Rose blinked, certain she’d misheard. “Why?”
His smile was cold. “Because it’s going to hurt…and you’re going to die.”
No, I’m not. Julian is coming. Everyone is getting out of here. “I think you chose the wrong team.”
“I never chose anything.”
“Trust me, buddy, I know the feeling.”
He frowned.
Before he could speak again, the doors to the building opened. A blond man strode out, a grin stretching from ear to ear.
“My last piece!” Simon cried out. “How absolutely wonderful!” He rushed toward her, and she almost expected him to rub his hands in glee. “And you just offered yourself up to me. I mean, does my luck get any better?”
No, it only gets worse.
A whole lot worse.
“Take her inside,” he barked to the men with guns. “And you…” He pointed to the gargoyle. “Kill anyone who comes after her.”
A gargoyle against a panther…stone against claws and teeth…. “Wait,” Rose began. “Don’t—”
The guard on the right lifted his gun. The bastard fired it at her. The tranq slammed into her and she let out a cry of fury. In the next second, she was on that fool. She yanked the gun from him and slammed it back against the side of his head. He went down.
Another tranq went into her back. Her lips parted and—
She fell. But Rose didn’t hit the ground. Someone had caught her. She forced her eyes to stay open and she stared into a blue gaze…a gaze that held no emotion at all.
Gargoyle. “I told you…” His voice was still tinged with sadness. “You’re going to die.”
And her eyes closed.
***
Luke Thorne was the Lord of the Dark. He was the devil in disguise. He was the baddest of the bad. And he was pretty sure all of that shit should be on a t-shirt.
He flew back to his island, expecting to find his guards waiting to meet him on the dock. Guards. Friends—same fucking thing to him.
Only he didn’t see Julian.
He didn’t see Rayce.
He didn’t even see Marcos.
And his boat was gone, too. What in the hell? Everyone knew the rule about his boat. No one takes my boat.
He stalked up to his house, royally pissed. It was a good thing he’d left Mina in their little slice of paradise. He was trying not to show his dark side to her, at least not too much. And the ass-kicking he was about to give? She wouldn’t like it…because the woman had some kind of soft spot for Julian and Rayce.
Who had a soft spot for an assassin?
The same woman who loved the Lord of the Dark.
He used a burst of magic to make his front door fly open. “Hey, bastards!” Luke thundered but he knew they weren’t inside. His senses were more acute than any shifters…
They weren’t there, but his twin brother’s stench was all over the place. Luke jerked to a stop. “Oh, hell, no.” Leo had dared step foot on his island? Did he want a slow death? Was he begging for one?
But…Leo wasn’t the only person he smelled there.
Rose had been here.
And…Leo started rushing through his house. He headed for the cells—cells he’d used to house some of the worst paranormal beings on earth. Those cells should have been empty.
One wasn’t. A human was inside. A young kid who actually waved to him when Luke appeared.
“Uh, hi, there,” the kid said. “I’m Francis, but my friends call me Frankie.”
Did he look like the kid’s friend?
Francis smiled. “Is it time for me to go home yet?”
“What in the fuck is happening?”
Chapter Sixteen
Julian had to ditch his motorcycle. The swamp was too thick and he knew he could travel a whole lot faster on foot…and in panther form. So Julian jumped off the bike and yanked off his clothes. Then he was slamming onto the ground, hitting down on all fours as the beast clawed for his freedom.
And Rayce was right with him. When Julian’s head swung to the right, he saw his friend shifting next to him. He didn’t know where Leo was. They’d left the guy as a soggy heap back at the dock.
The panther bounded forward, flying through the marsh as he focused on Rose’s scent. The dank earth was cloying, the swamp rotting, but she was sweetness in that hell. He was bound to her, and he followed her scent wildly. Desperately.
The wolf kept perfect time with him. They’d often run together in the past. Run together, hunted together, killed together, and he knew that before this day was done, they’d spill more blood.
Simon wasn’t going to walk away. There would be no lenience from him. Julian intended to slice the man into pieces—him, and any of the goons who thought they could hurt the paranormals.
They ran and ran, and soon, the tall grass gave way to a clearing. But the panther and the wolf didn’t burst into that clearing. Instead, they kept bodies low to the ground, using the tall grass as cover as they stared at the scene before them.
Two guards were at the door. Just two? Insulting. They’d take those bastards with no sweat. The building was long, stretching, with very few windows that he could see. A helicopter waited just a few yards away.
His nose twitched as a new smell reached him. Brimstone. Magic.