Surrendering(100)

“I thought we’d already established that, Devon.”

“Me for her. That was the deal.” At this point, he just needed to get Kate away from Xavier. The fight outside of the room continued to escalate and Dev had the first twinge of real concern. He wasn’t sure either of them would make it out alive of this FUBAR situation.

“Me for her, Xavier.” He had to keep him talking…distract him.

“Yes,” Xavier sighed. “That was the original deal. Until you broke it by trying to sabotage me. Now I’m afraid there is a new deal on the table. Well…the only deal, really.”

“And what might that be?”

“I have been forced to spend the last five hundred years living underground like a lowly sewer rat. All thanks to you. My body has been ravaged beyond any repair, also thanks to you. I have spent the last half a millennia waiting, plotting, anticipating my revenge. And I couldn’t have written a better ending to our rivalry if I’d tried. I am going to relish watching you suffer as I fuck and bleed your mate right in front of your eyes. I will let my men line up and use her over and over again. You will watch the life slowly leave her body, unable to save her. And when her body finally gives out and you watch her die, I will enjoy torturing you to the brink of death, only to bring you back again so you can suffer her loss in perpetuity. I will show you no mercy.”

He had to get Kate away from this psychopath. He just needed to get him to release her. If he could get her out of his grip, he had a chance at saving them with a powerful illusion, but he couldn’t risk it while Xavier held her life so precariously in his hands. He obviously had no idea Kate was his daughter and that was definitely a secret they needed to keep.

Dev felt the power Xavier unleashed. This had been his worst fear—that he would be immobilized, unable to help his mate. So while he could feel Xavier’s power—nothing happened. He still had the ability to move. And, he realized, so did Kate. She’d been struggling in Xavier’s arms from the moment he walked in.

He could see the confusion could Xavier’s eyes, but Xavier quickly recovered. Dev was confused as well, but wasn’t about to reveal that little fact to him. The upper hand may just have shifted to him slightly.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind when the unthinkable happened. He watched helplessly as Xavier sunk his fangs into his mate’s neck, but just as Dev was charging to free her, Xavier wailed and threw Kate across the room, where she landed in a still heap on the floor.

Dev only had seconds to react, as Xavier stood clawing at his throat. He threw the illusion that he’d turned his back on Xavier to tend to Kate, who still lay in a crumpled pile bleeding on the ground, when instead he already had her safely in his arms, and unable to flash inside for some reason, ran outdoors where he flashed them the hell out of there and back to the safety of their new home.





Chapter 62





Kate





It had been over a month since Dev rescued her from Xavier’s clutches, who still remained alive unfortunately. They never did understand why Xavier threw her across the room after he bit her, but she recalled him hissing, like he was hurt. Big D had enlisted the help of the scientists they’d recovered to help figure it out. They were also trying to determine why Xavier’s powers didn’t appear to work on either her or Dev. None of them had ever run across this before. Whatever the reason, they were grateful or there may have been a very different ending.

She was devastated to learn of Leo’s death, but thankfully everyone else had returned safely, albeit a little worse for the wear. Ren and Thane had completely recovered from their injuries within a couple of days.

Giselle, on the other hand, had been in very bad shape and it was touch and go for a week. So while she’d finally recovered physically, she was still recovering emotionally. She wouldn’t speak of what was done to her in the short time she was in captivity. She’d been very withdrawn.

Giselle and Detective Thatcher had apparently gotten close in the weeks before holy hell erupted, but now Giselle wouldn’t even speak to him. He called her constantly, even trying to get Dev to intervene, but nothing would sway her. Kate felt sorry for the detective. He seemed like a nice guy. She actually found herself wishing the ice queen would reappear. At least that would mean she was getting back to normal.

She’d talked to Erin by phone a few times in the last month. The only thing she could tell her was that she’d met someone and was spending all of her free time with him. She knew eventually she would have to end their friendship, as she couldn’t reveal anything about her new life. That saddened her. Her one consolation was that Kate and Olivia had become quite close. She’d also talked to her parents several times by phone and because Xavier was still loose, Dev had put some protective detail on them, for which she was grateful.