AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He takes a step back and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans, showing me he’s not against me, without showing throat.
“I was asked to come here and stop you.” I don’t need to ask by who. His being herereeksof Marcus, the vampire alpha and current leader of all factions. The male I’ve been hunting since Mercy went missing. “But it would appear that I’m too late.”
“You don’t look overly upset about that.” I grumble as I stride past him, not giving a shit if he follows me or not. Then I add, “I never pegged you as being the enforcer type.”
Jacob and I have been on good terms—dare I say, maybe even friends—for a long time. Both of us choosing to stay out of the politics of our kind. But right now, I just don’t have the patience to figure out why he’s here.
“I have to admit, Jarik, I was pretty pissed when you outbid me for that luscious little female,” he says to my back. My feet stop and I spin around on him, ready to tear his throat out like I did the others, when he adds, “But it’s obvious to me now that fate meant her to be yours.”
I narrow my eyes at him and lean forward, “So, Marcus sent you to stop me. What are you going to do now?”
Jacob shrugs, “It wasn’t Marcus who sent me, and we both know that I do what I want. Right now, stopping you isn’t beneficial to either of us.”
I turn away and continue storming down the empty hallway. If not Marcus, I wonder who sent him? And for what gain? Before I can ask him, Jacob brushes past me and pushes open one of the doors to a rarely used sitting room.Luka follows him inside and I close the door behind me, leaning back against it with my arms folded across my chest.
“If you’re not here to help find Mercy, so help me…” I growl around my clenched teeth. “If they’ve so much astouchedher—”
Luka and Jacob both nod solemnly in agreement.
“We’ll find her, brother.” Luka assures me.
“I might know a good place to look,” Jacob adds. “There has been some unusual chatter from a group of coyote shifters.”
“We’ve already dealt with them,” I sigh, recalling the blood bath when I found the group responsible for hurting Yesenia and taking Mercy.
“Not these, you haven’t. There’s been lots of coyote activity up in the mountains, near my territory,” Jacob tells me. “I was on my way to check it out, when Yesenia asked me to check on you first.”
The corners of my lips tug upward. So that’s who sent him, I shouldn’t be surprised.
“How is she?” Luka asks quietly. He’s always been the more soft-hearted between us.
“She’ll be alright.” Jacob assures him.“The demons were able to save nearly everyone gravely injured, thanks to you two.”
“Well, then,” My heart is pounding in my chest and my hands fist at my sides as I reach behind me for the door. “Let’s go see what’s going on in the mountains.”
Jacob nods, pushing himself back from where he’s been leaning against the opposite wall.My eyes swing to Luka.
“Stay here. I need your eyes and ears; in case they try to set another trap.”
Luka nods and then gives me a feral grin. “I’d tell you to be careful, but it’s really not you I should be worried about.”
Three
MERCY
I’m alone once again in the cold, dark room. At least now I know I’m not blindandI have a bucket to piss in. The guard also left me a paper bag with a sandwich—or whatever you want to call two slices of stale bread with some cheap lunch meat and a slice of processed cheese between them—as well as a bottle of water.
Thus begins my new routine. Once a day—at least I think—the guard opens the door just enough to toss in a bag with the crappy sandwich and water before slamming it shut and locking it tight. No amount of screaming and banging will open that door before he’s good and ready to.
My body aches.
My t-shirt and jeans do little to keep the worst of the cold out. Every few hours, I force myself to get up and walk the perimeter of the room. Sometimes I do jumping jacks and jog in place, but the damp cold still seeps into my joints making it harder and harder to move around, which is becoming a real concern. My fingers and toes are almost constantly numb now.If it were warmer, I’d probably be worried about the way I must be starting to smell.
I’ve tried to keep my hopes up. I keep telling myself that Jarik is coming for me. The big, scary-protective werewolf rescued me once before from a monster, surely, he’s looking for me now. But as time goes on, I find myself doubting.
Sure, we had some amazing sex but what if that was all it was to him?
I mean, he already tried to push me from this world after he bought me at an auction for a night of sin, but then fate found a way to put me right back in his path after he let me go. What if he’s decided he doesn’t want me after all? What if whoever has me told him I left on my own? Would he believe them? I mean, there are a million scenarios that could have him moving on without a second thought about me, and I have ample time to process every one of them.
