No!
NO!
I bucked and clawed, my screams muffled against the grip over my mouth as they carried me through an open side door and into a stairwell. They were going to take me…they were going to take me…
Cold plunged through my belly. I clawed the hand over my mouth, opened wide, and bit down.
“Oww!” Reflex made my attacker yank his hand away. His blood welled neon bright from the bite mark as he grabbed my throat and clenched. “Bite me again, bitch, and I’ll throw you down those fucking stairs.”
I didn’t care.
I knew what waited for me…
The Order.
The Order…
“COLT!” I roared as they hit the first stair, the thud of their boots mingling with the boom of my heart.
“Get her to the fucking car!” came the command from the one who held my knees. I twisted, kicking with all I had. “COLT!”
I clawed and thrashed, managed to tear one foot free, then lashed out and kicked the bastard right in the middle of the chest. He stumbled backwards, dropping one leg and then the other. Concrete rushed toward me until I hit the edge of the stairs hard. Agony tore through my cheek, but I shoved upwards and ran.
The stairs blurred.
My heart hammered.
I made it up one…two stairs before I was grabbed again and lifted. Arms like steel bands clamped around my waist as they dragged me backwards. “COLLLTTTT!” I screamed as I stared up at that open door.
“Downstairs!” one barked.
I couldn’t fight, couldn’t get free. The white walls of the stairwell were a blur as we descended one floor then another…
“Castlemaine,” the one who’d dragged me backwards growled in my ear. “We know they have him. Where the fuck is he?”
My thoughts froze. My mind was a mess…Castlemaine?
Jack.
Jack.
Was this why they’d taken me?
I drive my heels backwards, catching my attacker in the shin. He let out a grunt of agony, his hold slipped, leaving me to crash to the floor. Still, he had hold of me. My boots scraped against the concrete as I stumbled. I stopped fighting, my thoughts frantic. Protect London…
“Answer me, bitch. Where the fuck is he?”
I twisted around and stared into the bastard’s eyes. “Fuck you!”
He released one arm from his hold on me, clenched his fist, and drove it into my belly.
Oof…
Agony made me double forward over his arm.
I tried to breathe, tried to keep from throwing up. But the washed-out white world spun and stars ignited behind my eyes. But then the service door behind me was thrust open and slammed into my abductor.
The bastard stumbled sideways as a man barged out, driving a loaded cart into the stairwell, then caught sight of the men…and me. “What the fuck?”
It was all I needed. The bright lights of the shopping mall called. I kicked free and lunged, scrambled around the trolley, and tore away from them.
“FUCK!” my attacker screamed. “Get her…GET HER!”
The rush of the crowd swept around me. The boom of a gunshot rang out on the stairs. I didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. Colt. Carven. Hide. Colt. Carven. Hide. I spun around, to find an open door to a clothing store on my right as the terrifying screams of my attackers came from the stairwell behind me.
“Get the fuck back here!”
My hair was yanked backwards, drawing terrified stares from the shoppers all around me. There was already a frenzy from the gunshots and, as I stumbled, I caught sight of that red sleigh on the floor above.
“I’m not fucking done with you,” my attacker snarled.
“How the fuck do we get out of here?” the assailant behind me roared at the shop assistant.
She stared at us with a terrified expression as I kicked and bucked, tearing at his hand fisted in my hair. “Help me!” I begged her.
But she didn’t come to my aid, just lifted a shaking hand and pointed to the back of the store with a terrified look on her face. Black invaded the stark white of the store as more of my attackers rushed in.
“MOVE!” one roared as he charged forward with a panicked look on his face.
Then through the frantic rush came Colt, moving with long, purposeful strides. There was no blue in his eyes now, just a swirling sea of obsidian wrath. He didn’t flinch, didn’t even look at anyone else, just the asshole in front of him, before he lunged forward.
The sickening snap of bone made me freeze. The shoppers stumbled backwards, pressing their backs hard against the wall as Colt unleashed, one blow after another driving his fist upwards, until the asshole’s head snapped backwards with a gut-wrenching crunch.
I’d never seen anyone so…mechanical. So cold. So…dangerous.
The asshole crumpled to the ground, those wide, unblinking eyes fixed on nothing.
“Easy, now.” The biggest attacker lifted his gun and took aim as he muttered, “We just want the bitch, that’s all.”
The seconds slowed as time stretched. All I could see was the curl of his finger around the trigger and the flare of fear in his eyes as he stepped between Colt and me. It was the wrong thing to do.
“Tell me where the fuck Castlemaine is?” my attacker snarled against my ear.
They were scared now.
They should be.
