“What?”
“Hello to you, too.”
“Seriously, now—” He cut off for a second, swearing. When he returned he was out of breath. “Not a great time. I followed your little— Mazy! Get your ass back here!” Lucas berated her, his curses muffled. Probably had his hand covering the speaker. “Anyway, I followed your little chérie’s descriptions and tidbits to this hole down in the old factory district. Looks like they are planning an auction in a couple of days.”
“And what exactly are you doing now?”
“Having a bit of fun.”
“Good. Now stop having fun and meet me at my penthouse so we can plan.” I hung up. A couple of days. My skin itched. Something wasn’t sitting right with me.
Lucas arrived over an hour later without Mazy. He had a healing black eye. I raised a brow—Lucas moved like water when he fought, fluid and fast. Rarely did he ever come home with a scratch on him.
“Don’t ever take your female to a fight,” he said. I hadn’t planned on it, ever. For the next couple of hours, he told me all he could about the auction. We could only enter the auction with a ticket and they weren’t cheap. Unfortunately, they were also almost impossible to obtain. The location wouldn’t be given until an hour before the event. I didn’t question how he got the information. On top of being a skilled fighter, Lucas excelled in torture. Subtle, lethal torture. He never told Dominic and me where he learned it, but we all had hidden pasts we didn’t speak about.
I’d never told them my darkest secret. One I hoped Winifred would never find out. I would do everything in my power to make sure she never knew. My first job as a business mercenary had been a bloody one that left a dark-red stain on my past.
“We need a list of the people who bought invites. Or a name …”
“Done.”
Lucas had taken a seat at the island in my apartment and I stood on the other side. He should have shared such vital information first.
“Then let’s get the bastard and get our ticket.”
“There is something you need to know.” Lucas squirmed in his seat and refused to look me in the eye, another first for him. “Did Winnie tell you about her ex at all?”
I clutched the edge of the counter. Either my grip would break the marble or the marble would break me. The deep-seated anger I felt at thinking of the man who would have laid his hands on my mate flared. A murderous hunger filled me. Lucas eyed my arms and hands where the veins started to bulge from my skin.
“I see she did.”
“She mentioned him, yes.” My tiger pressed forward. Wanting that vital information about the man he would slaughter. I couldn’t argue with him on that one. He had full rein for that kill.
“Mazy told me a little more about him. You’re not going to like this. His name is Terrance McCullen.” A rumble rattled my chest. The McCullens were a widely known wolf pack with members on the council. “I guess Mazy got Winnie drunk enough Winnie confessed he had been very controlling and she had to go underground in order to escape him. It’s been almost a year. I checked up on him—”
“When did you do all this?”
“Yesterday. You might not want her, but Winnie is your mate. And you’re family, making her family. I watch out for my family.”
Yes, he did. Family meant a great deal to Lucas.
“Anyway, I checked up on McCullen, and he is in town. Here. Guess the name I got from the invitee list …”
“Terrance.”
“Yup.” He popped the P.
“We need to find him and kill him.” I didn’t know if I spoke to Lucas anymore or my tiger who stood up and paced. His tail twitched irritably.
That unsettled feeling crawled over my skin again. I reached for my phone. I wanted to call Winifred. She needed to be warned. But she was safe. I knew she was safe out there. No reason to add any more stress or fear to her already-full plate. I would dispose of her ex and disband the criminal group, and make sure nothing harmed her again.
Chapter 13
Winifred
The moment he left I started to pace. My bare feet padded against the plush rug covering the cold hardwood floor. Something was wrong. This was wrong. My skin itched with the need to keep moving. My muscles tensed and wouldn’t loosen no matter how much I moved. Deep in the back of my head, something told me to run. To hide. I slipped out of the bedroom. As more time passed, the feeling increased. I tried to put it off on nerves because I had just learned I was a latent shifter. I had an animal inside me and no idea what kind it even was. What if I wasn’t an animal that Quentin could be proud of? But if he cared for me at all, would it matter? Of course it would matter. Quentin grew up in a world where the one thing that mattered was status.
Quentin didn’t show me around before he left. I had kept him here longer than he intended as it was, although I still didn’t regret it. It had been a good long while since I had been with someone, and even longer since I had been someone that made me feel as good as he did. He lusted after me while my ex had criticized me.
The living room had been decorated to look good. The brown leather couch had nothing on the suede couch I had at home. I missed my couch. The leather one here was stiff and felt unused. It creaked every time I moved. I wiggled in, trying to get more comfortable, but an anxious feeling crept up my spine, refusing to go away. I couldn’t focus on anything.
I rolled my shoulders, but the tension didn’t ease. I stood up again and paced. It had been less than a couple of hours since he left, and I yearned to hear from him. I searched the living room then the kitchen and the bedroom, but I couldn’t find a phone anywhere. There were no laptops or tablets lying around. The TV connected to a DVD player next to a stack of more movies than I had ever seen in one place—including the movie selection at the local supermarket. I guess he liked movies. All kinds of them.
I picked a TV series and hoped I could binge watch myself into a stupor. Two episodes in, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I straightened in my seat, only to force my back down to a slouch. My spine curved, but my shoulders didn’t droop. My ears perked up, I listened, tilting my head.
