He shifted as she spoke and she spun away, tossing the clothes behind her toward him.
Jack thumped his cane on the floor. “So, she got snatched by the bloody fang face, did she? Not surprised about that, not for one gods-be-damned minute. That’ll teach her for not listening to those who know better.”
Liam dressed fast, yanking the clothes on. “What took you so long?”
Pamela peeked back at him, saw he was dressed, and let out a breath. “Jack was being difficult; Will remembered Milly and attacked her, and then Will wanted to come, but Milly didn’t want him here. It was really all quite a mess.”
Milly’s eyes glittered with anger. “It seems that young Will has an advocate.”
Jack snapped his cane out and smacked Milly up the backside of her head. “Enough with this shit. Let’s find Rylee.”
Milly’s mouth dropped open, her eyes widening as her hand went to the back of her head. “You nasty, filthy little—”
“Enough.” With one word, Liam silenced them. “Jack, can you Track her?”
He bobbed his head. “That’s what I was trying to tell them before they dragged me here.”
“Tell us what?” Will put his hands on his hips, eyes narrowing.
“Rylee ain’t that fucking far away. Whoever took her has her back home.” Jack leaned on his cane, and took a deep rattling breath.
Liam frowned, his brain slow to catch on. “They have her back in North Dakota?”
Jack shook his head and tapped his cane on the floor. “No, they have her somewhere in London.”
Faris yanked me, and Alex, with him as he jumped the veil, a gut-lurching twist that left Alex puking filthy grey water the minute we stood on solid ground. The werewolf’s sides heaved until I could see ribs, even through his thick fur. I stumbled, gasped for air, and spun to see that we were indeed out of the catacombs that had almost been our death.
We stood in a sumptuous room layered with carpets, draperies, and paintings. I didn’t know where he’d brought us, but I was betting that it was nowhere near North Dakota.
“I suppose we should get right to it then.” Faris slid up behind me, pinned my arms to my side and licked my neck. “Even if I would prefer you didn’t smell like that rotten water, this will have to do. I want you bound to me before the night is over, Tracker, one way or another.”
I dropped my weight forward, and kicked back, catching him in the ankle and unbalancing his fangy-ass so he stumbled away from me. “Really, you want to play this game again?” A part of me knew I should be afraid of him. Hell, I had been terrified when I’d first met him. But I held the ace up my sleeve now.
He needed me, and I didn’t give a shit about him.
“Ah.” He dusted his hands together, regaining his balance without looking like I’d knocked him off-kilter at all. “Shall we talk about the oath you took? The one that said you will do—what was it now, yes, I remember—all in your power to kill the Child Empress?” His icy blue eyes snared mine and I forced myself to look away.
“You’re a lying piece of shit, you do know that, don’t you? If I’d known who she was, I never would have taken that oath.”
“Please, are you telling me you can’t come up with anything better than that?” He quirked one blond eyebrow. Standing there, all in black, soaking wet and totally bedraggled, he still managed to look better than most men on their wedding day. I had no such thing going for me. On the other hand, I had everything I did need to end this.
I yanked a sword from my back and uncoiled my whip with my other hand. “No, nothing better than that today. Unless you want a taste of this.” I lifted my sword hand and pointed the blade at his mouth.
“You’re not even going to thank me for saving you, are you?”
“Alex says thanks,” Alex whispered at my side. He coughed twice and then stood there, shaking, fur dripping onto the carpet. I hoped it left a stain.
Faris gave me a thin smile. “Your wolf has better manners than you do.”
When he moved, I wasn’t ready for it. No, that wasn’t true, I was ready, I just couldn’t match his speed. His shoulder slammed into my chest, and he sent me sailing across the room, tumbling through the air until I hit the wall with a resounding thud I felt all the way down to my boots.
I slid to the floor and pushed myself up to my feet while I fought to catch the wind that had been knocked out of me. My brain didn’t compute what I was seeing, not right away. Alex sat facing me; Faris crouched behind him. In the thick ruff of Alex’s fur around his neck, Faris’ hand was buried deep. The vampire shook Alex hard, twice. “Rylee, I do hate to take this to the extreme, but you are— like always—being difficult. If you won’t let me draw blood and attempt to bind you to me, then we must do this another way. Since I have met you, I have tried to be patient. I have tried to help you. But there is no time left to play the nice vampire.”