safety.
Alyssa was still in the process of trying to convince herself that surviving this situation was actually possible when she realized Stacie Bryant hadn’t moved since Alyssa had first looked in her direction. Lindsay must have seen the expression on her face because she turned to eye her friend with concern. Alyssa couldn’t make out much in the darkness other than a pair of glassy eyes staring into the distance and pale, nearly translucent skin, but it was enough to scare her.
“Stacie isn’t doing well,” Lindsey said, turning back to Alyssa. “I don’t know what the things are who kidnapped us, but they drink our blood. For some reason, they seem to be more interested in Stacie than they are in us. They feed on her more and whisper things in her ear sometimes, too. I don’t know what they say to her, but it’s making her act strange. When she looks at us, it’s like she’s not really there. She won’t even talk to us anymore. She’ll only talk to them.”
“Another three or four days and there won’t be anything left of her to recognize,” a man said from the cell beyond the one the girls were in.
They were talking about the enthralling thing Davina had told them about, Alyssa realized. When she’d described it, the whole thing had sounded almost clinical, but seeing the effects firsthand made it much more real.
“Will she get better?” Alyssa asked, pitching her voice louder so the man in the far cell would know she was talking to him. “If we get her away from them, will she recover?”
The man slowly got to his feet and shambled over to the bars. He was somewhere in his mid-to-late fifties, wearing dark dress pants, a gray shirt, and leather shoes, all of which appeared to have seen better days. Brown stains covered the edges of his rolled-up sleeves. The vampires had been feeding on this guy, too.
When he moved into the light, Alyssa blinked. Crap. It was Randy Curtis. The former chief of police looked nearly as bad as the three girls. Davina had obviously been right about what the vampire coven would think of the man’s failure in Dallas. They were treating him no better than the people they’d captured for food.
“You’re Randy Curtis,” she said flatly.
The man nodded, not surprised she recognized him—or not caring.
“What’d you do to get tossed in here with the rest of us?” she asked.
“I failed to deliver Dallas to them as the next city for them to build a coven like I was sent there to do. This is my punishment. As far as the girl, it’s possible she’ll get better. From what I understand, it’s like detoxing from the worst drug addiction ever. But it supposedly can happen. Truthfully, she’d be better off dead.”
Behind her, Lindsey and Georgie both choked back sobs.
Alyssa glared at him. She could understand why Zane and his teammates had traveled halfway across the country to hunt this bastard down. She’d just met this jerk and she wanted to kill him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Nothing is wrong with me. I used to be one of them, so I know how this works,” Randy Curtis snapped. “No one is coming to rescue you because no one knows where you are. Even if they did, the entrances to the nest are guarded by what amounts to an army of highly motivated killers masquerading as guards. On the off chance, your fellow FBI agents somehow make it past the guards and the vampires and manage to reach these cells, they’d find your friend, Stacie, fighting them tooth and nail to stay. How much more difficult do you think that will make saving the rest of you, if you have to drag her kicking and screaming every inch of the way?”
Alyssa didn’t bother arguing with him. Partly because what he said was probably true and partly because Lindsey and Georgie had freaked out at the mention of vampires. Ignoring Randy Curtis, she turned her attention to the two women, reassuring them that it was going to be okay, that help was coming, and that they’d get Stacie out of here, too—vampires or no vampires.
Randy Curtis snorted at that and walked back to sit down in his dark corner.
Alyssa turned to talk to the twins when the dim lights hanging above their cells brightened. She squinted, her head throbbing even more than it had before. At the sound of heavy footsteps, she forced herself to ignore the discomfort and turn to face the approaching threat, her heart racing. A moment later, Dario walked into the room, followed by Stefan. The man’s stride was quick. Like he was someone with lots of things on his to-do list. They were accompanied by eight armed men. She wondered if the vampires were there to exact their revenge against her now that she
was conscious. The thought made her shudder, though she refused to show it. She might be terrified, but she’d never let them know that.
Coming to a stop in front of Alyssa’s cell, Dario unlocked the door and stepped inside, Stefan at his heels. Alyssa took a step back automatically in a defensive stance, ready to fight for her life.
For all the good it did her.
