No one came no matter how much she screamed, “Let me out.”
She hit the point of delirium, so dehydrated her eyelids felt like sandpaper. She wouldn’t last long without sustenance. The baby needed to eat. She eyed her arm. If she ate herself, would it save the child…?
That was crazy talk.
The thud of steps on the stairs lifted her head. She beheld a stranger, slim of build, with a mustache darker than his silver-streaked hair, holding a bottle of water.
She wanted it. “Who are you?” she asked, instead of begging for the water.
“You are Honey Iris.” Stated, not asked.
Lying would serve no purpose. “That’s me. Why have you kidnapped me?”
“Because I need you to teach someone a lesson about breaking the rules.”
“Who?”
“Don’t play stupid. You know who, and it’s time he paid.”
“Listen, I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m not involved. And I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.
“Which is a shame,” he said with a shake of his head. “It will slow you down.”
“Slow me down for what?” She tried not to give in to the fear that wanted her to scream.
“The chase that is coming. See, you know too much. Have seen too much. Which means that even though he agreed to the trade, you can’t live.”
Her heart stopped. “You’re going to kill me?”
“Oh yes. And let me reassure you that even if you weren’t slow and fat from the pregnancy, you still wouldn’t have been able to escape me.” The man smiled, his teeth a little sharper than when he’d entered, his features somehow more angular and his jaw protruding.
She took a step back. “What are you?” Asked even as she had a feeling she knew.
“As if your shivering human body doesn’t know.”
“You’re a monster,” she huffed.
“I am top of the food pyramid. A predator with no match.” He took a step closer. “Which is why your father shouldn’t have—”
She interrupted. “My father? This is about him?”
“Don’t play stupid. Who else would this be about but my so-called accountant who ratted me out?” the man grumbled. “As if I could let that stand. He’s about to learn why he shouldn’t have fucked with me. He must love you. He’s on his way right now to exchange himself for you.”
“I won’t let you hurt my daddy.” A brave, if useless promise to make.
“Whatcha going to do? Scream? Please do. Nothing better than a bit of music to accompany the hunt and the kill.” The smile sickened her.
“Kill?” She repeated the word through numb lips. “I’m pregnant.” She threw it out there in the hopes it made a difference.
“Then I guess you better run fast. Only way you live ‘til morning is if you keep out of my grasp.” He unlocked the chain from the post and tugged it. “Let’s go. It’s almost time for the show to start.”
“Don’t do this. My child is innocent.”
“Your child means nothing to me. Although I imagine killing it will hurt your father. And to think it’s all because you came for a visit. We thought he’d put you in hiding after Gerry went to your house.”
“You sent that man?”
“So you did meet him. I had to wonder since he disappeared after that night. Dead, I assume?”
“He attacked me.”
“As ordered. Your father needs to understand he messed with the wrong person. I worked too hard for a spot on the Cabal to give up now.”
She frowned. She’d heard Ulric and Erryn speak of the Cabal. “You’re part of the secret Lycan government?”
“Yes, but that would change if your father ever exposed me.”
“Why not negotiate to make sure he doesn’t?”
“Because I don’t negotiate with humans. Now enough yapping. Let’s go.” The drag of the chain led her upstairs into a mudroom that led to a kitchen. There was also a door going outside.
Freedom!
Grabbing hold of the chain still around her neck, she tugged hard and unexpectedly. The man didn’t teeter even a bit.
“Move!” he barked, giving it an even harder yank.
She stumbled after him. In her haste to cross the threshold of the front door, she missed the fact the ground dropped. Her foot hit hard enough to jolt right up her spine. She sucked in a breath and looked left then right. She recognized nothing. The cornfield to either side was not something in her parents’ neighborhood or anywhere, for that matter, that she’d visited. In the driveway, two cars were parked. The men she’d met during her morning ride leaned against the vehicles, watching her.
Heads turned as lights bobbed in the distance, illuminating the winding dirt drive. She’d felt every bump coming in.
“We’ve got company,” Smelly announced as if they hadn’t all noticed.
Had Ulric come? He wouldn’t know what he walked into.
Before she could breathe, he stepped from the car while Daddy emerged from the passenger side.
She whispered, “You came.”
She’d have sworn she heard Ulric reply.
Always.
25
For a guy who’d promised to always protect Honey, Ulric had done a piss-poor job.
She had been kidnapped, and it had been a long, frustrating day of trying to track down who’d taken her. The blame of which resided on Ulric’s shoulders. He should have been by her side.
It turned out the blame also partly belonged to Jacob because a ransom arrived demanding an exchange with Jacob. Said they would text the address an hour before the switch. An hour made a pretty wide circle to search, even with the help he’d called for. His Pack joined in the search, even as they had no clue what to even look for.
By the time they knew where to go, he’d managed to work himself into an almost berserker rage.
Honey was in danger. It had him seething with anger—and an impotence that didn’t sit well.
And yet he insisted on driving when Jacob got the instructions. He ignored the “come alone” part. He and Jacob both knew they would have to act quickly and decisively if everyone was going to escape this alive.
They pulled into the driveway of a house literally planted in a corn field out in the middle of nowhere. Woods and marsh for hundreds of acres around.
He saw Honey right away, in her night clothes, swaying on her feet, the chain around her neck an affront to his senses.
The moment he emerged from the car, his gaze zeroed in on her, met and held hers. He tried to convey a promise. She would walk away from his.
He’d give his life to ensure it. It was almost moonrise, and he could feel the urge pulsing against his skin.
Would Honey know to use the element of surprise to move away from the man holding her chain?
Jacob started the talking first. “I should have outed you the first time I saw you stealing from the pool, Viper.”
“And yet you didn’t.”
Jacob shrugged. “I saw no harm in a little skimming. Knew it would be a good bargaining chip for later. Only you had to go and start doing even worse things.”
“You should have minded your business.”