by Nowlan,Anya
The loud pop of firearms still pierced the air, but Stone noticed a good amount of Parker’s men now piled unmoving on the hallway floor.
Fucking hell. He’s brought an army.
James’ shoulder was bleeding and Kate looked a lot less put together than usual, but otherwise they seemed to be alright.
Roars ripped through the air as the remaining goons shifted with the gunfire dying down. A row of tigers padded towards the living room, mouths curled in snarls, tails whipping.
Kate was reloading her Glock, James was out of bullets and Stone still couldn’t find his damn rifle. James rushed the men closest to him with a desperate cry, letting his weapon fall to the ground. The lion inside Stone was gnashing and snarling, begging to be released.
“Kate, stay back,” he warned.
Let’s do this, Stone thought as he let his own shift take him.
Kate ducked behind one of her priceless armchairs, shooting at everything that moved. But a fully grown shifter could take a lot more bullets than a man could, so her shooting wasn’t having quite the effect she probably wished for.
Stone leapt into the action, teeth first. He got hold of a tiger’s back on the sidelines of the pack and sank his fangs in, blood spurting into his mouth. As he was busy ripping and tearing, he could feel claws rake across his back. Releasing his current prey, he turned, paw already swiping at the animal snarling behind him.
A third opponent jumped into the mix, clamping his jaws around Stone’s hind leg. He roared in pain, but kept fighting, swiping at anything that got too close. He was surrounded by a sea of orange and black, the tiger shifters cornering him.
“Stone, get low!” he could hear Kate shout over the bedlam.
He crouched as a bullet whizzed by, ripping through the skull of the tiger in front of him. Stone pulled away from the animal that still had his teeth around his leg, his flesh shredding in the process, but at least he got free. With no time to waste, he went straight for the big cat’s throat, severing the jugular and adding another layer of blood to the walls.
Stone looked around as his opponent went limp, quickly assessing the situation. James was on the ground, a gaping wound where his neck used to be. He fought bravely, but had been no match for tigers.
Another life he could chalk up to Parker’s actions. Another waste.
The entrance to the living room was littered with bodies, both men and tigers. Kate was painted crimson with slash marks running down her vest. Will was splayed out on the floor with a hole in his head. And most troubling of all, Tom was holding his gun.
Stone was already leaping towards Tom when he raised the weapon and aimed. Stone’s teeth buried in the man’s neck just as the gun went off. That’s when he realized, it wasn’t him Tom was targeting.
Kate!
Twenty-Five
Selina
When Selina pulled up to Kate’s house, she knew at once she had been too late.
The villa’s façade was littered with bullet holes. Bodies of Kate’s security team as well as unknown men lay scattered on the lawn and the front door was blown clean off its hinges.
Stone!
Without even thinking, Selina jumped out of the car and ran into the house. She had to find him, to see he was alright. And he had to be alright, there was just no other option.
The hallway was in bad shape. The walls were so shot up, she wondered if the whole thing was just going to crumble into a pile of dust at any second. She had to step over piles of dead men and tigers, blood seeping through her pink socks. She looked at all of their faces, to see if Stone was among them.
This is going to give me nightmares, she thought feverishly. How could Joe and Stone live with themselves after seeing this for years on end?
By the time she entered the living room, she could barely breathe. All those faces, all the carnage, there didn’t seem to be any survivors. It was an all-out bloodbath.
Please, they can’t be dead, she thought, not even sure who she was pleading with.
The slaughter continued, the once white walls of the living room looking like a gruesome Jackson Pollock painting. Tom was sprawled on the floor, a pool of coagulating blood beneath his torn-up neck. Will was also dead, but by a bullet to the head. With a shock, Selina noticed Tom’s fingers were still curled around a gun.
Stone would never give him a gun. And who was he shooting at?
Selina ran around the house, checking every space she could, frantic in her need to find Stone.
Maybe he and Kate are injured and are hiding in one of the rooms?
She slipped and almost fell more times than she could count, her bloody socks sliding on the floor and leaving macabre footprints behind.
“Stone! Kate! It’s me!” she shouted, hoping none of the bad guys were still sneaking around somewhere, waiting for her.
She hadn’t really thought of that as she rushed inside, her figurative guns a-blazing, forgetting all about the very literal ones that could be waiting to mow her down.
I guess Richard is not the only one love has made stupid, she thought, shocked by her own rashness, and the thoughts that came with it. I’m not in love with Stone, that’s impossible, she assured herself, even managing to believe it a little as she held her breath, scouring through the rooms.
Her shouts got no answer and there was only one place left to check. She made her way back to the hallway and reached into one of the guards’ pockets, pulling out a key card. The man’s eyes were wide open, staring into nothing. A shiver ran down Selina’s back as she rushed back inside and used the card to open the door to the armory.
Drawers were pulled open and magazines spread everywhere, but no Stone and no Kate. Tom’s phone was on the floor, still in its little mesh bag. Without even thinking, she grabbed it and shoved it in her pocket. Looking around, she also picked up a gun. Thanks to her brother’s firearm obsession, she knew how to use it.
