by Cynthia Eden
Olivia stood on the other side, her face etched with fear.
“He has her in his cell,” Olivia said as they started to race down the hallway. “I-I don’t know what happened. He—”
“Someone needs to tranq the bastard.”
“Lawrence is in there, too. He’s hurt.” A pause. “Badly.”
Dammit! He turned to the right.
Then he whipped back around because the scent of lilacs was way, way too strong.
Ella was behind him. Face flushed, clothes a bit askew, eyes worried.
“No.” Eric shook his head. “You stay in Olivia’s office or go to our apartment. You aren’t facing him.”
“But—”
“I can’t deal—shit, I have to know you’re safe! I can’t let him get close to you. I just can’t.”
Her eyes glittered back at him. “And I can’t stand by while he hurts someone else. And you promised, you swore you wouldn’t lock me up again.”
“Eric…” Olivia said, voice strained. “We don’t have time to waste.”
No, shit. Not with Lawrence hurt in there. Eric needed to go.
And I can’t lock Ella up.
There wasn’t a choice. “Don’t get close to him,” he ordered Ella. “And I do not like this shit!”
She nodded.
Then they were all running. Racing to containment unit eight. When he got there, guards were lined up outside. Not in. What the hell? He typed in his passcode and a live feed from the cell immediately appeared on the large screen to the left. He saw Lawrence—in a pool of blood. And Holly was there, with a golden chain wrapped around her neck.
If the guy broke her neck, Holly would recover. She was a vampire, after all. A little broken neck wouldn’t stop her for long.
But…
Cedric had enhanced strength. Very, very enhanced…far more than Eric had anticipated. “He tore the chains right out of the floor.” Sonofabitch. That floor had been made of the strongest material the government possessed. Supposedly paranormal proof.
Not.
If Cedric could rip the chains free, then he might not just be able to break her neck. In one swift move, he might be able to completely take her head.
There is no coming back from that.
Right then, Cedric’s attention shifted and he stared straight at the small camera in his cell—so it appeared as if he were staring straight at Eric.
“Want to make a trade?” Cedric smiled and his fangs flashed. Now that Eric had accessed the feed to his cell, the audio system was easily picking up his voice. “Because I’m in the mood for a trade. You can take out the human…and you can come in, Eric.”
Eric heard Ella’s sharply indrawn breath.
“And you can come get her…” Cedric ran his hand down Holly’s cheek. “You can get the doctor out, if you send in my Ella.”
His gaze locked on her. Hell, no. Eric mouthed those words to her.
But Ella grabbed his arm. “He will kill her. He won’t hesitate. Believe me, I’ve—I’ve seen just how brutal he can be.”
And she thought he’d just let her waltz in there with the guy?
Eric hit the intercom button so that Cedric could hear what he had to say. “There is no way out of this place for you. There is no end game here.”
“Don’t worry about my games,” Cedric threw back. “Do you want to trade?”
Trade… “No, I want to deal.”
Cedric laughed.
“My agent is coming out, right now.” Because Lawrence was bleeding too damn much. Eric had to get him out of there or the human would die. “And I’m going to come in. Just me.”
“That’s not the trade—”
“It’s what you’re getting.” He shut off the intercom. Eric turned to the nearest guard and ordered, “Give me a gun loaded with wooden bullets. Now.”
The gun was immediately slapped in his hand.
He looked at the agents surrounding him. Connor watched, his face tense and his eyes starting to shine with power. Connor’s brother Duncan was married to Holly. That meant this nightmare situation was real damn personal. “Is Duncan on the way?” Eric asked him. Duncan had been out on a different mission, but he knew Connor would have alerted the guy instantly.
“As fast as he can get here.”
Good. “I’ll take care of her.” He couldn’t let anyone see that fear had slipped through him. All of their lives, ever since they’d been kids, his job had been to protect his sister. Did Cedric realize how important she was? Did he know that he held all the power in his damn hands?
But I can’t give him Ella. I won’t.
