AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You think about what your life is worth to you. Your hour starts now.”
He turned and strode back into the darkness. I watched him go even after I couldn’t see him and jumped when the metal door to the office on the catwalk banged shut.
My left eye was now swollen shut, and I closed the other. For a brief moment, I let myself grieve the future I would never get to have with Nero because every moment that I spent tied to that chair was a moment closer to never seeing him again, and that more than Cooper’s threats nearly broke my resolve.
But there was no way in hell, even if I gave him the drive gift wrapped and with a bow on top that he was going to let me walk out of that warehouse.
I was on borrowed time, and the thing that sucked worst of all was that I finally had something I didn’t want to lose.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into the unforgiving silence as my heart shattered.
CHAPTER
TWENTY
NERO
“We need to get there. Now!”My heart felt the moment Felix gave up. He was still alive, but something in me knew he didn’t think he would be for very much longer, and quite frankly, that was un-fucking-acceptable. I wasn’t typically one for violence. I liked to think I had more skill than as just a blunt instrument, but I was going to kill whoever had kidnapped Felix myself.
“Doing the best I can, bro.” Cal was behind the wheel, and in fairness, he was driving like the hounds of hell were at our backs, but it wasn’t fast enough.
“We’re only five minutes out.” Quin was riding shotgun and navigating.
“Felix might not have that long.”
“How do you know?” Jack was in the back seat of Cal’s Range Rover next to me.
“He’s my mate. I just do.” I hated that the feelings I was picking up through our bond were so minimal. When we’d been floating in the inlet behind the Jade Crane, the gentle impressions of happiness and contentment flowing back and forth between the bond were soothing and nice and enough. Even though I’d wanted to claim Felix, waiting until things weremore settled had felt like the right call. Now, I was regretting not exchanging bites with him the first night I took him to bed.
But it was too late for regrets. We were going to make it in time to rescue him, and then I would claim him as mine forever.
Cal cut the headlights as the Range Rover hit a pothole that challenged the vehicle’s shocks and sent us all bouncing around as we pulled through a construction gate.
“We’re here.” Cal maneuvered the SUV into a spot out of sight from the building Felix was being held in. We’d sneak across the adjoining lot on foot to maintain the element of surprise.
My heart was in my throat as I climbed out of the car. I reached out through our tentative mate bond and tried to reassure Felix that he was safe, that I was there to save him, but I didn’t get anything back. If the worst had happened to him, I’d know, but it didn’t bode well that I could barely sense him on the other end of our connection.
Quin’s grip on my arm was the only thing that made me stop, and I turned, realizing I’d already walked several yards away from the car. “This is almost over.” Quin walked beside me back to where Cal held up a small box that contained the comms Julius had given us before we’d left the house. My brother’s optimism was appreciated, but a tugging feeling in my gut told me this was just the beginning, that this issue with Felix was barely scratching the surface of something else.
I recognized the small black box, but I hadn’t used one of the devices it contained since my last job with my grandmother. It was oddly nostalgic to slip the tiny bud into my ear, and for a second, I almost expected my grandmother to be standing beside me. Julius’s voice in my ear checking the comms, followed by Quin’s, Cal’s, and Jack’s, pulled me out of the memory. When I’d been working with my grandmother, our tech support and “guy in the chair,” as Felix would say, was aguy named Constantine Yang. Con’s voice was low, melodic, and slightly accented. Julius’s was none of those things.
Cal checked the magazine and safety on two identical handguns, then passed one to me and one to Quin. I expected Quin to hesitate, but he took the gun, tested the weight, and shoved it into the waistband of the black tactical pants he’d borrowed from Cal.
“All right, kids. Let’s rock ’n’ roll.” Cal shoved the comms case back into the glove box and clicked the doors locked from the inside.
We made the walk to the adjacent building in silence, splitting up when we reached the cracked concrete parking lot around the building. The black sedan with a missing driver’s-side mirror and a flat tire sat in shadow at the rear of the lot. No motion-detecting lights flicked on, and nothing moved.
“We’re in position,” I said into the comms when Quin and I were ready on either side of the front door.
“Same,” Jack said.
“On my count.” Cal counted down from one, and I kicked in the door. It swung open on rusted hinges, giving way too easily. Quin palmed the small flashlight he’d insisted on bringing despite the fact that Cal had outfitted us all with low-profile night-vision goggles, and I shook my head, gesturing at the glasses instead. Quin tapped the side of the glasses and stowed the mini Maglite back in his pocket. I tapped the side of my goggles too, activating the night-vision function, and looked around the space. We were in a small reception area, empty except for a dilapidated Formica desk that didn’t look portable. There were metal doors on either side of the desk, leading deeper into the building.
Quin followed me to the door on the right, and I peered into the space beyond. The door led into a hallway, and we walked down the corridor, keeping to the walls. At the end, yet anotherdoor, this one a metal fire door, waited. I knew Felix was on the other side of that door, and it took everything in me not to take off at a run.
“We’re in the warehouse.” Cal’s voice echoed in my ear.
I pushed through the door with Quin at my back and stepped onto the warehouse floor. Abandoned and rusted-out equipment cluttered the area, and we moved carefully around boxes of abandoned parts for whatever had been made or stored in the space.
