by Lynn Hagen
Two cop cars pulled into the driveway. At the curb, a truck pulled up. Three deputies and Maverick joined them.
Dillon, Werth, and Vince explained what was going on.
Maverick turned to the deputies. “Patrol the town and see if you spot Max.”
The guys nodded. They got back into their cars and took off. Maverick pulled his phone out and dialed then said, “Hawk, I need some men at Sheriff Werth’s house. Make sure Cody is one of them. We need to track a demon and Dillon’s mate.”
Dillon tried to stand but dropped back down on the bench. God, he wished his head would stop hurting.
“You need to shift,” Maverick said. “One, that’ll help you heal. Two, you can track your mate better in your panther form.” He looked at the sheriff. “I want you and Deputy Stransky to stay behind just in case.”
“Bullshit,” Werth argued. “I’m gonna be helping you track the son of a bitch down.”
Maverick sighed. “Fine, but Stransky stays behind to watch over Newt.”
Vince didn’t look happy about the decision but simply nodded. It didn’t take long for Maverick’s men to show. They were already in their wolf forms and looked deadly as fuck as six wolves emerged from the woods on the other side of the house.
“Newt, can you get me something of Max’s?” Maverick asked. “His scent will help us to better track him.”
Newt looked relieved to have something to do. He took off and returned with a pair of Max’s jogging pants. Maverick held the material out, and each wolf sniffed it.
They took off as Dillon shifted and went after them. When he looked over his shoulder, not only was Werth’s wolf behind him but Maverick’s, as well.
And Maverick’s wolf was the hugest beast Dillon had ever seen. He looked like he belonged in some mythical realm rather than running alongside them.
They ate up the distance, Dillon flat-out running as he dodged trees and leapt over fallen logs, racing to save his mate from Taren. There was no other explanation of why Max was taken. The demon seemed hell-bent on his revenge, but Dillon was just as determined to end Taren’s life.
Howls rent the air. Dillon and the others caught up to the other wolves, who were standing outside a cottage that sat in the middle of a small clearing. Max’s scent was strong here.
Dillon shifted and raced toward the front door. As soon as he opened it and stepped inside, the wolves flooded the room. Dillon spotted a chair, and blood was soaked into the carpet around it. His heart squeezed tight as he smelled the blood, but it didn’t belong to Max.
“The place is empty,” Hawk said as he came from the kitchen. “I smell demon and a tuna casserole.”
“They had to have just left,” Dillon said. “Max’s scent is still strong.”
Maverick threw his head back and shouted, “Panahasi!”
When the demon leader entered the room from a door off the living room, he eyed everyone.
“Taren has Max, and I smell another demon’s presence,” Maverick said.
Panahasi scented the air before he scowled. “Maltese.”
“Who?” Dillon asked.
“The drug peddler you’re looking for,” he said. “Taren must’ve convinced the little bastard to help him get into the demon realm.”
Dillon pointed to the blood on the floor. “Not by choice.”
“Take us to the demon realm,” Maverick said.
With a wave of his hand, Panahasi dressed Dillon. “The panther is the only one who needs to go.”
“Are you sure?” Maverick smirked. “I could really use a fight right now.”
Panahasi grunted and headed to the door he’d come through. Dillon followed him into the closet, and the next thing he knew, he was free falling. He landed on grass with a hard thump, the air whooshing from his lungs. Dillon took a second to try and stop himself from throwing up before he pushed to his feet.
They were standing on a large mound of grass, and through the center of it, ran a black river. Panahasi pointed to the water. “If Maltese helped get him here, they would’ve come through there.”
Dillon looked around. He’d heard of the demon realm but had never been there. To his right was a small park with a basketball court to one side. Across the street directly in front of Dillon was a row of shops—Jake’s Java, The Melting Pot, and on the corner to his far left, Diablo’s. Across from the small park was a tall apartment building.
It looked like a normal city, although it was dark out. He also didn’t see any cars on the street. Everyone seemed to be walking.
