Dark Instincts

Roni felt Marcus’s surprise. All the males were spread out but within hearing range—something that was made easier by the fact that this part of the building was mostly empty and exceptionally quiet. They had figured that Margo might be less inclined to talk about her issues with Brunt if six large shifter males were surrounding her.

 

 

Taryn tilted her head. “Why would you think we were here to talk about that asshole? I mean, we are. But why would you immediately assume that?”

 

Apparently the fact that Taryn had called him an asshole went a long way with Margo, because her expression lost some of its anger. “You’re not from his pack?”

 

“If he’d been a member of my pack, I’d have put him down like a rabid dog.”

 

Margo narrowed her eyes, studying Taryn. “An Alpha female,” she concluded. She then turned that studious gaze on Roni. “And you . . . you could be one, if it was what you wanted. Not quite as harmless as you appear.”

 

Taryn’s smile widened as she looked at Roni. “I like her. Back to the subject matter, though, Margo. What makes you assume we’re here about Brunt?”

 

Margo glanced around. “This isn’t the time or the place for such a conversation. People come to libraries for peace and quiet.”

 

Taryn, too, glanced around. “But as you can see, no one’s close-by. Please, Margo.”

 

Margo gave a frustrated sigh. “When I got the restraining order, the extremists somehow heard about it, and they tried pressuring me to go public with my experience.”

 

“Yeah, it’s not uncommon for them to harass victims.”

 

“Lately, that pressure has greatly increased, and I wondered if someone from Noah’s pack would visit me to insist that I keep my mouth shut.”

 

Frowning, Roni removed the lollipop from her mouth. “Brunt was banished from his pack. He didn’t tell you that?”

 

Margo’s expression hardened. “No, he didn’t.”

 

“I’m guessing the reason the extremists are putting more pressure on you to talk about him is because of the latest accusation made against him,” mused Taryn.

 

Margo stiffened. “What accusation is that?”

 

“He’s been accused of trying to kidnap a human female—a teenager. Margo, we have reason to believe he’s involved in far worse than that.”

 

“How so?” When Taryn hesitated, Margo lifted her chin. “If you want me to answer your questions, you can at least have the courtesy to answer mine.”

 

“Fair enough. We have reason to believe he’s kidnapped many humans in the past, that he’s working with people who are dangerous and, quite frankly, evil. But we don’t know where to find these people. We need to know as much as we can about Brunt. Maybe it can help us track down those assholes.”

 

She sighed. “You want to know about Noah? He’s a very pleasant, gentle, caring man. He has impeccable manners—even while he has one of his friends beat you, he’s polite and soft-spoken. Tells you how well you’re doing. How proud he is of you. How beautiful you are.”

 

Like that, Roni felt sick. “Did he hurt you himself?”

 

“No. He just liked to watch.” A bitter, humorless chuckle. “He had me totally fooled.”

 

Taryn bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry to ask you these questions, I know this has to be hard, but can you tell me where this happened?”

 

Margo turned her eyes back to the shelves. “I’m not sure. He came here to give me a ride home, just as he did most nights. The second we got in the car, he drugged me. When I woke up, I was bound and gagged in an empty room with bloodstained walls.”

 

She stopping speaking, and Roni assured her, “You don’t have to tell us what they did. But I would like to know how you got out of there alive.”

 

“I didn’t think I would. I knew I had to be smart. So when he told me how proud he was of me, I pretended to be glad. Pretended to be happy that I had pleased him so much. I wasn’t sure if it would work—especially since his friends didn’t think he should let me go—but it did. He drove me back to his house, wearing this beaming smile. I’ll never forget that smile. After what felt like a few hours, when we stopped at a red light near his neighborhood, I took the pepper spray out of my bag.”

 

Roni inwardly winced. Pepper spray on shifter eyes would hurt like a son of a bitch.

 

“While he was busy screaming, I got out of the car and ran to the nearest house. The couple there called the police. Noah was gone by the time they arrived, but they found him at his home and arrested him.”

 

Taryn’s brows knitted together. “So, wait . . . You’d been drugged, taken somewhere against your will, and beaten . . . and he wasn’t prosecuted for those things?”

 

“It didn’t even go to court.” Another bitter chuckle. “Some members of his pack—or his old pack, whichever—got involved, discredited my accusations, and promised to keep Noah out of my life if I promised to not go public with the story.”

 

Roni just bet they did. His pack might not want him, but they wouldn’t want him drawing attention to them either.

 

“I’m a librarian, I don’t have more than three figures in my bank account; I had no way of fighting him legally. All I really wanted was to know he couldn’t hurt me again. He hasn’t.”

 

“But you live in fear that he will one day, don’t you?” Roni understood that, because for a long time, she’d feared the other humans involved in her attack would come back for her.

 

“He’s sick and cruel, and he doesn’t deserve to live.” She looked from Taryn to Roni. “Will you kill him?”

 

“That’s the plan,” replied Roni.

 

“Good. Make it excruciatingly painful.”

 

Taryn’s mouth curved. “I think we can manage that.”

 

“And his friends?”

 

“Once we find them, they’ll wish they hadn’t been born. But we have no idea where to look for them. Is there anything at all you remember about the place? Maybe something Brunt once said about a certain place he liked to go?”

 

She thought for a minute. “I remember the smell. Death. Blood. It was everywhere.” So it was safe to say Brunt had taken her to the jackals’ kill site. “That’s all, I’m sorry.”