AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was a pause on the line, a growl bubbling up in my chest at the time this was taking. Any second, I would have company. “Fine. He’s given this much to own you. What’s one or two more men? Stay at the club. The men will be there within the hour.”
“I’ll be ready.”
The call ended, and I’d barely shoved my phone in my pocket when a frantic Caspian pushed through the door to the lounge. “Freya!” he gasped, reaching out to grab my hands. “Fuck, I thought they’d taken you somehow. Why are you in here? You should have told me.”
“I needed a minute to calm down,” I said.
His hands were warm in mine, sweating from the stress of the situation. I felt his pulse pounding beneath the skin, where mine was slow and calm. The outcome was set in stone now, so I had to prepare. Kylan would own me, he would mark me, and I would spend the rest of my life trying my hardest to kill him while being his prisoner. I wouldn’t be a very good prisoner, but I wouldn’t fight hard enough for him to dispose of me. Not until the moment I tried to take his life, at least.
Impulsively, I reached forward and grabbed Cas in a tight hug. I took a deep breath of his winter pine and sex scent that I’d spent so much time trying to avoid enjoying. Maybe if I’d spent time with him sooner, this wouldn’t be happening like this. Dwelling on what ifs was pointless, though.
“Freya, it’s going to be fine. We’ll protect you,” he promised, burying his face in my neck as I did the same with his.
He would follow me protectively to the ends of the Earth if I let him, but I wouldn’t. The door to the employee lounge opened again and Shan stepped through, pushing it shut behind him. His stoic expression was twitching with signs of anger. He didn’t approach us, standing by the door with his hands in front of him and watching our embrace.
“Em is coming back,” he said. “He got the all clear. He’ll be able to help with this, we just have to wait for him to get here.”
Hopefully, Em could calm them down after I gave myself up. It wouldn’t do for them to get themselves killed, and he was the only rational thinker left when it came to me.
“I should go hop on the bar again until he gets here, then. Give Mattie some time to shuffle things around so I can leave early without fucking everyone over.”
Shan frowned, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t be out there. Too public.”
Just public enough for Kylan’s men to create a distraction so I could slip away from them.
I didn’t have time to argue with him, though, because on the other side of the door there was an ear-piercing scream. The music cut out abruptly and more screams joined the first. In the precious seconds it took for Shan and Cas to register what was going on, I was out of Cas’ arms and sliding into the chaos of the club.
Chapter 28
Emmett
Freyawasintroubleand it was about time we got her out. By now she was more a distraction to Cas and Shan than anything else, impeding the mission with their worry about her. Over the past few hours since Shan came by and told me about their plan, I’d set up a safe house for her to stay in where we would be free of the Company’s influence for a time. In the privacy of the short rancher in the suburbs, they would tell her whatever they’d promised to tell her.
And hopefully, in return, we would find the serial killer.
They’d proven to be a damn pain in the ass to find, worse because I had the best tracking abilities and I wasn’t in the field.
What I wasn’t expecting when I drove up to the curb across from Club Chaos was complete pandemonium. People were spilling into the street, screaming, some covered in blood or bleeding themselves. With everyone running away, it was hard to see anyone in particular, and I couldn’t spot any of my team. Shan answered his phone on the first ring. “Someone let a demon creature loose in here,” he said, panting. “We lost Freya. Cas is looking for her, but we need to get this fucking thing detained.”
I cursed. “On my way in right now,” I said, stepping out of the car.
Unfortunately, when I took two steps toward the club, I fell to my knees with a pained groan. We’d known this would happen. Whoever locked away my memories also banned me from coming back to the place that could unlock them. I wouldn’t die from the pain; that had been ruled out. What I hadn’t realized was how fucking bad it would be.
Could I walk with this crippling pain weighing me down?
Planting a hand on the pavement, I tried to push up my weight, but failed. Shan had hung up, so he was expecting me in there. I moved my knee forward, crawling.
It was slow going, my huge size the only thing stopping me from getting trampled by the panicked crowd. I kept my eyes on the people, watching for a sign of anyone I knew from my research or from real life. I’d made it across the street and onto the sidewalk by the time people cleared out. No more screams came from inside the building, but I heard the sounds of a fight going on. A demon creature wouldn’t be any match for Shan, but they took time to detain.
Time we didn’t have if Freya was missing. She might be in the clutches of Jitara and his men by now.
Pain compounded as I got closer, flashes of memory crossing my mind and making my vision blurry. Freya. A vampire Alpha. A dingy back alley. I couldn’t piece it all together. My brain was actively stopping me from figuring it out. If I pushed through, I would have my memories and be able to help Shan, so I had to keep going.
Inching along, more memories came and went, until a head of silver hair popped out the front door of the building. I was only half sure it was real, and she was truly in front of me, but it pushed me back into the memories, letting me have them all back in one excruciating snap.
Club Chaos wasn’t my scene, but I was the one Shan sent to stake it out first. He claimed Cas would garner too much attention, which was true, and he wouldn’t blend in either. No one liked angels. Shan absolutely could have gone anyway, and I was a little salty about having to lie back and take the order. Not that I wanted to be the one giving orders.
“I’ll take a double whiskey on the rocks, please,” I said to the bartender, noting how distracted she seemed.