The front door of the apartment building suddenly opened and men filed out. Dillon recognized a few of them. They were the demon warriors.
“Taren tortured Maltese into helping him get back here,” Panahasi said to the warriors when they approached. “Find that bastard. Make sure Taren doesn’t make it to the borders. I have a feeling he’s heading to Remtin.” He turned to Hondo. “Help Dillon search. Taren has a hostage with him, and Max is Dillon’s mate.”
Hondo looked at Dillon and nodded. Dillon had met the warrior once, and thank fuck it had been on good terms, because Dillon never wanted to get on the bad side of any of them.
“What’s Remtin?” Dillon asked Hondo as Panahasi joined the other warriors.
“A city made of nightmares.” Hondo led him down the street. As fascinated as Dillon was with this realm, his sole focus was on finding Max.
As they passed the apartment building, a shrill sound rent the air. “What’s that?” Dillon slapped his hands over his ears.
“The beacons that tell us when the borders have been breached,” Hondo replied. “It looks like Taren made it to Remtin.”
“Then we need to haul ass.” If Remtin was a city made of nightmares, Dillon needed to get his mate out of there as fast as possible.
Chapter Nine
Max woke to the sound of muffled voices. Actually it was more like regained consciousness as he blinked his eyes open. He was lying on a hard, dusty floor, and if he hadn’t been a shifter, he wouldn’t have been able to see in the darkness.
“How’re you feeling?”
At the sound of the voice, Max turned his head and saw Chuck sitting with his back to the wall. He was no longer tied up, but he still looked like crap.
“I’m not talking to you.” Max turned his head and looked around the bare room.
“Did I seriously poison you?” Chuck asked. “I swear I didn’t know.”
“And why should I believe you?” With great effort, Max pushed himself into a sitting position. He pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. The room was windowless, yet he felt a cool breeze coming from somewhere.
“This room is magically sealed,” Chuck said. “That’s why neither of us is tied up. There’s a door, but we can’t open it from the inside.”
There was no way Dillon would be able to find him, and that was if his mate was even alive. But Max refused to cry. He had to figure a way out of this, and then he would allow himself to fall apart.
“So what’s your real name?” Max asked. “Chuck, Maltese, or Dickhead?”
Chuck closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. He’d grown a lot paler from when he was tied to the chair. Max scented blood, but he’d thought that was from the dried blood on the guy’s clothes.
“My name is Maltese.” He licked his lips. “I was just trying to help you, Max. If the potion I gave you was poison, how have you lived for so long?” He opened his eyes and stared at Max. “You’ve been taking it for twenty years.”
“Do you have any on you?”
Maltese shook his head.
As much as Max wanted Maltese to pay for what he’d done, he moved closer, concerned at how bad the guy looked. His wounds hadn’t closed, and he was still bleeding from his side and thigh.
Max took his shirt off and ripped the material. He placed half around the demon’s thigh and tied it as tight as he could. The other half he pressed against his side, Maltese watching him the
entire time.
“If you think I poisoned you, why are you helping me?”
“Because I’m not an evil person like you. I actually don’t want you to die.” Max wanted him to pay for what he’d done by being locked up. Death would be too quick a justice for him.
Maltese grabbed his wrist in a weak hold. “I swear to you. I had no idea.” He released Max. “Besides, why would I try and kill you?” A slow rueful smile curved his lips. “We were supposed to be married.”
Max jerked back as his jaw dropped.
“It wasn’t my idea.” Maltese grunted as a solid sheen of sweat covered his face. “Our parents tried to force us.”
Max frowned. “But you’re not rich. If you are, why are you selling that crap?”
The sad smile died on Maltese’s lips. “Because, like you, I refused to marry someone I didn’t even know.”
Max slapped the crap out of Maltese and then regretted it, but not enough to apologize. “I had sex with you!”
