“Does Magnus know that you fucked him over yet?” came the question that had Logan chuckling as he dropped down on the freshly vacated chair with a satisfied sigh.
“He’ll figure it out eventually,” Logan drawled as he watched Kale lean back against the kitchen wall with a pained groan.
“Looks like you finally won,” Kale said with a pointed look at the blood pooling beneath him, letting him know that they didn’t have much time left.
“It looks that way, doesn’t it?” Logan murmured absently as he glanced over at the small woman curled up on the floor and-
“Please don’t do this,” came the softly spoken plea that turned his stomach as he watched Kale’s mate place her handcuffed hands over the soft swell of her belly while his thoughts turned to his Angel and-
She wasn’t his Angel, Logan reminded himself. She was just a means to an end.
“Your mate didn’t leave me with much of a choice,” Logan bit out as he looked away, telling himself that he didn’t care that she was pregnant, not when it was one more thing that would destroy Kale.
Chapter 73
“You know that they’re not going to let us walk out of here alive, don’t you?” Kale asked, listening as the demons dragged Andrew into the woods and-
She didn’t look good, Kale thought, biting back a groan when the pain that had been slowly eating him alive finally reached his lungs. They never should have come back here, Kale thought as he placed his hand over the gunshot wound on his side only to watch blood seep through his fingers and find its way onto the silver chain stopping him from being able to do anything more than breathe, only to join the rest of the blood pooling around him on the kitchen floor.
“I don’t plan on being here long enough to find out,” Logan said with a pointed look as the realization that he was never going to hold his daughter had Kale’s eyes turning silver as he did the one thing that he’d promised himself that he would never do.
“She crawled into my bed,” Kale bit out, watching as Logan frowned in confusion as his gaze flickered to Ashley and-
“Not her,” Kale said evenly. “Elizabeth.”
“You fucking liar,” Logan bit out, his eyes flashing silver as they shifted back to him.
“I woke up with her small hand wrapping around my cock as she whispered in my ear just how badly she wanted to take me in her mouth, in her tight little snatch, and in her-”
“I will fucking kill you,” Logan said, coming to his feet as centuries of control slowly began to snap.
Chuckling weakly, Kale said, “You already are, asshole.”
“She was never in your bed,” Logan bit out, his hands clenched tightly into fists as he struggled to stay where he was.
“She found out what I was. I don’t know how, but she did, and that night she offered me everything if I turned her, but I refused. I threw her out of my bed and went looking for you, but it was already too fucking late by then. She’d already found someone else to turn her.”
“You’re lying. She had no fucking idea what was happening to her! The only thing that she knew was that you wouldn’t save her!”
“Because I had to save you!” Kale shouted, immediately regretting it when Ashley curled more into herself with a broken sob as her hands tightened around her ears.
“Mo ghrá,” Kale whispered hollowly, feeling his heart break as he was forced to sit there watching his mate suffer, knowing that he would never be able to touch her again. Of all the ways that Logan tried to make him pay for what happened to Elizabeth over the years, nothing, absolutely fucking nothing, compared to this.
“She’s not looking so good, Kale,” Logan drawled as Kale sat there, taking in the way that her small body trembled and-
“She doesn’t deserve this,” Kale said, swallowing hard as he stared at Ashley.
“Probably not,” Logan murmured in agreement before adding, “but you do.”
“For what? For protecting you? For getting you out of that fucking alley before they could slit your throat? You were my best friend!” Kale shouted, sick and tired of playing this fucking game.
“And you were my fucking brother!” Logan shouted back.
“I still am,” Kale bit out between clenched teeth only to frown when he heard it.
Soft humming that drew his attention back down and-
Found Izzy, settling on the floor next to him and releasing a long-suffering sigh as she began examining the silver chains attached to his legs.
“What the hell are you doing?” Logan demanded, moving to stop her only to think better of it, but god, did he look like he wanted to spank the small Sentinel’s ass.
