“Now get the fuck off my floor and get to work, witch.” His harsh command had Esmeralda scrambling in fear for her life to do his bidding.
___________
The phone call he’d been expecting all morning finally came. Xavier. He was making him sweat it out, making every minute he was parted from Kate feel like a thousand centuries.
“Yes.”
“Hello, brother. It’s been a long time.”
“Get on with it, Xavier.” At the moment, he wished his unique power included reaching through the phone line to gut the son-of-a-bitch and hang his intestines from the ceiling fan.
“Now, now, Devon. Is that any way to talk to family?” he chuckled.
“We are not family. But you have mine and I want them back.” He was having a very hard time not letting Xavier under his skin, but he knew if he did, it could be worse for his Kate. And Giselle…provided she still lived.
“Direct, as always. Color me blue when I found out the dreamwalker was your bonded mate. I mean…I couldn’t have scripted our little reunion tete-a-tete any better if I’d tried.” Xavier’s glee oozed through the phone.
“If you’ve harmed either one of them, I’ll slowly rip you apart.”
“Ah, Devon. Such strong words when I’m in the omnipotent position.”
Dev’s jaw ticked back and forth, his teeth grinding so hard, he worried he’d break them.
“I take your silence as agreement. Good. Now, I’ll take you in exchange for your lovely mate. You will come alone, because while I’d love to pay you back for my many losses this evening, at the moment, I’m far more savoring the thought of getting my hands on you. If you don’t come alone, she dies. If you try to double cross me, she dies.” He paused before adding, “I assume you’ll take the deal?”
“Of course. But I want Giselle too. The meeting point?”
“Giselle? That would be the female vampire?” It was a rhetorical question, so he remained silent.
“Very well, you can have her. If she’s still alive by then. She’s hanging on by a very thin thread. She’s been an enjoyable plaything for my men. Needs blood to heal her near-mortal injuries. Shame, really. So…we’ll meet at the lighthouse at Rock Island State Park. Half an hour.”
“Fine.”
Too bad Xavier would be the only one there. He would have his mate back by then.
“I’m looking forward to getting re-acquainted, brother.”
Dev hung up and turned to Ren and Sulley. “You two are with me. We go now before they move her.”
They were already at the old park ranger’s station at Rock Island State Park. Esmeralda had located Kate fifteen minutes ago and he would not wait another second to free her from Xavier’s clutches. They wanted the element of surprise and had already scoped out the area, finding the secret passageway to the lower compound. Dev silently wondered how many of these compounds Xavier had around the country and how they would find them all.
Ren had already identified one human and fifteen vampires, one with a very week aura. They were hoping that was Giselle. She wouldn’t answer when he called her and he would not leave one of his own behind.
To provide shrouding protection, Esmeralda had come with him, Ren, Manny, Thane, and two of Rom’s best fighters. He had to leave the rest of his men back to protect the girls and other humans they’d rescued earlier, so he was working with a smaller crew, but they’d be fine. He didn’t trust leaving Esmeralda behind, so she was going in with them. If she died, oh well. It would be a quicker death than she deserved.
“Manny, the witch is with you. You will guard the outside and, so help me, witch, if I so much as get a tingle that you are sabotaging us, I will gut you faster than you can take your next breath. Thane and Henry, bring Giselle home.”
They headed into action.
Now that he was close enough, he could communicate with Kate. Kate had done a good job at describing her surroundings. The fact that she was kept like some animal in a dog crate nearly made him nuclear. He breathed a little easier when she said she was okay, but until she was safe in his arms, he wouldn’t believe it.
“Kate, my love, I’m on my way.”
No response. Fuck. His heart beat faster with fear. Why wouldn’t she answer him?
As they entered the structure, Dev used his powers to hide them from view. He knew this wouldn’t work against high-powered vampires, like Xavier, but it would work against low level vamps. He had a whole litany of surprises in store for the others. Sulley, one of Rom’s men, was not only a skilled fighter, he had the power to sense a being’s deepest fear, so his skill would be particularly useful, along with Dev’s. This way they could personalize the illusion to each rogue to maximize its benefit. They’d just have to make this quick because making those types of illusions drained him of power quickly and that would make him vulnerable.