I shook my head. “What is the rest?”
Once again, Will looked at Kat and smiled. “Katy can fill you in on that.”
“You’ll fill me in right now,” I snarled, losing whatever control I had.
“Or not.” Will yanked on the chains, and Kat buckled.
Her scream was just a whimper, but it cut through me like a rusted knife. I shot up. “Stop it. Let the chains go.”
“But you haven’t even heard what I’m offering.” He yanked on the chains.
Kat’s back bowed completely off the dirty floor of the pen. Her lashes swept down and her face took on a fine sheen of sweat.
Horror roared through me like a tempest. I moved to the front of the cage, hands closing into useless fists. “Let the chains go. Please.”
Will released the chains, and she slumped against the pen. “This is my deal. Mutate me, and I’ll give you the key to the cage, but I’m not stupid, Daemon.”
“You’re not?” I snickered.
The older man’s lip twitched. “I need to make sure you don’t come after me as soon as I leave here, which I know you will once she’s removed from that cage.”
“Am I that predictable? I may have to change up my game.”
Will let out an exasperated breath. “When I leave here, you will not follow me. We have less than twenty minutes to do this, and then you’ll have only thirty minutes, give or take a few, to go to the address I’ve given to Katy.”
I glanced at Kat. “Is this a scavenger hunt? I do so love them.”
“Possibly.” Will slowly approached me, pulling out a gun. “You’ll have a choice to make after you let her out of the cage. You can come after me or you can get the one thing you’ve always wanted.”
“What? A tattoo of your face on my ass?”
Will’s cheeks flushed with anger. “Your brother.”
My heart stopped and every muscle in my body clenched up as I took a step back. “What?”
“I’ve paid a lot of money to get him in a position where he could’ve ‘escaped.’ Besides, I doubt they’ll really be searching for him.” Will smiled. “He’s proven to be quite useless. But you—you, on the other hand, are stronger. You’ll succeed where he’s failed time and time again.”
“Failed…at what?” Kat croaked.
My head swung toward her, my eyes narrowing. Her voice…it sounded raw and painful. For that alone I wanted to wipe the floor with Will’s entrails.
“They’ve been forcing him to mutate humans,” he explained. “It hasn’t been working. He’s not as strong as you, Daemon. You are different.”
I drew in a breath. Will was offering something I couldn’t turn down—my brother, my blood. There was still a huge part of me that just wanted to rip into him. “I’d prefer to hunt you down and break every bone in your body for what you’ve done. Rip your flesh off your body slowly and then feed it to you for hurting Kat. But my brother means more than vengeance.”
Will paled. “I was hoping that would be your decision.”
I’m sure he was. Murder was in my eyes. “You know, you have to be hurt for this to work.”
Will nodded, aiming the gun at his leg. “I know.”
Hell, I was disappointed. Shooting him would make me feel a smidgen better. “I was so hoping I was going to get to inflict the damage.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
I could only watch as Will closed his eyes and shot himself in the leg. It was the craziest thing I’d seen. He didn’t even groan as the bullet tore through his flesh. I stepped forward, wrapping my hands around Will’s arm, tipping my chin down to hide my satisfied smile. Will thought he had all of this figured out.
He was so wrong I would love to be there to witness it.
I healed Will, and in that second for the wound to seal up, I sent him an extra special message that only he could hear. You think this will be the last of me? You’re wrong. I will haunt every step you take for hurting her. That’s a check my foot is going to cash in your ass.
Will jerked back. His eyes held mine for a moment, and I recognized the fear in his gaze. I smiled.
Unnerved, he lurched to the cage and unlatched the cage door. He slipped the manacles off her wrists. “I suggest you don’t tell your mother about this. After all, it would kill her.” He smiled, and I wanted to punch it off his face. “Behave, Katy.”
Then Will was out of the cage and gone.
“Daemon…”
“I’m here.” Carefully entering the cage, I helped her out. “I’ve got you, Kitten. It’s over.”
I knew we were on a timeline, but I cradled her against my chest, smoothing my hands along her damp cheeks. Healing warmth radiated from my touch, seeping into her. I moved back from the cage, holding her so close I was sure I was never going to let her go again.
She gently brushed my hands away once she was standing on her own. Her voice was throaty and low when she spoke. “I’m all right.”
An almost inhuman sound came from me and I clutched her cheeks, bringing her mouth to mine. The kiss tasted of desperation and relief. When I pulled away, she was gasping for air.
“What did you do?” she asked.
