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The agents didn’t see the message written on the wall. There were too many of them in the room, and a couple were trying to put handcuffs on Derek, who still hadn’t woken up all the way, until I stopped them. Nobody argued with me when I took him by the arm and led him outside, where there was more air to breathe, less chance of me getting distracted and losing control of my beast.
“What happened?” I asked Derek, who still looked around, completely disoriented, holding onto his chest tightly.
“Vampire,” he breathed. “Wraiths. We got them, though. The vampire was too fast, and a high fae was here, too. His magic hit me right here.” He showed me the middle of his chest.
“Where is Teddy, Derek?” I asked, my voice strained, my control already slipping.
“They took her.” His voice was clearer now. Louder. Angrier.
“Did you see it?”
He shook his head. “No. I was knocked out while the vampire was still latched onto her neck.”
I turned to the wall and slammed my fists on it hard enough to form two dents. Vampire. That fucking leech had touched Teddy. Had sucked the blood out of Teddy.
My Teddy, the beast roared, shaking my entire body as it rushed to come out of me.
“Dom.” Derek put a hand over my shoulder. “We leave. We leave, now.” I couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t even breathe yet. “They have her. We go, right now. Right this second. Immediately.”
His voice was composed. He spoke slowly, like I’d never heard him speak before. The surprise offered enough distraction to open my eyes and look at him.
Derek’s features were calm, neutral, but something stormed in his eyes. Something not as crazy as usual, but far more deadly.
“Wait for me outside. I’ll be right down,” I said, and turned to the room again, to talk to the agents, grab Teddy’s pens, and go after her as fast as was possible. Wherever they’d taken her, even if it was another world, I’d find her. By God, I’d find her if it took me a thousand years.
“Don’t forget my bat,” Derek said when he turned around and walked over the dead bodies on the floor, passing by the agents coming our way in a rush. They all turned to look at him, surprise registering in their eyes.
“He’s with me,” I told them, just in case someone tried to stop him, then I walked into the room.
The panic coated the air, raising my own, but I smothered it down again. She was okay. They wouldn’t hurt her. They needed her, didn’t they? They would not harm Teddy.
Because if they touched a hair on her head, they were going to be sorry they were ever born. I swore it to the heavens, to any god who cared to listen—I would make it hurt, and they would regret having laid hands on her.
I sat down on the couch, trying to block the scent of her, but it was impossible. Every piece of furniture in the room was laced with it. It had been impossible for me to even be in her apartment back in Manhattan. That scent of hers drove me fucking nuts, and now that she’d spent three days in here, everything smelled like her again. Her gun was on the table. She didn’t have any other weapon with her that I knew.
“Sandra left,” Tailsburry said, pacing in front of me while the others took pictures of the dead bodies and scanned every inch of the room with their devices, recording every single detail. “Where the fuck did she go? Somebody, find her, right now!” he shouted at nobody in particular.
“Tailsburry,” I said, and he stopped moving for a second. “I need you to focus for a minute.”
He fell on the couch next to me with an exasperated sigh. “They were supposed to call the second they saw something. How—”
“Vampire. High fae,” I told him. That’s how. Vampires were fast. You couldn’t even see them coming before they sank their fangs into you. It wouldn’t be hard to get one out in daylight with the proper shields against the sun. Magic, proper tinted car windows, blinds drawn over windows…a hassle, but not impossible.
My eyes squeezed shut, and my fisted hands shook harder.
“What in the fuck,” Tailsburry said, rubbing his face raw. “Did she have any tracker on her? Did she—”
“Weapons,” I said instead. “Explosives. I need as many as you can get for me in the next twenty minutes.”
He blinked at me. “What?”
“I need explosives, Tailsburry. Focus,” I spit, and he leaned his head back instinctively. I could only imagine what he saw on my face—my eyes must have been completely golden, my features sharper while the beast wrestled me for control.
“Explosives,” he whispered with a nod.
“Twenty minutes. I leave in twenty minutes.”
“Leave where?”
I stood up, unable to stand still anymore. “I’m going to find Teddy and bring her back here.” And that was a promise I intended to keep even if the whole world burned in the process.
“Wait!” Tailsburry called. “We’re going, too. Dominic!”
“Twenty minutes,” I called, walking out of the room. I didn’t look back.
