by Eden Ashe
“Oh, my dear, how I wish I could believe that.” He made a tsking sound. The car dipped as if going into an underground garage. “Unfortunately, I know you for the lying whore you are, and as soon as your filthy mate gets here, you’ll try to escape with him.”
Damn straight, she would. But she forced the fear to show in her eyes to placate him and let a tear slip past her defenses. “No. I won’t try to escape.”
The car finally came to a stop, and in an effort to prove she meant what she said, she didn’t try to leap out before he could open her door for her. Instead, she let him grab her in a vicious grip by the upper arm and drag her out of his side of the vehicle.
No, she thought as she stumbled in an effort to keep up with his long-legged stride, she wouldn’t try to escape. He was going to kill Dallas for mating to her. She would escape. Dallas would find her, and no matter what she had to do, she would escape.
Her mate was not going to be hurt because of her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
They lost her in an underground garage that stored the vehicles of an entire city block.
Dallas was already back in human form when he hit the ground with an anguished roar, searching desperately for any sign of the light that had led him this far.
“What do we do?” Broderick asked as he and Daniel touched down behind him, protecting his back, their weapons at the ready.
Dallas didn’t know. It would take too long to search every building and the entire six-level parking garage, and every minute they wasted was another minute she was afraid and stuck with that sick fuck.
He was coming out of his skin, and his chest was so tight it hurt to breathe. He couldn’t handle this shit. It was exactly what he’d fought so hard against. He couldn’t explain it, but all the emotion and desperation and rage was about to explode out of him. All it would take was one wrong move on anyone’s part, one perceived threat from a fly, and he would bring the whole of Los Angeles to their knees.
He spoke to Broderick without taking his eyes off the area stretched out in front of them. “How far out is Caleb?”
“Less than two minutes.”
Dallas nodded once. “Daniel, cover the garage entrance. No one gets in or out. Got it? No one.” He glanced up as Luca appeared in a flash of bioluminescent blue. “Luca, do a perimeter sweep of the garage, make sure he’s not hiding her in there. Broderick, you’ve got the back entrance.” He glanced at Broderick, his eyes lethal and steady. “No one leaves this garage until you’re sure they’re not connected with Porter. I’m not playing games or wasting time. Where the fuck is Gabriel?”
“Here.” Gabriel stepped out of the alley next to him. “I took Cage somewhere safe, then went back to get the healer to safety.”
Dallas exhaled in relief. “Okay, this is on you.”
Gabriel’s brow jacked up. He crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you want me to do?”
Dallas glanced back at Daniel. “Change of plans. I need a quake with enough force to knock the power out of the entire block.”
The king snorted. “Child’s play.”
“Good.” He turned his attention back to Gabriel. “Now’s where you come in. As soon as the power shuts off, wait for my signal and turn the sky black. In this neighborhood, we’re only going to have a few minutes before the backup generators kick on. I can find her by her light, but I may have to take to the sky and circle the buildings.”
Daniel nodded. “All right, then let’s do this. I can’t wait to see that fuckhead beg for his life.”
Dallas couldn’t agree more. He gave Daniel the signal, and the king jogged to the middle of the street. He shoved his shirtsleeve up to his elbow and knelt, then slammed his fist into the ground. The pulse thundered the earth beneath their feet, and the road cracked. It splintered then yawned wide, swallowing vehicles as the roar of the quake echoed through the city. The lights in the surrounding area flickered before going dark, and Gabriel used that to send out a blanket of darkness. The sun vanished, the sky going black above them. Dallas leapt into the air, automatically shimmering into his dragon form as he shot his senses out, desperately searching for any connection to his Lily.
He didn’t find any. By the time he circled the area for the third time, the desperation clawed viciously at his gut. Unable to handle it any longer without risking everyone within a two mile radius, he landed on the roof of one of the buildings and changed back into his human form. Turning in a slow circle, he bellowed her name with a violent, gut-wrenching roar.
