Auberi shot someone else. “Whatever we’re doing needs done now.”
Malik locked gazes with Gram. “Princess, will you let Uncle Gram hold you?”
Bethany shimmed out of Malik’s hold and ran to Gram. He lifted her, holding her close to him, nodding at Malik. “I’ll keep her safe. You’ll get Brooke out?”
“Yes,” said Malik.
Striker eyed the two men. “Och, can I trade one of you? The redhead is nae safe to be near.”
Gram touched Auberi’s shoulder and Duke pushed in front of them all, taking point. Gram was next with Bethany and Auberi pulled up the rear.
“I’ll lead,” said Duke. “Auberi?”
“Right behind you,” said Auberi.
Striker made a move to grab Edee just as something crashed in both of the rooms near him. Instantly, he smelled vampire, mixed with something else. Twisting, he slammed into a vampire and tackled him to the ground as another came at him from above. Just his luck they’d be multiplying.
The one under him bit his arm and Striker punched the man in the face. The other one grabbed his head, attempting to snap his neck. He reached up to knock it away when all of a sudden a lamp hit it. Edee threw herself at the vampire trying to break Striker’s neck.
Much to his shock, she managed to knock the vampire off him.
Worried for her safety, Striker let claws emerge from his fingertips and then slashed open the neck of the vampire below him. It gurgled and twitched. Pushing off the vampire, Striker ran at Edee and lifted her off the vampire as she kicked and hit it. He set her aside and the damn woman spun around and kicked him in the shin.
“Och! I’m on yer side,” he said, stiff-arming the remaining vampire, never taking his gaze off Edee.
She gave him a hard look. “I know.”
“But you kicked me anyways?” he asked, hitting the vampire again.
Edee nodded. “Yes. Be warned, I want to do it again.”
The vampire came at him again and Striker let his claws out again. He slashed and took the vampire’s head off with one swipe.
Edee did a double take and then put two thumbs up, smiling wide. “Badass, Scot, totally badass.”
“Yer nae right in the head, are you?” he asked as another vampire came through the window. “I’m getting really tired of this.”
Garth was suddenly there, helping as yet another vampire used the window as a point of entrance. Garth let his hand partially shift and rammed it into the vampire’s chest, killing it at once.
Striker went to grab Edee to get her to safety when he saw her staring wide-eyed at Garth, before paling and dropping to the floor. She huddled there, shaking and crying. When he realized it was because she no doubt thought Garth was the man who’d tortured her, his chest tightened. He wanted to find Grid and kill the bastard himself.
Garth put his hands up as they returned to human form. He met Striker’s gaze and connected on their mental path. I don’t want to move and scare her.
Aye, said Striker.
He moved to the redhead quickly and then tentatively touched her shoulder.
She lowered her arm slightly, peeking out at him, red rimming her eyes. When she saw Striker, she launched herself at him, hugging him around the neck, clinging to him.
“Lass, yer safe. That’s nae the same man who hurt you. Garth has a twin brother with a scar by his eye. He’s nae a guid man. Garth is. He’s worried that he’s goin’ to scare you more, so he’s nae moving a muscle right now.”
He eased Edee to her feet.
She stared up at him, her gaze searching his face. “Really?”
“Aye,” returned Striker.
She sank against him and put her face to his chest, relief going through her. She stepped out of his grasp, but didn’t go far. Wiping her cheeks, she looked at Garth.
Garth eased closer, keeping his hands up. “Edee, I’m so sorry for what Grid did to you. Know that when I find him, I will kill him, brother or not.”
She took a deep, calming breath, her fear lessening enough that Striker could sense it. She offered a soft smile to Garth. “I’m sorry about the freak-out. It’s just, well, he…he more than just hurt me. He and another man spent eight months terrorizing me.”
Smoke built around them in the room. Striker knew they had to get out of the house, but he also knew Edee needed this moment. So he resisted the urge to make her go.
Garth eased a little closer. “Can I hug you?”
