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“Yeah. She was going to tell Rowan, and I figured they’d be back by now.”
“Huh. Well, let’s don’t borrow trouble just yet.”
Turned out they didn’t have to borrow it. After Zan did a bit of healing on Aric’s wounds, Aric was bandaged and released. As he and Micah were standing outside, inspecting the blown-up wall, trouble came roaring up the driveway in the form of the sheriff’s car.
The men jogged over to greet Deveraux, others coming out of the buildings to see what was going on. It didn’t take long to spot Blue lying on the backseat, bleeding from a chest wound. Micah’s heart damn near stopped.
“What happened to him?”
The Fae had shifted back to his real form, and his wings were taking up the entire back of the car. He was gasping for breath, but struggling to push himself upright. Jesse got out and ran to open a back door and help him, leaning inside. Micah and Aric joined them, and Micah was aware of others crowding around the vehicle.
“Parker Anderson shot me,” Blue gasped. “He just walked right up to me and pulled the trigger. Probably thought I was some regular guy and didn’t realize I couldn’t die that way. But I was out of commission for a few minutes, and he got away with the women. I’m so sorry. I’ll take whatever punishment I deserve once we get them back safely.”
“Blue, shut up,” Micah growled. Fear rode him hard, but this wasn’t Blue’s fault. “You’re not to blame for this. I shouldn’t have let her go with that monster still out there.”
Aric agreed. “Me, too.”
“I should’ve protected them,” Blue said, clearly ashamed.
Jacee? Baby, where are you? No answer.
Micah shook his head, rage building. “You couldn’t help what happened. But we’re going to get them back. Did you see which way he went? Did he say anything?”
“No. But I believe Jacee got some of my blood on her after I was shot, when she grabbed me. If she did, we can trace her that way. Or, rather, a Sorcerer can.”
From the other side of the car, Kalen nodded. “His blood is a Fae element we share, and I can track the source. If she’s got some on her, we’ll find her.”
“Then do your thing,” Micah said. “I’ve got a monster to kill.”
Mac and Noah tried to get Blue to go to the infirmary, but he refused, waving them off and climbing out of the car under his own steam. Kalen touched the blood on his brother’s shirt, spread it on his fingers, and closed his eyes. Then he began to chant a spell, his voice hypnotic. Micah had seen him work a few times, and it never failed to awe him.
A few moments later, the Sorcerer’s eyes opened. “Six miles from here, in the forest. I’ve got her pinpointed.”
Quickly, they loaded up in the SUVs. Aric refused to be left behind, and nobody blamed him. A couple of measly gunshot wounds were not enough to keep a wolf from his mate.
Blue took to the sky, following them that way. Micah knew the prince must have felt horrible. He never joined in on missions unless specifically called, claiming he was a lover, not a fighter—even though he was, ironically, probably the deadliest of them all.
It didn’t take long to find the road Kalen directed them to and, a few miles beyond that, the ramshackle cabin almost obscured by undergrowth. Careful to park a good distance away, they set off on foot. Not fucking around this time, Micah had already shifted into wolf form by the Escalade, as had several others. His wolf was stronger and faster. More lethal.
That would be what counted.
He was going to tear Parker Anderson into very small pieces. There wouldn’t even be enough left of him to feed the worms.
* * *
Jacee awoke to find herself bound with her hands behind her back, sitting in a corner of the main room of a filthy cabin. Thankfully, Rowan was right beside her, and a glance showed that her friend was pissed as hell at their captor. If her brown eyes could kill, the creature would have been dead.
But crazy people didn’t care. Parker was one of those special kinds of insane bastards who got off on seeing others suffer for the hell of it.
At the moment, he was smiling to himself, showing yellowed teeth, singing a song with garbled lyrics that made sense to nobody but him. He was sitting at a table, puttering with some objects on top of it, arranging. Rearranging. Picking one up, inspecting it. Putting it down and selecting another.
Jacee frowned until she realized what he was looking at—tools. Pliers, wrenches, hammers. A couple of small handsaws. Garage tools of all kinds. Suddenly she felt as though she’d been dropped into a terrible episode of Criminal Minds. And she wanted out. Now.
A glance at Rowan showed her friend had
made the same realization, and some of her anger had bled to fear as well.
“Your mates won’t think you’re so pretty by the time they get you back—if they get you back.” Parker picked up a pair of pliers. “I think this one will do for a start! Who’s first?”