She only wished she’d gotten hold of one the first time she’d been in there.
Circling back to Stone’s room, she rummaged around his suitcase until she found one of his burners. Slipping off her socks, Selina continued to her room and got a fresh pair, along with new shoes. Before leaving, she quickly peeked in the garage. One of the cars was missing.
She was acting out of instinct, her head suddenly devoid of thoughts. Just a nauseating need to do something kept her moving, devising a plan she wasn’t even consciously aware of.
So they must have gotten out, she thought, relieved. Or someone took them.
Whatever the case, more men could be coming soon and Richard probably wasn’t far behind, either. Selina sprinted outside, trying to ignore the horrid images around her. She hopped in the Ford and drove off, heading back into town.
They’re alright, they’re alright, they’re alright, she chanted in her head.
She had to admit, stepping into that house and having to come face to face with the possibility of Stone being dead was the scariest thing she had ever experienced. However rational she tried to be about whatever it was between them, emotions kept taking over. Even amidst total madness and deadly danger, all Stone had to do was wrap her in his strong arms and she felt safe and all the insanity fell away immediately.
Not to mention their explosive chemistry.
Oh, how she wished to step into that embrace now and forget that the rest of, well, everything had happened at all. But to do that, she needed to find Stone. And he needed to be in one piece.
Selina pulled into the first populated parking lot she came across and dialed the preset number in the burner. It rang and rang to no answer. In what was definitely not one of her proudest moments, she pressed her forehead against the wheel and just cried until there were no tears left. They seemed to pour out of her and she wondered after a while how she even managed to make herself stop.
Okay, get it together, she thought after a while, wiping her cheeks.
She needed to come up with a course of action.
A knock on
the window made her jump. She pressed the ‘lock doors’ button as fast as she could once she saw who it was.
“Please, I just want to talk,” Richard said, holding his hands up.
Selina turned the keys in the ignition, ready to drive over his foot if he didn’t back up.
“I went to the house. I saw… everything. You were right. I’m so sorry.”
Richard had the face of a dead man walking. He was pale and practically shivering, which was an oddly comical sight on a man with his build and deadly capabilities.
He looks genuinely torn up, I’ll give him that.
“I have to make this better. Let me help you,” he continued.
Since his deal with Parker had obviously fallen through, Richard had no reason to hurt her. But that didn’t mean he could be trusted. Selina grabbed the gun she’d taken from the house and aimed it at Richard before unlocking the doors and getting out.
Her hand only trembled a little. Joe would be proud.
“Fine, but you’re driving, so I can keep an eye on you,” she said, holding the man at gunpoint as discreetly as possible.
The last thing I need is someone to call the cops on me.
Richard did as he was told and got in the driver’s seat as Selina climbed into the passenger side, gun still trained on him.
I can’t believe I’m doing this. This day can’t get any crazier.
But she quickly discarded that thought. So far, she’d gotten abducted, held against her will, witnessed the murders of too many trained warriors to count, and was now holding a man at gunpoint. The day could definitely get crazier if the current trend was anything to go by.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“We have trackers on all the cars. I accessed the data from the house computer,” He said, a bit of color returning to his expression.
Hope bloomed in Selina’s chest.
“So you know where the other car missing from the garage is?”
By the look on Richard’s face, she could tell they weren’t going to be that lucky.
“No, whoever took it, they disabled the tracking system.”
Figures.
“So you lied. You can’t actually help me at all!”
Richard looked down, face twisting with shame and anger.
“I know most of Kate’s safehouses and hiding spots, but she’s probably figured out I was involved in your disappearance so she wouldn’t go to any of those places.”
“Then tell me, why exactly should I keep you around?” Selina demanded, waving the gun in his face.
Richard was saved from coming up with an answer by the burner phone’s buzzing. Selina jumped to answer it while not letting Richard out of her sight.
“Selina, is that you?” Stone’s voice flowed into her ear.
The relief flooding through Selina’s body almost made her tremble. Richard seemed to perk up as well.
She kept her finger on the trigger and the gun aimed squarely at his torso.
I don’t trust you, she thought, looking at the man beside him. But I do trust you, she added, hungering to hear more from Stone.
Twenty-Six
Stone
Hearing Selina’s voice made Stone’s lion roar with joy.
“Are you guys alright?” she asked, sounding worried.
The whole situation was ridiculous. She was worried about them. The irony was too much for Stone.
He looked over to the couch where Kate was sitting. She had been in the middle of undoing the Velcro straps of her vest, hiding her winces in the process, when Stone realized he had a missed call. She was staring at him, brows raised questioningly.
“It’s her,” he mouthed at Kate before answering Selina. “We’re alive. Where are you, are you safe?” he said into the phone.
“I’m okay. Richard tried to take me to Parker but I escaped.”
“When I get my hands on that snake…” Stone muttered into the speaker, imagining his claws ripping into Richard’s body.