* * * *
If Porter hadn’t been watching her so closely, she would have smiled when the lights went out and the city went dark. She’d heard rumors of Gabriel’s ability to make people see what he wanted them to see, but she’d never experienced it herself. Unfortunately, the knowledge that they were being hunted by a being more powerful than him scared Porter, and a cornered Porter was even more dangerous than one in control. And that was before they heard her name being bellowed from a distance.
Porter threw a lamp at the wall and left the room, bellowing his rage. Lily scrambled off the bed and ran to the window. It was fused closed, but she could see him. He stood on the ledge that wrapped around a building at the edge of the neighborhood, his head thrown back as he continued to yell for her. His distance didn’t stop her from pounding her fists against it as she yelled for her mate, over and over again. He would hear her. He would. Because he had to.
Her voice was raw, and Dallas hadn’t moved by the time the ice dragon grabbed her around the waist, lifted her off her feet, and dragged her back to the bed. He threw her down, his knee hitting the mattress between her legs to stop her from trying to escape. Leaning down, he stuck his face in hers. He snarled when she head-butted him in the nose. Thank the gods for the Kung-Fu movies Adrian had always made her watch with him.
He wiped at the blood with the back of his hand. “You know,” he drawled in a voice that dripped with ice as his hand slid up her side, “your daddy has promised you to me after he’s had his fill and you’re broken once again.”
Her chin kicked up with a bravado she didn’t feel, unable and unwilling to stop the revulsion that shuddered through her at the thought. “I wouldn’t count on it. And if you are,” she hissed, “you’ve obviously never met my mate. Dallas gets homicidal if anyone touches me but him.”
A pale beast devoid of almost all color except the watery blue of his eyes, the ice dragon Leonard laughed in her face. His frame wasn’t as big as the fire-breathing dragons, and there was a madness lurking in the depths of his eyes. He felt…desperate, and it turned her stomach. He laughed at her again. “I’m not afraid of him.”
“Then you’re even more stupid than you look,” she snapped, pressing her back against the wrought iron headboard. “And you look pretty damn stupid.”
His hand wrapped around her upper thigh and squeezed until she had to close her eyes and clench her teeth to stop the scream.
“Don’t. Touch. Her.” Porter’s voice snarled from the doorway. “I told you. No one gets near her but me until I’m through with her.”
Leonard snarled as he rolled easily to his feet. “She’s a slut, and she was begging for it.”
Porter moved up next to the bed, one hand snaking out and petting down her hair as the other one snatched her right hand up and shackled it to the bed. “Isn’t that interesting,” he murmured to Leonard, ignoring the way she kicked and struggled to get at him. “I always knew her inner whore would find a way out.” He slid his eyes to the dragon. “It looks like her mate has found us. Make sure he finds my surprises.”
“But you said—”
Porter snarled as he grabbed Leonard by his throat and threw him to the ground, then pressed his boot against his throat. “I said that you could have her after I have had my fill. But I guarantee you that will be a very long time from now.” He put more pressure on the throat under his foot. “Now go be a good little dragon and make sure Bain is locked up tight.”
&nb
sp; Tears stung Lily’s eyes. Leonard scrambled out of the room and Porter locked the door behind him. He shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it on the room’s only chair. He unbuttoned his shirt as he slowly closed the distance between them again. “Did you miss me, slut?” he murmured, his shirt hanging open when he bent and wrapped his hand around her knee. She jerked back, spitting at him, but he grabbed her knee in a rough grip and yanked her painfully toward him. “Don’t worry. This is going to be so much fun for me.” He sneered as he slipped his hand into her shirt. “You may not enjoy it, but I sure as hell will.”
Bile rose in her throat as everything she’d ever shoved down, all the power she’d had since birth and struggled to ignore, washed over her. Terror that stabbed her chest combined with the ugly, dirty, vicious lust oozing out of Porter. She clamped her hands over her head to keep it all out, but the feelings continued to hammer her.
