Lucien frowned and slid his hand into his pocket. “It didn’t ring.”
He removed the device and checked the screen; there were no missed calls. It was no secret he despised technology, but he knew how to use a phone, and he held it up to show Saber before turning it back to him.
Then he saw there were no bars at the top. He glanced at the sky as if he could somehow see the waves, or signal, or whatever it was the stupid devices used to work, but of course, they weren’t visible.
“I don’t have any service,” he said to Saber. “Why? What’s the problem?”
“A human went inside a couple of minutes ago. There’s no sign of Savages, but we thought you should know.”
Usually, a humanwasn’t a cause for concern, but Savages sometimes used them to do the dirty work they couldn’t during the day. He glanced up and down the street before lifting his eyes to thethird-floorwindows.
He kept his eyes on the windows as he opened himself up to Callie’s presence. Although they weren’t mated,he could still sense her moods. However, he kept her shut out so as not to intrude.
Now, as he opened himself up to her, Callie’s terror hit him like a bolt of lightning that seared straight into his soul.
“Shit!” he hissed as he bolted for the door.
“Youwhore!”
Carter’s spit and the blood from his broken nose sprayed her face as he lifted her off the ground. Callie kicked at him as white stars lit the blackness engulfing her. Her lungs burned, shecouldn’tbreathe, and instead of her punch knocking his hold free, it only infuriated him.
“Are you fucking him?” he shouted at her.
Carter had to realize shecouldn’tanswer him and that he was on the verge of crushing her windpipe, but it didn’t seem to matter as he continued shouting at her. Straining to maintain consciousness and her wits, Callie gathered what remained of her strength and lifted her feet. She planted them in his stomach and pushed against him.
Carter grunted, and his grip on her lessened, but itwasn’tenough for her to draw air into her brutalized lungs. She was going to die; thisassholewas going to kill her. She’dbeen so anxious about Savages that she never considered this monster might return.
A roar filled her ears, and she thought it was the blood thundering through them as she experienced the last few seconds of her life. And then Carter was torn away from her.
Startled by the abrupt freedom, Callie hit the floor on her ass.She wheezed as she tried to inhale, but her constricted lungs refused to let in oxygen. Her head bobbed down before snapping up. When her lungs finallyeased, oxygen flooded her system, and she gasped in air.
Red filled Lucien’s vision as wrath pulsed through his veins with every rapid beat of his heart. Thisman…thisthinghad tried to kill her.
He scented Callie’s blood on the air seconds before he sank his fangs into thebastard’sthroat. The man’s arms flailed before the agony of Lucien’s bite ceased his movements.
He’dnever intentionally inflicted pain on someone while feeding, but he gladly did so now.He could have protected and sheltered the man from the pain; he didn’t. Instead, he made sure he knew nothing but suffering while he fed.
He’dalmost drained him dry before pulling away and twisting his head to the side. The crack of his breaking neck reverberated through the kitchen. Lucien would pay for killing a human with increased sensitivity to the sun, but he’d gladlykill him a thousand more times.
Callie’s head bobbed down before popping back up. She blinked at Lucien as he released the body, and it hit the floor with a thud.
“Callie? Callie, look at me,” he commanded as he knelt before her.
Blood spilled from the lump already forming in the center of her forehead. Her skin was turning black around it. A trail of blood ran down the center of her nose and fell off to splatter on the ground. She blinked at him but didn’t reply.
His gaze fell to her brutalized throat and the finger marks standing starkly out against her skin. When he cradled her cheek in hispalm, she lifted her eyes to his before they fell away again.
“Callie, who is this?” But as he asked it, he already knew the answer. “Is it Carter?”
Callie opened her mouth to reply, but only a small croak came out. Her brutalized throat and spinning mind wouldn’t allow much more to slip free. Swallowing, she winced when the movement caused fresh pain in her brutalized throat.
“Yes,” she managed to whisper.
Lucien bit back a curse as he glanced at the lifeless body behind them. He wished the asshole wasstill alive so he could make his death far more painful. It had been too quick and easy for him.
Lucien leaned closer and kissed her wounded forehead before cupping her cheek. “Are you okay?” When her dazed eyes met his, he saw her shock and terror. “He’s dead, Callie. You don’t ever have to worry about him again.”
Tears filled her eyes as her lower lip trembled. She sobbed and then winced when the movement jarred her brutalized throat.
