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Brennan stood. “We know. Thank you for dinner, Caden.” She turned to Blake, and he stood to meet her. He opened his arms and hugged his sister, pulling her tight against him. “Thanks for coming to get me. I know you’re being an ass because you want to protect me. And I love you for it.”
“I love you too, Bren. Try not to get into any trouble tonight, will you?” He smirked at his own words, and she shoved him playfully, trying to hide her own smile.
Blake watched his mom and sister go upstairs, then turned to Caden who was finishing the food on his plate. “You want to take the leftovers with you? Maybe Hallie would like some?”
“Sure, you don’t have to ask me twice.”
They finished eating and started cleaning up. Caden excused himself to use the restroom, leaving his cell phone on the kitchen counter. The screen lit up with a call from Luke. Blake let it go to voicemail. A few moments later, Blake felt his own cell phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was Luke calling. That’s when Blake’s oh shit meter skyrocketed, and he answered the call. “Luke, is everything okay?”
“No,” Luke said. “Where are you guys?”
“My mom’s place. Had a thing go down with Brennan. What’s going on?”
“Get to The Mystic Cow as soon as you can.”
“Why?” Blake asked just as Caden came out of the bathroom, but the line went dead.
“Who was that?” Caden asked, reaching for his own phone.
“Luke. Come on. He said to meet him at Hallie’s shop right away.”
Caden’s eyebrows shot up, pure dread reflecting his friend’s steel gray eyes. “Is Hallie, okay?”
“He didn’t say. He just said to meet him there. Maybe her neighbor’s ex busted their windows again. I don’t know.”
“Let’s go,” Caden said, already halfway out the door. Blake followed. If Hallie was in trouble, nothing would keep him from getting to her. Not after she saved his life, and then forgave him for being an ass to her about it.
They left the kitchen a mess, forgetting all about the food, and the dishes they had planned on washing. Even the conversation Blake needed to have with Caden about Brennan was forgotten for the moment.
As soon as they entered The Mystic Cow, an ear-piercing scream tore through the store and settled deep in Blake’s gut. Orly. He scanned the room, desperate to find her, only to see her sitting on the floor in the far corner, Luke’s arms holding her as she writhed against him.
“What the hell?” Caden roared. “What happened? Where’s Hallie?”
“We don’t know,” Luke said, a pained expression on his face. “Orly connected with Hallie about half an hour ago. Even though Orly’s gift is mostly random, I wasn’t surprised she picked up on Hallie being in trouble, given how close they are. But I was hoping she was wrong. We raced over here and found the place unlocked and abandoned. There’s a pool of blood behind the register. Not sure whose yet.”
“Why is she screaming?” Blake asked, horrified by the only answer that made sense.
“Someone’s hurting Hallie,” Luke said, his gaze not leaving Caden. “But it’s too dark wherever she is being held, and she has no idea how we can help her.”
Blake’s stomach sank as he fell to his knees, his hand going to Orly’s arm in a silent show of support. Caden stood rigid over them, ready to move at a moment’s notice to get to his fiancée.
“There’s more,” Luke said. “Hallie isn’t alone. They got Skyla.” His words hit Blake like a bullet to the heart. “They’re using Hallie to keep Skyla weak.” Luke’s voice cracked. “They keep stabbing Hallie and making Skyla heal her. Hallie doesn’t think she’ll last much longer. She’s already too weak to heal her wounds completely. She’s barely able to do damage control and keep her from bleeding out.”
Blake felt like he was going to vomit at the soul crushing, gut wrenching fear and helplessness filling every pore of his body. “No. NO!” He roared through gritted teeth.
Skyla would never give up on Hallie, even if it killed her. The women would die trying to save each other.
“Who?” Blake bit out. “Who took them?”
Luke tightened his arms around Orly who screamed out again, then moaned, like someone was torturing the life out of her. “Vivian,” Orly whispered between pained breaths. “She found out what Skyla can do. I don’t think she knows about Hallie’s ability, but she’s stabbing Hallie and making Skyla heal her, over and over again.” Orly turned into Luke’s arms, burying her face in his chest as she cried out. “Please, I can’t leave them, but I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
Blake’s fists clenched at his sides, every muscle in his neck bulging to capacity. He could hardly draw in a breath, so tight and on fire was his every nerve ending. “I’m gonna kill her.” The vow came out easily, and he meant it. The hell with his badge. Vivian took two people she had no right to touch. She was dead.
“Get in line,” Caden said in a deadly tone, then got down on his hands and knees, reaching for Orly’s hand. “Honey, you need to keep asking her about their whereabouts. Anything she hears, feels, smells, please, Orly. It can help us find them.”
Orly nodded, but didn’t look at either of them, choosing to stay burrowed in Luke’s arms. An eerie silence filled the store.
A few minutes later, Orly screamed again. And all three men were ready to kill Vivian with their bare hands.
