It didn't take long to reach Tabby's house. He sat outside, staring at its little windows and perfect flowerbeds. Linx had never backed down from a fight in his life, yet he found himself hesitating, afraid of a woman with long, glossy red hair. He had no idea what she might say and that alone kept him inside the car.
Everything looked the same as it had when he’d left. Everything, but the front door. Linx frowned and stepped out of the car. When he approached the house, he saw that the door was ajar.
"Tabby?" he called out, carefully scenting the air.
There was no sound from inside. Linx reached out a finger and pushed the door open. The smell of gun oil and sweat hit him first. Followed by the sour odor of fear. Tabby’s fear.
Linx's hearts began to pound. He recognized that odor. Knew who it came from. He tore through the house, checking every room, but Tabby was nowhere to be found. Neither was Taylor. He inhaled again. The various scents filtered through his sensitive nose, leaving no doubt who had them. It was his fault that they were gone, his fault that they'd been taken.
If he lost Tabby now, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Blood rushed through his veins. Linx threw his head back and let out a roar that shook the windows and rattled the doors.
He ran out the door and jumped into Sergei's car. Linx threw it into gear and sped out of the driveway. He pressed a button to roll down his window and allowed part of his body to shift. He didn’t care who saw him.
Their scents were faint on the wind, but they were there. Linx drove as quickly as he could, always keeping the wind in his face. When he reached a familiar part of town, he rolled up the window and slowed down.
He knew where Sergei had taken the women. He only hoped that he wasn't too late.
Linx drove into the parking lot and stopped. The club was closed, but he could hear music pounding through the speakers. He slipped out from behind the wheel and approached the front door. It was locked, so he walked around the building to the alley.
He turned the knob and the back door opened. Inside, the lights were on and the speakers pumped out a familiar song. Linx’s stomach tightened as the memory of their lovemaking hit. He shoved it away, so he could focus. He inhaled, the air telling him what his eyes couldn’t see. His nose crinkled, when he caught the smell of blood. Tabby!
Linx rushed forward and came out on the stage to a horrifying scene. Tabby had been hoisted up by her ankles. Her feet were bare and black from bruises. Her swollen face was covered in blood. The hand dangling toward the ground appeared mangled and inflamed. If it weren’t for the faint pulse throbbing in her neck, Linx would’ve thought she was dead.
A red haze rolled over Linx's vision until the world bled around him. Two words pounded in his head--Protect Mate--as he stepped out of the shadows.
The men hadn't noticed him standing at the back of the stage yet, but soon they'd know he was there. And they'd realize what a huge mistake they had made before he ended their lives.
Sergei stepped forward and tossed what appeared to be water into Tabby's battered face. She came awake, sputtering. Her confusion and pain plain to see.
"Not again. Please no more." She whimpered and tried to curl in on herself to no avail.
Linx roared and felt his body shift. His human form melted away as fur sprang from his pores. His incisors lengthened, along with the rest of his teeth. Claws sprouted from his fingertips until all that remained was his beast. The huge cat prowled across the stage.
Sergei and his men jerked their heads up at the sound.
"What the hell is that?" Sergei shouted.
Alexei and Boris drew their guns, aimed and fired, but Linx was already moving. He faded in and out slashing here, tearing there. The men's screams filled the air, nearly drowning out the music.
"Shoot it!" Sergei shouted, his hand already moving to his own weapon.
"Where did it go?" Viktor cried.
"Behind you!" Boris shouted, but it was too late.
Sharp claws raked out, severing his Achilles tendon. Viktor stumbled forward and fell, sprawled onto the floor. Linx sank his teeth into the man's arm at his shoulder and shook his powerful head. There was a loud pop a second before he ripped Viktor's arm off. Linx spit the limb out and faded again.
Taylor and Tabby screamed in terror. Taylor pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her face in her knees. Tabby's head jerked around to try to watch what was happening, but Linx knew he was moving too fast for her to track.
Gunshots ricocheted off the walls wildly. He had to end this before the sisters were harmed. Linx leapt into the air and brought his claws across Alexei's throat. Blood sprayed into the air in a crimson arc, before raining down upon the ground.
It tasted sweet, Linx thought as he licked his whiskers. But this was no time to eat his prey.
Alexei was dead before he hit the ground.
Boris nearly shot Sergei in his rush to kill Linx.
"Watch it, you idiot!" Sergei shouted, firing in quick succession as Linx appeared and disappeared.
"Where is it?" Boris yelled. The gun barrel jerked from side to side as he searched the club.
"I don't see it," Sergei said. "What the hell is it anyway?"
Boris didn't look at him. "It's the demon. I tried to tell you."
* * * * *
Sergei had never experienced fear like this. He'd been tortured, shot, burned and beaten. And never in all those times, did he feel this level of terror. Was Boris right? Were they dealing with a demon? If so, who had summoned it? He glared at Tabitha. Was she a Baba Yaga? She didn’t look like a witch, but only a powerful conjurer could call forth a demon.
He'd never believed in such things, not even when he was a child in the old country. But he had no logical explanation for what he'd seen. The large cat had disappeared and reappeared right before their eyes.