Still the gunman’s finger cinched tighter. “Stop,” he warned Colt. “Are you fucking deaf, I said—’
I didn’t think, just reacted, lunged forward until my hair snapped taut and grabbed a handful of folded clothes, then hurled them through the air as the gun fired with a crack!
Pink and black and blue fluttered through the air. My heart stopped until I saw movement as Colt charged forward.
Chaos erupted.
Brutal.
Frightening chaos.
Colt drove the gunman backwards along the hallway toward the back of the store until they crashed through the door of the dressing room. I spun around and lashed out, punching my attacker in the face. “Let me fucking go!”
But it was the chilling crash that made me freeze.
One that sounded like breaking glass.
My heart boomed and my blood froze. My attacker’s hold slipped, allowing me to scurry forward. But I wasn’t the only one. Black figures charged for the dressing room as grunts and roars sounded in that small space.
Mirror shards crunched under my boots as my attacker grabbed me again and hauled me backwards. But there was another who moved in behind Colt, leaving two on one, and the brutal thuds of fists on flesh sounded, chilling me to the bone. They were going to kill him…they were going to kill him!
I spun, the clawed and kicked with all I had, until a bloodcurdling snap sounded…and the dressing room became terrifyingly quiet.
No…
No.
NO!
I punched and tore at my attacker’s hold until it slipped and I was able to jerk free. The tiny door of the dressing room was all I saw. My boots slipped on glass slivers, and I crashed to the floor. Colt was all I saw. Colt lying on the floor, covered in glass…Colt not moving.
White hot rage ripped through me. I jerked my gaze to those bastards. I’ll kill them. I’LL FUCKING KILL THEMMMM!
My body shuddered with adrenaline, shattering something inside me.
“See how fucking tough you are now.” One of the attackers dragged back his foot and took aim at Colt’s face.
“NO!” I lunged, slammed into his back, and unleashed that savagery inside me, clawing his face like the animal I was.
My nails buckled with the force. Bloody streaks slashed across his cheek in their wake. My attacker stumbled sideways and knocked into the other piece of shit with a roar.
Shrieks of terror pushed in, the sound shrill and feral. Until I realized they came from me. I tasted blood as I slapped and punched, until the bastard grabbed me, tore me free, and threw me across the room.
I slammed into the wall and bounced, to land hard on the floor next to Colt. Still they came, stepping forward, drawing their guns. Fear punched through my rage.
I didn’t care about myself at that moment. I plunged headfirst into a tsunami, ready to kill with the desperate need to protect.
I threw my arms out wide as I curled my body over his. A biting sting slashed across my palm as I felt and grasped a long, mirrored shard. I didn’t care. Not about me…
Only him…
ONLY HIM.
“Get the fuck away!” I slashed the air toward them. “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM!”
And from the corner of my eye…death came for them.
Death with piercing blue eyes and an unquenchable thirst for violence.
Crack!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Blood red mist sprayed in the tiny space as the heads of the three gunmen exploded. Warmth splattered my face. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. All I saw was those piercing blue eyes as Carven looked down at me, then at his brother.
“Get back.” I still slashed the air. I didn’t know how to stop. “Get back. Get back. Get back.”
Still, Carven didn’t hurt me.
He didn’t step closer.
Just sucked in hard, consuming breaths and murmured, “It’s me, wildcat…it’s me.”
A groan came from underneath me. Low, guttural, it drew my gaze. My arm stopped slashing. I looked down into those obsidian depths and they looked back at me.
“I’ll come for you,” Colt whispered. “I’ll always come for you.”
Agony slashed across my chest. The sting was more brutal than any glass shard. He shifted his gaze, first to his brother, then the gunmen at his feet. “Who the fuck were they?”
“I have no idea,” Carven answered, staring at the way I hunkered over Colt. “But we have to go…now.”
“I don’t think I can move,” I whispered.
Colt grasped me around the waist and eased himself upwards. Shards of glass fell as he pushed to stand, then looked at the jagged weapon in my hand, one coated with blood. He was so careful as he unfurled my fingers before he cast the shard aside.
“Here.” Carven stepped away and disappeared for a second before he returned with a red scarf.
One his brother wrapped around my hand.
“Let’s get you home,” Colt murmured.
But Carven didn’t move.
I felt the chill.
The fear.
The agony.
Colt turned his gaze toward his brother. “What is it?”
“London called a second before the attack.” He glanced at me and my heart sank. “Ophelia’s blackmailing him, threatening to go to Hale with a picture of my car at the warehouse where we saved Ryth Castlemaine and her brothers. He has no choice, wildcat. He’s on his way to see her now.”
