Another denial. Another failure. Roger was so sick of failure. With a growl, he grabbed the shotgun and pressed it downward. A mortal’s strength was no match for his, and he didn’t have to have this fucker’s blood. It would’ve been a bonus. But all he truly wanted was this monster before him to stop moving. He forced the barrel under Cal’s chin and began to choke him with it.
“Roger, stop!”
Zack?
The thought, the blink, the moment was enough to snap him out of his survivalist anger. He eased his grip only a fraction.
Which was likely the only way he didn’t knock Cal’s head off when Thomas tackled him. Roger disentangled himself from the scramble and rose to his feet.
Thomas held out his hand in a stop gesture. Zack hadn’t spontaneously arrived; Thomas had called his name. His voice had sounded too much like Zack’s and unintentionally tricked Roger. He continued holding his right hand toward Roger while he made the same signal to Cal with his left. “We have enough going on without you two trying to kill each other!”
“He started it,” Roger snarled. “I am tired of his fucking bullshit!”
“And I’m tired of yours! I bet you handed Zack over to him, you freak!” Cal shouted, his words breaking from the effort on his damaged throat. He reached for his shotgun.
Amber slid it out of the way and pulled it into her hands. When Cal motioned for her to hand it over, she took three steps back and raised it to aim at him. Her hands trembled. The red mark around her throat had lessened to a fine line that was bound to become a bruise. She was hurt. Terrified. Her jittery finger was on the trigger.
She was a fatal accident waiting to happen.
As much as Roger longed for Callum Wright’s death, he couldn’t let Amber be at fault. Not when she was clearly trying to help by keeping the weapon away from her brother. He reached out with his power and fed her desire for calm, for peace.
She blinked, and the light shaking throughout her body began to steady.
“Amber,” Roger said softly. “Do everyone a favor and unload the weapon.”
“Got it.” Quickly, Amber emptied the shotgun shells to the pavement. There had been another three rounds.
“Did you seethat?” Cal demanded as he leapt to his feet. He gestured at Amber while addressing his father. “You’re not going to ignore that, are you? Stake the son of a bitch!”
“Shut up,” Thomas said with the tone of a man who’d been waiting too long to utter the words. “Just shut the fuck up, Cal.”
“Dad—”
Thomas whirled on his son. “Roger just saved your life.”
“After he?—”
“Enough, Cal!” Thomas snapped. “Roger could have convinced her to pull the trigger. Instead, he spared you. I don’t know that I’d have the strength in his place. So right now, I don’t want to hear another goddamn word out of you. I don’t want you to move a goddamn muscle. Because I just might let him snap your neck.”
Cal hadn’t shown a second of remorse after accidentally staking Zack in the shoulder, and he showed no regret now. Helooked at his father with the anger of the betrayed, but he shut his mouth.
Thomas stepped to the side rather than turn his back to his son. Speaking to Roger and Amber, he asked again, “What happened back there?”
“Anton,” Amber croaked. “Came out of nowhere.”
“He said that Dmitri had some sort of alarm spell on him,” Roger said.
“So we might have found Zack if we hadn’t stopped.” Thomas clenched his fist.
“I don’t think so,” Roger replied. “Anton offered a bargain for the information. I don’t think he would have done that if I was close. He would want their location to be a taunt. Three doors down isn’t as painful as being in the entirely wrong place to him.”
“But you don’t know for certain,” Thomas said.
“Dad, he was going to kill us,” Amber said. “And you saw how Dmitri was tied up. Zack wouldn’t have wanted us to leave him.”
“What if your brother’s in that condition? Or worse?” Thomas demanded. When Amber dipped her head, Thomas let out a frustrated groan and wiped a hand down his face. “I’m sorry. I’m not angry at you. You saw pain, and you wanted to help stop it. You’re right. Zack would want to do the same.”
“If he was really a Wright, he’d already bedead,” Cal complained. When Thomas glared at him, Cal shrugged. “What? We’re not supposed to be taken alive. Who knows what kind of family secrets he’s already given up to his fang master over there.”
