Page 138 of Avenging Azalea

I sped through the yellow light and skidded as I pulled into the driveway. Throwing the car into park, I jumped out and spotted a wet puddle that was obviously blood. There was no controlling the panic that was making me see red.

Pulling my gun, I ran inside and heard Matt yelling out orders. I followed the sound of his voice and found him pulling on an operating gown.

“Matt!” He spun in my direction. His eyes dropped to the gun in my hand. “Where is Fawn?”

“I don’t know. I heard gunfire, but didn’t think it would be in our parking lot, so I waited a few minutes before I checked to see if someone needed help. I was walking outside when a car sped out of the parking lot with Fawn fighting in the backseat. Sheba was bleeding on the ground. If she has any chance of making it, I have to get in there and operate. Go up front and tell Doreen that I’ve sent you to look at the security footage for the parking lot.”

Matt pushed open a door with his back, keeping his hands clean. I could just make out a surgical table with Sheba on it.

“Matt?”

He paused and looked at me. I tore my eyes away from her still body.

“Please.”

Matt nodded before the door closed behind him.

Darting toward the front of the clinic, I stopped at the front desk. The woman sitting behind the counter was crying and let out a scream when I suddenly appeared.

“You’re Doreen?” She nodded. “Matt told me to come see you so you can show me the parking lot security video.”

“I was just about to call the police,” she said.

“No police. They’ll just slow me down. I’ll get Fawn back. Show me the video,” I ordered.

The older woman hesitated but then waved me around the desk. She hit some keys on her keyboard and then opened footage from the camera.

“This was just as Fawn was leaving work,” Doreen said, and then stood so I could sit down.

My heart pounded like a drum, the thumping loud as I gripped the edge of the desk to avoid putting my fist through the screen as the scene unfolded. I cringed when Sheba was shot trying to protect Fawn, and even though I knew she would run back to try and save her, I wished she’d gone into the building and locked the door. But that wasn’t Fawn when it came to animals. It was part of the reason I loved her so fiercely. Fawn’s phone dropped to the ground, her bag left behind as she was dragged into a car. The entire abduction took less than three minutes, but it felt like an eternity as I watched.

Pulling out my phone, I took a photo of the car as it was leaving. The license plate was as clear as day. I was ready to murder as I turned to Doreen. The woman shrank away from me, looking terrified.

“No police. I swear I’ll get her back, but I need to do this my way,” I said, and she nodded.

With shaking hands, I burst through the front door and hit Nathaniel’s number. My brother had a gift for tracking people who didn’t want to be found. He was the best I’d ever met at cornering them and making them vanish without a trace. It was why he’d always been trusted with the messiest cleanups.

Now, I needed him to find Fawn. Because if something happened to her…

No. I can’t even finish the thought.

Nathaniel picked up on the second ring. “Hey, I was just about to head into a meeting⁠—”

“Drop it,” I growled, my voice rough with panic. “Someone took Fawn. I need you. Now.”

A beat of silence filled the interior. “Fuck. Alright. Come get me. I know who to call.”

The line went dead. I was already in the car, engine roaring as I raced toward the other side of town, one hand dialing Naji. My vision tunneled, and my heart—my entire fucking soul—screamed for her.

“Gather the men,” I told him when he answered. “Fawn is in trouble, and we’re going hunting.”

Whoever took my Little Bird was about to find out just how brutal I could be when someone touched what was mine.

No warnings. No mercy. The only thing they’d get from me was a slow, agonizing end.

And if she is hurt…

God help them. They would beg for death, but it wouldn’t be granted until the hellhounds tore their souls from their bodies and dragged them to their master.