That was when they all heard it. From where the SUVs layin broken heaps, came a howl. A long, keening canine call. Most of them had heard such a noise before on nature shows or at the movies, but this was different. Already amped up from the crash and on edge from the job they were here to do, the team appeared jumpier. That howl sounded extremely loud.
“They’ve got dogs,” one mercenary warned the crew.
Frankie had opened his mouth to say something when a clattering of a gun hitting the pavement behind them rang out. They all swung around at the noise.
Frankie yelled, “Goddamn it! Can’t you keep a hold on your gun back there? What the…” He didn’t finish the curse. No one stood behind them. The man tasked with guarding their rear flank had disappeared.
Again, a howl sounded from down the road. The menacing sound was closer. Another clatter followed from the front of the line. Like toy soldiers being yanked around, the group pivoted to find another man gone and his gun on the pavement.
“Fuck this!” One of the other men yelled and started firing his shotgun into the bushes. Some others fired as well, desperate to do something. Frankie could sense their panic oozing into the air. He struggled to focus everywhere at the same time.
“Stop shooting, you morons! You’re wasting ammo!” Enzo yelled.
Silence returned, other than the ringing in Frankie’s ears from the numerous gunshots. Frankie quickly counted the men and came up with eleven, including himself and Enzo. This wasn’t good. “Boss, we need to get to the house now. We can’t stay out in the open here. Everyone, double-time it. Move!”
The mournful canine calls sounded around them as every man broke out in a dead run for the house. Frankie’s heartpounded inside his chest. Struggling to keep his panic controlled, his blood ran like ice water through his veins. His plans for revenge and mayhem were abandoned as each man sprinted toward what they thought of as safety from whatever hunted them. The lights ahead promised at least a view of their foes.
Frankie pulled Enzo along with him as they raced together into the courtyard at the entrance of the house. Enzo dropped to his knees, out of breath, as Frankie turned to check on the rest of his men, hoping to salvage something from this clusterfuck of an attack. No one stood behind them. Absolute silence filled the night.
Gone. They’re all gone?
“Marcus toldus you wouldn’t stop, Enzo. He said you weren’t the kind of man to leave Nightfall alone.” Titus spoke calmly from his position at the top of the stairs. He stared hard at Frankie and Enzo, unable to decipher who he hated more—the man who’d wanted to subjugate his mate or the brother who’d thrown her away.
Frankie drew his gun and pointed the barrel at Titus. He was too slow. Titus had already moved. Looming in front of Frankie, Titus caged his fury, promising himself the man would pay soon. Titus wrenched the gun from Frankie’s hand and bent the barrel before his would-be shooter’s eyes before throwing the weapon into the darkness. Titus grabbed the front of Frankie’s shirt and tossed him onto the stairs as he focused on Enzo.
Stalking forward, Titus reached down to grab Enzo by the neck. He lifted Alessia’s brother off the ground so that they were eye to eye. “Remember me? We met that night when yousent the first man to my bar. Of course, Marcus may have made a greater impression on you as he was busy cutting your pawn to pieces. I was there, keeping you in your seat so you wouldn’t miss the show.” Enzo could barely eke out an affirmative noise as Titus’s grip crushed his windpipe.
“I thought you were insignificant until I met Alessia. Once I heard what you had done to her, all the scorn, belittlement, and abuse, I wanted very much to meet you one more time. And here you are! She wanted me to spare you, you know. She said you were not worth the effort. But now you come at me with your thugs to what? Kill me? I can’t let that stand!” Titus squeezed Enzo’s throat tighter. Never in all the hundreds of years Titus had existed had he hated another so much. He struggled to keep himself from ending Enzo too quickly. His mate’s brother deserved to suffer.
Frankie pickedhimself up slowly from the stairs, shaking his head to clear it. He looked back where the man held Enzo by the throat with his feet dangling off the ground. The strength of this guy! How was he going to get them out of this one?
“Stop, Titus!” Alessia burst out of the door, running down the stairs toward the two other men.
Seizing his chance, Frankie reached out and spun her around to face him, “You stupid bitch! This is all your fault!” He called over his shoulder to the man holding his boss, “Let him go, or she gets hurt!”
“Fuck you, Frankie,” Alessia yelled as she brought up her knee, jamming it into Frankie’s groin.
Waves of pain launched through him as Frankie doubled over, coughing. She’d lashed out at him? Alessia was dead now.As he forced himself to stand upright, the man she’d called Titus dropped Enzo like a rock.
Frankie shook his head as Titus focused on him. He held his hands up to ward him off. “She’s yours. I’ll leave and never touch her again.” Deep inside, a chill filled his mind and body. This man wouldn’t let him walk away.
Titus plucked Frankie off the ground and hurled him at one of the statues guarding the stairs. As Frankie flew backward, he flailed desperately. His spine hit something with an overwhelming pressure.
As his mind struggled to decode what had happened, Frankie glanced down. He was raised up above the ground with one of his feet kicked out in front of him. As his leg dropped, his line of sight followed. A strange spike protruded through his chest, smeared with blood and small white fragments. Unable to process what had happened, he looked around wildly and spotted the other concrete figure.
He was hanging from the statue’s spear.
Agony flooded through him—the worst pain he’d ever experienced. Blood started pouring from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. Darkness swarmed his vision from all sides, but Frankie clung to consciousness, refusing to give in.
This was not in his plans. He would not lose.
Titus wincedas a mental command sliced through his thoughts.
Leave Enzo. He cannot die today.Titus wanted to argue with Alaric’s demand, but the Elder’s power compelled him to follow the order.
Darius and Bram have emptied all his accounts and left himwith nothing. That will be enough for now. You do not want your chosen mate to see you kill her brother. That will not be a good beginning for you both.
Alaric was right, of course, as he always was. Redirecting his anger, Titus walked toward Frankie. He focused on the man who had threatened his mate as he put distance between himself and Enzo. He hesitated as Alaric spoke again, and his steadying voice echoed through Titus’s mind.