She sighed and looked down. “I understand now that you’re not him, but, Garth, I don’t know if I can let you touch me in any way yet.”
Garth nodded. “I understand.”
“It’s not you,” Edee said quickly. “It’s just, you look exactly like him…and I spent too many nights pinned under him.”
Striker’s wolf tried its hardest to surface. It wanted to save Garth the time and kill his brother—slowly.
Garth drew in a sharp breath. “Edee, I’m so very sorry. Please know that.”
She looked up at him, and inched towards him. She touched his arm lightly—then gasped, moving closer to him. “I understand now! Garth, you need to go—now. You have to get to your wife. He’d laugh when he was hurting me, telling me that he planned to do what he did to me to your mate. He said his brother was a do-gooder, and he couldn’t wait for you to walk in and find your mate with him right before he kills her. I didn’t know he had a twin.”
Garth’s brow crinkled and he slowly put his hand on Edee’s shoulder. “Edee, I’m not mated. I’ve no wife.”
“Wait, do you have another brother?” she asked.
He shook his head.
She cupped her mouth. “Then, yes, you do. He told me he’s been watching her for years. Since she was a child even. Watching her grow into a beauty that you didn’t deserve. You do have a mate—and he’s got her in his sights.”
Garth stiffened. “W-what? I have a mate?”
She nodded and surprised Striker as she patted Garth’s chest. “Yes.”
The smoke thickened. “We’ve got to go, now.”
Garth looked to Striker. “I don’t want to scare her more. You take point. Edee, stay close to him. I’ll be right behind you.”
Edee blinked at them both. “I’m not leaving. If Elm comes here for Brooke I have to help her.”
Striker rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to regret this.”
He went at her fast, throwing her over his shoulder.
Chapter Twenty
Malik grabbed his wife and put his body between hers and the hybrid rushing at them from the master bedroom. He took a fighting stance and waited for the hybrid to reach him before striking out with full force. That one went down and another dove in through the window. He made sure Brooke was still behind him.
He smelled another hybrid coming, this one from the direction of the stairs. He went low and then came up with his claws extended. Malik snarled as he ripped out a hybrid’s throat. The one on the floor sprang up and he spun around, slicing open the thing’s face and neck. The hybrid dropped instantly.
When he turned to go for Brooke, he found her delivering a series of wicked kicks to a hybrid in the hallway. She then punched the hybrid in the face, knocking him down the steps in the process. When she looked over her shoulder at him, it was with the face of a warrior. A woman who wouldn’t back down.
A fierce mate.
“Bethany,” she said, her breathing heavy.
Malik ran past Brooke, grabbing her hand in the process. They took the stairs quickly. What used to be the front door was totally engulfed in flames. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he bent and tore out the throat of the hybrid Brooke had kicked the crap out of. He helped Brooke over the body, keeping her away from the flames, and then looked up to see Armand there. A man he’d not seen in at least a decade, since Armand had left the Crimson Ops division of PSI and moved over to the Shadow Agent side of things.
Armand had a hybrid lifted off the ground with one hand. He glanc
ed at Malik and nodded.
Brooke slowed. “Armand, where is Bethany?”
Armand tipped his head in the direction of the kitchen area. “He’s taking her out the back.”
Auberi came through the front window, looking as if he’d been in one hell of a fight.
Malik made a move to head to the kitchen when another explosion came from that direction. He spun and used his body to protect Brooke. Something cut into his back but he ignored the bite of pain as thoughts of Bethany being injured hit him. Instinctually, he turned and raced in the direction the explosion had come from. The area filled quickly with smoke.
Bethany screamed and he followed the sound of her cries, unable to see clearly with all the smoke. Malik shut off, his lion pushing up, helping to guide him through the black smoke. Bethany screamed again, her cries sounding farther away. Flames rolled at him, nearly hitting him. He bent and tried to see through the thick smoke.
“Gram!” he yelled, coughing as he inhaled a large amount of smoke.
No response.
