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The longer I sat there, the more my head started to clear. I could still feel the steady flow of blood down my face. I looked at the narrow hallway table, stared at the piece of decor that sat atop it. I stood and lurched for the ceramic lamp.
I picked up the lamp, ripping the cord from the wall just as the woman came forward, shouting things that weren’t clear to me because I was running purely on adrenaline right now.
She produced a gun from the small of her back, her face expressionless.
I didn’t think, just screamed out as I charged forward, but she sidestepped me with this fluid accuracy and slammed the butt of the gun into the side of my head.
My hand had already been propelling forward right before she hit me, and the lamp slammed against her temple. I didn’t know if I took her off guard, she didn’t think I’d be strong enough, or luck had been on my side, but it made contact with her skull, a second crack sounding. Shards splintered outward, flying through the air. She stumbled back, blood trailing down the large cut in her temple.
I was dizzy, my vision even more blurry. More blood was drenching the side of my face and sliding down my neck, along my chest, and soaking my shirt. I rubbed the sticky, thicker fluid away from my eyes as I stared at the fight ahead of me becoming even more brutal.
I could see Odhran was growing weaker. I didn’t think a male like him, supernatural Lycans who were more powerful than anything I’d ever seen, could be taken down by cuts littering their body. I had a strong suspicion whatever weapon those men were using to weaken Odhran were laced with something to take the powerful wolf down.
I wasn’t thinking, just reacting. I had to get to him, help him, even if it was a lost cause.
Because if a man as big and strong as Odhran couldn’t take down these men, I sure as hell didn’t stand a chance. But I had to try. I couldn’t stand here and watch. I had to fight.
One of the men gave a brutal hit to Odhran’s side, having the big Lycan careening to the side and crashing into the wall, plaster shattering around him from the impact. He shook his head as if to clear it, his movement slower, less coordinated. He shook his head again and again, his eyes flashing blue before fading and flashing again.
He was trying to shift, to gain more strength with his wolf, but whatever drugs they were poisoning him with clearly suppressed that.
And then one of them slammed an uppercut on the underside of Odhran’s jaw, a pair of daggerlike brass knuckles affixed to his hand. Odhran went down like a ton of bricks, his body prone, his head turned in my direction, his eyes closing slowly.
With a ceramic shard in my hand, I charged forward again. I only made it a few steps before something hard cracked against the back of my head. I cried out but couldn’t stop myself from falling to the ground, my back hitting the wooden floor hard, so I was now staring blankly up at a large black-clad body that stepped over me.
The man wore a mask as well. He crouched in front of me, lifted the bottom of his mask up to his forehead, and showed me his face, grinning. I had no idea who he was, but the sick pleasure on his face as he stared into my eyes had me realizing without a doubt he was part of the sick fuckers called the Assembly.
“Never seen one of these creatures in the flesh,” he said and looked at Odhran. “Magnificent.” There was awe in his voice. He looked back at me. “We’re gonna have fun with you while we wait for that animal to come for you.” His grin widened. “And he will come, all beastly and salivating for vengeance.” He leaned in closer. “I can’t fucking wait.” He reared his arm back and brought the back of his hand to my face.
Burning pain speared through me, and as my head cocked to the side, as blood filled my mouth in a metallic tang, and as the darkness started to slowly drag me down, I knew this was it.
There was no hope.
There was no chance of getting out of this.
23
Cian
She was gone. Taken. I didn’t even have to get to the house to know that was my truth now, my reality.
I slammed the car into park and got out without turning the ignition off, racing toward the front door, which I could already see was hanging from the frame.
I was dizzy, my breathing short, fast, my head swimming. Panic settled in my gut as I broke through the threshold and took in the scene. Another roar spilled from my throat when I scented blood and saw the crimson smear on the ground. It was Evie’s, the scent sweet, an imprint in my body after marking her.
I’d never cried in my life, never felt fear. But right now I experienced all the things I never had before. I felt wetness cover my cheeks, knew I was crying by the feeling of those tears moving swiftly down my face, at how blurry my vision became.
It felt like someone had ripped a hole in my chest, pulled out my heart, and ground it into pulp. Without Evie, I was nothing but a husk, an empty shell. Gods, this was what Odhran had been feeling for far too long. How had he survived?
I angrily wiped the tears away, growling and pissed at myself. I had to keep it together. I had to find her. I would find her.
I tried to think rationally as I took in the scene, needing all the information I could to find her, track her.
The entryway was covered in blood. I could smell it was mainly Odhran’s, the red smeared on the floor, handprints on the walls, pools of the thick fluid fucking everywhere. He’d put up one hell of a fight, deep gouges from his claws raking down the walls and floors evidence of that. I also smelled human blood, males. I was proud Odhran had gotten some vicious hits on them.
Time had no meaning as I walked through the house, taking inventory of everything. Debris from the broken door and from destroyed wall plaster was scattered to my right. There was a lamp in broken pieces on the ground between the hall and foyer. I walked over to it and crouched, picking up a piece and scenting human female blood on it. But not Evie’s. I closed my eyes and breathed out in my temporary relief.
My body hummed with the need to find her, my wolf howling and pacing within me to track her. I was wasting precious time, even though I told myself I had to make sure I got any and all information. Not doing so would just slow me down.