“Whatever happens,” Eric said flatly. “He doesn’t leave this facility. I don’t care what you have to fire at him. I don’t care what you have to do…he doesn’t leave.”
The agents nodded. And every man and woman there pulled out their weapons.
He turned for the cell door. His hand curled around the gun.
Ella stepped in front of him. “He has a plan. It’s a simple one. You will die. He’ll get out.”
He flashed her a wide grin. “Have some faith, sweetheart.” I’m not Fey, but I’m not easy to kill either. He won’t expect the pain I’ll be bringing his way.”
“Eric—”
“And I’m sorry. I’m really fucking sorry but…” He motioned to Connor. “Keep her out here. He doesn’t get near her, understand?”
Connor’s hands settled around Ella’s shoulders. “Yes, sir.”
Fury darkened Ella’s face. “No, you said—”
“I said I wouldn’t lock you up. I never said I wouldn’t put a guard on you.” Then, voice lowering, he muttered, “I’ll be damned if he gets his hands on two women I love.”
“What?” Ella said. “What—”
But Eric straightened his shoulders. He kept his gun at his side and he headed into containment unit eight. He used his key card to open the door, and as soon as he stepped inside, the scent of Lawrence’s blood filled his nostrils.
“So glad you joined my little party…” Cedric said. “But you forgot one very important guest.”
“Ella isn’t coming in here.” He bent near Lawrence. The guy was still alive. Eric hoisted him up and glanced at Cedric.
Get the agent out.
Take care of Holly.
Kill Cedric.
He had a fairly simple plan in mind, too.
He’d tried containment. Tried to do things the right way. That hadn’t worked. Now, he’d do things his way.
The chain was so tight around Holly’s neck that she’d begun to bleed. Dark red streaks slid down her throat. She clawed at the chain, gasping, unable to speak.
“You need to loosen that hold,” Eric told him flatly. “She can’t breathe.”
“Then I guess she’ll suffocate. But we both know this one…” Cedric brought his head close to Holly’s face and inhaled, “will take more than that to stay dead.”
He does know that she’s a vampire.
Lawrence groaned.
“You can take that one out,” Cedric allowed with a shrug of his shoulders. “Humans don’t interest me much these days.”
Eric started to back toward the door.
Holly’s eyes flashed wide and she tried to shake her head.
He stilled.
Cedric’s gaze flickered over him.
Hell. “I’m guessing there’s a bite mark somewhere on my agent. Beneath all of that blood. What did you do? Knock him out and then go in for a bite? You think I don’t know how mind control shit works? I’ll all too familiar with the power of a bite.” He lowered Lawrence back to the floor. “Once he’s clear of this room, what’s supposed to happen? Will he turn on the others? Open the doors so you can fly away?”
Lawrence groaned. His eyelids fluttered open.
“Sorry,” Eric said, “but that’s not going to happen.”
Holly was gasping. Struggling so desperately for breath.
He hated her pain. Rage and fear twisted thr
ough him.
“You’re going to let your own man die?” Cedric demanded. His gaze jerked toward the camera once more. “Do you see him, Ella? Not such a hero now, is he? He’s not—”
Eric lifted the gun and fired. The bullet slammed into Holly’s chest and those terrible, desperate heaves stopped.
Her body shuddered. Her eyes closed.
“What the hell…?” Cedric’s hold loosened on her for just a moment.
Vampires had a weakness. A stake to the heart—or, in this case, a wooden bullet—froze them. Quite literally. The vampire didn’t breathe, didn’t so much as twitch, until the bullet was removed.
Holly fell to the floor when Cedric’s grip loosened on her.
And before the bastard could grab her again, Eric flew forward. He grabbed the guy, catching his still chained wrists and shoving them back against the wall. “You don’t fuck with my team!”
Cedric heaved him away. Eric collided with the far wall, an impact hard enough to break his back.
If he’d been human.
“And you…” Cedric growled at him. “Don’t fuck with my Ella!” He tossed out his chain and it flew straight for Eric’s head. Just before impact, Eric shot to his feet. Then he motioned quickly with his hand and launched into another attack.
