Raymond shoots to his feet. “Someone’s coming.”
Before I can focus my brain, the door slams open. I can’t see who it is yet, but whoever it is somehow managed to catch two werewolves unprepared. Fast-approachingfootsteps give me hope until I realize it’s just one person.
It takes a nosedive when ahumanwoman comes into view, a gun in her hands. “Serena?” I whisper.Fuck. That’s one more of Nicholas’s friends who’ll die because of me.
She takes a look at the werewolves chained to the wall, frowning. Then I remember they’re all partially shifted. She swings her gun from one person to the next, confusion evident in every uncertain movement, before it finally lands on Adrian. Maybe I underestimated her?
But the moment she raises her hand, Raymond comes up behind her and knocks the gun from her grasp. “Look, Eli boy, a human. We’ll get to live our nostalgia for the good old times too.” With one punch, Serena goes down, falling with a loud crunch.
Adrian hurries toward her, brushing past his father before stepping between him and Serena. “She’s a police officer. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Raymond looks at him, anger brewing in his eyes. My body cowers when I’m not even the target of the ire. Adrian stands firm, though. Raymond sighs. “She’s seen too much. You know we can’t let her go.” His voice is reasonable. Like killing a human is a necessity. Like, he didn’t just suggest killing her for fun and games.
Adrian doesn’t move. “I’ll make it painless then.”
No. Nicholas will never forgive me.No, no, no.
Raymond shrugs. “All of you are such a disappointment. Do whatever you want.” He turns and crosses the room until he's standing in the center. “Let’s make this quick before more pests—”
An entire slab on the ceiling falls with a loud boom right where Raymond stands. Dirt fills the room, but we’re far away from the splash zone. I cough, pushing the dirt out of my lungs while trying to make sense of what’s happening. I see Adrian lugging Serena up, walking her to the corner. She looks unharmed.
Then the room fills with the loud noise of a helicopter. A rope cascades through the large hole in the ceiling, followed bypeople sliding down from it. One after the other. The air is too thick with dirt to make out their faces. Just their silhouettes.
I can’t see Raymond, and the idea petrifies me. My head snaps to Nicholas to make sure he’s fine. He doesn’t so much as stir. No sign of Raymond. Sloan and Matt are blinking up at the mess.
The ringing in my ears slowly fades, replaced by the sounds of people moving around me. Then an authoritative voice pierces through the noise. “You can’t just abduct four of my agents on a whim. Have you seen our pending cases pile?”
I hear a sickening crunch followed by a growl. As the dust settles, Raymond is face down beneath Meena, her knee planted between his shoulder blades. Two agents rush in and snap handcuffs around his wrists.
“I got him,” one of them says.
My pulse pounds so violently it drowns out everything else. I can't tell if I'm about to laugh, scream, or throw up.
I can’t process the image before me. Raymond, the monster I was sure would destroy everything before killing me, is lying helpless as a Bureau agent pats him down.
Three agents, along with Meena, surround Adrian, who's frozen in the corner with Serena slumped beside him.
Then Cami rushes inside through the doorway. Her eyes go wide as she sees us before her eyes land on Bree. She runs towards her. “No, no. Please be alright. Please be alright.” She checks her vitals. A second later, her shoulders sag in relief.
Then she notices me watching. “Elliot? What the fuck are you doing here?” She hurries over and drops to her knees in front of me. “You shouldnotbe here.”
“I—”
I'm saved from answering when two agents march Raymond to the opposite wall and force him into a seated position. “The next transportation vehicle will be here soon. They’ve taken the other one for now. Too dangerous to take them together,” an agent explains.
Cami moves protectively in front of me. “I’ve got you,okay? You’re fine now.” She sets her bag down, pulls out a pair of scissors, and cuts through my zip ties.
But I can't tear my eyes away from him. The Werewolf. His head is down. But I can still feel his eyes on me. He’s always watching. This can’t be it. This can’t be so simple.
“Elliot?” I feel Cami’s hand on my shoulder. “Did he give you something? Or to them?”
Oh fuck. Nicholas. My gaze flicks at her. I nod frantically. “He tased Nicholas. And maybe gave them something? The others never regained consciousness. Only Nicholas did. Then… then he hurt him.”
Cami nods sympathetically. “I’ll check on Nick. But they’re fine if they didn’t give them anything. They’re unconscious because of some device they installed at the door that renders werewolves unconscious. It’s deactivated now.”
I nod and try to crawl toward Nicholas. Cami helps me stand up, and I lean back on the wall for support.
“Just give me a second to look him over, then he’s all yours.”