“I never forced you,” Maltese argued as he pushed himself back up to lean against the wall. “And if you think back, it was you who offered it, not me. And we didn’t have sex every time. Hell, I practically gave you most of your potion for free.”
In all honesty, Max couldn’t recall who had initiated the sex. It had been so long ago since that deal had been struck. “Back then you could have told me who you were.”
“Nobody knew my real identity. I’m not even sure how Taren found out.” Maltese winced and panted. “They disowned me when I refused to marry you. I sell the potions to get by, but I swear to you I didn’t know they would hurt you.”
He was not going to feel sorry for the prick, even if Maltese had run from the same thing Max had. “I stopped taking the potion,” he confessed. “I found my mate and didn’t want the connection between us to be masked.”
Maltese blinked several times before he looked incredulously at Max. “You’re not supposed to go cold turkey!”
“Did you put a fucking warning label on the bottle?” Max argued right back. “Did you tell me to wean myself off instead of dumping my supply down the toilet?”
Maltese squinted as his breathing worsened. “I thought I told you. In fact, I know I did.”
“I think I would’ve remembered something that important.” Max grabbed Maltese and made him lie down. “How does a demon heal?”
“Just like Taren, my powers were stripped from me. My dad called me unsavory names when I told him I wasn’t marrying you, and then he performed some spell and my powers drained away.”
Max looked over his shoulder at the door when the heated voices on the other side grew louder. It sounded as though Taren was arguing with someone.
“We’re in Remtin.” Maltese panted his words. “It’s a city worse than anything you can imagine. If you’re taken from this room, pray you die a quick death.”
“How do you know about this place?” Max checked the torn shirt stuffed against Maltese’s side. It was saturated with his blood.
“Because my dad caught up to me and threw me in this hellhole. I had to fight to get out of here. The demon warriors caught me crossing the borders and came after me to put me back in Remtin, but I got to the Black River in time and escaped.”
“Your dad sounds like a winner.”
Maltese laid his hand on Max’s. “We aren’t rich. My dad told that lie in order to get to your parents’ money.”
Max frowned. “My folks aren’t rich, either.” Though they’d pretended to be, living way beyond their means. Max had never understood how since they were always broke, but somehow, his dad always made them seem like they were a part of the elite.
“Then they both were lying.” Maltese gave a soft, humorless laugh. “But that doesn’t matter now.” He told Max where he kept the recipe for the masking agent. “Wean yourself off and have a good life, Max. You deserve it.”
Max scowled. “Don’t you dare give up, you bastard. We’re both going to make it out of this.”
Maltese gave him a look that said Max was too damn naïve. That might be true, but he refused to believe that fate would give him Dillon and then snatch that happiness away.
The door to the room crashed open. Max threw himself over Maltese. But it wasn’t Taren who stood in the doorway.
It was Dillon.
* * * *
Dillon rushed the room and pulled Max into his arms, so glad he’d found his mate that tears sprang to his eyes. He never wanted to let Max go again. He pulled back and cupped his mate’s face. “Are you okay? Were you hurt?”
“No. I’m okay.” Max threw his arms around Dillon’s neck. “I thought you were dead.” His mate shook as he cried, and Dillon simply held him, thanking fate that he hadn’t been harmed.
“Maltese!” Max yanked out of Dillon’s arms and turned to the man lying on the floor, bleeding from several different wounds. Max looked at Panahasi, who had come into the room behind Dillon. “You have to save him.”
Panahasi curled his lip. “He’s a thug, Max. Why should I save him?”
“Who is he?” Dillon asked.
“Chuck,” Max replied.
“Let him bleed out.” Hell if Dillon was going to allow the bastard to be saved after what he’d done to Max. He was surprised his mate wanted the guy to be saved.
“He’s a victim, just like I was,” Max argued. “Maltese was forced into this life because his father disowned him and threw him into this godforsaken city. Now save him, damn it!”
When Panahasi took a step toward Max, Max shrank back, making Dillon growl.
