Bile churned in my stomach. “No thanks.”
I dipped around them, trying to stay as close to the wall and as far away from those creeps as possible. I had barely gotten a few feet when Reg darted forward, grabbing my wrist and holding it over my head.
“I think we might stick around a while,” Peter said. “I don’t think we’re quite done yet.”
I let out another snarl as I tried to wrench my hand away.
“She’s a fighter,” Reg laughed. “I like my girls to have a bit of spirit. It makes it more fun—”
I drove my knee into his crotch, twisting my wrist out of his grasp at the same time, using one of the techniques Amelia had taught me. He howled, letting go as he doubled over, but I didn’t have time to gloat. As Amelia had said, I was training to get away, not beat these guys.
Reg was already straightening, his hand lashing out at me. As he grabbed for me again, I narrowly dodged. I couldn’t get through the front, not with them blocking it. But there was a back exit. I spun and raced down the aisle.
I kept moving, hoping that I would be able to get away, going to the very last aisle, preparing to turn and head for the back door. I rounded the corner, only to find Peter blocking the end, slowly moving toward me. I went to double back, but Reg was already closing in on me. They’d pinned me.
I shrank back, trying to keep as much distance between myself and the two shifters as possible. My shoulder bladespressed against the corner, items rattling and falling from the shelves.
“Nowhere to go now, is there?” Peter jeered as he strutted forward.
With a smirk, Reg grabbed for me, his hand closing once more around my wrist. This time, though, he yelped, his hand releasing me at lightning speed, shaking it as though he’d been burned.
“She’s hot—literally,” he said, staring at me as though I were a freak.
“What are you talking about?” Peter asked. “Grab her.”
My hands began to prickle with heat. Fire sparked at my fingers, the light and heat flickering before they vanished. Peter stumbled when he saw it.
“What the hell?” he asked, blinking as if trying to decide if he had imagined it.
As quickly as it flared to life, it vanished, disappearing into nothing.
I tried to make the fire come back, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t focus, not with the two shifters still slowly approaching. All I could fixate on was how quickly they could close the gap as they kept coming nearer.
Chapter 14 - Sam
“So have there been any reports of demon attacks?” I asked, rummaging through the reports laid across my desk.
“Nothing definitive lately,” Drake admitted. “We’ve seen some withered spots, places with decayed cacti and the like. Nothing that would point us toward wherever they’re camping out.”
Scowling, I scanned the pages in front of me as if expecting them to tell me something other than what Drake had just claimed. The words remained the same.
“They’re mocking us at this point,” I growled, slouching in my chair as my eyes darted across the page. “They aren’t keeping to the north as much, either. Seems like they might have figured out we’re trying to track them to the lair.”
“That’s what Oz was thinking,” Drake admitted. “Which probably means you’re right.”
“Yeah, and I hate it,” I muttered, staring out at the dark sky, annoyance and exhaustion rushing over me in equal parts. It felt like every time we tried to go up against the demons or the wraith, they had a new trick up their sleeve. My job was to anticipate them, but it was like trying to predict when the next blizzard was going to hit Florida.
As I hunched over the table, fear and anger that had nothing to do with going through patrol reports rippled through me. I stiffened, that fright wrapping around me, melding with determination and anger. A will to keep fighting despite the terror.
At first, I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on. Then it hit me.
I straightened, all my senses on alert as those emotions continued screaming from the mating bond. My wolf snarled as he flexed his claws, wanting to protect his mate.
“Are you all right?” Drake asked.
I was, but I wasn’t the one I was worried about right now. Rachel was in trouble. I knew it deep in my bones, as if I would have been able to sense it even without the mating bond.
I let out a deep, furious growl as my wolf snarled in rage, its claws flexing, wanting to race to wherever she was, all but dragging me out of my chair with the strength of that urge.