***
“That’s the signal,” Connor said as he kept a firm grip on Ella’s shoulders. “Now get the hell in there and get our team out. But…tranq Lawrence. We can’t take any risks with him.”
The armed agents rushed inside. Ella tried to go after them. Connor just pulled her back. “Eric has this,” he said, “and if you go in there, his attention will be shot to hell.”
“He doesn’t know what Cedric is capable of,” Ella said. No one else did—just me.
“No, that bastard in there doesn’t understand just what Eric Pate is capable of…but he’s about to find out.”
Eric was pounding his fist into Cedric’s face. Hitting him again and again.
“That just makes him stronger,” Ella said. “Pain and rage will give Cedric power.”
The team had Lawrence. They dragged him out.
She watched as another agent reached for Holly.
Ella tensed.
But before that agent could get the doctor, Cedric’s gold chains flew out again. The chains slammed into the man’s back and he went down.
“Why the hell won’t the guy’s collar work?” Connor bellowed to the female agent standing at a nearby control panel. “Are we in the prisoner access system? Pump him full of gold!”
“We are!” The woman shouted back. “He won’t go down. The collar—it has to be defective.”
Ella couldn’t take her eyes off the big screen that was giving her a perfect glimpse into Cedric’s cell. “He broke the collar. The material it was made of—it wasn’t strong enough. Just like the stones beneath him weren’t strong enough to withstand his power.”
They could press that remote function all day long, and nothing would happen.
“Get in there,” Connor snapped to two more agents. “Fire tranqs at him until that guy goes down. He went down before. He’ll go down again.”
Cedric was trying to reach for Holly once more. He had his claws out and he was slicing down toward her neck.
“No!” Ella yelled.
Connor jerked toward the agents. “Hurry! Fire those tranqs! Now! Now!”
***
Eric’s shoulder slammed into Cedric’s stomach and he threw the SOB back as hard as he could.
Cedric just laughed as his wings brushed the ceiling. “That one…the doctor…she seems to matter more to you. Why is that? Did you fuck her, too?”
“Stay away from her.” Eric put his body in front of Holly.
“Make me.”
His fangs were burning in his mouth. The urge to rip and destroy had never been stronger for him.
Footsteps thudded in behind him. “Get her out!” Eric bellowed without looking back. Then he launched in for another attack.
But Cedric had been waiting, he was ready. He struck out hard, slicing right across Eric’s chest.
Eric hissed at the pain, but he just slugged the bastard. Cedric roared and lunged toward Eric—
Gunfire. Blasts. The bullets tore into Cedric’s body and he jerked, moving like a puppet on strings. Some of the bullets even sank into Eric, hitting his shoulder, his thigh. There was no way to avoid those hits because he was so close to the other man.
He ignored the pain.
Eric knew he was being hit with tranqs. They both were. Soon enough, Cedric would go down.
Or I will.
Cedric grabbed him. Eric locked his hands around the bastard’s shoulders.
The gunfire halted.
“Keep firing!” Eric shouted. So they’d both get knocked out. He trusted his team. They’d drag his unconscious ass out of there. “Fire!”
The bullets hit him. Hit Cedric. The drugs poured through Eric’s veins and he could feel his whole body growing sluggish.
But then…
Pain. Wrenching. Burning.
He shoved Cedric away and saw the fellow’s blood-stained teeth.
“Now you’re mine,” Cedric whispered. His eyes were drooping closed. “I control…you…”
Bullshit. No one controlled him.
Eric’s knees hit the floor. Cedric sagged right beside him.
“When you…you wake…” Cedric said. “Show Ella…show them all just what a monster…you really are…”
***
The agents carried Holly out of the room. Then three more men rushed in and dragged an unconscious Eric out. His head sagged forward and blood dripped from his neck.
Ella ran to Eric and when the agents tried to push her back, she snarled at them.
Her back began to burn. She could feel the stretch of her wings, just beneath the skin. Ella put her hand to Eric’s throat. His pulse was there. Steady. Strong.
