Nik’s rage bled through to her like an open faucet—he shot past her. Grunts sounded, then silence.
Enzo squeezed harder. Goddamn the fucktard!
Obsidian dagger summoned, and with every bit of strength she possessed, she twisted aside and plunged the blade deep into Enzo’s stomach.
A howl of pain erupted from the jerk.
Enzo’s stumbled back. Shadow lurched few feet away, inhaling massive gulps of air.
“That’s for my sister. For the months of pain and abuse she went through with you—” She smashed her fist into his mouth. His head snapped back. “And that’s for threatening and hurting my brother.” Damn, she shook her throbbing knuckles, then rubbed her sore throat.
Grunting and cussing at her in a flood of Spanish, his mouth and cheek dripping blood, Enzo yanked and tugged, trying to remove her mystical blade from his gut but to no avail. She glided closer to him, ignoring Nik’s warning growl, and spat, “Never, ever threaten my family—”
“I’ll take over if that’s okay with you,” a new voice cut in.
Shadow’s gaze snapped to the tall, brawny man standing a short distance away. Built like a linebacker, with close-cropped dark hair, and bronze skin, the huge man strolled over. A law badge clipped to the waist of his pants, glinted in the moonlight.
The cop, Tagg.
Lips pressed tight, Shadow stepped back.
Tagg grabbed Enzo by the arms, cuffed his hands to his spine, and reached for the dagger protruding from his belly. It didn’t budge.
Shadow, get your dagger,Nik telepathed her.
Mouth tight, she grasped the hilt and removed her weapon. At the blood gleaming on the black metal, she swiped it on Enzo’s designer suit. She didn’t want his shit marring her blade.
Enzo’s dark eyes gleamed with hatred. He panted, “You and this vagrant will regret—”
She kneed him in the nuts, and he grunted, folding to his knees on the pitted asphalt, finally shutting up.
“Try.” She stood over him. “And I swear on Olivia’s grave, you’ll breathe your last.”
Tagg hauled Enzo to his feet. “Kill him, then you defeat the purpose of payback. Death is too easy.”
Callused hands pulled her back into a narrow chest. Breathing harshly, even in that homeless glamour, the familiar smell of stormy nights and cedar, of her mate, cracked through her fury, and she inhaled a shuddering gulp of air. Nik’s palm gently rubbed her spine. “It’s over,agápi.”
She pressed her face into his pecs and nodded, hoping wherever Olivia was, she would be at peace now.
“Shadow?”
The low, raspy voice, edged with worry, wrapped around her like a gentle hug. She glanced over her shoulder at her brother, tears misting her eyes. “I’m okay, Liam.” Her gaze lit back on the brawny cop reading a snarling Enzo his rights. Then Tagg glanced at Nik and nodded.
“Wait,” Liam called out to the cop. “I have something for you. Be right back.”
Tagg arched an eyebrow as her brother sprinted back into The Shelter.
Footsteps echoed, more cops arrived. They hauled the unconscious goons over their shoulders and left.
Shadow turned her back on the monster who’d destroyed her family and stared at The Shelter door, anxious for her brother’s return.
He came out a minute later. His expression hard as nails, he handed over a—USB?—to Tagg. “Everything you need is in there. The consignment of cocaine on its way to the port, the dealers, the money. He’s very meticulous, you’ll find—”
“All l-lies,” Enzo grunted in pain.
“I don’t see how, when I took it off your laptop,” he told Enzo in a chillingly cold voice. “Did you honestly think I’d leave something that important lying around in the penthouse, you abusive piss-stain?”
Tagg pocketed the device. Glints of red sparked in his dark eyes. “I’ll be in touch.” He hauled Enzo away.
