By the look on Raul’s face, he wasn’t sure they were serious or not. “Oh, okay. I guess. As long as he doesn’t have you neutered. Or put to sleep.”
When Raul got busy charging the others’ pitchforks, Jack hooked his finger through the loop of her belt, brought her to him, and spoke in her ear. “You like it in the kennel, pet. Free to play. No owner to obey.”
“Have you ever considered I might like to have an owner to disobey?”
He studied her. “I’m not the kind of owner who likes to be disobeyed.”
She pursed her lips mockingly. “Oh, I see, I don’t deserve your collar.” Before he could answer, she pushed on belligerently, “Actually, if you need to put a collar on me, then I’m the wrong pet for you. And you are definitely the wrong owner to obey.”
Her pitchfork had been loaded, Raul lit the charges and there she went.
“Your turn,” Raul said, handing him a pitchfork.
Right.
Elle had not been totally truthful. It was not only the more daring spectators going to dance with them, but the devils were charging the public too. Not to mention the dragon and the phoenix spitting fire. And the drums hammering at his ears and the people yelling and the water flying from the windows.
In the middle of all that mayhem, he noticed his cell vibrating. It was a message from Mullen.
Donald Solis, Marlene’s supervisor, is missing. Last seen leaving a bar with a blond guy matching Grabar’s description. His hotel room in Hawaii has strong evidence of foul play, blood spatter on the walls consistent with a throat being slit. Body nowhere to be seen, but plenty of state parks and plantations nearby to dispose of it.
Fuck, game over.
“We’re pulling the plug,” Jack spoke into the earbud. “Maldonado knows about Elle. You copy, pet?”
But she didn’t answer.
He searched for Elle, who’d gone a bit ahead, spotting her near a kid who was crying desperately in his mother’s arms. She smiled at him, said something, and then pulled down her hood and her scarf, uncovering her face.
Fuck, no, no, no.
He tried to rush to her, but there were people under him, so he couldn’t let the pitchfork go, and that fucking dragon got in front of him, blocking his way. The last he saw was Elle turning the corner before he lost sight of her.
“Anyone have eyes on the target?” he yelled. “Max? She should be coming your way. You see her?”
No answer either.
“Fuck,” came from James. “Max’s down.”
Elle twirled over herself, fire flying all over. Her earbud had gone careening several twirls ago, but she didn’t have the time to fish it out of her hood right now. She’d attempt rescue when she went for recharging. Besides, she was half-deaf already from the fireworks and the drums.
The last cracker from her pitchfork blew out. Time to go for a replacement. But before that, she had something else to do. She moved toward the kid crying in front of her. She forgot always how scary the whole event looked like to small children.
“Hey,” she said pulling down her hood and the scarf. “This is just a costume, buddy. Nothing else. Don’t cry.”
The kid looked at her, his tiny arms tightly hugging his mother’s neck. Finding out she was not a demon seemed to reassure him and, sniffing, he let out a shaky smile.
As she was turning around, she bumped into someone. She lifted her gaze to apologize and the words froze in her throat.
Intent, mocking eyes stared back at her.
“Miss Cooper, we do meet in the strangest places,” Maldonado said. “I decided to come personally and make sure all goes smoothly. You tend to slip through everybody’s fingers.”
Elle tried to backtrack, but the crowd kept pushing at her. Then she realized it wasn’t the crowd, but four huge men who were flanking her. All the Krav Maga self-defense classes she’d taken on how to fight in small places and she’d forgotten the basics: don’t let them into your space.
She nailed one in the nose and another in the groin, but she was badly outnumbered and the third guy punched her in the face, sending her to the ground. The blistering pain blurred her sight, leaving her disoriented, fighting not to black out. Strong arms restrained her immediately, yanking her up, and when the man with the bleeding nose was going to retaliate, Maldonado stopped him. “Not here.”
She thrashed feebly, but it was useless. No one was paying attention. She couldn’t see Jack, or any of the Bowens. Heck, she had trouble seeing anything. The phoenix had been charged and was ramming people and spitting fire and creating havoc. Everyone was being pushed over and as far as she could tell, not a single soul noticed they were dragging her away.
Jack fought his way through the crowd, and, when he made it around the corner, he saw Maldonado, followed by Nico and four of his henchmen flanking Elle. The feeling of relief soon turned into fury.