“Saving time,” Izzy mumbled absently as she followed the chain linking Kale’s legs and cuffed hands together to where it disappeared behind his back and-
“Son of a bitch!”
-caused fresh pain to shoot through his chest when she grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him forward so that she could get a better look at his handcuffs.
“God, you really are a big baby,” Izzy said with a sad shake of her head that had his eyes narrowing on her as she pushed him back against the kitchen wall before shifting her attention to Ashley.
“What did they do to her?” Izzy demanded as she quickly climbed over Kale, earning a grunt of pain when she accidentally kicked him in the side and-
Oh, fuck…
“You’re pregnant,” Kale bit out as he narrowed his eyes on the little pain in the ass that never should have come here as Logan did the same.
“Chris just can’t seem to keep his dirty little hands off me,” Izzy said with a sad shake of her head as she focused on Ashley.
“I’m fine,” Ashley bit out, only to release a pained whimper that had him cursing.
“You shouldn’t be here, Izzy,” Logan bit out, moving to check the windows to make sure that the demons hadn’t come back yet, only to add, “This isn’t over yet, asshole,” to Kale.
“Just help Kale. I’m fine,” Ashley mumbled as she pulled herself up onto her knees.
“Yeah, you look it,” Izzy murmured, worrying her bottom lip as she watched Ashley press her back against the wall and somehow managed to stand up.
“Mo ghrá-” Kale said, watching her stumble past him towards the pantry.
“We need to stop the bleeding,” Ashley mumbled in a daze as Kale was forced to sit there watching her.
“Get her out of here, Izzy,” Kale said hollowly, unable to take his eyes off his mate as the scent of their baby began fading away. “Please.”
“I’m getting you both out of here,” Izzy said firmly as she came back over and took another look at his chains. “I need the key.”
“Get the hell out of here, Izzy,” Logan snapped, moving to stop her.
“You really don’t want to do this,” Izzy said when Logan reached for her.
“I can assure you that I really do,” he snapped, sending another worried look over his shoulder while Kale sat there, unable to take his eyes off Ashley as she grabbed a stack of hand towels out of the pantry and prayed that they weren’t about to lose their little girl.
“And yet, I don’t believe you,” Izzy said with a sad shake of her head and a long-suffering sigh as she pulled her arm free.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Logan bit out evenly.
“Because you adore me,” Izzy said, nodding in agreement, knowing that the vampire had a soft spot for her. It was hard not to. She was a Sentinel and they should both hate her, but Christ, she was just too fucking adorable to hate.
“Izzy,” Logan bit out in warning, only to be ignored as Izzy pointed to the chains wrapped around Kale’s legs. “Do you mind getting those?”
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this?” Logan demanded, his eyes turning silver as he moved to grab her only to stop and swallow hard when Ashley said, “There’s something wrong with the baby,” when her legs gave out and-
Logan was there before she hit the floor.
“A
shley!” Kale shouted, struggling against his chains, desperate to get to her, but the fucking chains wouldn’t give.
“She needs blood,” Izzy said, climbing back over Kale and rushed over to the kitchen counter to grab a knife.
“Is there any blood in the fridge?” Logan asked, gently laying Ashley down on the floor before he moved to go check while Kale lost his fucking mind.
“She can’t drink human blood,” Izzy said as she grabbed a small knife off the counter and rushed back over to Ashley. “She needs our blood.”
Nodding absently, Logan’s fangs slid down as he raised his wrist to his mouth and bit down while Izzy made a small gash across her palm before pressing it against Ashley’s lips. When her blood only trickled down Ashley’s chin, Logan gently pushed Izzy’s hand out of the way and replaced it with his wrist.
“Come on, sweetheart, drink,” Logan whispered softly as Kale struggled to break free. “Key’s in my coat pocket,” the bastard that better pray that nothing happened to his daughter said.