He didn’t care if he burned alive, he wasn’t about to leave his child. With a roar, he ran headfirst into the burning kitchen, ignoring the bite of the flames. He tripped over something massive on the floor. As he hit the floor, he twisted and realized the mass was Gram.
He wasn’t moving and no heartbeat could be heard.
Armand appeared. “I’ve got him. Go after the little one! Auberi is with Brooke.”
Malik pushed to his feet and ran deeper into the burning room to find the back end of the house was missing. He jumped over the flames and landed in the backyard. It took his senses a moment to work properly from all the smoke. The second they did, he heard a child’s cries and shot off, running full force in the direction they were coming from.
He more than cleared a six-foot privacy fence in one jump, landing in someone’s backyard before repeating the steps three times. When he landed again, he looked up to find two hybrids running. One was trying to keep hold of Bethany, who was scratching at the man’s face and neck, her eyes glowing amber.
Malik charged the men and snapped the neck of one, before corralling the other who held Bethany. “Give her to me,” he said, his lion so close to the surface that his voice was deep.
The man knew he was screwed. He backed up a bit, putting a clawed hand up to Bethany’s face. “Stay back or I kill the kid. I don’t care how much the bosses want her.”
“My daddy is gonna teach you a lesson about being mean,” said Bethany, looking over at Malik and smiling wide. “Let your mean out, Daddy.”
The man gasped, staring from Malik to Bethany. “You’re her father?”
“Unhand my daughter or I will rip you to shreds,” he said, pacing back and forth, never taking his eyes from the man. His beast wanted to be let out to sink its teeth into the man’s neck.
The guy gulped, sweat beading on his brow. “S-Stay back.”
Snarling, Bethany lifted her hand and raked her nails down the man’s face so deeply that she drew blood. She then bit him—hard. The man dropped her and she landed on her feet and did a back tuck, rolling away and covering her head and face so she couldn’t see what was happening. “Do it now, Daddy!”
Malik charged the man and when he was done with him, the man was dead. Malik twisted around to find Bethany still tucked in a tiny ball. He covered the distance to her quickly and scooped her up in his arms, holding her close. He covered her small face in kisses.
She kept her hands over her eyes as Malik ran with her, going over the fences again. He held his daughter to him as if she were precious cargo.
Because she was.
He cleared another fence and when he landed, it was in a side street. Tires squealed as headlights lit the area. He held his daughter to him.
The SUV peeled to a stop. Duke rushed out of the driver’s side. “Tut! They have Brooke and Auberi is hurt pretty bad.”
Bethany uncovered her eyes and stared up at Malik. “Daddy, they have Mommy?”
Malik didn’t want to put his daughter down but he had to get to his mate. He locked gazes with Duke. “I need you to get her back to headquarters. Can you do that?”
“Of course,” said Duke.
Corbin rushed out from a side yard, his eyes wide. “You have the child!”
Duke reached for Bethany but she clung to Malik.
She kissed his cheek. “You let your mean out big time, Daddy. Get Mommy back.”
“I will, princess,” he said, handing her to Duke. “Go with Duke. Listen to him.”
Duke took Bethany into his arms.
Malik grabbed Corbin’s arm. “Go with him. Protect my daughter.”
Corbin nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Striker came up and over the fence with Edee in his arms. He landed and bent, trying to hold on to a very pissed-off redhead.
She grabbed his beard and yanked.
He cringed. “She-devil!”
“Go back! They have Brooke!” she said, jerking free from Striker and standing.
“Aunt Edee!” yelled Bethany, halting the redhead before she inflicted more pain on Striker.
Edee spun around and yanked open the back door of the SUV, hugging Bethany to her.
Malik looked at her. “Go with them. We’ll get Brooke.”
Edee nodded.
Striker threw his hands in the air. “Sure, listen to him!”
Malik turned and ran down the side street, heading in the direction of the burning house. He hoped to catch Brooke’s scent and track her. He made it to the main street and Garth sped up in one of the enemy’s vehicles. “Get in! You’ll never get to her in time on foot.”