She fought. She didn’t know where the bravery came from, but she couldn’t let Dallas find her broken. He’d never forgive himself, and nothing between them would ever be the same again, and that scared her into fighting. Making a fist like Dallas had taught her, she didn’t stop to think about what she was doing or what her punishment would be later. She took a deep breath and punched her fist into his throat with all the strength she could muster.
* * * *
He’d found her. The entire building was surrounded by Hunters, but Dallas didn’t care. He’d found her.
They stood on the sidewalk in front of the sick fuck’s building, the size of them stretching from nearly one end of the building to the other. Hating to miss a fight and the opportunity to watch the man who’d hurt Lily die, Micah had joined them. That upped their numbers to six pissed off dragons and two royally pissed off Hunters as the Shaw brothers had tagged along, pissed that Hunters were responsible for holding one of their own hostage.
But the numbers didn’t mean shit until he had Lily back in his apartment, safe, where she belonged. Until then, no one was immune from his temper.
Daniel pulled his gaze from the building to look at Dallas, then the others. “Don’t get dead.” When they all snorted in unison, a hint of a smile tugged at the king’s mouth. He turned to face them. “Luca, Micah, I’m thinking Damascus, early fifteenth century. Can you handle that?”
Luca whipped his head around. “You mean—”
Daniel only nodded, cutting him off. “Yeah. Give me ten, and if you don’t hear from me, tear the mother fucking roof off.”
“You got it.” While Luca and Micah shot skyward, Daniel turned to Broderick. “You and Caleb take out the Hunters scattered around the building, inside and out.”
Gabriel watched them take off for the shadows before he turned his attention to Daniel. “What do you want me to do?”
Dallas shook his head as he locked eyes with the oldest of them all. “Cover us. Rafe, grab your brother and find Bain.”
Rafe rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. “Understood.”
Dallas started for the front entrance. The building’s generator made a low humming noise and clicked on as they walked in. The security guard had been replaced by a Hunter who leapt over the desk, lunging for Dallas.
Dallas preferred to fight hand-to-hand, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was running out of time, so instead of simply ripping his heart out like he would normally do, he shifted his stance and shot his short sword up, catching him in the hollow of his throat. He sliced upward, cleaving his head in two without ever breaking stride. Five more were waiting near the entrance to the elevator, and Dallas dispatched them as easily.
Daniel and Gabriel flanked him as they rode the lift up to the penthouse apartment, all of their instincts ratcheting violently with every floor they hit. Lily was Porter’s greatest treasure, and it had been way too easy to get inside the building. Daniel rolled his shoulders as they neared the ninetieth floor. “I don’t like this. We should have taken the stairs.”
Dallas was about to agree when the elevator came to an abrupt stop, and the lights flickered out. The foundation shook, the effects of two immortal races battling for their lives inside the building.
“What the hell,” Daniel breathed under his breath. “What the fuck is he setting us up for?”
“I don’t know,” Dallas murmured, “but it doesn’t matter. He can throw the entire human race at us when we walk in those doors, but the only thing that matters is getting Lily back.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Dallas realized Porter’s game the second Lily’s scream of terror echoed through the building. He wanted Dallas trapped, helpless to do anything but listen as he made Lily pay for escaping him.
“We’re on the top floor of a ninety-two story apartment building,” Gabriel murmured quietly. “Give Luca and Micah time before you set this place aflame.”
He wanted to tell the giant to fuck off. Lily screamed again, and all remnants of Dallas’s sanity fled, leaving him the mindless dragon his father had always warned him about.
Shooting his fist out, he punched through the steel door of the elevator, tearing a hole through it big enough to fit his size. The lift was caught between floors, but once Dallas was clear of the elevator, he shot upward, still in human form. He made quick work of annihilating the external doors, then decimating the solid cherry wood doors. It was only two thousand years of instincts that had him hitting the ground as a bolt of ice flew at his chest.
It slammed into the wall behind him, sending shards radiating outward from the hole along the wall and floor.
