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“You piece of shit!” I screamed out. “You’re responsible for all of his pain and you want to come back here and try to force him back into that life? All this sabotage, the attacks, it was all to get to Lance?”
“Aww, you’ve heard of us.” Lacey’s red-painted lips twisted into a smile. The stranger did the same, letting out a hollow laugh. It was creepy how much they looked alike. Even though Lacey had copper hair and her mate was blonde, they were both petite, curvy, and had a penchant for expensive clothes and red. Matching lipstick and dresses aside, their mannerisms were the same. Shrewd gazes and emotionless eyes… It was more than a little disturbing.
“You lost all claim to your mate the moment that we took him away from your wedding,” the woman bit out. “Or rather, the moment his father decided and put mine in prison.”
“And now he’s going to spend the rest of his life paying back that debt by providing me as many babies as I want,” Lacey said excitedly. She eyed my mate with possessive heat.
“You won’t fucking touch my mate!” I yelled, lunging forward again only to be pulled back by Lance. The way he held me tight and looked defeated had my heart sinking. The PTSD this would leave behind if we got out would be nothing less than crippling. My poor man deserved better than these bitches gave him.
Just as anger boiled in me to the point of lashing out, Lacey’s attention shifted to me and she pulled out a knife, brandishing it toward me. “After I cut that baby out of your body, of course. You don’t have a right to his children, only we do.”
“You have no right having kids in general. You’re already psychopaths. The last thing you need is to create more,” I growled. Snark was probably the wrong route but I had no filter now as panic, dread, and determination filled me.
My words had her face turning more red and angry, distorting her features until she looked like a monster. She was definitely on the list of people who should not procreate. They both were.
My horse was snorting in fury, wanting to take over and protect her mate. I had half a mind to shift and let her protect us but the thought of her getting hurt kept that from happening. She wasn’t happy at my refusal, huffing indignantly, letting out angry little puffs of air. It was harder to focus with her raging in my mind but I couldn't let them get the upper hand.
Lance couldn’t get hurt, not again. He needed me and this was my chance to protect him.
“So, who is Stanley to you? I’m assuming you’re responsible for it all?” I said, trying to distract her from focusing on me or my baby. I was still clinging to hope help would come.
“Yes, you’re welcome,” she said with a malicious grin spreading across her lips. “You see, we’ve been watching Lance since he was rescued. For months, we’ve been watching and listening in. When they talked about trying to reconnect with his old mate, I knew we had to intervene. It just so happens an old family friend was running this competition. It was the perfect way to handle this mess. You see, we Snake Eyes have connections all over.”
“Then go find you a fucking snake!” I screamed loud enough I knew people would hear. Neither of them seemed concerned. They were too busy bragging about their accomplishments. “Leave my mate out of this.”
The pounding of fists on the door had them jumping and losing their attention on the gun. It wavered slightly. Lance saw the opportunity and started to move but she snapped it right back in place.
“Don’t fucking move!” She was unhinged now and that didn’t bode well.
“Nyla, is everything okay in there? Who is that with you?”
“Riven, it’s the stalker, she’s got a gun on Nyla!” Lance yelled. There was a low, warning growl before someone was slamming their body into the door. Quick footsteps receded from the door before it slammed again. I prayed that meant they were calling for backup. Hotel security? Police? I’d take the fucking Pope at this point.
Without them, I had no clue how we were going to get out of this. I wasn’t ready to put my mate or my baby at risk. She’d already taken a year from us, she wasn’t taking this, too.
Lacey lunged forward while we focused on the door, shoving Lance aside and pulling me towards her. It was stupid to let hope put my guard down.
She backed us into the wall and kept the knife pointed at my stomach as I frantically searched for anything to use against her, but nothing was within reach. My hands simply flailed around as she laughed cruelly. She was no stranger to taking risks and knew her power. The woman would gleefully stab me and that alone had panic clawing at my throat. With nothing to use but my fists, I curled my hands and cocked my arm back but she slammed me into the wall. Her reflexes were insane. Likely honed from years of fucked-up abuse and training.
“Don’t even fucking try it. If you hit me, I will gut you.” Every bit of false charm that she’d had for the last several days was gone, there was only a bitter, vile woman left behind.
A streak of black slammed into her and I didn’t bother to find out what it was. Moving on pure instinct, I managed to snatch the knife from her hand while simultaneously cocking my fist back. The satisfying crunch was her nose shattering on impact.
When she moved again, I struck a second time, landing a hit on her temple and watching as she crumpled to the ground. It was satisfying and disgusting at the same time.
My stomach rolled again and it wasn’t like I could make a beeline for the bathroom. Instead I just took measured breaths and kept to the corner, knife held in front of me.
Riven was still pounding at the door and I could hear more and more voices joining him. Lance was trying to fight his way to me as Lacey’s mate tried pulling her up and away from me, pointing a gun at me before snapping it back at Lance, switching between us as he made it back by my side. She was now in full panic mode.
Desperation had ‘fight or flight’ kicking in and desperate people did stupid things. The risk was even higher now.
The black streak moved and I recognized it immediately.
Zathrian’s raven dive-bombed her again, but this time she was quick, slamming her fist with her gun in it. The impact threw his small body against the wall before a gunshot went off. Panic surged inside of me, but I was blocked and couldn’t see who it hit.
I had a feeling I was about to lose one of my mates. The anguish-filled screams were drowned by the door splintering open, announcing our rescue team.
But I was fairly certain they were too late.
