Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)

by Stephanie Rowe

  The moment he landed, a ravenous hunger raged over him. He leapt to his feet, focused on Abby as she backed away. He knew her, deep in his subconscious, he knew her, but it was so distant, obscured by the frenzied howl of his wolf. Bloodlust tore through him and he lunged at her. His body slammed into the bars, throwing him back. He lunged to his feet and charged her again…again slamming into the steel bars.

  Pain shuddered through him, but he barely registered it. He just lunged to his feet and raced at her again. And again, slammed into the bars. His mind wasn’t even functioning any more. All he could think of was Abby, of tasting her blood, of owning her…

  Of killing her.

  Chapter 19

  “Jace, no!” Abby screamed his name, but it was as if she didn’t exist. The wolf just kept running at her, crashing into the bars with a yelp of pain, and then doing it again. His eyes were glazed, his ears pinned against his head, his teeth bared with fury. He couldn’t take his gaze off her. He wasn’t even aware of the others in the cell, shouting at him, trying to catch him.

  He had eyes only for her.

  He lusted only for her.

  He wanted to kill only her.

  Stunned, Abby fell to her knees, watching in horror as Jace tried to break free and kill her. He was a creature possessed, driven by a primal hunger that controlled him completely. He was a monster, just like all the others she’d created, only this time, it was so much worse, because it was Jace. The man she loved. The kindest, most moral man she’d ever met had been destroyed by her song.

  Dear God. She was the demon, not him.

  She’d thought their connection would be enough. She’d been so sure that his moral code would save him. She knew he loved her, even if he couldn’t acknowledge it.

  But he’d been right about the effect of the song on him, and she’d been wrong. Grievously wrong. She’d completely underestimated the sheer power of her song to obliterate any sense of the man within. After years of watching innocents succumb, she’d still held out hope that she wasn’t the monster the evidence proved she was, but as she watched Jace slathering to get to her, there was no way to deny the truth.

  He believed he should be dead instead of endangering the world, but the truth was, she was the one who needed to be destroyed…along with every recording of her song…which was, of course, impossible. Grigori and Lucius had replicated it so many times, there was no way to destroy them all…because she’d been too weak to fight back that very first time.

  “I’m so sorry, Jace,” she whispered, her voice cracking in agony. “I’m so sorry—”

  The door to the upstairs suddenly crashed open. Abby leapt to her feet in horror as booted feet thundered down the stairs. “They’re coming!”

  Drake whirled toward the door and raised the gun, aiming at the door to the upstairs, his hand steady on the gun. “Get the key,” he commanded her. “Let us out.”

  “But Jace—”

  “Now!”

  Abby raced to the coffee table where Kiernan had left the key. She ran over to the cage, but the moment she got close, Jace threw himself at the bars so hard that they bowed under his assault.

  “Son of a bitch.” Drake pointed the gun at Jace. “He’s going to free himself!”

  “No!” Abby screamed and lunged at Drake. She plunged her hands through the bar, trying to shove him off balance, but he didn’t even flinch.

  “I’m sorry, Jace.” Then he pulled the trigger.

  “Jace!” She screamed as the bullet slammed into Jace…but he didn’t even slow down. He just threw himself at the cage again, bending the bars even further. She realized that the song was driving him beyond reason, beyond what his body was capable of.

  “He’s going to get out,” Kiernan yelled.

  “Jace,” she screamed. “Stop it!”

  He threw himself at the bars again, bending them even further. With horror, she saw him jam his head through the bars. Kiernan grabbed him and tried to haul him back, but he wrenched himself free, slipped through the bent bars, and charged her. “Jace!” She screamed again, scrambling backward as he broke through. He sprinted across the living room toward her, his teeth bared, blood staining his side.