One moment, Dario was near the door; the next, he was nothing but a blur. She didn’t have a chance to even take a swing at him before his hand was around her neck again. Lifting her off the floor, he slammed her against the wall hard enough to knock the oxygen out of her lungs. Cold air seemed to pour off him in waves, making her numb. She fought him with everything she had, punching, kicking, and scratching. The results were no better than the first time she’d tried it in the alley. It was like hitting at a brick wall.
As her vision began to dim, it occurred to Alyssa he might actually choke her to death and be done with it. But then he grabbed her left wrist and yanked her arm toward him, forcing her to watch in horror as his fangs slowly extended and he bit her.
Alyssa swore the damn creature was doing everything at half speed simply so she’d have to deal with the torture of those fangs sinking into the soft flesh of her inner wrist longer. It felt like they were going all the way down to the bone. It was even more painful when he began to feed on her blood, his lips tugging on her skin as he sucked it into his mouth.
Screams echoed off the stone walls as the twin werewolves and the three girls begged Dario to let her go. Alyssa would have screamed, too, if she could have made a sound.
When Dario finally released her, she hit the floor hard, her head swimming like she’d just downed two Long Island iced teas—fast. Her vision went dark as shudders ran through her body. As much as she wanted to get up and protect herself, her mind was telling her to remain where she was.
But staying down had never been her thing.
She shoved to her feet and lunged at Dario, swinging the hardest punch she could. It landed—a solid roundhouse to the jaw that made her whole arm go numb, leaving her hand throbbing badly enough to make her think she might have broken something.
Unfortunately, Dario barely seemed to have felt the blow. He merely stepped back with a superior smile, licking traces of her blood off his lips.
“You’re a fighter, I see,” he said. “That makes you even more perfect for the ritual.”
The words chilled Alyssa to the bone. She threw a quick glance at her wrist to see the two puncture wounds still trickling a tiny bit of blood, but not nearly as much as she’d expected.
“What ritual?” she demanded.
Dario grinned at her. “We have a ceremony planned for this morning, one you’ll play a very important part in.” He gestured to the younger Curtis. “We’ve decided to make Stefan one of us in appreciation for the faithful service he has provided the coven. The five oldest members of the coven will drain your friends, then they’ll turn him.”
Alyssa glanced at the three women on her left and the two werewolves on her right to see their eyes fill with terror.
“Stefan will be ravenous for blood after that and will need to quench that thirst,” Dario continued, seeming to relish the panic he was causing all around as he focused his cold, black eyes on Alyssa. “That’s where you come in. While I’m tempted to keep you for myself, I will honor my promise and allow Stefan to feed on you to complete his transformation.”
Alyssa felt the blood drain from her face, fear making her feel weaker than she already was.
Stefan glanced at his uncle. “Don’t think for a second this gets you out of the frying pan. You’re still going to die. It’s just a matter of how.” Stefan looked at Dario. “Maybe we could give him to the younger members of the coven that don’t normally get to feed during the ritual.”
Dario considered that. “Perhaps.”
When Randy Curtis didn’t say anything, Stefan let out a snort.
“You don’t know how glad I am that I get to feed on that fucking werewolf’s mate instead of you, old man,” he said to his uncle. “At least she’ll be fresh.”
That got a rise out of Randy. Eyes suddenly sharp, he got to his feet and hurried over to the bars. “Werewolf? There’s a werewolf in LA?”
Stefan casually strolled over to stand in front of his uncle’s cell. “Actually, there are several werewolves dumb enough to not only show up in town, but also to attempt to stand against us.”
Randy gripped the bars. “And you’re sure she’s mated to one of them.”
“I’m sure,” Dario said. “I heard her talking about sleeping with one of the mongrels on the phone right before I grabbed her. That’s part of the reason I did grab her. Stefan might be thrilled to have someone young and pretty to feed on for the ritual, but I’m more interested in using her dead body to lure her mate. That was an added bonus too good to pass up.”
Alyssa started hyperventilating at the thought of being used as bait to hurt Zane. It was crazy. She’d be dead long before these monsters got around to even attempting to hurt Zane, but that didn’t stop her from being afraid. As the fear welled up from her stomach and into her chest to wrap its icy fingers around her heart, she was sure she was going to pass out.
