CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
DANA
Dana had been wielding her shovel as if she was an Amazon on a rampage when the steel-like grip wrapped around her throat. She was puffing with effort, muscles aching and sweat pouring down her brow when she felt the arm wrap around her and jerk her off her feet.
She turned her eyes toward Rux, but he was still engaged with the other shifters. She struggled against the person behind her, but it was no good. Even if she hadn’t been too tired to go on, the person who had grabbed her was far too strong.
“Just stay still and quiet, and you won’t get hurt,” the deep voice muttered. She didn’t believe it for a second.
“Griffin?” she cried, still tearing at his arm with her nails as she tried to break his grip.
“You got me, babe,” he chuckled, pulling her against his body. “There’s no fooling a smart chick like you.”
Fury flooded her veins, energizing her with red-hot rage. She struggled harder, trying to kick him. He laughed as he held her, barely even moving as she thrashed and kicked.
“I told you not to struggle,” he muttered, amused. “But if you’d like to keep wriggling against me like that, I’m perfectly okay with it.”
She froze immediately. Only now did she realize she might be giving him ideas,or worse, pleasure.
She clung to his arm, wondering if she could dig her nails into him and force him to let her go. Instead, she just watched Rux finish off the other shifters, her racing heart trying desperately to keep up with her rampaging train of thought.
When Griffin called out to Rux, she felt her face fall in defeat. There was no getting out of this now. As Rux looked up at her, she blinked, shaking her head a little. She wanted to apologize so badly.
If I hadn’t let him grab me, then Rux could have taken him on. Now we’re both dead.
Rux approached slowly, his arms out with his palms up. He was careful not to get too close, keeping his face calm and his body relaxed. Griffin tensed against her and shook his gun in Rux’s direction.
“That’s far enough. Stay where you are.”
Rux stopped, looking into Griffin’s face with an easy calm. However, Dana could tell that it was the kind of calm that came before a brutal storm.
“Just let her go,” Rux said softly. “You don’t want her. You want me.”
Griffin laughed.
“Oh, really? You’re both loose ends, Rux. This one is potentially more trouble than you. What terrible luck that she happened to know Dennis’s daughter.”
Griffin shook his head a little, laughing softly. “This is a damned disaster, no matter how you look at it. It’s going to take a bit of effort to get this cleaned up.”
“You’re all alone, Griffin,” Rux said, gesturing to the dead or mortally wounded security team. “No one is coming to help you. Even if you kill her, you will never get away from me.”
He emanated menace. Dana could feel doom in his gaze. Rux was energized into a creature of aggression right now. She found that she didn’t even care if Griffin killed her…so long as Rux lived.
“Just go, Rux!” she cried. “Go get Dennis. You can get help…”
Her voice cut off into a strangled gasp as Griffin tightened his hold on her throat. Rux took a step forward, and Griffin shook his gun at him.
“I will blow your fucking head off right now!” Griffin screamed. “Then I’ll take my time choking the life out of this meddling bitch! Dennis was never going to survive this, and the daughter should have been easy enough to fool or get rid of without any support.”
Griffin took a step back, making Dana stumble. He kept the gun pointed at Rux.
“Why did you have to go and cause so much trouble, huh?” Griffin growled against Dana’s ear. “You were close to Jennifer, and then you move in as Rux’s fated mate. If you hadn’t been there to link them together, none of this shit would have happened!”
“It’s all over, Griffin,” Rux said calmly. “You have hundreds of people here partying. You can’t hide what you’ve done. Where is Dennis?”
“You’ll never find him!” Griffin shouted. “He’s going to serve his purpose, and then he’s going to fucking disappear.”
“What about Jennifer?” Dana croaked. Griffin gave her a hard shake.