“Yes.”
“Good. Because if you aren’t here by the time the sun sets, Edwards dies.”
“If you hurt him…”
“I won’t have to. He’s not been a very grateful guest and I’ve had to restrain him. As the moon rises, his body will tear itself apart, much like being drawn and quartered, as I understand it—though I’ve never actually seen it.”
“And if I get there prior to sunset?”
“Then we settle the score between us. I do hope you’ll present a challenge.” Markko laughed. “Though if you don’t, I suppose I’ll have a consolation, it’ll be interesting to watch Edwards pull himself apart. I’m looking forward to it. And to you too, of course, Lizzy.”
“Tell me where he is.”
“Wait for my text. And Lizzy? Come alone. If I sense anyone with you, I’ll have Alek tear Edwards’s throat out.”
Beth set the phone on the counter with shaky fingers.
“I’ll fill my parents in when they get up. Then we can figure out how we’ll get Braden out.”
Beth’s head shot up. “No. You heard Markko—he’ll kill him if I don’t show up alone. I have to be the one to do this.”
“You aren’t ready to filter through the scents of the forest, pick out a single trail and follow it. Especially not one laid down by Markko. He won’t make it easy.”
“You heard him. If I don’t show up alone, he’ll kill Braden.”
“You can’t get close enough on your own. But I agree that taking too many people is dangerous. I’ll go with you as far as I can, then circle around and deal with Alek. You’ll have to deal with Markko on your own.” Chase paused and leveled a fierce look in her direction. “He’s an experienced killer in both forms. If you hesitate for even a moment, he’ll kill you. Are you prepared for that?”
Beth pushed away from the counter. “I have to be.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“You remember what we discussed, right? How we’re going to handle this?”
“Yes.” How could she forget? It was one of only two things she’d thought about in the last twenty-four hours. When she wasn’t thinking about how to get to Braden back, she was thinking about what was happening to him. Markko hadn’t called again, but continued to send photos, each more graphic and terrifying than the last. Her only distraction had been the time she and Chase spent agonizing over how to handle Alek and Markko when the time came.
“Tell me again,” Chase demanded as he punched the coordinates Markko had sent into his portable GPS. “From the beginning.”
“We drive to the coordinates. Once we get there, we shift. I let you take the lead, pick up the scent. We’ll follow that to Braden.”
“You know it won’t be that simple, right?” Chase angled the car onto the smooth blacktop of the highway and hit the accelerator. “They’ve had more than twenty-four hours to lay false trails. This won’t be easy.”
“I know.” She knew Markko would make this as challenging as possible. He wanted her sick with worry, dreading the setting of the sun, knowing that with each passing hour death closed in on Braden. Tension, so tight it forced tremors through her muscles, gripped her. It was like Europe all over again.
No. Not like Europe. This time I know what I’m facing.
A part of her, the part she kept deeply confined, snapped and snarled, leaving her emotions warring between mind-numbing worry and soul-wrenching fury. For the first time, Beth was grateful for the wolf. Every time another picture came, every time worry and agony surged through her, another part of her raged. Beyond the stress, and under the sickening despair, a storm was brewing and each passing hour, each horrifying image pushed it further toward a tempest of violence, intent only on decimating Markko.
Reining in the agitation and anger the wolf brought to the forefront, Beth listened carefully to Chase. Right now, she needed to maintain a more focused, rational thought process.
“And once we’re confident we’ve picked up the trail?” Chase prompted.
“I’ll wait, if I can, giving you time to circle around, then I proceed on my own.”
“You should be prepared—Markko will insist you speak with him. He’ll force you to shift back to human.”
“He’ll want me to feel as vulnerable as possible, I know.” The thought of shifting back to human, of standing unarmed and unclothed, sickened as much as it frightened her. But she would do it. She had to do it.
“Stall as long as you can. I’ll get there as soon as possible.” They followed the GPS prompt and pulled off the road. Chase grabbed her shoulder as she reached for the door. “One more thing.”
“What?”
“If he engages you in a fight, you have to give into your wolf. Completely.” Chase gripped her shoulder tighter, fingers indenting her skin through the cotton of her T-shirt. “Markko has been shifting since he was thirteen years old. It’s second nature to him. If you try to maintain your human mind, if you try to override the wolf’s instincts with your reason, you’re dead before you’ve begun.”
Beth swallowed hard against the doubt that beat against her mind.