If they were dealing with a demon, then what did it want?
If it was his soul, then it would be sorely disappointed because he'd already promised that to the devil years ago.
Sergei watched the beast fade in and out, its eyes like fiery pits. There was no mercy. No compassion. Only burning fury that held the promise of retribution and death. The animal’s gaze shifted to the woman hanging upside down and Sergei watched the fire fade slightly.
So that's what it wanted.
Sergei grabbed Tabby by the hair and yanked her up. "Cut her down, Boris."
Boris backed to where the rope was tethered. He tucked his gun under his arm and slowly unwound the knot. The rope went slack and Tabby dropped to the ground, but Sergei didn't release her.
"Is this what you want?" Sergei taunted, twisted Tabby's neck until she screamed. "Come any closer and I'll snap it."
* * * * *
Tabby could see the cat out of her one good eye. Every time it looked their way, she could feel Sergei's hands tremble. He was afraid. She’d never seen him afraid of anything or anyone. He was cornered, which made him even more dangerous.
She had no doubt he would keep his word if the cat so much as moved a whisker. In all her life, she'd never seen a more beautiful animal—or one more terrifying. At first, she'd thought she was imaging things due to her injuries, but the pain and fear of Sergei's men had been all too real. She gasped, unable to take a deep breath.
The cat stared at Sergei, his red eyes unblinking. It was an unnatural stillness, the kind seen in apex predators.
The only thing she didn't get was why Sergei talked to it like it could understand him.
"It's an animal," she rasped.
He tightened his grip on her hair, pulling some out by the roots. "Shut up, bitch!"
The cat began to shimmer and slowly fade. In its place, crouched on the ground, naked and bleeding, was Linx.
Tabby couldn't believe her eyes. Had she wanted to see him so desperately that she’d conjured him in her mind? That made more sense than anything else, but it didn't explain everyone else's reaction. Her initial shock wore off quickly. It was followed closely b
y an overwhelming sense of relief. She didn’t care how Linx got here. Tabby was just glad that he’d arrived.
"I told you," Taylor said. "I told you he was a demon."
Linx glared at her twin. "I am not a demon." His gaze moved easily back to Tabby and for the first time, she saw the pain and the fear, hiding beneath the glowing red. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you the truth.”
Tabby didn't know what to think. If he wasn't a demon, then what was he? Did it really matter? All that was important was that he’d come for her.
He took a step forward.
Sergei twisted her neck even further. One more twist and Tabby knew he'd break it and she'd been dead.
"Go!" She gasped as pain speared her. "They're going to kill you."
He tilted his head and looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "You know I cannot do that."
"Yes, you can. Now get the hell out of here," she said with a choked cry. "I don't want you around." To watch me die.
* * * * *
Linx felt the air ripple around him. He kept his gaze on the two men, but sent his senses out to scan his surroundings. There, hiding in the shadows, he found what he was looking for. Bear. He made no move to expose his Phantom brother.
"I will give you one last chance to release her. If you do that, I will consider letting you live," Linx said. "If not, I will make sure you die in as much pain as you've inflicted upon her."
Sergei sneered. "You are in no position to give orders, demon."
Linx smirked. "That's where you're wrong."
A bellowing roar came thundering out of the darkness. It was the kind of roar that could only come from a member of the Claw Clan. The shadows moved with the massive beast as it stepped out of the darkness.
Boris gave up all pretense of bravery. He took off for the door, clutching his injured hand. The baby mammoth-sized grizzly was on him before he could turn the knob. It swiped out one hairy arm. Eight-inch claws took the man's head clean off his shoulders. Boris's head rolled several feet across the ground before coming to a stop. The beast then turned to face Sergei, its glowing red eyes merciless as it lowered its head to attack.
Sergei must have realized his life was about to end because his grip on Tabby tightened and he started to twist.
Linx faded and appeared behind him before he could finish the job. He grabbed Sergei's hand and crushed the bones, then snapped the arm holding his gun in half.
Sergei bellowed in rage, pain, and disbelief as he dropped Tabby onto the ground. She fell with a grunt, then cried out as she tried to roll onto her side.
Linx clasped Sergei's head. His claws shot out, severing tendon and arteries. Blood showered his face, but he didn't stop squeezing or cutting his way through the man's neck until it hung by a mere thread of skin. Linx shoved Sergei away, then bent to check on Tabby.
She yelped and tried to scramble out of reach, but couldn't.
"I won't harm you," he said softly, his voice all but cooing to calm her. Linx knew he looked like her biggest nightmare, but it couldn't be helped. The man had hurt her badly, and it was his fault. "I shouldn’t have left you." He reached out a bloody fingertip, only belatedly realizing his claws were still out.
Tabby's eyes widened as they landed on the razor-sharp weapons. Linx willed them to fade, leaving normal-sized nails behind.
Her frightened gaze met his. "What are you?" Her voice barely audible over the music.
"Turn that noise off, Riot. I cannot hear myself think." Linx sat Tabby up as his Phantom brother shifted from bear into human form.
Tabby watched wide-eyed, then fell over gasping in pain.
Linx touched her carefully. "He hurt you. Bad."
"I need a doctor," she whispered.
