Somehow he locked down his fear for Margery, keeping it at bay as he took control of his senses. Along the main road there was a couple strolling down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand. On his other side he spotted a couple making out in the front seat of a car. Dismissing any threats, he leaned into the front seat and inspected everything.
The sharp scent of fear and anger permeated the air. Margery was afraid but she was also pissed. A heavy dose of guilt slammed into him. If he hadn’t been fighting with Davis like an out of control male she’d have never come out here by herself. He picked up part of the shirt she’d been wearing. He already had her scent but he inhaled, pulling it deeper into his memory. As he did, something slick and almost shiny caught his eye. Leaning down toward the seat he zeroed in on the substance. Before he gently touched it, he knew what it was.
Colloidal silver. His finger burned as he swiped against it, but he ignored the discomfort. Right now finding Margery was all that mattered. The terror splintering through him would have to take a back seat. He had to keep a level head if he wanted to save her.
She wouldn’t carry silver around with her. Someone must have injected her with it. It was the only thing that made sense of the mess left behind. There weren’t too many reasons for her to have gone wolf in a semi-public place. But if she was being threatened or attacked to the point her inner animal felt the need to take over, her human side wouldn’t have had a choice. Silver in her bloodstream would be excruciating but it wouldn’t kill her. Not at her age. That knowledge was the only thing that kept his primal side at bay. Barely.
He pulled out his phone, ready to call Grant when his phone buzzed with an incoming text.
If you want to see that pretty shifter again get in your SUV and drive west. Wait for instructions. Tell anyone in that wolf pack and the bitch dies.
Icy tendrils wrapped around his throat, squeezing tight. Someone had to be watching him. After the text followed a picture of a brown and white wolf with a shackle around one of its legs. It was connected to a thick chain. Rex almost crushed his phone in his hand. He’d never seen Margery shift but he had no doubt that was her. She lay there, her head on her paw with her eyes closed. He prayed she was just unconscious.
Without knowing what her kidnapper wanted he couldn’t let Grant know about this. Not yet. He was going to get her back.
Rex strode toward the front of the parking lot where he’d parked, his movements jerky. Margery had left her Jeep at the side of the building, somewhat out of sight, but there hadn’t been many spots when he’d arrived.
As Rex reached his SUV, Davis strode out the front door. Rex could see Sarah inside at the cash register helping the last customer while the others were now sitting at the high-top tables eating their pastries.
“Hey, Rex,” Davis called out, but Rex ignored him.
Jumping into the front seat of his SUV, he threw it into reverse before hauling ass out of there. He didn’t know if he was being watched and he couldn’t be seen talking to anyone. As he pulled onto the main road, his phone rang.
Hell, maybe he was being watched. It was from the same number as the text. He answered immediately. “Yeah.”
“I’m going to give you an address and you’re going to plug it into your GPS system and follow the directions exactly,” a female said.
“Who is this?”
“The female who has your bitch. Saw you two cozying up at her bakery. Can’t believe you’re hooking up with a shifter but I guess there’s no accounting for taste with a piece of garbage who hunts his own kind.” Her voice dripped with unconcealed disgust.
Rex’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, those icy fingers around his throat squeezing even more. So this had to do with his job. Shit. This could be about pure payback. And God knew he’d made plenty of enemies. “What do you want from me?”
She quickly rattled off an address then said, “Go there. You’ll be met by a vampire. You’re going to take him to Stanley then we’re going to do an even trade for your shifter.”
Like hell. “That’s not how trades work,” he snarled. “I’ll meet you at a centralized place and we’ll do an even trade out in the open.” Unfortunately he didn’t have Stanley. The only good thing was, this female had no clue the vamp was dead.
“No. I’m in charge and these are the parameters of my deal. As soon as we’re done here, throw your phone out the window. If you don’t, I’ll know. Be there in ten minutes or she dies. Bring backup and she dies.” The female hung up.
Rex let out a savage curse, but did as she said and threw his phone out the window. He input the address while driving, his hand actually shaking. He was over two hundred years old and his fucking hand shook. If this unknown female hurt Margery…he couldn’t even think about that. No, he had to stay focused on his mission. Then he’d destroy whoever had taken her.