Izzy quickly grabbed the key and rushed back over to Kale’s side and shoved him forward so that she could reach his handcuffed hands. As soon as she managed to free his left hand, he grabbed the key from her and quickly unlocked the other cuff. Ignoring the searing pain tearing through his hands from the silver, he leaned forward and released the chains wrapped around his legs.
As soon as he was free, Kale kicked the chains out of his way, giving into the power surging through his body, and-
“You should have taken the job when my father offered it,” Andrew Vane said, drawing his attention as pain suddenly exploded in his chest.
Chapter 74
“You dumb fuck,” Logan bit out coldly as he pushed Izzy behind him with his good arm while his other arm hung uselessly by his side, dripping blood onto the kitchen floor to join Kale’s blood.
When Andrew shot Kale, she’d moved to stop him and…
Logan saved her.
He’d shoved her out of the way, taking the bullet meant for her before moving in front of Izzy and protecting her when Andrew pointed the gun on the small Sentinel when she’d made the same mistake of trying to help Kale.
“You should have minded your own fucking business, leech!” Andrew snapped.
“You’re dead,” Logan bit out coldly.
“Move!” Andrew shouted as Ashley knelt by Kale’s side, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. He was…he was…
“I love you,” came the weakly whispered words as Kale’s silver eyes slowly faded away, leaving behind the beautiful emerald eyes that she fell in love with as he raised his hand to cup her face and-
“I said fucking move!” came the scream as she suddenly found herself yanked up by her cuffed hands, unable to look away from Kale.
When her legs threatened to give out, Andrew yanked her back to her feet and pressed the gun against the middle of her back. “Try that again and we’ll find out exactly what happens when you come in contact with silver,” Andrew bit out coldly in her ear as an odd tingling sensation worked its way up her arm.
Telling herself that she was just imagining it, Ashley glanced down at her arm only to feel her stomach drop when she realized that her mating mark was starting to fade away. She remembered watching her stepfather’s mating mark disappear after he’d ripped her mother’s throat out. Within minutes, the mark was gone and her mother was dead.
Now, it was happening to her. She was losing Kale, Ashley thought as the man that was taking everything away from her released his hold around her so that he could grab hold of her arm.
She hated him.
“Give me your keys!” Andrew snapped at Logan while Ashley stood there, watching as Kale struggled to keep his eyes open. He was dying, she realized as everything slowly went numb, leaving her feeling hollow as she stared at Kale, unable to look away from him as she reached up and grabbed hold of the hand wrapped around her arm and squeezed, tearing a bloodcurdling scream from Andrew. She ignored the sounds of bones breaking, the blood pouring from his hand, his screams, and kept squeezing until the gun pressed against her back fell away.
“You fucking bitch!” Andrew screamed, hugging his mangled hand against his chest as Ashley slowly turned around and faced the man that had taken everything from her.
She was going to kill him, Ashley realized in a daze as she found herself looking down at the beautiful engagement ring that meant the world to her. She would never spend the rest of her life with Kale. He would never see their daughter, never hold her, or watch her grow up, and she would never stop loving him.
When she felt the energy begin to build in her spine, Ashley didn’t fight it, she welcomed it, craved it, needed it.
“Oh, fuck!” Andrew said, realizing too late what was happening when her fangs began to expand as she pulled her hands apart with a hard yank, breaking the small chain holding them together, and-
Found herself pushed out of the way as Kale stumbled past her and threw himself at Andrew, taking the smaller man by surprise as the sounds of gunshots echoed throughout the house, startling her as she suddenly found herself on the floor beneath Logan. The sounds of gunshots had barely finished when the screams for mercy had her squeezing her eyes shut and placing her hands over her ears, seconds before Logan covered her hands with his.
She’d never heard anything like it. The screams were…
God, there was no way to describe them. They seemed to go on forever, and then just as suddenly as they’d started, they stopped.