There had been movement outside. I didn’t know I could hear that well. My heart pounded. I thought about turning my head to look, but decided against it, fearful of what I would see. My vision changed for a second, becoming sharper. Everything felt like it had gone into high-definition then returned back to normal.
The sound came again, like the crunch of shoes on dead leaves. While I knew it should have been impossible for me to hear it from outside at the back of the house, I know I did. Quentin had locked the door when he walked out. I was safe in here.
At least that’s what I told myself.
Another new noise came, but this time it had come from the front of the cabin. Hot adrenaline-ruled fear had my eyes flicking around the room looking for a hiding place. There were no hiding places in here. From the door came a scraping of metal on metal. I swallowed. My eyes went high-def again.
The doorknob started to rotate.
I raced into the bedroom and shut the door behind me, locking it with a click. Whoever had been trying to get the door open thundered across the wooden floors. I padded as softly as I could to the other side of the room to find a large bay window that had been covered by curtains. I hoped I could sneak out while they searched the house.
I made it halfway there when the floor under me creaked.
The creak silenced everything.
They spoke in hushed tones, coming closer to the bedroom door. My heart lodged in my throat, and I stopped trying to be quiet. I made my way to the window, threw the curtains aside, and flipped the latches. Unlocking the window was simple enough, but the wood must have swollen over time and wouldn’t budge. I kept pulling, silently encouraging it to open. The wood slipped a little. The noise outside the door stopped.
“The window, go!” One pair of footsteps took off.
“Shit!” I continued my assault on the window, even addin
g a few slaps against the glass, hoping I could break it. They would have me cornered. Again my extra-sharp hearing caught movement coming from around the side of the house. Maybe I could trick them.
I got the window open enough to squeeze through. Stepping back I found my shoes by the bed and leaned out the window, using them to make a print facing away from the house. As quietly as I could, I pulled them back through the window, leaving it open and the curtains billowing. I slipped underneath the bed, thankful Quentin’s expensive tastes included a bed skirt. I gripped my shoes and hoped the kidnappers would fall for the trick. Once they ran into the woods, I would head in the opposite direction. I didn’t know if I would get away, but at least this way I had a chance.
The man who had run outside called out to his partner. His voice sounded so, so familiar.
“Where is the little bitch, Mac?”
I held in my gasp, placing my hand over my mouth. No, no way.
“Dunno, Sammie. Her scent ain’t here.”
I held in my sob. It hadn’t worked. I didn’t know enough about shifters, but I should have remembered that Sammie said I smelled rare. Before, it hadn’t been on my radar how he might have known about me. But now that I had moments of ultra-sensitive hearing and seeing, I knew. Shifters had better senses. Which meant …
I lifted my gaze from the floor and tightened my hand over my mouth, holding in my scream.
“Hello, pussycat.” I met those dead brown eyes. The ones that haunted my nightmares. A hand wrapped around my ankle and dragged me backward. I clawed at the floor, trying to get some leverage. It was too late. The moment I was out from underneath the bed, Sammie sat on me.
I peeled back my lips and let out a sound I had never made before. It sounded like a hoarse, growling dog bark. Sammie didn’t even flinch.
“Glad that pussy is finally coming out to play. Too bad we won’t be able to play for long.”
Snarling at him, I didn’t notice until it was too late he had been distracting me on purpose. A sharp sting in my neck and hot liquid pressed in. Blinking hard to hold on to the consciousness that was being stolen from me, I felt the weight of Sammie lifting off me. I tried to roll to my stomach and crawl out of the room, but I couldn’t feel my muscles.
“Nighty-night, pussy.”
The world went black.
My head lolled forward. My neck strained awkwardly as it bobbed this way and that. I was sandwiched between two solid figures who stopped me from moving too harshly. I recognized the rolling of a vehicle. Squeezing my eyes open left my head swimming, but I couldn’t see a thing. Nausea pooled in the bottom of my jaw, leaving it feeling hollow and disgusting. I shook my head trying to shake out the feeling, allowing my tears to flow free. Then I opened my eyes again only to see darkness.
“Awake, pussy. Good, we’re runnings late and you’s the main attraction.” Sammie’s broken cackle sent shivers down my spine.
“Wh …” my tongue felt heavy and swollen. I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. My head fell forward, the effects of the drugs still heavy in my blood.
The rest of the ride was quiet besides the sound of the car and the other vehicles on the road. I became aware of a tight string around my neck keeping the bag over my head in place. The stale air I breathed made the nausea worse. The skin around my wrists felt pinched and my fingers numb with lack of blood flow. I twisted my bound hands back and forth behind my back.
The car halted and I lifted my head, trying to get a general sense of anything. All I knew was that my body lay on a bench seat. Wind gusted in before a door slammed and cut it off again. The sound of an unlocking door, followed by the handle being lifted, and someone gripped my arm, dragging me out. I fell to my side. Rough and cruel hands dragged me out of the car. My toes caught on the doorframe, and I tumbled to the ground. My arm scraped against the gravel beneath me.
