Page 97 of Claimed

“No. You came back each time.”

“He tortured me!” I all but growl at him.

“It had to be done. For research. That’s why we have to go back.”

My blood turns cold as I stare at the deranged psychopath and shake my head. “You’re crazy. You literally murdered Juliet. I’m not going anywhere with you. Especially not there.”

“Well,” he says, tossing her head on the ground as he steps toward me. “Too bad you don’t have a choice.”

He reaches for me, and I scream. But as I try to dart away from his grasp, my legs give out. He laughs as he catches me around the waist and tosses me over his shoulder. “Guess you got some of the sedatives in you too.”

I catch sight of the twins, still frozen in bed, but their eyes follow me, and I realize what that is. It’s the same stuff I was given every time Dr. J tortured me. The same sedative that left me unable to fight back. It must be killing the twins not to be able to move right now.

“I love you,” I call to them through the bond, resisting the urge to reach my hand toward them as Blaze carries me out of the room. It will do no good. They can’t move, and it will only make them that much more upset.

They don’t respond, and I remember the way their voices had gone weak. The sedative must affect our communication through the bond too.

“I’ll find a way to escape,” I tell them as Blaze steps into the hall and I lose sight of them, praying they can still hear me. “I’ll never stop trying to get back to you!”

My body goes limp, giving up any pretense of trying to fight Blaze’s hold as he calmly carries me right out the front door, as if he had all the time in the world. As he turns to pull the front door shut, I get a view of the drive and street. There is no vehicle in sight. Is he just going to walk away carrying me?

Then he turns and heads to the driveway. I’m shocked when I hear him open a car door, but I can’t turn my head to look. He gently places me on the backseat, lying on my back, and secures a seatbelt around my middle before tucking my legs in and slamming the door.

From this position, I can see the house and know we’re in the driveway. Why couldn’t I see this car? Was it somehow shielded from my sight?

I don’t find the answer as the engine roars to life, and Blaze reverses out of the driveway and starts to drive away. I reach inside, trying to feel my bonds to Maddox, Gage, and Bain. Can they feel my distress and fear? But as I try to grasp them, they feel as though they slip through my fingers and I’m unable to latch on. The sedative makes me unable to feel them.

“Don’t worry,” Blaze says after a few minutes of driving. “Dr. J will fix everything.”

Chapter 33

Bain

I’ve never seen Maddox drive so fast. Normally, he’s a very cautious, laid-back driver. Not today. There isn’t a vehicle on the highway that he doesn’t pass, even choosing to use the shoulder when the traffic gets bad.

And now, as he tears through the streets of Starfall Haven, all I feel is a deep sense of dread and fear. The emotion is so foreign that it takes me a moment to realize it’s not originating from me.

“Cherry!” I gasp, my hand flying out to clasp the dashboard as if that might hold me together. “She’s awake!”

Gage and Maddox are silent, obviously feeling through their own bonds with her.

“She’s fucking terrified,” Maddox growls, his voice low and heavy with emotion.

“Still no answer from the twins,” Gage says as he pulls his phone away from his face. He managed to track all three of their phones to the house, but nobody is answering.

Maddox pulls onto our street and my body tenses even more. As our house comes into view, it looks… normal. I’m not sure what I expected, but I don’t feel normal. I expected our home to reflect that somehow.

Flying down the street and only slamming on the brakes as he pulls into the drive, Maddox throws the car into park as all three of our doors fly open and we jump out.

Immediately, my nose twitches with the scent of burned vanilla. “Blaze,” I growl, running for the front door. “He’s been here.”

Maddox makes it their first, shoving it open as we all sniff the air. “The only foreign scent is Blaze, and it’s hours old,” he says, confirming the same thing I scented.

“The twins!” Gage yells, scenting them as he takes off toward the bedrooms with us right on his heels. I smell it too; their scents are strong. They’re still here. Cherry, on the other hand, her scent is stale, and I’m terrified about what that means.

I slam into Gage’s back when I find him stopped right inside Cherry’s bedroom, which sends him stumbling forward a step.

“Hunt? Chase?” Maddox asks. I turn to where he’s looking. The twins are sitting in the bed, leaning against the headboard, their eyes wide open as they stare awkwardly at us, then their eyes move across the room.