“If you fight it, you’re dead.” Chase shook her until she raised her eyes. “He’s absolutely lethal. He’ll wield his wolf with all the skill he’s acquired over the years. Don’t kid yourself—he’s been killing for as long as he’s been shifting.”
“What chance do I have against that?” She snapped her eyes to his face, impotent rage burning away the despair.
“Close your eyes.” When she didn’t immediately comply, Chase shook her again and growled, “Now.”
Beth let her eyelids slide close, her breath seizing in her chest.
“Remember how your friend died?” Chase’s voice dropped an octave and slid over her like freezing water. “Remember how she bled to death in your arms, her throat torn out? Jaws slid through the sensitive flesh of her neck like a knife through butter, tearing her life away.”
Agony, hot and suffocating, ripped through her, piercing her heart.
“That’ll be a kindness compared to what will happen to Braden.”
Beth choked, bile rising against the back of her throat. Chase’s grip tightened on her shoulder.
“They’ve bound him. Beaten him. Even now, every heartbeat, every breath, is agonizing. And they’re laughing. Every wheezing breath is an amusement. Every grunt that brings up blood is entertaining. They’re having fun.”
Agony gave way to disgust and anger burned away the nausea.
“And if you don’t allow yourself to react instead of think? If you don’t allow instinct, rather than reason, to dictate your actions? Markko will keep you alive, just long enough to watch Braden pull himself apart. As the sun sets, he’ll fight the shift, but the moment the moon rises, he’ll lose control. His shoulders and hips will go first, popping as his limbs disjoint as the shift pulls against the bonds. I’ve seen this…if he’s lucky a rib will snap and puncture his lungs, maybe his heart. Either way, he’ll die a long, agonizing death and the last thing you’ll hear is his screaming. You’ll wish they’d been kind enough to rip his throat out.”
Beth shoved Chase away from her, slamming back against the door of the car. A low, deep growl resonated in the space between them. The angry tempest she was trying so hard to contain surged, burning away the last of her doubt and attempting to drown her rational thought. Certain she was about to lose her control, Beth fumbled with the door, threw it open and sucked in fresh air, willing her rage to settle and simmer for later. When her vision slid back into focus and her heart stopped beating in her ears, Beth looked up at Chase, who regarded her with a stony expression.
“If it comes to that, you let that storm inside you go.” Chase put the keys underneath the front seat of the car and stalked into the forest to shift. “It’ll be the only thing that saves you. And him.”
The sun dropped behind the trees, casting shadows like teeth across their path. They’d been following scent trails most of the day. Every sin
gle one of them died out—lead into streams, or back to the highway or in one case, within a half a mile of the Edwards residence. Beth wasn’t sure how many miles they’d run, pausing only to sniff and determine if the trail was good or if they should find another one. As the shadows lengthened, menacing reminders of the deadline they faced, Chase grew more and more irritated and Beth more and more worried.
She put her nose to the ground and inhaled Markko’s scent. It flooded her senses, a foul aroma that left her feeling as though the inside of her snout had been covered in an oily residue that clung and tasted of decay and rotten meat. It was fainter here, along a deer path half obscured by brush, but it still made her stomach turn. Beth turned, looking for Chase when something else slid over her snout, completely at odds with the scent Markko left behind. A faint trace of mint, a hint of spring water and the spicy scent she only ever associated with one person engulfed her senses. Plunging into the underbrush Beth followed the trail. When it disappeared off to the right, she turned and chuffed at Chase.
Chase’s head snapped up and he trotted to her side, sniffing the patch of grass she indicated. He leaped forward, nose pressed to the earth, following the scent.
It took nearly thirty minutes, and twice they’d had to double back and pick up the scent again, but with every new step Braden’s scent grew stronger. Twice now they’d found droplets of blood. Adrenaline thrummed through her.
We’re getting close.
Chase froze midstride, ears rotating and angling in a several directions. He turned to her and tossed his head to the right. It was time.
From here, I’m on my own.
Beth put her nose to the ground and took a long, deep breath, imprinting the trail on her senses.
Two voices filtered through the woods two or three hundred yards ahead of her. Both were speaking what sounded like Russian. She closed in as quickly as she dared and peered ahead, searching for an area of brush she could see through. Sliding along on her belly, trying to be as silent as possible, she scooted forward with the voices loud in her ears and Braden’s scent coating her nose.
There he is.
Not twenty yards away she saw him lying on his side, his hands tied behind him and his feet tied to his hands. She couldn’t tell if he was conscious, but his breathing came in short, shallow pants. He was shirtless, his chest and sides littered with bruises. It was a miracle he wasn’t dead due to exposure.