  The sound of a gunshot filled the room, and, as if in slow motion, Jace’s body lurched sideways. He skidded past her, tumbling over his head as he let out a howl of agony, and then fell still in a bloody pile against the wall as Drake’s second shot took him down. “Jace!” She fell to her knees beside him, sinking her fingers into his matted fur. “Please, Jace, don’t do this—”

  Another gunshot echoed along with shouts, but she didn’t turn around. She just bent over Jace. His eyes were half-open, and he was panting heavily, his teeth bared as he watched her. She could see the torment in his eyes, and she knew the silver from the bullets was poisoning his already vulnerable body. She grabbed the scruff of his neck, and forced his head up so he was looking at her. “Don’t you dare die on me, Jace Donovan. I need you. So pull yourself together, stop trying to kill me, and be the man I know you are—”

  Someone grabbed her hair and jerked her backward. She clutched her hair, twisting to try to get free, but she was slammed against the floor, her face smashed into the burnished wood. Pain shot through her as fingers dug into her head, pushing her even harder into the hardwood. “If you fight me, I will disembowel him right now.”

  Icy cold fear gripped her as Lucius’s voice scraped across her flesh. She went still, trying to think, trying to focus. She twisted her head just enough to look into the cage. All four shifters were down on the ground, unconscious, their headphones crushed in a pile of black plastic on the floor. The song, her voice, blasted through the room, like fingernails clawing across a blackboard.

  One of Lucius’s minions, a lean man in his twenties she didn’t recognize, set a small device on the coffee table. Her voice blasted from it, singing her song over and over again. He was wearing a terrifying black helmet that apparently blocked the song somehow.

  “Let’s go.” Lucius dragged her to her feet by her hair, then shoved her toward the stairs. Abby glanced back at the room, at the five shifters slumped on the floor. When the four in the cage awoke, they would destroy each other. Jace was dying already. Kiernan was the only one with the healing ability to save him, and he was going to wake up a shifter, and no one would be left alive in that cage.

  She looked back at Jace on the floor. He was watching her. His lips were still curled in a snarl, but his body was too weak to move. Should she stand and fight Lucius? Somehow try to save Jace? And then, what? Get killed? What about Seth? She knew Lucius was taking her to Seth. He’d want her to sing to him in person, to punish her by forcing her to destroy Seth herself. Seth. She had a chance to save Seth if she went, but maybe a chance to save Jace if she stayed. Or maybe they would all die no matter what choice she made. Dammit. Jace.

  His lip raised in a snarl, but this time, instead of fear or pity for him, she felt only his torment. He was dying in midst of his worst nightmare: hurting someone who was supposed to be under his protection. She thought of how many times he’d said not to blame herself, reminding her that she’d been a child before. As she looked at Jace, dying on the floor absolutely helpless, she finally understood what he’d meant. He’d taken the blame for the murder of her sister, but she knew it wasn’t his fault…just as she couldn’t take the blame for what Lucius and Grigori had done with her song, or for the fact that as a young girl, she’d been unable to see a way out. She’d been a child, an innocent, and yet she’d spent her life condemning herself for the song she hadn’t intended to create.

  Lucius and Grigori were the monsters, not Jace, and…she took a deep breath…not her.

  She hadn’t been able to fight back before, but now she was different. She wasn’t a little girl, and two people she cared about needed her help. Resolution rushed through her and she looked right at Jace.

  His eyes followed her as Lucius shoved her towards the stairs. Jace’s chest was movin
g in rapid, shallow breaths as he fought for air. Desperation flooded her. He was dying! “Jace!” In sudden desperately, she tore herself from Lucius’s grasp and raced across the floor to Jace.

  She fell to her knees beside him and grabbed his scruff, pressing her face against his. “Listen to me, Jace! I believe in you,” she whispered into his ear. “When we leave, get to the table and destroy the sound box. Kiernan will heal you when he wakes up, but you have to destroy the box. And then come find me! I’ll need you, and I love you—”

  “Come on, bitch!” Lucius grabbed her and yanked her backward.

  “Jace!” She screamed for him as Lucius threw her over his shoulder. “Survive, dammit, and help me!”

  “Shut up!” Lucius grabbed her throat, cutting off her oxygen. Frantically, she clawed at his hand, trying to pry it off, but he was too strong. Colors spun across her vision, her lungs burned, and then darkness fell.

