The first man tried to fire his gun at me again, but Sinthy’s magic must have extended further than the bullets. His gun did nothing. I crashed into him, tackling him to the floor in a pile of limbs and screaming that cut off as I ripped out his throat. The coppery mineral taste of blood filled my mouth.
Leaving that royal soldier to bleed out, I turned on the second man. The red gore that dripped from my muzzle senthim into a frenzy of horror. He stumbled backward, dropping his gun and yanking a long hunting knife from the sheath on his belt. I attacked him with abandon, snapping my jaws at him as he swiped his knife back and forth, cutting the air with a hiss. His eyes were wide with panic. I waited until he slashed at my back with the knife to dodge aside and grab his ankle with my bloody teeth. My fangs sank into the soft flesh of his Achilles tendon, and it snapped beneath my jaws. The knife fell from his hand with a clatter as he tumbled backward in agony. He tried to clutch at his ruined leg, but as he fell, his temple caught the edge of a table. He survived but was knocked unconscious.
“He’s running,” Sinthy muttered as she raised her hands toward the roof.
My ears popped as some sort of spell fell around the house. I spun and looked at Sinthy with questioning wolf eyes.
“Maxwell. He’s trying to run. I put a forcefield around the house to hold him,” she said.
The thud of feet came from the basement. Either Maxwell, the third guard, or both. Not wanting to give them a chance to get the jump on me, I ran straight toward the basement door, my paws digging into the carpet as I ran.
The door flung open, and the first person out was Maxwell. His eyes were as big as platters. I’d never seen someone look so scared. Rushing up the stairs behind him was the last royal. I leaped over Maxwell, slamming my paws into the other man’s chest. A look of comedic surprise flashed over his face as his shotgun fell from his hands, and he went flying back down the stairs. He tumbled down the entire flight and collapsed in a heap on the floor. I had no clue if he was still alive or not—I didn’t care.
“Why are you here?” Maxwell shouted. He’d caught sight of Sinthy.
I shifted back and walked toward him. “We’re taking you. That’s why.”
Maxwell shook his head vehemently. “Why, though? I’m not important.”
“Pretty sure even if she tortures you, Viola still feels something for her son,” I said.
Maxwell paled, leaving his skin gray and sickly. “You know?”
I grabbed his arm. “We do. We’re going to use you as a hostage. Force your mother to give up and turn herself in.”
“This won’t change anything. I’m not sure what you thought was going to happen here, but she won’t care if you take me.”
Sinthy lowered her arms. “So, your own mother doesn’t care about you at all?”
Maxwell’s shoulders slumped, then he shrugged. “She cares. But… it’s in her own way.” He looked very sad when he added, “Not enough to abandon her plans.”
“Well, we’ll see about that,” I said.
The man who’d been knocked out slowly started to groan and whimper in pain. I walked over and knelt, smacking him to bring him to full wakefulness. He hissed in pain and clutched at his mangled ankle.
“Wakey-wakey, eggs-and-bakey,” I grumbled. “You’re going to give Viola a message. Any form of retaliation, and the kid dies. Tell her the only way she gets her kid back alive is if she turns herself in. Got it?”
The man looked at me, sweat beaded up on his face from the pain. Even through his agony, he gave me a wicked and vicious smile. “Tell her yourself, you fucking animal.” Beside him, a phone had tumbled to the floor. The screen was face up, open on a recent text to an unknown number:
Wolves are here.Send backup.
“Fuck,”I hissed.
“Nico?” Sinthy shouted, her eyes going wide.
Screeching tires screamed from outside. I lifted my hand to Sinthy, and she ran over, grabbing Maxwell and me. Her fingers dug into our wrists with vice-like power. Racing footsteps sounded on the porch, and an instant later, Viola, looking more harried than I’d ever seen before, rushed into the house. Her eyes were wild with fear, anger, and malice.
When she saw Maxwell in Sinthy’s grasp, her face went ashen. I sneered at her.
“You’ll pay, Nico Lorenzo,” Viola hissed through gritted teeth. “You’ll fucking pay. I swear to God you will. No one steals my property.”
That last sentence bothered me more than almost anything she’d ever said. She’d called her son herproperty. Maybe she couldn’t be reasoned with if that was how she viewed him.
Six men with guns burst through the doorway, gun barrels raised and trained on us. Viola’s mouth twisted in a snarl, and she shouted at the men.
“Shoot them. Don’t let them take him!” She looked like a monster as she screamed.
For the second time in less than ten minutes, I watched a gun barrel aim at my head and fire, but the bullets could only crash into the drywall behind where we’d stood because Sinthy had teleported us away before they could make contact.