I pressed my forehead against hers. Our lips brushed as I spoke. “For the mutation to work, both parties have to be willing, Kitten. Remember what Matthew said? I wasn’t entirely into it, if you get my drift. And not to mention, he needed to be dying or close to it. The mutation probably won’t work. At least not to the extent he thinks.”
She laughed, the sound rasping. “Evil genius.”
“You betcha,” I replied, my gaze roaming over her as I threaded my fingers through hers. “You sure you’re okay? Your voice…”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’ll be okay.”
I kissed her again, pouring everything I felt for her into it. I wanted to erase the harsh memory of her time here. I wanted to shield her from ever experiencing something like this again. My hands dropped to her waist and I held her against me, letting her feel just how badly I wanted her, so there was no doubt that she was it for me. She was mine.
I was hers. A truth that would never change.
I sighed against her mouth. “Now let’s go get my brother.”
Chapter 29
Kat’s sweater and shoes had disappeared, so I tugged the heavy wool sweater I was wearing off and over her head. The cold wouldn’t affect me as much. I picked her up and raced out of the warehouse since her feet were completely unprotected. Hybrid—mutated, whatever—she was still more human than me.
I used the Source to open the passenger door and then gently placed her in the seat. I grabbed the seat belt.
“I can do it,” she mumbled.
I was unable to move as I watched her hands tremble as she fumbled with the seat belt. Jesus, what had happened in there to her? I wanted to ask her, but there wasn’t time. I backed off, moving wicked fast around the front. In a second, I was behind the steering wheel. “Ready?”
She leaned back against the seat, her shoulders slumped and eyes barely open. Weariness invaded her expression. “You could leave me. You’d be faster…without me.”
My brows shot up as I eased the SUV around the Dumpsters. “I’m not leaving you.”
“I’ll be fine. I can stay in the car and…you can just do your zippy speed stuff.”
I shook my head. “Not going to happen. We have time.”
“But—”
“Not going to happen, Kat.” I gunned it out of the parking lot. “I’m not leaving you alone. Not for a freaking second, okay? We have time.” I brushed the hair off my forehead with one hand, my jaw clenching tightly. “When I got your message about your mom and when you didn’t respond back to me, I thought maybe you were already at the hospital in Winchester, so I called and when they told me your mom hadn’t been admitted…” I shook my head as I flew down the road. “I thought the worst—I thought they’d gotten you. And I was ready to tear this whole damn town apart. And then I got the call
from Will…so, yeah, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
I glanced at her sideways. Kat didn’t look okay. Not even a little. She didn’t sound okay. We sped onto the highway heading east. “Are you really okay, though?” I asked, my hands tightening on the steering wheel.
She nodded instead of speaking.
“Onyx,” I grunted out. “It’s been years since I saw it.”
“Did you know it would do that?” Her voice was raspy as if…as if she’d spent all day screaming, and that was mostly likely what had happened.
“Back when we were being assimilated, I’d seen it used on those who were causing problems, but I was young. I should’ve recognized it, though, when I first saw it. I just never saw it in that capacity—on bars and chains. And I didn’t know it would affect you the same way.”
“It…” She trailed off, and I focused on the road.
I had to focus, because I really wanted to lose my shit. I remembered how painful it looked for those it was used on during assimilation. Onyx was said to be one of the most painful things we could be exposed to, worse than even an Arum feeding. Those Luxen had screamed like their skin was being hacked away from their muscle and bone with a butter knife.
Knowing that Kat had suffered that for hours filled me with helpless rage. My ass had been sitting in class while she was being tortured. Freaking tortured.
“Kat?”
She sat up in the seat. “Blake and I aren’t very different.”
“What?” I looked at her sharply. “You’re nothing like that son—”
“No. I am.” She twisted toward me. “He did everything to protect Chris. He betrayed people. He lied. He killed. And I get that now. Doesn’t make anything he did okay, but I get that now. I…I would do anything to protect you.”
I stared at her for long as I could without driving off the road, and then I looked back at the road. I knew what she was saying. She would kill to protect me. She would do anything to keep me safe. The same as Blake, but no…it wasn’t the same.
Reaching over, I threaded my fingers through hers and brought our joined hands to my thigh.
“You’re still nothing like him, because in the end, you wouldn’t hurt someone who was innocent. You’d make the right call.”
She didn’t respond to that. Several moments passed. “About Will? What…what do you think will happen with him?”
I growled. “God, I do want to hunt him down, but here’s the deal. Worst-case scenario, he’s pissed when the mutation fades, and he comes back after us. If so, I’ll take care of him.”
Her brows arched. “And you think there was no way the mutation stuck?”