I winced, but bit my lip before an ouch flew past them. I refused to give them the satisfaction of my pain. I swung wildly just trying to hit something, anything. A cruel laugh sounded before I was pulled from the ground to an upright position. My head swam again at the sudden movement.
Someone marched me forward to whatever they had planned for me.
I didn’t know how long we walked or where we were. I knew when we made it inside a building because the wind stopped. I couldn’t smell anything, and my ultra-sensitive hearing had turned off. The result of whatever they injected me with?
The men who held me captive walked me to whatever fate they saw fit. Swallowing the hard lump in my throat, I thought of Quentin. His gorgeous eyes, sleek black hair, and powerful jaw. He would come for me. I thought of his powerful animal, the muscles rolling under beautiful fur; they wouldn’t let me go.
Sometime later, it didn’t seem too long, but I had been lost in thought so I couldn’t be sure, I was forced into a sitting position. My stomach plummeted as I waited. My backside landed a little too hard in the wooden chair.
A hand gripped the top of the bag, along with some of my hair, and ripped it from my head. I held back a growl-like noise. Hot moisture filled my eyes at the sharp pain. I had to blink a couple times in the bright light before I could see.
A woman sat in front of me. Her tawny hair disheveled, her eyes matching it with a gray quality in the light. The circles under her eyes had me sitting back and debating if the gaunt woman was me. What sort of drugs did they use on me? I looked terrible. And I felt terrible. The hot drug still swam inside me. I could feel its harsh sting.
“Special little concoction, that one. Stops the shift. Reals dangerous to stop a shift, but orders are orders.” Sammie gave me a sharp wink and left the small room. I thought I had been left alone until a small woman came forward with a brush clutched between her hands. Meeting her blank gaze in the mirror, I tried to plea with her.
“Please, I know some very strong people. They can help us.”
“No. I do what my master says.” She spoke barely above a whisper then yanked on my head. My wrists were handcuffed together in front of me, so there was nothing I could do to stop her. My body swayed in her direction with each sharp tug. My already-pounding head started to scream when she finished. Next she moved to the front, applying makeup. I never put makeup on. I found it a waste of time.
After she finished, my skin glowed. It terrified me that she made me look so much better than I felt. I knew what those men wanted. Cold fear wrapped its way around my heart. I needed to find a way out of here. I couldn’t hope Quentin would find me before something terrible happened. I couldn’t.
What felt like a couple minutes later, but could have been hours or seconds, I was so lost in trying to think of escape plans, two burly men came into the room. One unlocked my cuffs while the other stood close by.
The woman came forward. “Take your shirt off.”
I did not move.
“Take it off or we rip it off,” the one with the key said. He had a small nose, and his black eyes looked like voids. I tentatively pulled off my shirt. Small Nose didn’t react. The other, though, his expression filled with a dark hunger.
“Pants.”
I complied because I worried Lusty Eyes would take too much pleasure tearing my clothes from me. The woman nodded and disappeared for a minute only to reappear.
“Dress in this.” She handed me a sheer sheath. “And take off your underthings.”
I could keep them on, but either they were coming off or they would shred them off of me.
I changed, hating their stares. My skin crawled and a very distant part of me yowled. My body wasn’t meant for anyone but my mate.
Quentin.
The woman left me with the two men who escorted me out of the room. Small Nose led while Lusty Eyes followed, and I could feel his stare on my ass as it rolled with my movements. I felt sick for a whole new reason.
Small Nose opened a door as an announcer spoke.
“Now we have a real treat. A rarity! Ladies and gentlemen … a female lynx!”
&nb
sp; Small Nose stepped aside while Lusty pushed me forward into the middle of a half circle of men. The building was an old factory, emptied out and deserted. The small group was well dressed with expensive taste. A few eyebrows rose as they checked me out. I didn’t know why. My heart raced when my eyes made contact with one person though.
“Bidding starts at ten thousand dollars.”
“I will buy her outright.”
“That price is a million, sir.”
“Done.”
My heart dropped to my toes.
Anyone but him. I searched the room, but no beautiful glacier eyes met mine. I was alone in my own personal hell.
“Sold to Terrance McCullen for one million. Take your prize, sir, and pay at the door.”
“No,” I whispered.
His lips pulled back against shiny white teeth. “I told you you were mine, bitch.”
Chapter 14
Quentin
Acquiring the invite had been more trouble than we expected. While I had wanted to get it from Winifred’s ex, we couldn’t find the dog. He had arrived in town the night before the auction and disappeared from the airport. I would just have to kill him at the auction. Instead, we had to find another bidder. That had been the difficult part. Getting the invite from them had been a piece of cake. The whimpering sod had practically shoved it at us.
Lucas had sent Mazy to stay with Eden and Dominic. I would have had him take care of Winifred as well, but Dominic’s attentions would have been split, plus they wouldn’t ever be able to find Winifred at my cabin. The night before the auction and the hours leading up to it, my tiger was restless. Nothing calmed the beast, which was unlike him. My cat was relaxed, easy to deal with. Now he fought me at every step, demanding I hear him. I heard him yowling, growling, chirping, everything, and it gave me a headache.
Hired: Mercenary Shifters (Mercenaries for Hire Book 2) Page 7
