Page 77 of Vanessa’s Bravery

“Oh, fuck!” Gabriel cursed.

“Damn it, Gabriel. I asked you what we’re gonna do now. We can’t leave Vanessa and Patrick in the hands of that vampire! You need to get the other hybrids to where I am, so we can rescue them.”

“Cole, listen carefully.” Gabriel’s voice was shaking. “The other hybrids were taken too. We just got word from Scarlet, Naomi, and Anita, the blood-bonded mates of three of them. Ryder, Damian, and Cooper contacted them via their telepathic bond that they were captured too.”

“What?” He shook his head. “What telepathic bond?”

“I’ll explain later. Just know that all of our sixteen hybrids have been kidnapped. Some are reporting that they’re still in vans being transported.”

“Fuck!” Cole cursed and looked into his rear window.

“Listen, you need to move your car, and park where you can see the entrance to the alley, but where they won’t notice you,” Gabriel said.

“But shouldn’t I block them from bringing more hostages there?”

“No!” Gabriel’s protest almost burst his eardrum. “We can’t let them know that we already know where they brought the hostages. It’ll put Vanessa and Patrick in danger. So, go and move the car. Do it quickly. I’ll stay on the line.”

Cole put the car in gear and crossed to the far-left lane, then made an illegal U-turn and pulled into an available spot on the other side of the street. From there, he still had a perfect view into the alley.

“Okay, I’m in place. What now?”

“Do you have one of those phone holders in your car that has a suction cup?”

Cole felt his forehead furrow at the odd question. “Yeah, why?”

“Listen, and do exactly as I say…”

37

The silver handcuffs around Vanessa’s wrists chafed, and she cursed quietly. She and Patrick weren’t only handcuffed, a long silver chain was looped through the cuffs, chaining them to massive iron rings that were anchored in the concrete floor. And they weren’t the only team that had gotten captured. Within a half hour after their arrival in the large industrial looking building, more of her colleagues arrived, similarly bound before they were chained up in the same manner.

The building looked like it had once been a large auto repair shop, though it also had a second floor. Two sets of stairs led to the upper story, and her sensitive hearing picked up footfalls from above. How many men were on the second floor, she couldn’t tell.

In the van, Milo’s men had put hoods over their heads so that they couldn’t see where they were being held, though she was certain that they were still in the city. They hadn’t driven for long.

When she saw both her brothers being brought in, Vanessa was both worried but also relieved. She managed to get close enough to Ryder to whisper to him.

“Have you contacted Scarlet?”

Because Ryder was blood-bonded, he had the unique ability to communicate telepathically with his mate, Scarlet. Just like the other two blood-bonded hybrids could: Damian and Cooper, both of whom had just arrived.

Ryder nodded, and whispered back, “She’s already called HQ and alerted them that we were taken.”

“Could you see where they brought us?” Vanessa asked.

Below his breath, he said, “No.”

“Fuck,” she cursed. It appeared the ability to communicate to HQ wouldn’t help much if they didn’t know where they were.

“Don’t worry,” Ryder added, keeping his eyes peeled on the vampires guarding them, and waiting for a moment when they weren’t looking at them. “Cole followed you and Patrick. He’s given Dad our location.”

Relief washed over her. Cole was a stubborn man, and any other time she would have torn him a new one for not trusting that she could handle herself, but now he would actually be their salvation.

Ryder smiled at her. “I’m looking forward to meeting him properly.”

Then Ryder fell silent and leaned back against the wall. Vanessa caught a glimpse of Damian too, and noticed that he was letting his eyes roam in the dimly-lit building, most likely telepathically sending information to his mate, Naomi.

Vanessa glanced around too. Milo was huddled in the far corner of the first floor, talking to several of his henchmen. She wasn’t sure how many vampires were in his camp, but if he’d sent three to each incel’s house to lay in wait, he had to have over forty men working for him.