Normally, I would care less if Luke agreed with me. I didn’t like him and doubted I ever would. That he now had a Mate of his own didn’t erase the fact he’d hit on Gabby.
Bethi rolled her eyes at Luke but kept walking, following Carlos down the hallways.
“She only knocked us on our asses because she’s scared, Luke. It wasn’t personal.”
“Like hell,” Luke said under his breath.
I had to agree. Again. I took anything that happened to Gabby very personally.
“I think they are already in the room with her. It’s hard to tell with so many floors,” Gabby said.
“How much further, Gabby?” Carlos asked.
“End of the hall, I think.”
When we neared, I let my claws lengthen. Gabby brushed against me, unknowingly making my possessive anger worse. I wanted to grab her and get out of there.
Carlos pushed the door open, the wood splintering under the strength of his anger.
“Empty,” he said, turning toward Gabby.
“Then it’s gotta be the room above us.”
We hurried up the emergency stairs, and I saw Carlos inhale deeply. I did the same, scenting the other woman, too. If she was in there, then so were the others. I nudged Gabby behind me and saw Luke do the same to Bethi.
Carlos didn’t pause. He crashed through the door, Grey just behind him.
Luke and I had only made it into the room as Carlos tossed the first mongrel out the window. The girl, Isabelle, hadn’t even had a chance to tug her friend toward the door when the second one cleared the broken glass. I understood Carlos’ anger and concern as he watched her.
Bethi stepped around us. Gabby moved to join her, gently touching my arm as she passed. A wave of reassurance washed over our connection. She was getting the hang of being Claimed.
“We need to leave,” Carlos said, still looking at the girl.
“Come on, son,” Grey said, moving to help lift Isabelle’s friend. The guy didn’t look so good. But then, humans didn’t hold up well to chokeholds.
“Isabelle, I’m Bethi,” Bethi said, stepping forward quickly. “I dream our past lives. Mine, yours, hers.” She nodded toward Gabby, making me want to tuck Gabby behind me, out of harm’s way.
“More of them are coming,” Gabby said, the fear in her scent spiking.
Bethi nodded to show she heard, but kept addressing Isabelle.
“Gabby can see their locations and the locations of the others like us. We need to leave. We can’t let them find us.”
I palms grew damp and tensed, waiting for that feeling to wash over me again and bring us all to our knees. The need to shield Gabby had me stepping closer to her. But bone weakening feeling didn’t come.
“Yes, let’s leave,” Isabelle said, suddenly too agreeable.
Bethi and Luke moved out to the hallway as Grey helped Isabelle’s friend. No one seemed suspicious of Isabelle as we quickly left the building. I didn’t like it but kept quiet, until the hair on the back of my neck started to stand up.
“How many?” I asked quietly as we trailed the group.
“It’s hard to say. They are moving in from all over. Twenty? Maybe thirty?” Gabby said softly. Her gaze remained slightly unfocused as she continued to watch.
We followed Isabelle as she led the way to her car. Gabby glanced at Grey and motioned for him that we needed to hurry. He nodded and moved away as Isabelle’s friend slid into the front seat. Isabelle tried taking the keys to drive, but Carlos took them first.
“I’ll drive,” he said.
“No thanks,” she said, holding out her hand.
“We don’t have time for this,” Gabby said. “They’re grouping to the east. We need to go.”
Gabby’s fear wrapped around me. Her fear and the feeling creeping along the back of my neck had me eyeing the parking lot, watching for signs of movement.
“Fine,” Isabelle said. Carlos opened the back door and waited for her to get in.
Gabby turned, snagging Bethi as she moved to the car. I had to hurry to keep up with the pair.
“We need to move. Now,” Gabby said.
Grey was already in the front seat with the engine running when we reached the car. Luke beat me to the back seat, sliding in beside Bethi. I quickly got in the front.
“Tell me what you’re seeing, Gabby,” Grey said as he backed up.
“They are closing in from all directions. Turn right out of here,” Gabby said from behind Grey. “Speed Grey. Don’t stop for anything.”
I turned slightly in my seat. Her eyes were wide and her face pale. I sent a wave of reassurance and love over our link.
“How close are they?” I said, watching her.
“Very close. Wait. There’s a small opening. Here! Grey, turn here!”
Grey jerked the wheel hard, and I faced forward to watch the trees lining the old side road. I spotted movement to the right a second before four half-shifted men sprinted from their cover. They ran straight for our car, the leader jumping up on the hood and hitting the window with his fist. As the glass splintered, Grey slammed on the brakes.
All hell broke loose. The man on the hood went flying over the top of the car as we came to a stop. Wolves poured from the trees. The glass beside me folded in as an arm reached for me. I growled, my half-shifted mouth and extended canines ready for the fight. Claws raked my skin as the owner of the arm tried to grab my shirt. I thrust the arm down, hearing a quick snap of bone.
Glass splintered around us as more crashed upon the car. Arms reached through glass while others pulled at the windows to make bigger openings. Grey growled and thrust his door open, using it to push men and wolves back. Behind me, a passenger door opened.
Gabby screamed. The sound tore through me. I turned my head in time to watch her disappear into the crowd of urbat. My control slipped. The change consumed me as I burst from the car. Men grabbed at me. I clawed and savagely tore into anyone trying to stop me from reaching Gabby.
She yelled again, further away. I roared. A wave of love washed over our connection.
I fought harder. Bones snapped and blood poured. Still they came. A wall of bodies determined to keep me from her. Until, suddenly, the wall was gone. And so was Gabby.
I howled at the same time someone else did. Turning, I saw Grey near a gore covered Carlos. Carlos was shaking, the tremors so violent, I wondered how he was still upright. I realized I wasn’t much better off. They’d taken Gabby. I hadn’t protected her.
“We’ll find her, but we need to move, now,” Grey was shouting at Carlos.
Bodied littered the ground. Sirens howled in the distance. With a shudder, I pulled back the change.
“Here,” Bethi said, thrusting a package of baby wipes at me. “I’ve learned it pays to start carrying something for cleanup with you guys around.” Her voice warbled as she spoke, and I noted the long bloody blade in her other hand.
I took the package and quickly swiped the blood off my face. Luke tossed some clothes at me. I tugged on the pants then finished dressing as we moved away from the scene.
Carlos moved beside me.
“Where are they?” he asked.
I concentrated on the connection Gabby and I had.
“East of us.”
He nodded.
We stayed within the cover of the trees as we jogged east. The sirens were a distant wail when we stepped out onto another street.
“We need to move faster,” Carlos said.
I glanced at Bethi, the one slowing the group down.
“Go. Get them. If you don’t, everything we’ve done so far will have been pointless. They can’t have them.”
The girl was shaking hard now. Seeing it scared me.
“Let’s go,” I said a second before I took off. I didn’t care who witnessed my unnatural speed. Only Gabby mattered.
* * * *
My heart nearly stopped when we found a van pulled over on the side of a road. Two men lay on the ground, and the redhead was slowly crumpling to join them. Carlos rushed to her. I barely paid them attention. My focus was riveted on the interior of the van. In the shadows, Gabby lay still on a bench seat.