A loud pop, and another guard collapsed behind him with a bullet hole dead between his eyes.
Titus dropped his pistol back to the ground, his fingers moving fast over the keyboard once more. “We both know you could have taken him within minutes. Which means you were definitely toying with him.”
Kace checked the wound on his thigh, the claws having done some serious damage, not to mention the chunk he was missing from his upper arm. Okay, so he was playing with his prey a little. Anyone who had a hand in hurting Eva had it coming.
The light above the lift glowed, and Titus unattached his laptop.
Adrenaline pulsed through Kace’s veins, trepidation overshadowed as he waited with a patience that was rapidly wearing thin.
A clang, the bullet that was lodged in his back hitting the floor.
Titus raised his pale brows, but didn’t comment as the lift finally arrived, the inside glass smashed with specks of blood dotting the metallic floor.
The warmth in his chest that appeared around the same time as his beast forced their mating was still there, helping him keep calm, keeping him sane as the red mist of rage teased at the edges of his vision. His beast was a heavy vibration beneath his skin, content for him to lead. At least, for now.
The lift closed around them, ascending immediately to the next floor. Kace turned to pin Titus with a glare, his nostrils flared with the force of his exhale.
“I got the lift operating, didn’t I?” Titus grunted, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
Axel, Sythe and Riley were on the next floor, their expressions surprised when Kace held the door open for them to run towards the lift, shots ringing behind them. A few floors later Xander stood amongst a pile of dead men, chest heaving.
He snarled when they appeared, feet stomping as he pushed inside. “I swear if any of those spooks follow us home.” He stroked his fingers down his abs, checking several bullet holes along his stomach. “Motherfuckers.”
The vibration beneath Kace’s skin strengthened, his hands tightening into fists. The lift moved smoothly, and after each empty floor he felt his muscles stiffen until he was wound so tight he felt coiled to snap. The adrenaline tingled, the need to fight, to kill almost as essential as oxygen.
After ten empty floors, the doors opened and Lucifer lay on the floor, a hole the size of a fist in the centre of his chest.
“Oh fuck,” someone whispered, but Kace couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
“Eva?”
Lucifer panted, each breath a rattle. “She went up.” He tried to climb to his feet, his legs unable to take his weight as both Riley and Xander rushed out to grab him, quickly followed by Titus.
His brother turned, clicking a button on his keyboard. “Go, I’ll send the lift back down when we’re done here.”
Sythe and Axel nodded, but Kace was beyond any communication as the lift moved once more, his beast so prominent he could feel claws at the end of his fingertips, felt a phantom tail ready to split into sharp whips.
Sythe unsheathed his sword as Axel rolled his shoulders, hopping from one foot to the other. Tension was palpable between them, Kace’s heart thumping painfully in his chest as he shot out of the lift doors as soon as they began to open, the room beyond completely dark.
Pulling on his beast he blinked into the void, able to make out the shape of furniture. There was even more blood, smeared with clear evidence of a struggle that only worsened the angered snarls and growls inside his mind.
Sythe froze beside him, his brother’s eyes widening before he disappeared into the dark, wrapping shadows around his body until he was invisible to the naked eye. Kace could still sense him through his beast, and was able to track him across the room until he appeared by the opulent sofa, his blade flashing as it sliced straight through the neck of a man crouched.
As soon as the first head rolled, the men who had been hiding in wait stood, their goggles allowing them to see in the pitch black.
Sythe disappeared once more, only to appear a few feet away behind another guard.
“Go, we will handle these,” Axel said and Kace took no time to move across the room. He knew the guards would fall quickly, their reactions slow, even though clearly trained. Humans, or maybe a shifter or two.
Weak.
The giant fucking penthouse was built with thick walls and locked doors, forcing Kace to take his time to sweep the areas, fighting against his instinct to just destroy everything in his path.
Movement above his head, and a blade left Kace’s hand without thought, sinking deep within the guard’s chest. His gun fell through limp fingers, dropping down beneath the gap of the bannister.
Bracing himself along the wall, he ran, using the momentum to launch himself up, and over the bannister to the mezzanine above to find a light hum, a glow beneath a door.
The door shattered against his kick, the room empty but for a seven foot mirror, symbols pulsing around the edges. The surface shimmered, glowing brighter as he stepped closer.
