“Beloved.” He smiled and rubbed her cheek with his thumb.
Fuck, everyone gets their female.
“This wasn’t part of the plan, Cyran.” Quillian took off the goggles and shoved them in his bag. As he approached, Cyran held the female tighter and hissed at him.
Quillian stood back and held his hands up. “Quite right. Yes, well, congrats to you, old chap, but we have a mission now, and you’re out since you’re compromised. But what’s that around her neck?” He pointed to the black collar with a red blinking light.
Cyran growled, and his fingers wrapped around it, ready to pull.
“No!” Phineus, one of the other vamps, comes barreling around the corner of the kitchen island. “If you take it off, it might trigger an alarm. Just wait for us outside. We will take it off of her when we get the other female and get on the plane.”
“You go with him. Best stay in twos,” Quillian said. “The rest will be carried out. Congratulations again, Cyran.”
Cyran didn’t pay attention. Instead, he was sniffing her hair, licking her wound, and groaning. I scoffed, my anger rising that I again was without a mate. I thought this mission would give me a break from seeing so many mated couples at the club, but this was not the case.
Does the Goddess want to curse me more?
My grizzly stirred inside me, his head jolting back and forth as if trying to break free from his slumber. The slightest sounds echoed in my ears, amplified and distorted. Virgil stood by the door, his silhouette barely visible in the dim light. He fiddled with his night goggles, the sound of the toggle switch growing louder and more grating by the second. The acrid smell of burnt plastic filled my nostrils as the goggles emitted a high-pitched whine. I winced, my eardrums vibrating with each click of the switch. Desperately, I reached for my comm, pulling it out of my ear and rubbing it vigorously to relieve the discomfort.
Quillian ignored me, too caught up in Cyran and Phineus leaving and motioned for us to follow him.
“Stay put. We won’t be gone for long,” Quillian commanded Arlo, the sole wolf shifter of the group. Arlo nodded firmly, his jaw clenched beneath the second skin wrap he wore, and he gripped his gun with a sense of purpose.
And then we descended, leaving the kitchen behind. Switch guided us further into the abyss that was not a basement but a dungeon that seemed to be an afterthought of the glorious mansion that we traveled through.
This place reeked of death, the pungent stench of blood and ammonia making my nose wrinkle in disgust. My heart pounded painfully in my chest, the worry that we might be too late to save the poor female making my stomach churn. My grizzly companion’s eyes snapped open at the same moment that the thought crossed my mind, his keen sense of smell detecting the acrid odor that permeated the air.
As we reached the bottom, I put my hand on the wall, my claws scraping against the bare cement walls. My grizzly shook his fur, dust and debris casting out of his thick and mangy fur.
Gods, he was rough and depressed looking, but fuck, he was awake.
Please don’t go rabid now.
Quillian and Virgil continued their walk, unaware I was no longer behind them. Their flashlights in their hands looking into each room as they passed by.
“Keep going,” I whispered to myself.
I could worry about my bear waking up later. As long as he wasn’t going rabid, trying to hurt anyone, if I was strong enough to hold him back until I could get the girl on the plane, then they could take off. Let my grizzly go wild in the house and attack all the assholes that remained.
I cleared my throat. Quillian and Virgil looked behind me. Their steps faltered as they saw me staggering toward them.
“This is it. Found the room.” Quillian nodded to the door. “You wanna look while we work on the lock?”
I put the comm back in my ear and heard Switch blowing out some curses. I lowered the volume for him to mumble off that the prison security system wasn’t connected with the house.
“Break it down. Grab her, get out,” Locke snapped through the comm. “She doesn’t look like she has much time.”
I frowned and opened the small window that shut automatically if you don’t hold it open, and what I saw threw my stomach into knots.
The woman was adorned in threadbare clothes that barely covered her skeletal frame. The sound of her labored breaths filled the room, accompanied by the faint creaking of the poor excuse of a cot that struggled to support her weight. There was a pungent smell of sweat mixed with the musty odor of unwashed fabric. Her arm dangled off the side of the cot, exposed to the chilly air, with a blanket of nothing but rags to provide warmth.
Gritting my teeth, I felt my grizzly rising to the surface with alarming speed. He took over my mind, and I let out a guttural growl as I pounded on the metal door with my fists. The sound echoed through the hallway, and I could feel the walls shaking beneath my furious blows. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as my knuckles scraped against the rough surface of the door. I could feel the heat of my rage rising within me.
“The hell is he doing!” Virgil reached out his hand from my peripheral, but Quillian pulled him away.
“He’s going to break down the door, go down the hall, check for any guards,” Quillian hissed.
Virgil updated everyone and ran in the opposite direction while he spoke with Switch on the comm for updates.
