Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 118374 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118374 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
They’d done this dance many times before. Knox mostly took care of tweaking memories, Larkin would edit or delete any incriminating CCTV footage, and the others would stage the scenes in whatever ways were necessary … just as Tanner often did. Today, though, he was sticking with Devon.
Rhonda scrubbed a hand down her face. “I haven’t panicked like that in God knows how long.”
Tanner could say the same about himself. By nature, he wasn’t an emotionally overreactive person. He was in control of his emotions, and he was always steady in times of stress or danger. But when Enzo told him that Devon had been taken, his mind had turned into a whirl of chaos.
With adrenaline pumping through his veins, he’d sped around the streets like a fucking crazy person, desperate to get to her—his mouth dry, his heart pounding, his ribs feeling too tight. His only comfort had been the knowledge that her kidnappers would have been ordered not to harm her, just as the others had been.
He’d managed to close in on the van just as the imps took the other vehicle out of the equation, but the car collision had caused a block in the road, so he’d had to abandon the Audi and pursue the first van on foot. And when he’d merged his mind with hers and realized how close she was to unconsciousness, he’d nearly lost his shit.
His hound had gone ballistic, demanding freedom, craving vengeance. The only thing that had stopped it from bashing its way to the surface was the shock of the sight it found when Tanner hopped into the van. Three of the bastards that had taken her were dead on the floor of the vehicle, and the other was barely alive—all looked like they’d been trampled on by a freight train. Several times.
Now, he knew just how sharp his kitten’s “claws” really were. The power inside her was as dark and hungry for violence as the hound that lived within him.
Enzo picked up a syringe and sniffed it. “I don’t recognize the smell.”
“It’s liquid mercury,” Tanner told him. The damn stuff was leaking from her pores, tainting her luscious scent. The injection would keep her unconscious for a few hours, maybe longer. “They already hit her with one dose of it. Looks like they were thinking of hitting her with another.”
“Wouldn’t that have killed her?” asked Lex, checking the pockets of the deceased and getting a good look at their bruised, bloody faces.
“Yes,” replied Tanner. “They probably only brought the second syringe as a spare in case they lost the first. But when they realized they were dealing with someone far more powerful than they’d been prepared for, they were willing to use the second syringe, even if it meant killing her.”
Lex sighed. “None of these guys have any ID or cell phones on them.”
Because that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? Tanner took a brief look around and then spoke to Enzo and Lex. “Find out who this van belongs to and who the fuck they were.”
“It’ll be done,” Enzo assured him.
The van rocked slightly as Keenan hopped inside. His brows shot up as he took in the scene. “I’m guessing she’s fine, since you haven’t gone off the deep end.”
It had been a close call. “She’s fine … albeit drugged up to her eyeballs with liquid mercury.”
“Liquid mercury?” Keenan echoed. “Fuck me.”
Hearing sirens blaring in the distance, Tanner said, “I need to get her out of here.”
Keenan nodded. “We’ll take care of everything and feed the authorities a false story—you concentrate on Devon.”
With a nod of thanks, Tanner exited the van with Devon still in his arms. He needed to get her somewhere impenetrable. Somewhere where she could recover in peace. Right then, there was only one place he trusted her to be safe.
CHAPTER TEN
It was the hum of the ceiling fan that pierced her sleep. God, she was dog-tired.
Floating in the haze of “almost awake,” Devon snuggled deeper into her pillow. No, not her pillow. Hers wasn’t so soft and plump. Just like her mattress didn’t feel so astonishingly comfortable—seriously, it was like lying on a cloud. Yeah, this was most definitely not her bed. Which meant it was also not her room. But she knew the scent that seemed ingrained into it. Tanner.
She managed to force her heavy eyelids open, but they drifted shut before she could properly examine her surroundings. Ugh. She’d obviously drained herself psychically, and the fucking liquid mercury hadn’t helped. It was every hellbeast’s major weakness.
She swallowed, and there was an audible click of her tongue. Damn if she didn’t feel like crap. Her joints ached, and her muscles quivered slightly … like when she had the flu. Her mouth was all dry and sticky, and she was excruciatingly aware of the hollow ache in her stomach.