"There's not time for that. You're bleeding internally. Already your heart struggles to beat. You'll bleed out before you reach a medic." He couldn't lose her. She was...everything to him. The shock of that realization winded him, but Linx knew he had to present a strong front for her sake. The decisions they made in the next few minutes would change both their lives forever.
Tabby laid her head on the ground. "I'm tired."
Linx gently shook her shoulder. "You cannot go to sleep or you will not wake up."
"I'm dying, Linx," she murmured. “You said so yourself.”
"It’s true, but I believe I can save you," he said with as much conviction as he could muster. Linx wasn't altogether certain he was speaking the truth. He just knew that he couldn't lose her now that he'd been given a second chance.
Tabby turned her head until she could look at his face. "How? I don't have to sell my soul do I?"
He would've laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious. "You won't have to sell a thing."
"Brother," Riot said. "The ship is nearing."
Linx gave him a sharp nod, but didn't look at him. He could feel the ship. He knew it would arrive soon. That's how Riot had been able to sense his distress. Had they been high in orbit on the other side of the planet, they wouldn't have known he was in trouble until it was too late.
"Make it quick," Riot said.
"Hold your claws, okay? I will not force her. It must be her decision."
"Then you're a fool," Riot said with a snort.
Easy for a bear to say. They had about as much finesse as a hippo on ice skates.
Tabby's eyes started to close.
"No!" Linx shouted. "Tabitha, look at me."
Her lids drooped, but she somehow forced them open. They were glazed from the pain and the shock of the injuries.
"Do you want me?" he asked.
Her brow furrowed. "What?"
"I said do you want me?" Linx asked.
She gave him an odd look, then said, "I'd love to, but I don't think I'm up for it right now."
Riot chortled. “I see why you chose her.”
Linx shot him a censorious look. "I can save you, but what I have to do in order to do that will bind us together. Do you understand?"
* * * * *
Tabby had no idea what Linx was talking about. His words didn't make sense. Her vision faded in and out. She shivered. She was cold. So very cold. But the pain was fading. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Tabby knew that wasn't a good thing, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
"Bind, as in forever,” he said. “So I need to know if you are okay with that." Linx looked so serious. “We don’t have much time.”
She didn't doubt that he meant every word he was saying, even if it made no sense. "Forever won't matter because in a little while, I'll be dead." Tabby tried to laugh, but it hurt too much.
Linx glared at her. "I'm serious, Tabby. You need to tell me yes or no. I will not claim you without your permission."
"Claim me?" The blackness closed in. She knew whatever he meant to do, he'd have to do fast or death would take the decision away from them both. She looked at the man, who'd so easily brought out her wild side. Would spending the rest of her life waking up to that be so bad? Tabby didn't think so. "Okay," she murmured as the darkness tried to take her. She fought to keep it at bay.
“You won’t regret your decision. I swear to you.” Linx let out a heavy breath and shimmered out of existence. Tabby felt something warm tickle her insides. His hand touched her back, then in a blink it was gone. She noticed the same tickle, this time stronger.
Pain returned with a vengeance.
Tabby cried out.
"Almost done." Linx kissed her lips and disappeared.
Warmth exploded inside of Tabby, blinding in its intensity. She had no idea what was happening, but with each build up some of the pain diminished. She gasped as she felt a wrenching in her chest.
Linx appeared again, this time covered in sweat. "You should be able to heal now. I will pass through you once more after you've rested," he said.
Tabby looked down at the front of herself, expecting to see a difference, but she was still covered in blood and bruises. The warm trickle that had been oozing from
her nose and mouth was gone. She tentatively licked her lips. They were dry...and scabbed over.
"How?" she asked.
Linx stared at her with so much love in his eyes that it hurt to look at him. "I'll explain everything, when you feel better."
Her eyes drooped closed again. This time she didn’t fight the pull. She let it drag her under.
* * * * *
Linx untied Tabby and lifted her into his arms. He turned as Riot approached.
"Congratulations, brother," Riot said.
Linx nodded, but didn't feel relief. He wouldn't feel like celebrating until Tabby was fully recovered. Even then, it would take years to make up for failing her so.
"What are we going to do about her?" Riot pointed to Taylor.
Linx had forgotten all about Tabby’s sister. "We can't leave her."
Riot scowled. "You know the rules. Only one woman per mission."
Linx's jaw clenched. "I am aware of the rules, but that one is my mate's twin."
"Her what?" Riot looked back over at the woman cowering in the chair.
Linx held Tabby's head higher. "Look at her face."
Riot did.
"Now look at her." He nodded in Taylor's direction.
"They are almost the same," Riot said.
"That's why I can't leave her," Linx said.
Riot stared at Taylor for the longest time, then slowly turned back to Linx. "We'll have to hide her on the ship. We can't let anyone know that she's there." He glared at him. "That won't change once we reach Zaron. You'll have to find a place for her to stay until you can petition for the laws to be changed. It's either that or face confinement."
Linx lifted Tabby higher against his chest. "I'll do whatever is necessary to ensure the happiness of my mate. Leaving her twin is not an option."
Riot nodded. "Where will you keep her?"
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