The red security lights were a steady glow, illuminating the hallway. But my eyes were brighter, more vibrant, a testament to how fucking pissed I was.
“Let her go, and we can handle this the right way. Eye for an eye, you piece of shit.”
James dug the knife in farther, and she gasped, a trail of blood dripping down the creamy expanse of her neck. She tried to break free from his hold, kicking at him, and gods, my female was a fierce little thing. It was incredible to watch. “Stop moving, bitch,” James spit out. “And you,” he directed at me. “Don’t come closer, or I’ll open her up and drain her dry.”
I hissed at the thought of him hurting her, of him touching her… at the very idea that he thought he’d ever taste her. “You motherfucker,” I ground out. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
For long seconds we stared at each other, and then the door James and Kayla stood in front of was pushed open, and another soon-to-be-dead bastard walked through.
I didn’t know his name, but I knew him. Had seen him with my female. Had wanted to kill him.
The air became substantially colder, but I didn’t look in Odhran’s direction, which was the cause of the temperature change. I could hear him breathing hard and heavy and feel the aggression pouring off him. And in my peripheral vision, I could see his body growing bigger. He was barely hanging on to his human visage.
The only reason for this reaction had to be his mate was really damn close. But I didn’t care about any of that. I didn’t care about anyone else except the female in front of me. Her life had been turned upside down because of me, because she’d been mated to a psychotic vampire.
This was all my fault.
Her getting hurt, taken… her fear and tears. It was all my fucking fault.
And then Odhran started shouting in Gaelic, his shoulders rising and falling from his rapid breathing. “Lass,” he roared out. “Larkin!” he screamed so loudly I was pretty sure the fucking walls shook.
I instantly saw a reaction in Kayla, her eyes widening substantially as she glanced over at the Lycan. She kept looking between him and me, her tears a continuous flow down her cheeks. I wanted to wipe them away. I wanted to kiss them, to lick them, to take them into my body and whisper to her that I’d never let anything hurt her again.
I growled low and lifted my hand, a silent command for Odhran to get himself under control. We had to deal with the shit right in front of us if he wanted to get to his mate. And if he thought of charging forward to get into that room behind my mate and the two pieces of shit, putting Kayla in even more danger, I’d fucking take the wolf down like the animal he was.
The dark-haired, Italian-accented motherfucker started chuckling as he stepped right beside Kayla, staring me in the eye. “I have to say, it’s an absolute honor to finally meet you face-to-face and not have to take on a false pretense of who I am, not having to hide among the crowd of people at your club.”
“You led us in here, like some kind of damn game?” I took a step forward and kept my focus trained right on Kayla, wishing we had the telepathic ability that some mates in the Otherworld did. I’d never wanted to comfort anybody in my life, but where it concerned Kayla, all I wanted to do was bring her in close, cup the back of her head, and tell her I loved her.
Fuck, I wanted to tell her those three words, a sentiment I’d never uttered, not even to my sister, not to my niece or nephews. I cared for them, would kill and die to protect them, but that endearment had seemed so deep and profound, so undeserving to be uttered by a male like me.
And shit, I still wasn’t worthy of saying them, least of all to my mate, but I wanted to desperately.
“A game?” There was deep confusion in his voice, but I wasn't buying it. “I don’t play childish games. Getting you here without trouble?” He shrugged. “Strategy.” We were all silent for only a second. “I know it’s hard seeing someone else touch your mate. But unfortunately it’s a necessary evil right now.”
He smiled slowly, thoroughly, as if he was thinking about all the shit he thought he’d do to her to hurt me. Prick.
“I bet you’re full of all sorts of questions, aren’t you?”
I didn’t respond to what the bastard said because I didn’t care. Answers to any kind of questions wasn’t how any of this was going to end.
“I’m Salvatore.”
My lip curled at the sound of his name. “I don’t give a fuck who you are.”