“Not if Matthew is right. I mean, I wanted to do it to get you out of there, but it wasn’t this true and deep want. He nicked an artery, but he wasn’t dying.” I sent her a look. “I know what you’re thinking. That if it did, we’re connected to him.”
“Yeah,” she replied.
“There’s nothing we can do about that now but wait and see.”
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat, but it did nothing to make her voice sound stronger. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”
I squeezed her hand. We were near Street of Hopes, the address provided. “Are you okay?”
She smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’m okay. Don’t worry about me right now. Everything…”
“Everything is about to change.” Shit. I couldn’t even wrap my head around what was about to happen. My brother. God, he was alive and we were about to be reunited. I pulled along the back of the plaza, hitting the brakes. Pulling my hand free, I killed the engine and took a deep breath as I glanced at the clock in the dashboard. We had five minutes.
Kat unclicked the seat belt. “Let’s do this.”
I blinked. “You don’t have to come in with me. I know…you’re tired.”
A steely look of determination filled her heather-gray eyes as she opened the door and stepped out of the SUV, standing in the damn cold parking lot with her bare feet. I was beside her in a second, taking her hand. She didn’t need to do this. She could stay in the SUV where it was warm and she could rest, but she was doing this for me.
“Thank you,” I said.
Kat smiled, and then we started into the building, and I couldn’t help but notice the onyx embedded in the bricks. The door was unlocked, and once inside, the alarm system shone green.
Hell, how many people did Will Michaels have to pay off to make this happen? How did he get that kind of money?
The lobby looked like any office building lobby. Half-circle desk, fake plants, and cheap tile floors. There was a door leading to a stairwell that had been conveniently left open. Kat squeezed my hand, and I felt sort of nauseous as I stared at the door.
Squaring my shoulders, we went for it, climbing the steps as fast as we could. At the top landing, there was a closed door. Above it, there was more onyx. I let go of her hand and wrapped my fingers around the handle, a slight tremor running up my arm.
I pushed open the door.
The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight streaming in through one window. There were a couple of folding chairs propped against the wall, a TV in the corner, and a large kennel-like cage in the middle of the room, outfitted with the same kind of manacles that had hung from Kat’s.
I stepped into the room slowly, my hands falling to my sides. Heat rolled off my body as I stared at the cage.
The empty cage.
Opening my mouth, I shook my head wordlessly as all the hope and excitement swan-dived out of an airplane.
“Daemon,” Kat croaked.
I stalked toward the cage, stood there a moment, and then knelt, pressing my forehead against my hand. A shudder racked my body. Had Dawson ever been here? Was it all a fucking lie? I didn’t know. All that mattered was my brother was still…missing.
Kat’s hand landed on my back, and my muscles tensed. “He…he lied to me,” I said, voice ragged. “He lied to us.”
Pain ripped into me, tearing up old wounds that had never healed. This was never going to be over. That’s how it felt. I was going to go on for the rest of my life chasing a ghost.
Kneeling beside me, Kat pressed against my back. Her arms wrapped around my waist. I placed my hands on her arms and closed my eyes, letting her presence warm me. If she hadn’t been here…
I rose swiftly, catching Kat off guard. She started to fall backward, but I spun around, catching her before she hit the floor. My name was a rough rasp when she spoke. “Sorry,” I said. “We…we need to get out of here.”
She nodded, stepping back. “I…I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You had nothing to do with this. He tricked us. He lied.”
Taking her hand, I led her back to the car. On the way back to the house, I could feel Kat staring at me. I wanted to say something to reassure her. God knows she could use it, too, at this moment, but my jaw was locked shut. All I could focus on was getting us both back to the houses.
Then Kat reached between us, placing her hand on my arm. I glanced at her briefly but said nothing. I don’t think she would ever know how much that meant to me. Her hand stayed there even though she was close to dozing off.
I pulled into my driveway, letting the SUV idle for a moment as I saw Matthew’s car behind Dee’s. Kat blinked several times. “Did you call them, tell them what happened to…me?”
“They wanted to help find you, but I had them stay here in case…” No point in finishing that part of the sentence, but the next needed to be said as I turned off the engine. “If the mutation doesn’t hold, I will find Will and I’m going to kill him.”
Kat didn’t look all that surprised by the statement as I leaned over the center console and kissed her. Her heart immediately sped up, and I smiled against her mouth, loving how she responded to the softest of touches.
Pulling away, I glanced over at my house. Seeing Dee right now was going to be hard. A part of
me had hoped bringing Dawson home would elevate some of her pain. I shuddered. “I can’t…I can’t face Dee right now.”
“But won’t she worry?”
“I’ll text her as soon as you’re settled.”