AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But not for long. Several men came into the frame—and one shoved Calla hard into the chair. She stumbled and almost fell over it, hands bound behind her back; then she righted herself and sat in it as ordered. Her glare spoke volumes about what she’d do if she were free and able to speak, but her mouth was taped as well. Nick silently cheered her courage, even as terror gripped him anew.
“Hurry up with that trace,” Tarron snapped at his tech man as the guy hurried into the room.
Wires were hooked into the laptop, then stretched to another computer Teague had brought with him to run the trace. Nick didn’t know how to help with that part, so he kept his attention on what was going on with Calla.
The hunters secured her ankles to the chair with more tape, and then moved behind her to do the same with her wrists to the chair slats. Then they left and she was alone in the frame for a few minutes. To psych her out, he guessed. And us, too. They want us to suffer along with her.
A tall figure finally moved slowly into the frame. Any hope of identifying him withered as he turned to face the camera, and it was revealed he was completely cloaked in black from head to toe. Nothing showed, not even his eyes.
“Fucker’s wearing one of those mesh mask things,” one of the guards spat. “He can see out, but we can’t see in.”
Nick tried to gauge his height, but without a point of reference other than Calla seated near him, it was hard to say. Six feet or a little over, maybe. The black cloak concealed his build, too.
“Are you all watching? Prince Tarron and Commander Westfall, I think you’ll find this presentation particularly interesting.”
The man’s deceptively calm voice was a jolt, shattering the stillness in the conference room. The voice was distorted electronically, which had exactly the intended effect—it chilled Nick and everyone else to the core.
“Somehow, he knows about you and Calla,” Tarron said quietly to Nick.
They exchanged uneasy glances and turned their gazes back to the screen as the cloaked fucker went on.
“If I don’t have your attention now, I will soon enough.” He paused. “You have no idea how I’ve suffered because of your actions. All of you.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Tarron asked hoarsely.
Nick shook his head. He had no idea.
“How can I make her suffer? How many ways can I make her bleed?”
“The trace,” Nick growled to Teague. “Do you have it?”
The tech banged a fist on the table. “They’ve got the IP address blocked. Dammit!”
Sidling close to Calla, the figure leaned over, putting the front of his mask close to Calla’s neck. Then he raised the mask just enough to expose his chin and mouth—and then he struck, burying his fangs in her flesh. She cried out, arching against her bonds.
Vampire. Nick stood there, fists clenched, his wolf surging inside him, demanding to be freed. Anger boiled, and he desperately needed to rip out the bastard’s heart for daring to touch his woman. To put her through the same torture Nick had endured at Carter’s hands. He was vaguely aware of Tarron shouting his anger at the monitor.
But when a slim blade slid from the sleeve of the assailant’s cloak, his blood ran cold.
“Our sweet princess won’t bow to my persuasion. Perhaps this will remind her who is in charge around here.” Reaching out, he ripped the tape off her mouth. “Let them hear you.”
Without further warning, he plunged the blade into the top of her thigh. Calla screamed in agony, head thrown back.
And Nick could take no more.
He ran from the room, from the stronghold. He bolted straight to their pond, the last place she’d been seen. Once there he stripped and shifted, and wasted no time sniffing the entire area to pick up her scent. He found it on a rock, and her sweet aroma almost knocked him to his knees. He would get her back, and then this bastard had better watch out.
“Nick!” John called.
Turning, he saw his team racing down the path after him, John in the lead. When they reached him, the big man stopped and scowled at him.
“You’re not doing this alone,” he reminded Nick. “I suggest half of us help you track her on the ground. The other half should go back to the compound and retrieve our air transport because we can’t always rely on the vampires to get us where we need to go. Ryon will go with our group on the ground so he can communicate where you are to the rest of the team, and they can rendezvous with us. Sound good?”
Frustrated with himself, Nick nodded. He should’ve thought of his team, but instead had gone off half-cocked. They couldn’t function if their leader couldn’t keep his head.
“All right,” John said to the group. “How about me, Ryon, Kalen, Micah, and Jax go with Nick? The rest go back for the transport and be prepared for a rescue. They can take Tarron with them if he wants. Does that work?”
The others agreed, seeming a bit awed by the typically quiet man taking charge. Nick knew the truth—John’s personality really wasn’t that quiet or shy. He simply felt much more comfortable taking the reins now that his identity wasn’t a secret and he no longer felt like he had to blend into the woodwork. It was good to see this side of his old friend that had been sleeping for years.
