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“I can have my healer tend to those wounds. And no, that isn’t a friendly offer. Nor am I saying I’ll allow her to heal you in exchange for information from you. I’m saying that although you may be dying, that’s fixable. I can have you healed and then tortured over and over and over. Oh, don’t look so horrified.”
“You knew what you risked when you decided to come after one of ours,” Luke cut in. “You knew you’d never get out of this situation alive if you were caught. What you probably didn’t know is that Bree is under the direct protection of a wolverine shifter. They’re kind of the lovechild of hell itself, aren’t they?”
The male cast a fearful glance at the beast, who growled at him in return.
Vinnie crouched at the fox’s side. “I don’t have to tell you just how pissed that wolverine is right now. He wants at you again. And trust me when I say that if I let him have you, it won’t be a case of him clamping his jaws around your throat until you suffocate. No, you won’t get a quick death. You’ll endure the beating of a lifetime that won’t stop until he’s bored—which could take a long, long time, because he likes his food to be alive, screaming, and shaking with terror.” Vinnie gave a baffled shrug. “I don’t see the appeal in it myself. But the heart wants what the heart wants, right?”
Tate circled the fox as he said, “The beast won’t just take a chunk out of you here and there. No, he’ll settle in and dine on you. They can eat all day long and never seem to get full. Did you know that wolverines eat skin, bones, and even teeth? They’re all ‘waste not, want not.’ So … care to tell us who you are yet?”
Still tremoring from head to toe, the fox licked his split lip and then winced. “My name is Augustin.”
“Augustin,” echoed Vinnie with a bland smile. “I like that name. I don’t hear it a lot these days. Well, Augustin, what did you want with our Bree?”
“It was just a job,” he replied, his voice shaky. “My boss sent me to take her. I had strict orders not to hurt her, just to retrieve her.”
Vinnie’s jaw hardened. “Retrieve her?” Like she was a damn object. “Just who is your boss, and why did he send you after one of my cats?”
“He doesn’t want her. His client does.”
Standing upright, Vinnie folded his arms. “Explain.”
“I work for a retrieval agency. My boss is a lone shifter. All his employees are loners. People come to him when they need something found or returned to them. We’ve never had anyone ask us to retrieve a person before. I don’t know what the client wants with her.”
“The client’s name?”
Augustin shook his head. “I don’t have it. My boss will.”
“And who is your boss?”
“Giuseppe Marino.”
Vinnie had never heard the name before. He glanced at each of his sons, who both gave a slight shake of the head.
“Giuseppe wasn’t going to take the job,” Augustin quickly added. “He said he didn’t want to risk making an enemy of your pride. But the client offered him forty grand.”
Vinnie whistled. “Forty grand. A price like that can make a man do stupid things, I suppose. You were very helpful, Augustin. Don’t you think so, boys?”
Tate nodded. “I do. I really do.”
“He didn’t even make us pry the info out of him,” said Luke.
Vinnie scraped his hand over his jaw. “I suppose I should reward him with a quick death. He earned it by being so cooperative. But … he’s also responsible for the rake wounds that were all over Bree’s cat.”
Augustin’s eyes widened. “She savaged my face!”
“You shot her with fucking tranqs,” clipped Tate. “What did you think she’d do?”
“She was supposed to pass out instantly! My boss said that two would be enough to take her down! I didn’t expect to have to fight her!”
“Then both you and your boss are dumb,” said Vinnie. “Pallas cats don’t go down easily.”
Augustin tried to rise but was in too much pain. “I didn’t want to hurt her,” he told Vinnie. “It was self-defense. I never would have harmed her if she hadn’t attacked me.”
Vinnie leaned toward him slightly. “And I don’t give a rat’s chubby ass.” He nodded at the wolverine, who’d been watching the fox closely. “The bastard’s all yours.”
Rumbling another of those nightmarish growls, the wolverine stalked toward the fox. Moments later, agonized screams once more echoed through the alley.
CHAPTER SIX
Waking up to a throbbing headache and a queasy stomach did not bring joy to Bree’s world. There was also a godawful taste in her dry mouth, and she was so damn thirsty her throat hurt. Awesome.
Memories slithered through her foggy mind. The back alley. The fox. Being shot with goddamn tranquilizers.
