CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
MARCUS
My head was splittingin half. That was the only explanation for the amount of pain I was in.
I bit back a groan, trying to come up with a clear memory of what happened. With my healing abilities, I hadn't been in this much pain in a long, long time.
It came rushing back. The exterior ward had gone off, waking Callum and me. We'd met in the living room, armed ourselves, and exited the house.
That was the last thing I remembered.
My muscles tensed and I cracked my eyelids open. Light filtered through woven black cloth. They'd put a bag over my head. I had to smile. It might make things a little more difficult, but not impossible. I closed my eyes again and focused on my other senses.
The air was cool against my skin and the light had been artificial. I was inside a building somewhere. I let my focus shift to what I could hear. There were three humans in the immediate vicinity. I could hear their heartbeats, their breaths, and the minute sounds of their clothing as they shifted their weight.
Wait, there was a fourth heartbeat. It was slower. I inhaled deeply. Even with the bag over my head, I could smell Callum.
But I couldn't smell Merry.
She wasn't with us.
Fuck.
I reached for her with our bond. She was there, but she wasn't conscious. She seemed okay, just out of it.
I heard a door clang and footsteps approaching. Three more people. One woman and two men.
"It's time we had a chat," a man said.
The bag was ripped off my head.
I blinked against the lights and looked around. I was in a huge white room. More like a warehouse. I was chained to a chair and the chair was screwed to the floor. Callum was next to me, his head drooping and also covered with a black bag.
"Good morning," the man said.
I looked up and narrowed my eyes.
The man standing before me was a human in his mid-forties. He looked like a former soldier—his hair was cut short, almost a buzz cut, he was clean-shaven, and he wore a suit over a body that had been hardened by years of training.
"Let's chat," he said, taking a seat in the chair across from me.
The other man and the woman ranged themselves behind him, both wearing dark grey suits with guns beneath their jackets. They assumed identical positions with their arms in front of them, one wrist clasped by the other hand.
I stared at the man, waiting. Callum was still unconscious and I couldn't fight them all and carry him out at the same time.
Finally, he spoke. "Aren't you going to ask me what I want?"
Again, my only response was a glare.
He seemed nonplussed by my unwillingness to speak. He shifted his weight on the chair, leaning forward.
"My name is Edward Channing. And we are going to work closely together for the foreseeable future."
Callum laughed. One of the guards behind us stepped forward to whip the black bag off. He straightened and glared at the human man in front of me.
"I'm so glad you could join us," Edward drawled.
Callum and I glanced at each other. One look and he knew what I intended to do.
