Kade had only taken one step when his head jerked upward and his ears shifted, forming points. His ears twitched, and his brows lowered as he lifted his nose into the air and sniffed.
“What is it?” I asked, but his gaze collided with Locke’s, alarm flashing in his eyes as he shouted, “We’re not alone!”
Two monsters lumbered out from behind a building. Thick black veins ran over their massive ash-gray chests and along the bands of muscle on their misshapen arms, and when they roared, their fanged mouths opened so wide they could swallow my head whole. Each of their meaty hands ended in three long claws, and two small red eyes glowed atop their bald heads. One of the monsters let out a strange, keening sound, and as if it was a signal, more monsters appeared, swarming from all directions. They came from between buildings and jumped from rooftops like they’d been waiting for us.
My heart stuttered. “Outliers,” I breathed as Kade quickly lowered me to the ground.
“We can’t seem to get a fuckin’ break,” Asher commented as the four of them circled around me protectively. “And the fae thinkI’mugly. Just wait until they see these bastards.”
Darian’s lips twisted. “They will be surprised indeed.”
Locke glared at the outliers. “We knew there might be trouble when we returned. Looks like Warrick has been busy while we were away.”
As the closest outliers reached us, Kade and the others launched into action. Locke’s claws raked in deep across the chest of an outlier, while Asher’s fist smashed into another creature’s face. Darian darted and spun, delivering short, sharp blows to various places on an outlier’s abdomen before performing a roundhouse kick that sent the beast flying.
I jumped back from an outlier that tried to grab my arm, and the creature’s claws tore through the silken skirt of the fae gown still clinging to me. Opening its massive mouth, the outlier roared, its rancid breath rushing at my face and saliva spraying on my cheeks.Fuck.And then Asher was barreling into the monster, pushing it away from me.
Another outlier advanced from my other side, and Locke came up behind the beast, ripping its head clean from its body. But as soon as one outlier fell, there were three more to take its place. All around, the outliers advanced, coming at us from all sides. Kade, Locke, Darian, and Asher fought hard, but without their blades, it was harder to deal killing blows.
“Stay close to Raine!” Locke shouted, but his voice was quickly drowned out by the outliers’ roars and the sounds of battle.
An outlier smacked a meaty arm across Darian’s chest, and the siren went flying to the side. He rolled along the cobblestones as he landed, but before an outlier could crush his skull with its large, clawed foot, Darian opened his mouth and a spine-chilling tune poured out of him. As one, the outliers turned to focus their attention on the siren, and Asher, Kade, and Locke went on the offensive, working efficiently to bring the creatures down.
An outlier who had managed to block its ears, drove its fist into Darian’s chest, and the siren’s tune sputtered out. Freed from their trance, three outliers ran at me, aiming for a gap that had opened up between Kade and Asher. Their red eyes locked onto my face, and I backed toward the door of a darkened building, panic building in my throat. If I could just find a blade or another weapon. Even a kitchen knife would do! Grasping the door handle, I twisted my wrist, but the door didn’t budge, the wood remaining hard against my spine.Oh fuck!Kade and the others growled and snarled as they fought the monsters coming at them from all angles. Kade was in animal form now, his wolf raging as it ripped apart the outliers swarming him.
Magic, Raine! Use your stupid magic!I didn’t need a weapon; Iwasa damn weapon. Sweat streamed down my forehead as I tried to find the spark.Come on!But the three outliers were too close. Claws reached for me, ready to tear me to pieces, when my magic flared to life, reaching for the outliers in front of me.
A rumbling came from the cobblestones beneath my feet, and then a small portion of the street in front of me disintegrated to sand, and water rushed through the opening, crashing into the outliers and pushing them backward. The water cocooned the beasts as they thrashed, the liquid diving into their noses, throats, and ears. Their bodies swelled as they filled with water, ballooning until they exploded, water, blood, and flesh spraying in all directions.Well, that got the job done,I thought with a disgusted wince.
Locke, Asher, and Darian peered over at me, their brows raised in surprise. Asher gave me a toothy grin, the expression looking almost crazed given his face was slick with black blood. Locke took a step in my direction, but five more outliers attacked from his right, taking his attention away from me.
I rolled my shoulders, setting my sights on the massive pile of outliers that were crowding around Kade’s wolf. Taking a breath, I focused my mind, but a warm hand clamped over my mouth in the same instant that an arm wrapped around my middle, pulling me backward.
My startled cry was muffled as I was yanked into the building behind me. The wooden door shut as quickly as it had been opened, and I started to buck and struggle. The hand removed from my face just long enough for someone to wrap a gag over my mouth.
“We need to get her away from here,” a feminine voice said behind me, and I frowned.Where have I heard that fucking voice?I still hadn’t figured it out, when strong hands gripped under my arms, and I was pulled through the house, the shadowed furniture passing in a blur. Within a matter of seconds, I was yanked out of the back of the building and pulled across a street and into another dwelling. We crossed at least six streets, moving through multiple houses before my kidnappers paused again.
A figure stepped into my line of sight, and I glared at my captor.Kasey.One of Zacal’s wolves. One of the ones who used to torment Kade. The one I would have killed if Kade hadn’t stopped me.
She gave me a cruel, fanged smile. “Oh, how I’ve waited for this,” she growled, and faster than I’d seen her move, her hand cracked across my cheek, forcing my head to the side. Pain flared all the way up to my eye, but I gritted my teeth. Strong hands still held under my arms, keeping me steady, and I twisted my head to glance at the two burly-looking males holding me before turning my attention back to Kasey.
Claws peeked from the wolf shifter’s hand, but as she pulled back to strike me again, an ear-splitting growl shattered through the city, rattling the buildings and lampposts.
“Kade,” she snarled through clenched teeth.
Low, rumbling growls came from the males holding me, and I smiled like a maniac at the thought of Kade’s wolf tearing these three apart.Then again, why should he have all the fun?I thought of my magic. I’d been so panicked I hadn’t even thought of using it while they’d dragged me away.
I focused on the power flowing through my veins and thought of my three captors. Magic swelled inside me, making my body tingle.
“We need to hurry!” Kasey snapped at the males, a hint of fear in her voice, and then pain erupted in my skull, and the world went black.
CHAPTER 20
~ Kade ~
Rainehadbeentakenfrom us. One moment, she’d been near that fucking building, using her magic to obliterate outliers, and the next, she was gone. Fear and fury exploded inside me, and I let out an enraged growl as my wolf teeth tore through the outliers attacking me from all sides. The creatures swarmed at me and my brothers like rats pouring from a sewer, and a sickening feeling twisted in my gut. This had been Warrick’s plan all along. His outliers hadn’t been waiting forus.They’d been waiting for Raine.
“We can’t let him fuckin’ have her!” Asher yelled as he drove his fist forward, smashing through an outlier’s rib cage and tearing out its heart.