“Auberi?” he asked.
“Rurik has him. He’s getting him to PSI.”
He listened and before he even had the door closed, Garth had the pedal to the floor. The Viking zipped around the abandoned vehicles and drove over a number of bad guys. He turned down another street and floored it again. Garth maneuvered around a car that was turning right.
Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes just as Brooke ran out into the center of the street, bleeding heavily, the bottom of her short nightgown torn.
Garth managed to avoid hitting her as Malik jumped out and ran to Brooke, catching her and holding her against his body.
She was bleeding but he didn’t know where the blood was coming from.
He felt around and nearly threw up when he realized she’d been clawed multiple times. She collapsed in his arms and he swept her up, loading her into the SUV. He moved onto the backseat next to her, as he tried to stop the bleeding.
Garth wasted no time as he sped away from the area, glancing back in the rearview mirror. “Malik?”
“Drive!”
Chapter Twenty-One
Brooke came awake, unsure where she was. Looking around, she found herself in a giant bedroom. It was quite possibly the biggest one she’d ever seen. The walls were a golden yellow and the bed she was on was bigger than a king-size one. It had red sheets and bedding. A white canopy was above her.
She stared around the room, still unsure where she was.
As she concentrated on the last thing she remembered, she tensed. Elm and a team of around fifteen hybrids had come at Brooke and Auberi. Auberi had killed three of the hybrids before Elm threw enough power at him to send him flying into a huge tree. The man had gotten up and tried to go at Elm again, only to find himself being hit with a bolt of power so strong that he gone down hard.
Brooke had done her best to fight against the hybrids while Elm watched, but she’d used far too much power at the club. She’d not replenished her system yet. So much so that the men were able to get too many licks in and her body couldn’t heal them quickly. She’d thrust what little power she’d had left at the men to hold them back and then she got to Auberi, trying to lift his dead weight.
Rurik had burst through the tree line and grabbed Auberi with ease. He’d demanded she run while yelling at the men who hurt her that they were g
oing to pay for hurting the little American girl.
Brooke had run and found herself on a street as a vehicle sped at her.
Then she’d seen Malik’s face a second before darkness overtook her.
The huge walnut door in the bedroom opened slowly and Edee peeked her head in, smiling wide when she saw Brooke was awake. The redhead hurried into the room, wearing a long blue dress that Brooke had never seen her in before.
“Bethany?” asked Brooke.
Edee smiled wider. “She’s safe.”
“Auberi?”
Edee glanced away. “He’s better.”
“Where are we?” asked Brooke, looking around. “Did I fall down a rabbit hole and land in the Prince of Persia’s bedroom?”
Pursing her lips, Edee sat on the edge of the bed. “In a sense, yes. We’re at Malik’s house. He insisted on having you transported here once he had you checked over fully by some guy named James. He took care of Gram too.”
Brooke grabbed her friend’s hand. “Gram was hurt?”
Nodding, Edee glanced downward. “It was pretty bad. Brooke, Gram isn’t doing so well. He’s at that headquarters place and James is staying close to him. He swears Gram will be fine but that he needs extra time to heal. James says that Gram must have wrapped his body around Bethany’s and protected her from the explosion, taking the full force of it. I overheard the guys whispering that it’s amazing he lived.”
Brooke covered her mouth with her hand as she teared up. Gram had been hurt severely? “I have to see him. I need to be there with him.”
“Malik just got back an hour ago. He’s been checking on him daily,” said Edee softly. “From what I can gather there was a lot of bad blood between them, but Malik has set all that aside. I guess nearly getting killed protecting Bethany made Malik see the guy in a new light.”
Brooke sat up. “Was anyone else hurt?”
“Auberi was pretty banged up, but was too worried about everyone else to stay in bed like a good little vampire. He’s healed now. Claims the blood of virgins fixed him,” she said with a snort. “He’s something else. And can I just say that is one fine-looking dead guy. And Striker was hurt trying to keep me safe, but manly pride kept him from admitting as much. He’s fine now.”
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