“Are you insane?” Randy demanded. “Doing the ritual with a group of werewolves around—especially if she’s mated to one—is suicidal.”
Stefan only laughed at that.
Dario remained expressionless.
“I’m warning you not to underestimate them,” Randy ground out in frustration. “I know it’s been decades since the coven has gone up against a pack of werewolves directly. They’re far more dangerous than you can imagine. You won’t need to lure them anywhere because they’ll come for her. You have no idea what they can do when you threaten the people they care for.”
Alyssa stared in shock.
While Randy had been dismissive when he thought there were some FBI agents out there to worry about, now that he knew werewolves were involved, he was far more worried—which was strange considering his nephew had just offered to serve him up as a sippy cup to the younger vampires in the coven.
Dario chuckled. “Forgive me if I don’t put much stock in your opinion when it comes to werewolves. But given your dramatic failure in Dallas, I think you can understand my reasoning. That city was supposed to be supporting a thriving coven colony already, and instead, you had a pack of fucking werewolves in your own department. How blind and stupid can you be?”
“I admit I made mistakes, Stefan.” Ignoring the vampire, Randy reached through the bars, extending his hand like he thought his nephew would take it. “But I’m not wrong about this. They’ll come for her and they’ll come gunning. You could use my help when that happens.”
“They won’t come for her,” Stefan scoffed. “There are four of them at the most. None of them would be foolish enough to step foot in this place even if they know where we are. It would be a death sentence. Even a werewolf—as stupid as those mutts are—would know that.”
Randy opened his mouth to say something, but the ringing of a phone interrupted him. Dario scowled in irritation and reached into the pocket of his slacks to pull out a cell.
“Yes,” he said into the phone. Whatever the caller said must have pleased him because his mouth curved. “I’m on my way.”
Hanging up, Dario looked at the muscle he’d brought with him. “Move them to the main gathering area. Heavy guards all around the amphitheater and the main entrances to the nest. I don’t want any surprises.”
Then he and Stefan were gone, taking two guards with them. The ones who were left looked uneasy, glancing furtively into the shadows around the holding area as if expecting a werewolf to jump out any second. Maybe they’d heard of the damage Zane and the werewolves had done at the club and didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that carnage.
One of the guards came into Alyssa’s cell and grabbed her arm, shoving her out while his buddies did the sam
e to the other captives. She automatically moved closer to Zoe and Chloe, hoping to provide at least a little moral support. Knowing what was coming, the girls had to be freaking out about now. Alyssa sure as hell was.
“Don’t be scared,” Chloe told her softly. “It’s going to be okay. Jake is on the way. And Zane is with him. They’re close. I feel it.”
Chloe might have been trying to make her feel better, but hearing Zane was close to this horrible place—even if there was no way the girl could know something like that—made her stomach twist itself into knots. She didn’t want him anywhere near there. It hit her then that as much as she didn’t want to die, she was way more concerned that Zane would. The thought of him coming here to save her and getting killed in the process was tearing her soul out.
Alyssa prayed Chloe was wrong and that Zane would stay as far away from there as possible.
Chapter 12
Zane strode across the crowded, gleaming marble lobby of Black Swan’s corporate headquarters, his height and intimidating presence clearing a path for him as he worked his way toward the large security desk near the elevator bank of the skyscraper business complex. He was still ten feet away from the nearest guard, and they were already eyeing him warily.
He knew this wasn’t the brightest idea any of them had ever come up with. Walking right into the place and offering himself up like this was probably on the short list of most insane things ever. But when Davina had finally given them the location of the nest—four levels below Black Swan Enterprises off Figueroa—it wasn’t like they could simply sit on the info and keep waiting.
The waiting had been killing them. Him most of all.
Gage and the other members of the Pack were only now landing at LAX because they’d been grounded on the tarmac in Dallas/Fort Worth for over an hour thanks to bad weather. Worse, the help that Alyssa’s boss, Nathan, sent was still fifteen minutes out. Between the delay in Dallas and the hellish LA traffic, it would probably take at least an hour for any of them to get to Black Swan’s headquarters. An hour was too long to wait, especially when they didn’t have a clue what the hell was going on in the nest.