Dallas rolled to his feet as the other dragon charged him, only to duck at the last second. He just knocked the bastard off balance and sent him flying through the doors as Lily screamed again from the bedroom.
He couldn’t get to her. There were ten Hunters and an ice dragon between him and his mate. Gabriel let out a roar and charged forward, his knives flashing when he chopped off the heads of the two closest to them. The foundation trembled again and Dallas would have smiled if terror wasn’t eating a hole in his belly. But judging by the quakes rattling the building, Micah and the others were having fun.
He ducked the ice dragon, then spun on his heel, using his momentum to roundhouse the pale bastard in the back of the head.
A body slammed into him from behind and had him eating dirt. Two thousand years of training had him running on sheer instinct. He reached behind him and grabbed a head, then flipped them over, pinning the Hunter beneath him. Dallas jammed his knife in the bastard’s throat and grinned as blood fountained out of the wound. With a ripping sound echoing through the apartment and the building shaking, Dallas was swiping the blood off his face as the roof flew off and Luca and Micah dropped in, weapons swinging.
Impatience was eating at Dallas’s gut as the last body hit the ground, headless. Almost immediately, more flooded from the other end of the apartment.
“Go,” Daniel commanded, grinning as he widened his stance. He jerked his chin at the Hunters. “We’ve got this.”
Dallas didn’t waste time arguing. He ran toward where he’d heard Lily’s scream come from, and when he found the door, he didn’t bother opening it. Without pausing in his determined stride, he sent out a bolt of flame with a flick of his wrist, hot enough to disintegrate the wood within seconds.
The psychotic asshole had set the scene perfectly. Lily was curled up and chained against the headboard, her shirt ripped open, struggling for all she was worth, while Porter stood next to her in only his pants, grinning at him. When Dallas saw that bastard’s hand on her thigh and the terror in her eyes, he broke. He had started across the room, his knife in his hand and murder in his belly, when he felt the presence of two more Hunters. He swung around at the last second, but Broderick and Gabriel were there.
That left the Porter for him. Lily pulled both her legs back and slammed her feet into her stepfather’s crotch. When Porter crumpled, Dallas leapt and landed on top of him, plunging his knife into the bastard’s heart.
/> Lily’s sob tore through his rage. “Dallas, please, get me out of here.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. He slammed the knife into Porter’s heart again, nailing him to the ground while the bastard gurgled blood. Then he was across the room and crouched next to the bed in a heartbeat, gently cupping her face to make her look at him. “I’m going to have to use fire to melt it off, all right?” When she nodded, courage shadowing the fear, the rage tightening his chest threatened to suffocate him. “It’s going to be okay, but I need you to hold still so I don’t hurt you, all right?”
She kept her eyes glued to his face. “Get it off me, Dallas, hurry, please. We have to get out of here.”
Concentrating his energy on the tip of his index finger, he placed it against the thickest part of the shackle, keeping his focus on the metal and what he was doing so he didn’t accidentally burn her. He didn’t think dragon magic could hurt a mate, but he didn’t have enough sanity left at the moment to test that theory.
The second it was enough, he grabbed the metal and wrenched it off her. She was in his arms and wrapped around him in the next heartbeat, and Dallas had never been so close to an internal nuclear meltdown and pure thankfulness in all of his life.
He couldn’t get her close enough to him, which seemed to be fine with her, because his mate kept trying to crawl into his skin with him. He kept her locked to his chest as he buried his face in her hair, hoping like hell if he breathed her in long enough the trembling that went all the way to his soul would eventually subside. He finally made himself pull back, aware that the sick fuck bastard wasn’t dead yet. As gently as he could, Dallas set her away from him and stood long enough to pull his shirt off. “Put this on and get your shoes,” he murmured, unable to stop himself from reaching out and brushing a lock of hair out of her face.
She did as he asked, keeping one eye on the body as she crawled over the bed rather than walk by where he was staked to the ground. “Dallas, we have to get Bain. He’s in the basement.”
