Page 22 of Property of Karev

Karev curses beside me and growls, “Up, Lea, up.”

I glance at him and see the blur surrounding him. Understanding dawns. I let my wings sprout from my back and spread them wide and push the air to go up. It gives me a wide view of the parking lot and the danger running directly at us.

A hellhound with two heads. Drexel. It must be Drexel who followed Alora here. My eyes widen when I see a woman standing in his path. The stream of fire is intense, but the gut-wrenching scream that follows as the woman is consumed with fire breaks my heart.

Levan is grabbing gray dust instead of the woman he wanted to save. Karev almost reaches them when Levan’s upper body partly shifts. The two-headed hellhound opens one of his jaws and fire is in his throat when the great white shark rips the hellhound’s head right off.

Blocking out the screams and others attacking the two-headed hellhound, I point a finger in its direction and send a stream of red fire at it. The gaping wound of the missing head is scorched, the skin bubbling as the hellhound stumbles back.

Levan’s upper body shifts back to his human form, and he drops to his knees while clutching his belly. Karev is giving chase to the retreating hellhound and I follow both. Drexel, the now one-headed hellhound, turns his head in Karev’s direction. He inhales and snarls at him. One moment Drexel is there, and then he’s suddenly gone. Where the fuck did he go? How did he disappear?

Karev keeps running. He’s way faster than me and suddenly takes a hard turn while still giving chase. I might not be able to see Drexel, but it looks like Karev is tracking his scent. Which means the fucker is somehow invisible. Strange because hellhounds don’t have the ability to blend in or become completely invisible for that matter.

I watch Karev slow down and then he’s digging his nails into the dirt. Three heads are thrown into different directions, each of them releasing a thunderous growl accompanied by a string of red flames.

Flying closer to the ground, I come to a stop in front of my impressive mate. He’s so damn big with those three heads, a massive, muscled body, and three tails with fire flaming at the end. He’s covered in thick black fur with red flames dancing around his appearance like an angry aura.

“Did you lose track of his scent?” I ask, making one of the heads whip my way and give a tight nod.

“How could that fucker become invisible? Then completely mask his scent? Impossible,” I grumble. “Shit. We should head back. Who knows, he might have wanted to shake us off so he could circle back and attack again.”

My eyes widen when Karev places a massive paw in front of him while curling the other to lower the front part of his body.

“Are you seriously inviting me to get on your back?” I ask and get a tight nod from one of the other heads.

Ride on the back of a hellhound? Damn. It’s definitely something on a bucket list I never thought I had. Well, when in Rome... The corner of my mouth twitches at my inner thoughts. I let my fingers sink into his thick fur and use my wings to give a little push to hop onto his back in one fluid motion.

The flames running over his fur mix with mine. Karev forcefully digs his claws into the ground as he leaps forward. I flatten my body against his, our bodies locking together as magnets. Our surroundings become a blur as he speeds his way back to the clubhouse.

Karev easily jumps over the now closed gate. I use my wings to hop off his back and notice the parking lot only holds my father’s limousine and a row of bikes. Glancing to my left, I watch a blur of red flames engulf Karev’s hellhound form as he shifts back.

“That motherfucker is working with someone,” he snarls and jogs past me to enter the clubhouse.

My father and sister are standing against the wall near church while all the others are surrounding the couch. I swallow hard when I see Levan lying on the couch. His face is ashen and he’s clutching his chest. He coughs and there’s soot falling onto his chest.

That’s not good.

“I saw him bite off one of Drexel’s heads,” I whisper. “It was about to hit him with a stream of hellfire when he swallowed it.”

Karev curses and steps closer to Triton. “We need to get him to sea. He needs to fully shift in the seawater. Shifting a few times kicks in the healing if injuries are extreme.”

“Fuck. Why the hell didn’t I think of that?” Sevrin grumbles.

“Every supernatural has their own healing process, but Levan once told me that once he hits the ocean his body completely regenerates. It works the same way as the conveyor belt mechanism they have with their teeth. Only when he’s shifting from human to shark it starts from the inside out, meaning...”

“The salt water will flush out the burns and allows the healing process to start over,” Triton finishes.

“Then what the hell are we still standing here for?” Shock snaps. “Get the fucking truck and let’s move.”

Stingray and Shock rush out of the clubhouse while Sevrin and Triton lift Levan.

Right before they pass Karev, Sevrin tells him, “Talk to your mate’s family and make them understand that fucker is ours to fucking kill. Zara’s not only connected to Levan, she’s the president’s old lady’s friend. My woman is going to be devastated. The Kings are taking over, no negotiation, they have no fucking choice, or we will kill them too for bringing this fight to our motherfucking doorstep.”

“Understood, Prez,” Karev rumbles and we both watch then rush Levan outside.

My chest gives another painful squeeze. I hope he survives, but then again...Levan watched the woman he clearly cared about a lot incinerated before his eyes. Even if she wasn’t his fated mate, it’s hell to live with that memory.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN