“Come on, Isaac.” Dimitri said, his face all sharp angles and eyes alight with a cruel kind of mirth. “You make me work for this I won’t make your return pleasant.”
“So I’m just supposed to roll over? What drugs are you on?” Isaac plastered on his brightest smile. “Sweetie, I’m about to make you sweat for my kidnapping.”
Dimitri’s grip loosened for just a second, long enough for Isaac to twist away and dive into the driver’s seat. Isaac would rather screw a cactus, but the tactic worked.
The engine turned over on the first try, a minor miracle for the ancient Honda.
“Isaac—” Marcus appeared at the passenger window.
Throwing the car into Reverse, Isaac peeled out of the parking space. The rearview mirror showed all three enforcers standing in the street, not even bothering to chase him.
That should’ve been his first warning that running was futile, but pathetic hope was better than no hope.
As Isaac raced through empty streets, his mind catalogued escape routes. The highway would take him north, toward the mountains. South led to the city, which offered more places to hide but he didn’t have enough gas. East or west was out of the question unless the demons would let him stop to refuel.
His phone buzzed. Once was annoying.
Twice was pressure.
Three times was a hand closing around his throat.
At a red light, Isaac glanced at the screen. Unknown number, but the message was clear: “You’re only making this harder on yourself, little panda.”
Only Whichello called him that.
The light turned green, but Isaac’s foot stayed on the brake. In the intersection ahead, three figures stood waiting. More enforcers. Behind him, headlights appeared in the mirror.
“Goddammit.” Isaac’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Rolling down his window, he stuck his head out. “Can you please move out of the way? Tryin’ to make a coffee run.”
Marcus’s laugh was genuinely warm, which made everything worse. Bad guys weren’t supposed to have pleasant laughs. “Not a chance in hell. Boss’ll give you all the caffeine you want. After.”
Isaac did not like that smirk. “After what?”
“After you stop running and come home.”
Home. As if that place could ever be home. Calling a cage a home was how monsters slept at night.
But with enforcers surrounding his car and nowhere left to run, Isaac’s options had dwindled to zero. His red panda chittered anxiously under his skin, recognizing the trap closing like a noose around them.
Adrenaline flooded his system like poison when he understood running wasn’t an option anymore. He didn’t want to go back willingly, but fighting would just delay the inevitable.
Dimitri opened the car door and hauled Isaac out. His grip tightened slightly before pushing Isaac toward his fate.
At the alley’s edge, where streetlight met shadow, Marcus stepped into the darkness first. Not dramatically, not like movies made it seem. Just walked forward and vanished like he’d never existed.
Too bad it doesn’t actually yeet him into the void.
Taking a deep breath, Isaac and Dimitri went next. His stomach lurched as reality folded in on itself, the sensation of falling making Isaac shout. His gut immediately revolted when they landed, that familiar nausea rising.
Isaac pushed to his feet and glanced around. Serenity City lay in permanent night, like someone had turned the light switch off and had forgotten to flip it back on. The place was crawling with all sorts of nonhumans who’d shown up and just never left, calling this place home. It pretty much looked like an average city, except there was no sun or anything with wheels. No cars lined the empty streets. No bicycles leaned against buildings.
Streets without purpose. Infrastructure without movement. A city built for beings who didn’t need momentum the way the human realm did.
Why have streets if there was no use for them?
They turned down a tree-lined drive. The mansion loomed impressive against the sky, lit from below by strategically placed streetlights. Modern architecture mixed with classical elements. Whichello’s aesthetic in a nutshell. Beautiful and cold and designed to intimidate.
They headed toward the front entrance where more enforcers waited. Isaac counted at least six, with probably more inside.
