He continually tried calling out to Kate, but she wouldn’t respond. He knew something was terribly wrong. “Hang on my love. I’m on my way.”
They quickly made their way down the steel staircase in complete blackness. Kate was a level down, but Giselle was straight ahead at the end of the hallway. Thane and Henry had their orders. They would flash Elle home and Henry would return to help them while Thane stayed with her if necessary. If not, he’d return also. Big D was at their new location, ready to tend to her.
In short order they had made it to the lower level without incident. His only thought was getting to his mate. The second was eliminating Xavier, but only after Kate was safe. The fact they had run into no rogues at all was disconcerting. Something definitely didn’t feel right. They were feet away from the room that held Kate when all hell broke loose behind them.
Ren was pinned to the ground by an unknown force and Sulley was in hand-to-hand combat with a rogue the size of a lord. There were three more gigantic rogues tearing down the hallway toward them and Dev had a sudden fear for Ren’s safety, stepping protectively in front of him.
“Save your mate, my lord.”
“Looks like I need to save your ass first.”
“I’ve got it covered, my lord.”
“Yes, I can see that.”
Sulley and Dev made quick work of the rogues in the hallway, freeing Ren, only for more rogues to rush them from either side. A feeling of vertigo assaulted him and he had to fight to remain upright.
“Go, my lord. We can take care of this.”
His men could handle this, so Dev didn’t waste another second. “Kate, I’m coming.”
Dev swiftly closed the gap between him and where his mate was being held, kicking the door open.
What he saw inside was completely unexpected, freezing him in place with terror.
Kate stood before him in the middle of the room, clothes torn to the point of barely covering her. She was covered in bruises, her right eye completely swollen shut. Tears streamed in rivers down her red face. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, what paralyzed him with fear was the fact that Xavier had her completely pinned to him, one arm around her neck and another around her midsection. The arm around her neck forced her head to turn at a grotesque left angle.
Dev had been completely unprepared for this. Ren hadn’t sensed any vampires with Kate.
“You broke our deal, brother,” Xavier sneered.
Dev focused solely on Kate. “Are you okay, love?” She wouldn’t answer. “Kate, answer me, please.”
“If you’re trying to talk to your luscious mate, I’m afraid Katherine can’t really communicate at the moment. You see, I have some tricks up my sleeve too, brother.”
“Kate, blink twice if you can hear me.”
Two blinks. Thank God.
“I’m going to figure a way out of this. Hang on, love.”
How could he rescue her without causing paralysis? One wrong move and her head would be severed from her spinal column. Snapping a vamps neck didn’t cause death, but it did cause permanent paralysis. And throwing an illusion wouldn’t work when Xavier literally held Dev’s entire life in filthy hands.
“I’ve spent the last five hundred years fantasizing about the day I would end your life, brother. The same way you effectively ended mine when you ratted me out like the slimy traitor you are.”
Dev remained silent, never taking his eyes from Kate.
“We could have ruled the world together, Devon. We are among the strongest, oldest and most powerful vampires alive. We could have had it all. We could have been kings. But you had to have a fucking conscience. How can you stomach living side by side with humans? They are animals! They are our food!”
Dev continued to ignore Xavier’s rant. He had to figure out how to get out of this mess. “It’s going to be okay, love.”
“Hmmm, I’m not so sure it is going to be okay, my sweet,” Xavier whispered in her ear. He licked her cheek, studying Dev the entire time.
Dev saw red. How dare Xavier touch his mate in such a manner. Dev made a slight move toward Kate and Xavier jerked her back toward him more firmly, making her wince.
“You’ll never make it in time before I snap her neck. And I’m not sure how much fun I would have fucking a vegetable. Never tried it before, but it could definitely be worthwhile. But I really do like my bitches to put up a fight.”
Kate looked terrified and she started sobbing softly.
“I won’t let him hurt you, love.”
“You are one sick motherfucker.” Dev was trying to keep his cool, but he felt himself falter slightly. It was clear Xavier had the upper hand at the moment.