by J. C RIMELL
And oh, God, her parents!
She pinched her eyes shut in horror at the very thought of them and how they would react to Jo being kidnaped. Suddenly overwhelmed, Kit withdrew her hand from his tender warmth. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself the best she could and saw his eyes narrow in suspicion.
“Cade, I think it's best we don't see each other, you know, with all this going on and...” Her voice trailed off and her gaze dropped before she could see the pain of rejection in his stark, gray eyes and fiddled with the empty cup instead.
It was a short, sharp, slap in the face, but Cade refused to accept it. “Kit, I know you’re hurting.” His wolf had already sensed it, even if he didn't want to believe it to be true. He lowered his head to try to see her eyes concealed below her long lashes. “I'm not leaving you now―not ever again.”
Kit couldn't hide the sheen she felt in her eyes as they lifted to meet his gaze. “You don't get to do that. You don't get the choice, because I'll leave you, Cade.” Her voice trembled as she struggled to hold back the tears threatening to fall. “I'm a mess. Inside the pain, the hurt it's too raw, too deep to heal. I can't let her go, Cade, I just can't.” She admitted the truth, stripped bare. A warm tear tumbled as she closed her eyes, her chest hitching a sob.
“It was my fault.” She looked up at him again, allowing him her vulnerability. Letting him see the fear and the guilt she'd kept hidden from the world all this time. “The roads in the city were clear, just a bit of slush here and there. But when we got onto the country road that would take us to the club there was still some snow and ice.”
She shook her head sending more tears falling as she laid her soul before him. “I didn't see the black ice and the car… I couldn't control it. The van coming toward us. Oh, God, I can still see Clara, she was trapped and I couldn't help her, Cade. It was my fault and I couldn't save her from the fire… her screams… I still hear them.”
Cade reached out, he wanted to hold her and pull her into the safety of his arms. But she jerked away from him and the rebuff of his affection caused a frigid chill to settle over his heart.
“Please, don't,” she said, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I'm no good for you, Cade. I'm no good for anyone.”
Aw, shit! His heartbeat slowed. The feeling of asphyxiation came over him. The air in his lungs leaving him in a rush so he suddenly couldn't breathe. How could he make her understand she was his sun and moon? His entire world pivoted on her very existence. Once a shifter found his mate, there was no going back, no going forward, no survival without them.
He fought internally with his wolf. The animal wanted to comfort and care. The man wanted to grab a hold of her and make her see it wasn't her fault and take her pain away. He knew how it felt to lose someone close. The death of his parents had left a hollow place in his life he never thought he'd be able to fill. But Kit had changed that. She could make that empty space in his heart more bearable, could fill it with memories they'd make together.
But he didn't want her to feel obligated, he needed her to want him on her own terms.
Standing up, he thrust a hand through his damp hair with a quiet curse. His chest grew tighter still, making it impossible for him to string a sentence together. Taking one last gaze into sapphire eyes that seemed to have lost all the sparkle they held only moments ago, he cleared his throat, blinking away the moisture blurring his vision.
“I will never leave you,” he choked out, so angry the muscles of his jaw ticked. He turned away, unable to look at her face any longer, unwilling to accept what she was saying. Incapable of dampening the emotion, the sudden rage was ablaze within him like a forest fire, rapidly gaining momentum and turning everything in its path to ash and disappearing on the wind.
Seth had been pacing for what felt like an eternity. The dark haired shifter with the emotional control skill had left during the night. Only to be replaced by a young male who had sat playing a hand-held gaming device and was now flicking through a copy of Maxim. His feelings had rushed back with such speed it was like a bulldozer plowing into him. Once he had adjusted and the raging headache subsided, he sent out his feelers, sensing nothing unusual or threatening. But almost at once he distinguished someone that seemed out of place.
It was her.
Kit couldn't just lay there anymore. She still felt tired, but her strong will refused to let the emotion and physical fatigue keep her in the hospital bed any longer. If she did, the more susceptible she became to reoccurring thoughts of what had transpired in her life over the past few days. Wolves, vampires, and those haunting, arctic eyes of her kidnapper were making her so anxious, her chest felt like an expanding balloon about to burst at any second, causing imminent, unrepairable damage.
Her world was no longer what she once believed it to be. She'd barely come to accept that majestic creatures such as wolf shifters existed. Now she was faced with a whole new level of scary. Things she'd only read about in the novels she loved so much and had even dreamed of. Who didn't want to be swept off their feet by the sensual, strong, supernatural hero? Fantasy and reality were way closer than she felt comfortable with after being attacked by a real life, blood-hungry vampire.
She shuddered, reliving the pain of razor sharp fangs ripping into her flesh. She reached up to her neck and felt for the horrid wound only to find her skin was smooth and burning hot beneath her fingertips.
Impossible.
She let out a shaky sigh and remembered it had been Cade who had healed the damaged and broken skin around her wrists. It didn't surprise her then if they were anything like what humans depicted supernatural beings to be. She imagined they could do practically anything.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed was a tedious task. They felt heavy and wooden, and as she pushed herself forward, she swayed with a tide of nausea and black dots dancing in her vision. Holding on to the nightstand beside the bed she waited for the feeling to subside and dragged her sorry backside toward the door.
