“No!”
Jane shoved him, hard. Hard enough that he stumbled back and slammed into a nearby table. Her breath sawed out of her lungs as she jumped off the bar. “Aidan.” Now she snapped out his name. “Aidan, get your shit together and get it together now. Because this isn’t you.”
He’d shattered the table and fallen to the floor. He glared up at her, snarling, and he shot to his feet. He swiped out at her with his claws, but Jane jumped back, dodging the attack.
“What are you doing?” Jane yelled at him. “Don’t make me hurt you.” That wasn’t what she wanted. She never wanted to hurt Aidan. She loved him too much.
That love was why she was standing there right then, why she was so desperate to reach him. To get past the darkness and find her lover.
“Hurt me?” He laughed, and it was a guttural, brutal sound. Not Aidan’s laugh. “Come try.” He opened his arms to her, spreading them wide. “Nothing can hurt me. No one. I’m a fucking alpha.”
Her chin notched up as she began to circle him.
“I like the way you smell.” He turned, keeping his gaze on her as she moved around the bar. “Like the way you taste even better.”
“Aidan, stop this.” Because the tension was getting worse. She could feel it thickening in the room. He was going to attack, she knew it. And when he did… “I don’t want to lose us.”
He smiled at her, flashing fangs. “I think I’ll like the way you fuck, too.”
He is a stranger. Where is my Aidan? “Trust me, you love the way I fuck.” She grabbed one of the broken chair legs. Held it tight. “But that’s because you love me, and you need to remember that, right now. Because if you do anything to me…oh, Aidan, it will destroy you once you get past this darkness. The guilt will eat you alive.” She knew it. “I matter too much to you.”
He leapt at her. Jane hit out, swinging with the chair leg, but he just ripped it from her hand. He shattered that wood with a careless grip, then he was holding her, shoving her back against the wall and caging her with his body. “I don’t think…” he whispered. “You matter much at all.”
Pain knifed through her. White-hot agony because it was a blow straight to her heart. “No, you remember me…somewhere inside, I know you do. You remember everything. You said I was yours…because you know I am. Just as you’re mine. You came to Hell’s Gate because this place is your haven. You came here because you wanted to be safe. You—”
“You have my mark on you.” His claws slid down and rested in the spot where her neck curved into her shoulder, the spot he’d marked before. “I can feel it. That’s how I know you’re mine.”
She searched his eyes, wanting more than an animal instinct of recognition. “And this place? You came back to Hell—”
“My scent was all over this building, so I know it’s mine, too.” Once more, he gave that rough laugh. “This whole town will be mine. I’ll take everything. I’ll destroy the humans in my path. I’ll make the cities fucking red with blood. I’ll show them all the power I possess.”
A tear slid down her cheek. “This isn’t you.”
“It’s very, very much me.”
“I did this,” Jane whispered. “My blood. Mixing with yours…the wolf and the vamp were battling inside you, but in that fight, something happened to the man you were.”
Aidan nodded and he gave her that cold smile. “He died.”
“No—”
But his fangs were coming at her again.
***
Annette stared down at the biggest chunk of black glass. The image of hell had faded and now she saw Aidan. He stood alone in a cemetery, with his hands clenched at his sides. Grief ravaged his face. Torment. She could feel his pain. It was ripping him apart because…
Jane was gone.
A massive mausoleum waited in front of Aidan. The doors were chained. Aidan took a step toward that desolate place—
“Ms. Benoit?” Garrison poked her shoulder. “You okay? You’ve been staring at that glass for a while.”
She blinked and rose to her feet. Dizziness rolled through her, but Garrison steadied her with his strong grip. “Aidan.”
“He’s not here yet,” Garrison spoke softly. “Shouldn’t he be here? What’s taking him so long?”
Annette tried to pull in a deep breath. Her lungs felt empty. “You need to get to him.”
Alarm flashed on Garrison’s face. “Why?” His gaze dipped down to the mirror. “What did you see?”
Aidan is going to hurt Jane. “Go to him. He’s in Hell’s Gate.” That was why she’d seen hell. Sometimes, her visions weren’t literal. “Stop him.”
Garrison nodded and surged away from her, but then…
He stopped.
Garrison turned back to face her, his hands clenched. “I…I can’t.”