“Relax, panther,” Panahasi said. “I’m not gonna hurt Max for speaking to me that way. I already know Maltese’s story. I just wanted Max to tell me why he should be saved.”
“You knew Maltese wasn’t a thug?” Max looked shocked, and then his expression turned to anger.
“I knew.” Panahasi didn’t appear repentant. “We all have hard roads to travel.”
Dillon had no idea what that meant. “Are you gonna save him?”
Yep, he was a chump but only for Max. If his mate felt as though Maltese needed saving, then Dillon would fight for the demon’s life, too. He just hoped he didn’t live to regret it.
“We need to go,” Panahasi said. “My warriors are keeping watch over this building, but not only has Taren managed to escape, he has quite the fanatical following. Demons are descending on this street even as we speak.”
The demon leader scooped Maltese from the floor and exited the room. Dillon and Max followed. Max had his hand so tightly that Dillon feared his circulation would be cut off.
“How did you find me?” Max whispered as they quickly descended the stairs.
“Teamwork.” Dillon kissed his mate’s hand and managed to get Max to loosen his hold. “The guys I work with, Maverick and his men, Panahasi and his demon warriors.”
Max blinked at him. “All those men were searching for me?”
A much as Dillon wanted to let Max think he was that special—and he was that special to Dillon—he told the truth. “I think it was more about tracking Taren down.”
“Well, thank god so many people wanted to get their hands on him, or I never would’ve been found.”
Dillon pulled Max behind him when they exited the building. Panahasi hadn’t been lying. Hordes of demons surrounded them, and Dillon wasn’t sure how they would get out of this alive.
One demon moved through the crowd and then stopped when he cleared the men. “Panahasi. You and your warriors don’t belong here.”
Panahasi handed Maltese over to Dillon. The demon leader laid his palm on Maltese’s chest, and the hand glowed blue. Maltese gasped as he opened his eyes, and then Panahasi turned to face the crowd.
“This is my realm,” he said in a calm voice. “I’ll go where I please.”
“Wrong answer,” the guy snarled. “Get him!”
Dillon stepped back into the doorway of the building, making sure Max was behind him as the demon warriors a
nd the horde of demons battled.
Dillon set Maltese on his feet and shoved the guy behind him but not before saying, “I’ll deal with you later.”
When one of the demons rushed toward him, Dillon shifted and attacked but made sure he didn’t stray too far from the doorway. He sank his canines into the bastard’s throat and ripped it out before rushing back to his mate.
Another attacked, and Dillon killed him, too. This went on for some time before the last of the demons, defeated, rushed away. The demon warriors looked beat but no worse for wear. Dillon was exhausted and wanted to sleep for the next week.
He pulled Max into his arms and hugged his mate, uncaring that he was naked and bloody.
“Let’s get you home.” Panahasi threw his arm out, and a swirling black vortex appeared. With Max’s hand in his, Dillon stepped through. They were in Werth’s driveway.
“I guess I’ll be going now.”
Dillon turned and snarled when he saw Maltese behind them. “I should snap your fucking neck.”
He snatched Maltese up by the front of his shirt.
“But I can help!” Maltese squawked. Now that he was standing and appeared healed, Dillon noticed how short the little shit was. He released him and took a step back, telling himself not to end the guy’s life. At least not until Max had some more of the masking agent.
“Get to helping, now.”
Maltese nodded. “I have to go get the recipe.”
Dillon shook his head. “I’m not an idiot. I’m sending my partner with you just in case you get any ideas to run.” He took a step closer but had to bend to get into Maltese’s face. “And if you do try to slip away, there isn’t a place on earth or the demon realm you can hide.”
“Or the dark fairy realm.” Maltese curled his lips in. “I get the point.”
Dillon sent a quick text to Vince. Since Werth hadn’t come with Dillon, he assumed his boss had headed home, which meant there was no telling where Vince was.
“Did you get him back?” Vince asked when he called seconds later.
“Yeah, but I got a job for you.”