Page 33 of Promising Her Forever

“We gotta go, Playboy. There’s cops and firefighters out there. They’re starting to surround the building.”

“Don’t worry. You know the plan.” He says as he’s helping tie the new ropes and releasing me from the bed ones.

They stand me up and secure my hands behind my back. The ropes on my ankles are just loose enough for me to walk. I keeptrying to think of a way to get out of this. But now the smoke is getting thicker and it’s making all of us cough. I can hear noises but I don’t know if it’s the fire. I’ve read that fire makes noise when it’s burning. When we get out of the room, I notice that Daphne’s not on the floor anymore…

“Where’s the bitch we left here?” Playboy yells at the other guy.

“She was right fucking there. She couldn’t have moved. She was fucking dead.”

I choke back a sob when he says that. She can’t be dead.

Fionn

I’ve finally calmed down enough to listen to Salvatore and the Fire Captain, Shane Hammersmith. They’re making a plan for us to go in. But because the fire is in the coffee shop, we need Shane and his men to go in first. But Salvatore, Hugh, Nelson, Thomas, Noah and me will back them up. After my outburst, I’m surprised that Salvatore’s letting me go in. Sal said that he knows I want to find Riley and that’s our number one priority. Getting Riley and Daphne out without them getting hurt.

“Nelson, Hugh and Thomas, you’re in the back way with the firefighters Shane assigns to you. You three need to make sure they get the fire out. Noah, Fionn and I will make our way up to the apartment. I’m pretty sure that’s where they are hiding.”

“We need to help. You can’t keep me here. I was supposed to protect her.” Oliver frowns at Salvatore.

“And we’re here to help. You know we can. Deputize us for this and we can go in too.” Apollo says as the other shifters nod.

Salvatore nods and deputizes the shifters so that they can go in with us.

“Ares, Oliver, Archer and Apollo, you’re with me. The rest of you are with Nelson’s group. We don’t know how many are in there or if it’s even Playboy. All we know for sure is that someone is definitely in there. Be careful if you have to discharge your weapon. Riley and Daphne are in there and I don’t want them to get hurt. Nelson’s group will go in first to get the fire under control and we’ll go in as soon as they tell us they’re good.” Salvatore says to everyone.

We all make our way to the building. Our group stays outside to wait for them to tell us they have it contained. We’re trying to do this as quietly as possible so that whoever it is in there hopefully doesn’t hear us.

“We have the fire down here contained. But the smoke is thick and it’s upstairs. You all need masks.”

We grab the masks and air tanks that the firefighters give us and get them on. We file in one by one and head to the stairs that leads to the apartment. I need my Riley to be okay.

The first thing we see when we get the front door open is Daphne laying on the living room floor. Because we don’t have any outsiders with our group, Oliver and Archer shifted right before we went into the apartment. They went in to see who else is in there. They can’t talk to us, but they are venomous snakes. So if they need to, they can bite whoever’s in there. I personally think they should bite every asshole that’s touched my girl.

Ares and Apollo slowly grab onto Daphne and pull her towards us. She’s not moving and I’m not sure if she’s breathing. After we get her out of the apartment, Noah takes her downstairs and to the ambulance waiting outside. We can hear voices coming from inside the apartment.

“Where’s the bitch we left here?”

“She was right fucking there. She couldn’t have moved. She was fucking dead.”

Fuck. Daphne can’t be dead.

“Holy fuck! Something bit me!” one of the guys screams.

I smile as we see one body drop to the ground. I don’t recognize him. But I do recognize the other voice.

“Get your hands up!” Salvatore yells at Playboy.

“Fuck you. You need to let me out of here. Or I’ll kill Riley too.”

“Drop your gun and let Riley go. You won’t like the other option.”

I can see Playboy holding Riley in front of him with a gun to her head. He looks around her and sees his friend writhing on the ground. I’m not sure if the bite his friend got will kill him. The Taipan shifters have two different venoms they can use. One is poisonous. The other will make them really sick. Personally I’d rather they used the first one in this case.

“Shoot me. I don’t fucking care.” Playboy laughs.

Before he can raise his gun to Riley’s head again, we see a snake launch itself into the air and latch onto his neck. He screams and drops his gun, which gives me the opening to get to Riley and pull her to me. I take my mask off and put it on her face.

“You’re safe, mo fhíorghra.” I say to her as I hold her.