Cade was like a man possessed. How could everything have gone so terribly wrong? He marched through the tunnel that led from the medical room and headed for his quarters.
Screw that! He cursed.
He needed to pummel something and hard. He took the next tunnel on the left leading him down to the training room where he intended to let off some steam. Trouble was, the cells were located down on the same level.
Wasn't that just a handy coincidence?
He should have carried on walking. But as he drew nearer something inside goaded him to slow down and stop right outside of Seth's cell.
Snow's head jacked up from his latest copy of Maxim, meeting a feral glare and sensing at once the shifter's mood was not a good one. “Oh, hey, Cade… you good there, buddy?”
Cade scowled through the thick, impenetrable glass at the male who was standing casually against the wall opposite.
“I'll take it from here,” he said verging on a growl, his eyes never leaving the prisoner in the room.
Snow fumbled with his magazine then grabbed his PSP and shot up from his seat. “Sure thing. I… um… yeah, okay. Thanks.” He stared warily at the shifter who had a strange vibe exuding from his body like rising mist. Not good, he thought as he headed off in search of his Alpha.
Maybe it was Cade's intuitiveness. Or perhaps it was his keen supernatural senses making him feel as though the strange half-walker, half-vampire knew he'd just lost the most important thing in the world only moments ago. Hell, it could've just been paranoia, but the Other wore an expression that seemed too smug, too pleased, too cock-sure of himself. And Cade was in just the right frame of mind to wipe the look clean of the fucker's face.
Chapter Forty-Six
Valerie had supplied Jack with the information he needed in return for the oath of not harming the innocent females inside the building. She had drawn a detailed layout of the premises, including some intricate underground tunnels and areas. They planned to storm the building during dayligh
t hours when vampires were at their most lethargic and get Jo and the females out. Then he would personally introduce himself and his Beretta to the King of Vampires.
Sure, Jack knew he couldn't kill the son-of-a-bitch with his gun. If he didn't come quietly, the vampire would lose his head or burn to death.
Either way, the guy was toast.
He'd provided Valerie with as much shade as possible using a dark, camouflage canvas erected between two trees. Then he left her and almost at once he felt apprehensive about doing so. Shaking the foolish emotion aside, he got his head in the game and set out to do what he had initially intended to do. Only this time Ryker and Gunner were alongside him. All tooled up with a large, scary as shit looking Natchez Bowie knives, a flamethrower, and enough C-4 to blow the place to kingdom come. Not to mention other things that were tucked into any available spare pocket space.
Keeping low to the ground they made their way around to a back entrance. Valerie had assured them it was rarely used and was mainly for emergencies. As they drew closer to the building, he sure as shit hoped the information she'd given him wouldn't send them into a death-trap. Jack had the useful ability to read body language, eye movement, and even psychological mind games, which came in handy being a cop. And he had used them all with the female vampire. She'd given him no cause to doubt her, not even a subtle hint she was dishonest. Which meant she was either telling him the truth, or she was a seasoned manipulator.
Both of which were equally possible.
All the wooden shutters were closed on the windows keeping the daylight out just as Valerie said they would be. Remaining vigilant, Gunner approached the timbered wall of the hunting lodge first. He pressed his back flat against it and used his exceptional sense of smell to detect any imminent danger. With a shake of his head he indicated it was safe for Jack and Ryker to approach. Once the three of them were standing side by side, Gunner stretched out his arm and with the gentlest of touches he tried the door. Turning the handle backward, he felt the latch click and open.
“Bingo.”
Moving to the right, Gunner opened the door a fraction and with a firm hold on his Glock he risked a glance. The long, darkened corridor was quiet. He sensed no movement, his sensitive hearing picked up nothing in the immediate vicinity. “All clear. I'm going in.”
The three of them entered the premises. Having memorized the layout given to them by the ex-queen vampire herself, they made their way to the end of the corridor where two more stretched out before them. Taking the one on the right, they opened the door with prudence. Always ready for action, each of them poised at a different angle, watching each other's backs. Descending a steep set of concrete stairs, they were heading directly for the King himself.
The plan being: take him out and the rest will come quietly.
Or so they hoped.
Gunner led the way through the intricately linked tunnels with fluorescent lighting overhead. Having better tracking senses than the others, he would pick up any trouble a fraction of a second before his comrades. And in a situation as dangerous as the one they were in, every advantageous second counted.
Stopping suddenly, Gunner felt something was off about the situation.
It was too quiet.
The scent of blood filled his nostrils, metallic and earthy. They inched forward with caution, picking up the faint echo of sound. The moaning grew louder as they approached an opening up ahead to the left. Standing just shy of the doorway, Gunner peered through the crack of the doorjamb and caught his surprise before it escaped him on a verbal curse. The erotic scene playing out in the windowless room lit by candlelight was unexpected and his own desires spiked inside of him.
Getting a swift grip on his own sexual need, he turned his head toward Ryker and Henderson.
Two guys, one female.
They nodded having heard his telepathic message and prepared to advance into the room.
