“Who am I if I can’t be a wolf?” Kallie asked, in deep pain. “I’ve been a shifter since I was sixteen. What good am I if I can’t be who I truly am?”
“You’re mine,” Marcus said, and he kissed her again. “You don’t need to be powerful to be the incredible woman you are. I know I have everything I need right here.”
“I should’ve had Alette with me. Faekin protect their faeries.” Kallie wheezed. “She would’ve warned me before he drugged me. It was foolish to leave her behind in Ilamanthe.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Marcus insisted. “It’s not your fault that monster attacked.”
Kallie’s eyelids fluttered, and she sank against Marcus as if everything in her was spent and worn. “I’m really tired.”
“Go back to sleep.” Marcus kissed her head. “You need your rest. We’ll be here for you when you wake up.”
Kallie didn’t say anything more, just let out a few sobs before she passed out.
The minute she was out of it, Marcus broke down. He covered his mouth to silence his weeping as tears free flowed down his face. His entire body was quivering so hard it made the bed shake.
“Marcus, go get some air,” I said gently. It was okay for him to cry, and understandable, but if Kallie woke up again and saw him like this she’d get very upset, and we had to keep her relatively calm if she was going to recover.
He nodded and got off the bed, heading for the door. Rishi stayed behind, remaining on the bed at Kallie’s side.
It was silent as the grave with just Charlie and me inside the recovery room, Kallie’s chest rising and falling as she slept. I glanced at the clock. Valen might still be in the area. We were already late on starting the heist, but it would have to wait. Valen was out there. We couldn’t start the heist if he was still prowling around, because he was still a threat. Oberi stood at the foot of Kallie’s bed, her eyes black and hungry for vengeance.
I directed my eyes toward my husband. I yanked on my end of our bond, demanding his attention, and I got it. Charlie stood rigid, waiting for whatever I was about to say.
My tone was dark and full of feminine rage as I said, “You need to take care of this.”
He got what I meant. Charlie gave a short nod, then left me to watch over Kallie while he went to handle the job he was born to do.
Chapter Twenty-One
CHARLIE
Ava had asked me to handle things. So I fucking would.
Marcus stood outside the door. He was still crying, but I heard him pause for a moment and take a ragged breath as I came out.
“We need to kill him.” I didn’t say anything else. I didn’t need to. Marcus didn’t reply, just stood there…. trying to handle it all.
He was falling apart right now, but he didn’t have the luxury to. Not when this beast had hurt the woman that belonged to him.
When a few long moments had passed, I sneered, “Kallie vowed to kill the Dollmaker, and he nearly killed her. She can’t do it, so we’re going to do it for her. This bastard messed with the wrong family. No sick fuck does this to one ofour girlsand gets to walk away alive.”
Marcus sniffed and cleared his throat. His voice grew closer as he wiped his face and said, “All right. Let’s find this motherfucker and make him pay.”
“I’m going with ya,” Chancey mumbled. I hadn’t realized he’d been there, but I didn’t care if he was. He wanted to come along, fine by me. If there were three of us, it’d be a hell of a lot harder for Valen to slip away.
I didn’t want Ava to see what we were going to do, because it wasn’t going to be pretty. How I’d killed the vampire mobster I’d tortured to death was going to look like a pleasant death compared to what we were going to do to Valen once we found him.
“Where do you think he is?” Marcus asked. His voice was straight again, and I was glad to see he’d pulled himself together.
“I’ve studied this guy,” I stated. “He’ll return to the scene of the crime to get his fill. I’d bet anything he’s still on that island, re-living what he did to Kallie over and over.”
Marcus grabbed his pistol, and aclicksounded as he released the safety. “He’s going to wish he’d never been born,” Marcus said darkly, and we headed out.
We portaled back to the island. I thought about what it’d felt like to give Kallie CPR. How easily her chest had caved in when I’d given compressions, absolutely no resistance, and how cold her lips were when I tried to breathe into her lungs.
I’d known she was dead the moment I touched her, or good as. I almost told Ava not to even try— that she was too far gone, and saving her was something that wasn’t possible.
But Ava proved me wrong as always, and thank the ancestors she did, because we’d almost lost Kallie today. Observing Marcus as he completely disintegrated at the loss of his love was triggering beyond belief. It’d been like reliving the Infernal Underground all over again, except this time, it was Marcus pleading for Kallie to come back, instead of me reaching out for Ava beyond the grave.