“Actually, he’s with me right now,” Selina interjected, her tone icy.
Fear leapt through Stone, but Selina was already explaining.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got a gun on him. Oh, and he regrets his actions or whatever and totally wants to help now. Should I shoot him now or wait?”
The last part was delivered with so much sarcasm that Stone couldn’t help but smile. His little spy was outclassing them all.
“Where are you? I’ll come get you,” Stone said, already reaching for his car keys.
Richard could be sorry all he wanted, that didn’t change anything. But right now, the most important thing was to get to Selina.
“I have a car, I’ll come to you. You should stay put. Just text me the address.”
Stone glanced at Kate, cradling her ribs as she attempted to sit back down. He didn’t want to leave his friend, alone and defenseless, but Selina was alone in a car with a traitor. Selina must have already figured what he was thinking.
“Do you really want to waste time arguing? Just tell me where to come,” she said before hanging up.
Goddamn it, woman!
Stone sent Selina the directions and started pacing around the room. He wouldn’t get a second of peace until Selina was here, back at his side. He hurt all over and yet, the mental image of ripping Parker to shreds kept playing in his head like a pleasant lullaby.
“She’s coming?” Kate asked.
“Yeah. And she’s not alone. Richard’s with him.”
“What? Why is she hanging out with her kidnapper?”
Good question.
Stone grabbed an icepack from the freezer and handed in to Kate. She flinched as she pressed it to her ribs.
“I have a feeling the roles have been reversed. She also said something about him being sorry? I guess we’ll see when they get here.”
His tone was calm, but on the inside, all he could think about was holding Selina in his arms again and never letting go.
It took about thirty agonizing minutes until there was a knock on the door. Stone opened it, only to be greeted by Richard’s face, wracked with guilt as it was. Stone’s rage threatened to boil over, but somehow he managed to keep it in check.
Selina was standing behind Richard, gun shoved against his back. A smile slid across her lips as their eyes met. Stone waived them in and locked the door behind them, fighting his urge to grab Selina and kiss her as she walked past.
The hand Selina was gripping the gun with fell to her side as she rushed towards Stone and wrapped him in a fierce hug as soon as the door shut. He squeezed back, inhaling her scent and letting it permeate his being. Stone’s lion finally stopped clawing at his insides, content to have his mate back.
Selina stepped back to take stock of him. He knew it wasn’t exactly a pretty picture. Blood was seeping through his shirt from the gashes he sustained as a lion and he could barely put any weight on his left foot.
She frowned as her gaze moved over Stone’s shoulder to Kate, who already had her weapon drawn and was pointing it at a chair not too far from where she was sitting on the couch.
“Why don’t you have a seat over there, Richard,” she suggested politely.
Stone could tell from the way Kate’s eyes burned she was feeling anything but.
Richard sat down, avoiding her gaze.
Kate looked even worse than Stone. Her arms were covered in scratches, dried blood caked in her hair and on her neck. You could tell every breath she drew caused her pain. She was a long way from the carefully put together ice queen she usually was.
“Kate,” Selina whispered, letting go of Stone and moving to her side.
“It’s okay. Most of the blood is from the tiger that jumped on top of me and tried to use me as a scratching post,” Kate responded with a brittle smile, never taking her eyes off of Richard.
“And the icepack?” Selina asked, worry swirling in her dark eyes.
“Tom shot her,” Stone interjected guiltily. “He got a hold of my
gun in the chaos. Fortunately, he only hit her bulletproof vest, but she’s still got bruised ribs.”
“It’s not your fault, Stone. It’s his,” Kate hissed, waving her gun at Richard.
The man finally looked up, giving Kate a pained look.
“I did it for you. Selina was supposed to buy you leniency from Parker and the Crimson Claws.”
Kate’s eyes widened at that. Selina took a deep breath and rattled off a quick explanation before either Kate or Stone could say a word.
“Richard is in love with you. He thought Parker was going to get wise sooner or later and kill you, so he struck a deal to trade me for your safety.”
Richard cringed in his seat.
“That’s pretty much the gist of it,” he admitted.
Richard is in love with Kate? How did I not notice that? Stone wondered. Well, of course you didn’t notice, all your attention was on Selina, he countered, answering his own question.
Selina stood from kneeling beside Kate and moved to his side and he relaxed despite himself. He locked his fingers around hers, needing to keep her as close as possible. Having her away from him was a hundred times worse than any physical pain he had ever experienced. It was something he never wanted to go through again.
“And you thought that would work?” Kate exclaimed, more shocked by the stupidity of Richard’s plan rather than his motivations.
“That’s what I said!” Selina quickly threw in.
“My people are dead because you thought you knew what’s best for me?” Kate shouted in disbelief, gasping at the pain that followed raising her voice, her pretty face twisting in anguish.
“I didn’t mean for any of that to happen,” Richard answered, slumping over and grabbing his head between his hands.
“I should kill you right now,” Kate ground out, shaking with anger.