Dropping her hands away, Ashley opened her eyes and found Kale lying on the floor only a few feet away. Screaming his name, she pushed Logan’s arms away and quickly made her way to Kale’s side. Before her knees hit the floor, Ashley was biting into her wrist, her gaze flickering to the man staggering towards the door, a look of pure shock on Andrew’s face as he reached up and placed his hands on his throat only to find it ripped out as his legs gave out, dropping him to his knees.
Swallowing hard, Ashley focused back on Kale, noting that he’d been shot two more times in his stomach as she placed her wrist against Kale’s lips, praying that this worked. This had to work, Ashley told herself as she reached for his shirt only to have Kale shake his head with a mumbled, “Silver,” against her wrist.
Nodding, she kept her focus on Kale’s wounds, watching as the bleeding slowed down to a trickle and…that was it. His wounds didn’t become any smaller, the silver bullets didn’t push their way out of his body, and the mark on their arms was almost completely gone now.
This was supposed to work, Ashley told herself as she pulled her wrist away from Kale’s mouth and tore back into it with her fangs, making sure that more blood poured out faster this time and placed her wrist back against his mouth as she kept telling herself that this was going to work.
It had to work, Ashley told herself even as she started mumbling, “You have to shift,” already knowing that it was too late, but she had to do something. She had to…she had to…
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Kale whispered, opening his eyes as he reached up and wrapped his hand weakly around her arm and pulled it away. “Everything’s going to be okay, mo ghrá.”
“You need to shift, Kale,” Ashley mumbled, her voice breaking around a sob. “Please!”
“I love you, mo ghrá, more than anything,” Kale whispered with a sad smile as he reached up to run his trembling fingertips along her jaw.
“Please just stay with me, Kale. I love you,” Ashley said, crying as she leaned down and pressed her lips against his forehead. “I can’t lose you.”
“Mo ghrá,” Kale whispered reverently as she pulled away and felt her heart break.
“Please…” she managed to get out as she watched his silver eyes slowly fade away and-
“You always were an asshole,” came the announcement as she suddenly found herself picked up and placed on Kale’s lap so that she was straddling his legs. “Drink his blood and don’t stop until you can taste your own blood,” Logan s
aid as Izzy quickly made her way back to their side.
“What?” Ashley mumbled, trying to make sense out of what he was saying as Kale began stubbornly shaking his head.
“No, the silver will hurt her,” Kale mumbled, trying to push her away.
“If you want him to live, then you have to do this,” Logan said firmly as he pulled her hand away from Kale’s.
“No, he’s a shifter. That will kill him!” Izzy said, moving to stop him.
“He’s going to die anyway,” Logan said, locking his silver eyes on her. “Trust me.”
“I…” Ashley opened her mouth as she looked from Izzy, who looked completely lost back to the man that came here to kill Kale and found herself nodding as she leaned in and whispered, “I love you,” before she pushed her fangs into Kale’s neck.
Kale tried to push her away, tried screaming her name only to have Logan press her wrist firmly against his mouth, giving him no other choice but to swallow her blood. For several minutes, she stayed there, squeezing her eyes shut as she drank his blood, ignoring the pain traveling down her throat and into her stomach, the feel of her skin burning where the blood soaked into his clothes finally made its way through hers, the screams in her ear, praying that whatever this was that it worked as agonizing pain tore through her body and just when she didn’t think that she could take it anymore-
“You’ve gotta shift, Ashley!”
-she tasted her blood mixed with Kale’s as she suddenly found herself pulled away from Kale and in Jacob’s arms as white smoke rose up around them.
“Shift!”
“I…I don’t think I can,” Ashley mumbled as she watched the terror in his silver eyes take over before she suddenly found herself pulled under as a black void swallowed her whole.
Chapter 75
Somewhere in Pennsylvania
“Throw her in with the dog,” one of the men said as Indie found herself really hoping that they weren’t talking about her when the man carrying her suddenly stopped in front of one of the metal doors that lined the long hallway that she’d been hoping would lead to an exit.
Unstoppable Page 41