  *

  Fury raged through Jace as he watched Abby slump in Lucius’s arm. The song still screamed in his head, inciting him to attack, but somewhere inside him, somewhere deeper, something cried out in agony as Lucius choked her. I love you. Her words echoed in his mind, again and again, battling with the song for supremacy. The wolf howled with hunger, rage, and bloodlust, but something else also fought to be heard. Something more primal and elemental. Something that came from a place inside him that was untainted light.

  Lucius disappeared up the stairs with Abby over his shoulder, and Jace felt his soul crack in half. Desperation flooded him, and he tried to get up, tried to go to her. To kill her? To save her? He didn’t know. He just had to go.

  But his body didn’t move.

  He just lay there, inert, as Lucius raced up the stairs, taking his prey, his woman, his mate with him. Jace closed his eyes, panting desperately for air. His blood was burning as it raced through his body, searing his cells, poisoning his lungs and heart, slithering into his brain.

  The song continued to scream through him, horrible, violent energy designed to incite him. The hunger continued to burn through him, but so did Abby’s voice, her real voice, the voice that brought light to his soul. Destroy the sound box.

  The sound box.

  Her command rang through him, and Jace twisted his head, forcing his burning muscles to move. He saw a small black unit on the coffee table… Only yards away from him.

  Destroy the box.

  Urgency pounded through him as Abby’s words rang in his mind. I love you, Jace. Destroy the box. I believe in you.

  Abby. In danger. He had to get to her.

  Gritting his teeth, Jace summoned his energy and with a tremendous effort, rolled onto his chest. His lungs hurt, his body screamed with pain, and his muscles seemed to be frozen. He didn’t care. He just knew, knew, he had to stop that sound. Had to destroy the box. I believe in you, Jace. Destroy the box.

  She loved him. She wasn’t afraid. She’d come to him. He had to be there for her. He couldn’t let her blame herself for his weakness. He tensed his muscles and shoved himself forward. An inch. Maybe two. But progress.

  The song. The song. The song. It was screaming through his mind, demanding his obedience. He should be heading toward the innocents piled on the floor of the cage to kill them.

  But he didn’t.

  He kept his gaze on the sound box and pushed himself forward again, dragging himself across the smooth, hard wood. He made it several more inches. Almost there. But so far. He fell to his side again, his chest heaving with the effort of trying to breathe. Had to keep going. Had to find strength.

  He tried to move again.

  Couldn’t.

  Come on!

  Suddenly, the song didn’t matter. Fuck the song. Abby mattered. Abby needed him to do this. With a roar of fury, he rolled onto his chest again. He dug his claws into the floor and inched forward again, panting as he tried. Inch by inch. So far to go. He was moving too slowly. Someone stirred in the cage. They were beginning to wake up. He was almost out of time. Had to move. One more time.

  Abby. I love you. Holding the image of her face in his mind, Jace tucked his legs beneath him and sprang at the table. The black box went flying. He snatched it out of the air with his teeth, then crashed to the floor on the other side of the table.

  He bit down hard. The plastic shattered beneath the force of his bite, and the song stopped. Merciful silence filled the air, and he sagged back on the floor, panting heavily, fighting for breath.

  “Jace.” Savannah called his name softly. He turned his head. She was on her knees, gripping the bars, her face pressed against them. The ones he’d bent had been straightened out enough to trap her inside. The others were still passed out. “I need you to get the keys to me. Abby dropped them.” She pointed to a spot beside Jace’s nose.

  The metal key glittered, taunting him. Too far. Too fucking far. He closed his eyes. He’d done what Abby asked. There was no more…

  “Jace.” Savannah pressed at him relentlessly. “If Kiernan can’t get out, he can’t heal you. We can’t help Abby. You must get that key to me.”

  Savannah’s words broke through the silver-induced haze settling on Jace’s mind. Abby needed him. With a last effort, he hurled himself at the keys. He lunged forward and swiped with his front paw, gritting his jaw against the pain streaking through his body. Victory exploded through him as his foot made contact. He batted them toward the cage as he thudded to the floor, landing directly on his bullet wound, sending excruciating pain spearing through him. He gasped in agony. And as Savannah reached for the keys, he lost the battle to stay conscious.

