Part 20 (1/2)
He put Rose on her feet. ”Don't...run.” When he spoke, his voice was deep and echoing.
Run? Where was she supposed to run to, exactly? Rose risked a look around-she was in the swamp. No, the Everglades. When they'd flown, she'd looked down and noted the saw gra.s.s marshes and mangrove forests-stretching for miles. She'd seen the snaking wetlands. She'd seen the gators. She'd heard the cry of a million insects.
Her captor roared and her gaze shot back to him-only to realize that he'd completely turned to stone. No more weird half-man, half-stone combination. He was pure stone. She inched forward, lifting her hand to touch him because he appeared to be a giant, snarling statue.
Just when her fingers were about to tap against the stone, a man's hand broke through the statue.
She jerked her own hand back, jumping a bit.
Then his second hand broke free. As she watched, he smashed his way free of the stone. Soon the beast was gone, and a man stood in his place. Tall, muscled, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. And naked. Because, of course, wasn't that the way with s.h.i.+fters? And this fellow...he was definitely some kind of s.h.i.+fter, just a kind she hadn't seen before.
”You...didn't run.” His voice wasn't quite so thundering now. Still deep but, not beast-mode deep.
”Why would I run?”
He raised one brow. ”Because you were just kidnapped by a gargoyle?”
”Is that what you are?” She studied him again. Yes, it fit. ”Interesting.”
He grunted. Then he caught her wrist in his hand. ”You should have run.”
”But I'm in the middle of nowhere. And I haven't gotten what I came for.”
The guy slanted a wary glance her way. ”What's that?”
”The others. I'm ending his collection.”
His gaze hardened. ”He's going to end you.”
The words didn't really sound like a threat. More like a sad fact. The guy even looked sad in that moment. But he was still dragging her through the Everglades. They cleared a particularly vicious twisting path and then...
She saw it. The hidden base. No, not a base, a prison.
”It used to be a government research facility,” he said, his grip hard on her. ”Guess it still is...only the research isn't quite so scientific any longer.”
She counted two armed guards at the entrance to the facility. It was a long and squat building, snaking back toward the tall gra.s.s. There was a helipad to the right, and a chopper sat there, its blades still moved gently, as if it had only recently landed.
”I'm sorry,” he said.
Rose blinked, certain she'd misheard. ”Why?”
His smile was cold. ”Because it's going to hurt...and you're going to die.”
No, I'm not. Julian is coming. Everyone is getting out of here. ”I think you chose the wrong team.”
”I never chose anything.”
”Trust me, buddy, I know the feeling.”
He frowned.
Before he could speak again, the doors to the building opened. A blond man strode out, a grin stretching from ear to ear.
”My last piece!” Simon cried out. ”How absolutely wonderful!” He rushed toward her, and she almost expected him to rub his hands in glee. ”And you just offered yourself up to me. I mean, does my luck get any better?”
No, it only gets worse.
A whole lot worse.
”Take her inside,” he barked to the men with guns. ”And you...” He pointed to the gargoyle. ”Kill anyone who comes after her.”
A gargoyle against a panther...stone against claws and teeth.... ”Wait,” Rose began. ”Don't-”
The guard on the right lifted his gun. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d fired it at her. The tranq slammed into her and she let out a cry of fury. In the next second, she was on that fool. She yanked the gun from him and slammed it back against the side of his head. He went down.
Another tranq went into her back. Her lips parted and- She fell. But Rose didn't hit the ground. Someone had caught her. She forced her eyes to stay open and she stared into a blue gaze...a gaze that held no emotion at all.
Gargoyle. ”I told you...” His voice was still tinged with sadness. ”You're going to die.”
And her eyes closed.
Luke Thorne was the Lord of the Dark. He was the devil in disguise. He was the baddest of the bad. And he was pretty sure all of that s.h.i.+t should be on a t-s.h.i.+rt.
He flew back to his island, expecting to find his guards waiting to meet him on the dock. Guards. Friends-same f.u.c.king thing to him.
Only he didn't see Julian.
He didn't see Rayce.
He didn't even see Marcos.
And his boat was gone, too. What in the h.e.l.l? Everyone knew the rule about his boat. No one takes my boat.
He stalked up to his house, royally p.i.s.sed. It was a good thing he'd left Mina in their little slice of paradise. He was trying not to show his dark side to her, at least not too much. And the a.s.s-kicking he was about to give? She wouldn't like it...because the woman had some kind of soft spot for Julian and Rayce.
Who had a soft spot for an a.s.sa.s.sin?
The same woman who loved the Lord of the Dark.
He used a burst of magic to make his front door fly open. ”Hey, b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!” Luke thundered but he knew they weren't inside. His senses were more acute than any s.h.i.+fters...
They weren't there, but his twin brother's stench was all over the place. Luke jerked to a stop. ”Oh, h.e.l.l, no.” Leo had dared step foot on his island? Did he want a slow death? Was he begging for one?
But...Leo wasn't the only person he smelled there.