Mao dropped from a tree. His panther sniffed the air, and if a cat could look amused, Duron was looking at one. “It’s not my fucking fault,” Duron muttered, more to himself, self-conscious of his aroused scent. Although the cat chuffed as it went back to the gates.
Met by Wyatt, Nori and Kylo, outside the gate where the most devastation was. Duron lifted the guy one-handed effortlessly as the guy continued to wail. “Here.” Duron thrust the man at Kylo, who appeared to be the brother everyone turned to. “I sense you want answers before we offer him to Beaumontto chow down on.” He added enough menace to get the guy to piss his pants and get Beaumont moving close enough for his eyes to meet their captive.
Up close, Beaumont was one scary fucker in his animal form.
Yummy.His bear was ready to come out and snuggle with his cold-blooded mate and warm him up.
“You two need to tone it down. You’re making my cat antsy with all your mating sexy pheromones,” Nori said, smirking when the guy Kylo dropped to the floor, lower lip hung open, and the screaming stopped as his wide-eyed gaze moved between Duron and Beaumont, revealing horror.
Beaumont came closer, his long jaw snapping once more when Kylo crouched and tugged on the tatty blue T-shirt, avoiding the wet stained jeans. “Now, let’s see what you have to say.” Kylo’s Jopara was more guttural.
Languages were something Duron learned young to enable him to blend in when he was required to go into towns to do his job.
Kylo glanced sideways at Beaumont, then back at the dude. “Say nothing,” his grin was pure evil, “and my friend here will start nibbling at your extremities and…” Kylo twisted to Nori. “How long does it take to bleed out fully if we do itpainfullyslow?”
Nori had medical training, so Duron heard from Ben, back when the assassins had captured him—well, before Ben found his mates. “If our alligator friend is delicate, then two, maybe three days as long as he doesn’t hit a major artery,” Nori explained casually, like he was discussing the weather.
The guy whose skin was deep bronze, paled noticeably. His chin quivered, his limbs shaking uncontrollably. “I… I… the… Devil… no…”
A large hand gripped the T-shirt, hauling the guy up off the ground, and Kylo took hold of one arm and thrust it to Beaumont. The scent of urine increased in the warm, muggy air right as a scream pierced Duron’s ears.
His wolf and elephant parts became unamused by the noise with how super sensitive their hearing was.
“Wait… wait… please,” the dude screamed and begged, while slobber and snot merged into a mess on his chin.
“I’m not feeling very patient with the front of my home bearing the brunt of your handy work, so get the fuck on with it.”
Mao, still in panther form, crowded closer, as did Felix, Nori, and Wyatt followed suit. Duron added his bulk to the mix, his cock for the moment chill enough after the screaming to not make him feel too self-conscious. They formed a threatening circle around the dude, making sure Beaumont had enough room to keep his long mouth close enough to snap the fucker in two.
The guy’s eyes wheeled frantically around them all. “The Devil… no one sees. He sends messages down the chain.”
Kylo shook the guy by the T-shirt, making his teeth rattle, the hand getting closer to Beaumont’s gaping mouth. “We know this.”
“Wait! Wait,” the guy squealed, the stench of his fear permeating the air mixed with the acidic smell of his piss. “I… monitor the chain of command… there are four levels of seniority. I am the lowest.”
“No fucking shit!” Kylo growled, adding a bit more force into the next shake, causing the guy’s head to snap back and forth.
Only Duron hadn’t missed the interest in Kylo’s gaze as he cast it quickly to Mao.
“The ones above me, they hang out at La Piedra Restobar. They say the Devil he owns it.”
Duron sensed this was new information by how Nori straightened, and Felix never took his gaze off the man held in Kylo’s hands. No one spoke initially, and Duron wasn’t sure why.
Were they able to talk to each other? He’d heard some shifter families could do this. As it wasn’t something he’d ask aloud, he observed the brothers. Watching for any tells. He’d long ago learned to communicate without words. They did not really need speech when it was only seven percent of communication.
I suspect they can communicate with each other.
Not quite used to hearing a voice that wasn’t his animals, Duron worked to not startle from the newness of his connection with Beaumont when he’d solely focused on what was happening with their captive.
His gaze drifted carefully to his mate, who continued to hold his mouth open and stare at the guy gibbering about meetings he’d spied on to figure out how to get to the next level of command.
He is stupid if he believes his actions will get him moving up the chain of command;he aimed at his mate.
What he said would more likely get him killed if the information Duron had received on the Devil was anything to go by. Most people in the chain appeared to be expendable if they spoke of any connection to the person everyone feared.
Fear—Duron got.
Ben’s mates experienced a level of fear that made Duron grateful for small mercies. He’d suffered for decades at the hands of the trainers and scientists. Yet, they’d kidnapped him, not created him in a lab. He’d experienced the outside world and though that freedom came with a price—death—he’d created a life with his assassin brothers.