  Chapter 20

  Abby was jerked back to consciousness by the shooting pain in her shoulders. She opened her eyes, and then horror congealed in her stomach when she saw where she was. She was back in her old living room, chained to a hook in the ceiling with her arms above her head, barely able to reach the floor with her toes.

  It was exactly how she’d awoken the last time Lucius had kidnapped her, before he’d slowly, piece by piece, begun to tear open her belly.

  Every piece of furniture was the same as it had been, even though she’d moved out. Had he rented it and refurnished it to look exactly like she’d had it? Planning for the day he would reenact this? Her shoulders were screaming with pain, telling her she’d been in that position for a while. How long had she been unconscious? How long until he came back to finish it?

  But as she had the thought, she noticed a family photo of her, with her mom, sister, and grandmother on the mantle. Her gaze settled on her sister, and sudden realization crashed over her. Lucius hadn’t strung her up so he could hurt her. He’d done it so that Seth could kill her.

  She would be the trigger that turned her nephew into the monster that had already destroyed so many lives. She didn’t know how Lucius was planning to coerce her to sing, but she knew he would have a way. Who would he bring in there to torture? Her grandmother? Seth? Jace? Forcing her to make the choice between turning her nephew into a killer, or letting someone she loved suffer.

  Screw him.

  She wasn’t going to let him win this time. She’d let him win so many other times, but not this time. Resolution pouring through her, she looked up at the chains binding her wrists, quickly assessing them for weakness. She tugged experimentally at them, testing their strength. The bolt was reinforced in the ceiling, and the chains were tight around her wrist. She pulled at them, using the weight of her body, until blood ran down her wrists, but they didn’t budge.

  Damn him!

  She swung around, searching the room. The shades were drawn. She couldn’t even reach the floor to stomp on it. “Help!” she screamed, even though she knew that Lucius was too smart to leave the other unit occupied. He’d thought of everything, leaving her defenseless once again.

  She was out of options…unless Jace had somehow survived. She closed her eyes and reached out to him with her mind, just as she’d done when he’d spoken to her telepathically at Kiernan’s. Jace! Help
! I’m at my old apartment. I need you!

  But he didn’t answer.

  *

  Fear tore through Jace, a dark, penetrating fear of something horribly wrong. He jerked upright, then gasped as pain tore through him.

  “Hold him down!” Kiernan shouted, and Jace swore as Drake and Savannah pushed him back down, pinning him to the cot.

  Jace swore, fighting off Drake. “Let me up! Abby’s in trouble!”

  “He just got the second bullet out,” Drake snapped. “Give him a second to get the rest of the silver out!”

  “I don’t have time.” Jace shoved Drake away from him and rolled off the cot. He landed on his hands and knees on the wooden floor, and staggered to his feet. The room spun and he grabbed the edge of the cot to keep his balance. He was unfathomably weak, but a tremendous sense of foreboding pressed down upon him. Urgency coursed through him. He could feel Abby’s fear, a deep, penetrating fear. “What time is it? What day?”

  Drake shoved him back. “Sit the fuck down for five minutes.”

  Swearing, Jace sat down, more because his legs wouldn’t hold him than because he was feeling accommodating. He closed his eyes as Kiernan set his hand on Jace’s side, pouring heat into the wound. “How long do we have?”

  “Not long,” Drake said.

  “How long is that?”

  Drake ignored the question. “While you were unconscious, Savannah and I went to the place he’d held her before. Neither the boy nor Abby was there. You need to track Abby.”

  Jace swore, and immediately opened his mind to her. He tapped into her soul, the warmth of her spirit that she’d shared with him so completely. He surrendered to her, abandoning his attempts to keep himself distant from her. He’d never forget how she’d come to him when he’d been under the influence of the song, pressing her face against his and whispering how she believed in him, even though he would have killed her if he hadn’t been debilitated by the silver bullet.