Once again, Will looked at Kat and smiled. “Katy can fill you in on that.”
“You’ll fill me in right now,” I snarled, losing whatever control I had.
“Or not.” Will yanked on the chains, and Kat buckled.
Her scream was just a whimper, but it cut through me like a rusted knife. I shot up. “Stop it. Let the chains go.”
“But you haven’t even heard what I’m offering.” He yanked on the chains.
Kat’s back bowed completely off the dirty floor of the pen. Her lashes swept down and her face took on a fine sheen of sweat.
Horror roared through me like a tempest. I moved to the front of the cage, hands closing into useless fists. “Let the chains go. Please.”
Will released the chains, and she slumped against the pen. “This is my deal. Mutate me, and I’ll give you the key to the cage, but I’m not stupid, Daemon.”
“You’re not?” I snickered.
The older man’s lip twitched. “I need to make sure you don’t come after me as soon as I leave here, which I know you will once she’s removed from that cage.”
“Am I that predictable? I may have to change up my game.”
Will let out an exasperated breath. “When I leave here, you will not follow me. We have less than twenty minutes to do this, and then you’ll have only thirty minutes, give or take a few, to go to the address I’ve given to Katy.”
I glanced at Kat. “Is this a scavenger hunt? I do so love them.”
“Possibly.” Will slowly approached me, pulling out a gun. “You’ll have a choice to make after you let her out of the cage. You can come after me or you can get the one thing you’ve always wanted.”
“What? A tattoo of your face on my ass?”
Will’s cheeks flushed with anger. “Your brother.”
My heart stopped and every muscle in my body clenched up as I took a step back. “What?”
“I’ve paid a lot of money to get him in a position where he could’ve ‘escaped.’ Besides, I doubt they’ll really be searching for him.” Will smiled. “He’s proven to be quite useless. But you—you, on the other hand, are stronger. You’ll succeed where he’s failed time and time again.”
“Failed…at what?” Kat croaked.
My head swung toward her, my eyes narrowing. Her voice…it sounded raw and painful. For that alone I wanted to wipe the floor with Will’s entrails.
“They’ve been forcing him to mutate humans,” he explained. “It hasn’t been working. He’s not as strong as you, Daemon. You are different.”
I drew in a breath. Will was offering something I couldn’t turn down—my brother, my blood. There was still a huge part of me that just wanted to rip into him. “I’d prefer to hunt you down and break every bone in your body for what you’ve done. Rip your flesh off your body slowly and then feed it to you for hurting Kat. But my brother means more than vengeance.”
Will paled. “I was hoping that would be your decision.”
I’m sure he was. Murder was in my eyes. “You know, you have to be hurt for this to work.”
Will nodded, aiming the gun at his leg. “I know.”
Hell, I was disappointed. Shooting him would make me feel a smidgen better. “I was so hoping I was going to get to inflict the damage.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
I could only watch as Will closed his eyes and shot himself in the leg. It was the craziest thing I’d seen. He didn’t even groan as the bullet tore through his flesh. I stepped forward, wrapping my hands around Will’s arm, tipping my chin down to hide my satisfied smile. Will thought he had all of this figured out.
He was so wrong I would love to be there to witness it.
I healed Will, and in that second for the wound to seal up, I sent him an extra special message that only he could hear. You think this will be the last of me? You’re wrong. I will haunt every step you take for hurting her. That’s a check my foot is going to cash in your ass.
Will jerked back. His eyes held mine for a moment, and I recognized the fear in his gaze. I smiled.
Unnerved, he lurched to the cage and unlatched the cage door. He slipped the manacles off her wrists. “I suggest you don’t tell your mother about this. After all, it would kill her.” He smiled, and I wanted to punch it off his face. “Behave, Katy.”
Then Will was out of the cage and gone.
“Daemon…”
“I’m here.” Carefully entering the cage, I helped her out. “I’ve got you, Kitten. It’s over.”
I knew we were on a timeline, but I cradled her against my chest, smoothing my hands along her damp cheeks. Healing warmth radiated from my touch, seeping into her. I moved back from the cage, holding her so close I was sure I was never going to let her go again.
She gently brushed my hands away once she was standing on her own. Her voice was throaty and low when she spoke. “I’m all right.”
An almost inhuman sound came from me and I clutched her cheeks, bringing her mouth to mine. The kiss tasted of desperation and relief. When I pulled away, she was gasping for air.