A naked male vampire was flat on his back, sprawled out on a luxurious bed of tangled red satin. An equally naked female hovered over him, her mouth at his neck and her core covering his sex. From behind, another vampire groped her breasts and just about to sink his needlepoint fangs into her carotid.
Lost in complete ecstasy and blood-lust, the vampires were oblivious as the shifters took up favorable positions around them.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you, mother sucker.” Gunner snarled, quiet yet threatening in the vampire's ear. Low hissing and flash of fangs sent the supernatural power filling the room into a wildfire almost tangible in its heat. Three sets of blood-red orbs darted between the shifters holding their undivided attention.
“Let the female go. As of now she's free,” Jack ordered, the end of his gun pressed snugly to the vampire's temple. “I'd hate for a woman to witness your brains leaving your head.”
The woman's gaze swung tentatively toward Jack, he felt the heat of her startled ruby eyes on his skin. “Can you get the other females out of here without any unwanted attention?” he asked without shifting his glare on the vampire sizing up his chances against him.
She clambered slowly off the vampire beneath her, grabbing a robe and covering her naked body. Her long, sharp, fangs retracted. “I don't understand,” she said slipping into her robe.
Ryker shifted sideways from the doorway taking a firm hold of her arm and instantly gained her attention. “You've got two choices… either get the females out of here or you're all going to die.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Cade closed an uncompromising fist around the portal that would place him in the same room as the Other, Seth. No need to endanger anyone else in the building by opening the code encrypted doors.
Before Seth knew it, the shifter had vanished only to reappear right in front of him less than a second later. A blip in time was all it took. “Impressive.” Seth's voice was as sharp as sand against his parched throat. He needed to feed again and the shifter's sudden appearance before him drew his hunger from a dying ember into a roaring flame.
Cade's fierce gaze narrowed. His top lip pulled back in a snarl revealing razor-sharp incisors that had already sliced into his mouth. He wasn't here to pay a friendly visit.
Seth chuckled, adding fuel to the shifter's blaze of anger. “Have you come here to compare?” He pushed himself from off of the wall and smiled sadistically, exposing his own icepick-sharp fangs.
With his chest puffed out and every muscle tensed, Cade's wolf was ready for a fight. His hand shot out and clutched Seth by the throat, grabbing his full attention. “Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now?” His voice came out more beast than man even to his own ears. With his predatory vision and his wolf in hunter mode, he was pinprick sensitive to everything going on around him.
His grip tightened.
Seth knew his abilities would be little use on this supernatural being; the power seeped from every one of the shifter's pores. Still, he had other aces up his sleeve. “I'm practically dead already,” he laughed, low and malevolent. “Go ahead, wolf, you'll be doing me a favor.” And Seth almost wished the male would put him out of his misery. The quicker, the better. Leaving no room for his natural instinct for survival to kick in and convince him to retaliate. He could see the temptation spike like lightning in the shifter's glare. “She was the most tantalizing woman I've ever tasted—” Seth's voice cut off abruptly having used the ammunition he knew would guarantee a reaction.
Cade's nostrils flared. The thought of this fiend having been anywhere near Kit whip-lashed every raw nerve inside of him, unleashing a raging fury. He lifted Seth off of his feet with one hand clamped around his throat, relishing the sudden gurgling that came from him as he tried to gasp for air. It was the shift in the Other's strange, white eyes that distracted Cade. Craning his head over his shoulder to see just what had triggered the deviation in the bloodsucker's gaze made him go cold.
Kit couldn't tell where the tunnels began or ended. Her head felt woozy and her limbs useless as she planted one foot in f
ront of the other. She needed to find Madoc and get some news on what was happening with Jo. A thin sheen of sweat covered her brow. Her throat was on fire and her skin too hot, the labored effort of walking was taking every ounce of her strength. Relief flooded her as the tunnel opened up into a wider space and she could see more lights ahead. She passed a glass fronted room that looked, she guessed, like a prison cell. She passed another, only this time there was a male inside, pacing back and forth. He stopped suddenly and pinned her with his gaze and Kit felt a glacial chill sweep over her body.
Eyes that were still all too familiar stared at her from behind the glass. Panicked, she tried to hurry forward but was snared by the same potent eyes in yet another face. A different face that made her freeze on the spot and her legs buckled beneath her.
“Kit?” Cade breathed. Seeing her plummet to her knees. He released his death grip on Seth and teleported to her side at once. It was bad and he knew it. The fever had returned and his wolf sensed her weakness. They were losing her and desperation swamped him, like being up to his neck in quicksand unable to do anything to save her.
Seth peered down through the glass shield at the angel who lay in the shifter's arms. His jaw clenched, his throat contracting painfully as he tasted the memory of her sweet, fragrant blood on the tip of his tongue. He watched helplessly as the shifter scooped her listless body up into strong, capable arms. It made his own gut twist in a torturous jealousy and his eyes burn as the shifter looked up with a hostile glare that held both a warning and a threat.
Something sank inside of Seth. A wave of defeat whirled inside of him and he had to face facts: he was a monster, nothing more, and she was an angel he could never dream of having. He bit off a savage curse, angry he hadn't provoked the shifter enough to end his agony.
