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.”