“He got tranq’ed, that’s all,” Connor assured her. “He’ll wake up with one hell of a headache, but the guy will wake up.”
Yes, he would. Her finger slid away from him.
Her gaze went to the door of containment unit eight.
“It’s that bastard we have to worry about,” Connor snapped. “Let’s cover the guy with golden nets—we’ll make sure he stays down.”
Through the open door, Ella could see Cedric slumped on the floor. His wings were spread over his back.
“He isn’t going to stay down,” Ella said. “He’s become too strong.” She took a tranq gun from Connor. She went inside and stood over the man who’d tormented her for so long. Then she fired at him. Again and again until the gun just clicked. “But that will buy us a little more time.”
And it had made her feel better, too.
She lifted her gaze from Cedric’s prone form and found Connor staring at her.
“You have to tell me,” he said flatly. “What weakness does he have?”
“Me.”
Connor’s gaze narrowed.
“I’m his weakness. And his wings—they’re a weakness. Without wings, Fey lose so much of their power.” She cleared her throat. “I have to see Eric. I-I need him.” Just that—she needed to be with him. But she was afraid to leave Cedric, afraid he might attack again, and that fear must have shown on her face.
Connor’s lips tightened. “We’ll keep him sedated and secured. Don’t worry. I’m personally gonna stand guard. The bastard won’t be taking any more hostages.”
She nodded and hurried away, rushing after the agents who were transporting Eric. They carried him into the med ward and put him on an exam table, one right beside Holly.
The other woman was far too still. Holly looked…dead.
Olivia was already in there, her face worried as she bent over Holly’s body. She dug into Holly’s chest and pulled that wooden bullet right out.
Flinching, Ella reached for Eric’s hand. Her fingers curled around his. He felt so cold.
Oli
via dropped the bullet into a small, shining tray and—
Holly’s eyes flew open. Her breath rushed out. She shot upright and glanced around, her face confused and scared.
“It’s all right,” Olivia said quickly, soothingly. “You’re safe.”
Other agents were still gathered around the fallen human who’d been brought out of Cedric’s cell. He was groaning a bit.
“You’re totally safe,” Olivia assured Holly. “Just—”
Holly leapt off the table. “Lawrence!”
“I checked his wounds,” Olivia said quickly as she looked over at the human. “It looks bad, but he’ll be—”
“Compulsion.” Holly grabbed a syringe and drove it into Lawrence’s neck.
Ella flinched. Wow. Someone was sure playing hard.
Eric’s fingers squeezed hers.
“I-I heard Cedric give him the compulsion…” Holly’s words stuttered out. “Cedric—he ordered him to k-kill all of us. Lawrence has to stay out until we can counter it.”
Eric let out a groan.
Holly turned toward him. Blood soaked her shirt. “He shot me.” Holly’s lips trembled. “He does that too much, damn him.” But the words were said without heat. And her eyes gleamed with tears. “He—”
Eric’s grip turned painful on Ella’s hand. Far too tight. She gasped and her gaze shot to his face. His eyes were open, but they were so hard—his gaze almost cruel.
Unease slid through her. “Eric?”
“Get…away…”
“Eric, you don’t have to go anywhere. It’s safe here. You’re in the med ward. Everything’s fine,” she tried to reassure him.
He sat up. Should he have recovered that quickly? One minute he was out, the next he seemed completely, shockingly aware. He’d been pumped with a whole lot of tranqs. If he was already up…what about Cedric?
“In…my head…” Eric didn’t let her go. He yanked her closer. “Get away…”
“Eric?”
“From me…” Eric growled.
Ella shook her head. He needed her. The last thing she wanted to do was leave him.
“Clear the room,” Holly’s sharp voice ordered. “Take Lawrence out of here. Olivia—stay with him. Everyone—move.”
But Ella couldn’t move. Eric’s grip on her was so strong and his eyes were so very tormented. Again, his gaze didn’t seem just green but a wild mix of blue and green as he stared at her. His emotions were definitely out of control. She could see that.