“Freya wouldn’t have been here if I’d gotten to her first,” Jude denied.
Nolan laughed. “Don’t lie to me. You’re not smart enough to avoid your well-known locations.”
Jude glared.
I shifted a step closer to him, trying to control my smirk when he didn’t notice. Nolan’s associates watched my movements out of the corner of their eyes, but didn’t move to stop me. One was a witch with bright orange hair, another a shifter with a scowl. I would have said they were simply another facet of the vampire mafia Kylan ran, but in the small group behind there were fae mingling without animosity with demons. The mafia would never allow the races to work as a team like that.
Jude and Nolan continued to speak about Freya, Jude throwing threats as if he would have any chance of delivering on them. Nolan maintained his devil-may-care attitude until I’d inched myself behind Jude’s group. “Unfortunately, Jude, I’m going to need you to stop breathing.”
And he did. The man tried to suck in a breath and seemed unable to, his fingers slipping on the knife and letting it fall into Mabel’s lap. As his hands grabbed at his throat in a desperate bid for air, I came up behind and wrapped my fingers around his windpipe too. One twist, and he was unconscious. Another movement and I’d spun him to face the back wall, my sword severing his head from his body with a spray of blood that luckily missed Mabel.
By the time I’d gained the satisfaction of watching his limp body collapse, Nolan’s entourage had taken his guards out. The shifter man came up behind me and bound my arms behind my back, and I let it happen.
They had Freya, apparently.
I’d go willingly.
I didn’t have much of a choice, because as the adrenaline wore off, my consciousness left with it.
ChapterSix
FREYA
I’d slept until the moon was shining through the windows again.
My body didn’t feel rested, considering the inherent draining effect of the runes on my cage, but my mind was ready to think through some of the new problems I had to deal with. Unfortunately, I didn’t get much time to think before Nolan appeared in front of my cell.
Fortunately, he brought a guest with him.
“Oh, my gods, May!” I said, rushing to press myself against the bars of my prison. “Fuck, are you alright?”
My cousin was dishevelled, her hair a tangled mess and a bandage on her neck. The clothes she was wearing couldn’t be her own. They were two sizes too big and intended for men, the drawstring pulled tight on the sweats and the t-shirt tucked into them. She stared at me in shock when I spoke to her and took a few drawn out seconds to answer.
“Freya? That’s actually you?”
“Yes, it’s me. Are you OK?”
She nodded jerkily, taking a few hesitant steps forward until she could brush our fingers together through the bars. No one held or restrained her, though Nolan, Clement, and Amabella were watching every movement. “What’s going on, Freya? The man who kidnapped me said you were an Omega.” Her nostrils flared as she inhaled, shaking her head. “You don’t smell like one. You’re not, are you?”
The scent dampener hadn’t worn off enough for her to scent me yet, though I was sure Alphas would catch hints of my true designation by now. I wished I had it on me so I could reapply. Knowing I smelled like a Beta was a comfort thing for me, even if everyone in the room was aware I wasn’t one. “I’m sorry, May. This is all my fault. I am an Omega.”
Her lips parted and she inhaled again.
“Aunt Clara knows how to make a scent dampener. She’s the only one who knows,” I explained. “It hasn’t worn off yet, but it’s flawed and people figured out my designation. I never thought they’d go after you. Can you please tell me if you’re OK? With words? You haven’t answered yet.”
She stared at me with wide eyes, trying to process. The silence was longer than I wanted, but from appearance alone she didn’t look too worse for wear. Her mental state was more worrying, considering she’d spent hours in the custody of the brutal vampire mafia, and was now a captive of a slightly less brutal assassin.
“I’m… fine,” she said slowly, glancing down at her hands. Her knuckles were scraped like she’d tried to punch her attacker and missed. “He had a knife at my throat, and there was a lot of blood, but I’m fine.”
Sliding my gaze over to Nolan, he was grinning at me. He didn’t look any different than he had hours ago, still wearing the same outfit. “What the fuck is she talking about?” I asked, glaring.
“We’ll get to that, darling. Don’t worry,” he said, physically waving off my question. “This is only part one of my gift to you. I’ll bring in part two once you’ve had your reunion. I wouldn’t want to scare her more with what I have to show you. Almost none of the blood belonged to her, I assure you.”
Mabel looked at him and cringed, and I had a feeling she knew what the other gift was. The only reason I didn’t demand he show me immediately was because she obviously didn’t want to see it another time.
“Fine. May, why haven’t you healed yourself?”
“I don’t think I can do magic right now. It feels too… difficult.”