He probably would be, if it weren’t for his wolf.
She didn’t take the time to wonder that she’d finally found something positive about the wolf. It had been happening all day. For now, she pushed it to the back of her mind and slid forward. Markko and Alek weren’t paying attention; maybe she could get closer to Braden.
Fifteen yards.
Ten yards.
The leaves around her rustled against her coat and the talking abruptly ceased.
“Lizzy?” Marko whirled, his eyes scanning the area where she crouched. “Don’t be rude. Join us.”
Stall for time.
Chase had asked her to stall as long as possible, but the sun was fading quickly, the sky already losing its blue hue as darkness leeched away the light. If she stalled too long, the moon would rise. How long could she afford to wait?
“Not there? Let’s find out?” Markko grabbed the back of Braden’s arms and wrestled him to a kneeling position. “Give me your knife, Alek.”
Alek pulled a knife from his back pocket. Markko caught it out of the air and released the blade.
“I think she’s here.” He spoke as he knelt behind Braden. “How many fingers do you think I’ll have to sever before she shows herself?”
Braden groaned through clenched teeth as the knife bit into his index finger. Beth didn’t hesitate; she surged out of the brush, head low, hackles raised and teeth bared.
“I thought so.” Alek smiled. “Those protective instincts of yours…so predictable. I should probably take this finger as punishment for making me wait, what do you think?” He pressed the blade further into Braden’s finger, a bright trickle of blood running over the knife and winding around to the back of Braden’s hand.
Beth growled and snapped her teeth together.
“No?” Markko grinned maliciously. “Perhaps if you beg. Go ahead, shift back to human. Beg me not to hurt him the way you begged me not to hurt your Rachel.”
She’d expected this, even before Chase had warned her, but it didn’t make it any easier. The thought of having to face this man naked and defenseless left her trembling.
“I’m waiting,” he barked.
Don’t think. Just act.
She focused and shifted back into human form, faster than ever in her desperation, and rose to stand on two legs. She kept her hands clenched at her sides and straightened her spine. Modesty was something she couldn’t afford, but her pride she could keep.
“Difficult, isn’t it?” Markko asked, indicating the fine tremors that passed through her muscles. “I don’t think you’ve been shifting on your own very long, have you, Lizzy? Still, you managed to track me down. I wonder—did you do it alone?” He asked, twirling the knife in his hand. “I doubt it. Go check the woods,” he ordered over his shoulder.
Alek shifted and obeyed.
“Now. I believe you were going to beg…” His stare raked over her, his eyes devouring the planes of her legs and the curves of her breasts. His tongue slid over his teeth.
Beth braced herself, tilted her chin and glared. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her uncomfortable. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Braden’s eyes shift, his gaze connecting with her own. The terror, pain and worry were plain on his face even as he tugged relentlessly at the bonds that held him.
“That defiance. It intrigued me that first night, in the bar. It’s why I chose you. That stubborn tilt of your chin, the way you glared at me, even when I pressed against you, imprinted your scent on my memory. You remained defiant. The perfect challenge for a special hunt.” Markko’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. “I never imagined you’d prove so exceptional, or so capable. The waste is almost shameful.” He stalked forward. “Under different circumstances, I’d have kept you. You’d have whelped excellent stock.”
Beth stepped back as he reached out to stroke fingers down the front of her chest.
“But you’ve gone and spread your legs for Edwards, and that I won’t tolerate.”
Chase leaped from the bushes behind Braden.
Markko cursed and threw himself into the shift, absorbing Chase’s impact head-on. Beth skirted the raging wolves and tried to block out the sounds of the fight, instead focusing on getting Braden loose. She collapsed to her knees beside him and tore the duct tape from his mouth before attacking the knots at his wrists with shaky fingers.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he rasped.
“Shut up. Just let me get these undone.”
Braden rolled away from her. “They’re too tight. Get his knife. He dropped it when he shifted. Hurry.”
Beth ran to the shredded pile of clothing, shaking them out for the knife, hyperaware of the fact that she couldn’t see much in the fading light and what that meant for Braden.
It’s not here.
She searched the surrounding forest floor frantically, every second that passed driving her panic higher.
“Come on, come on,” she chanted. Something dug into her palm, cutting a line from thumb to pinky. “Thank God.” Heedless of the way the blade bit further into her skin, she grabbed it and slid to her knees next to Braden, her limbs beginning to tremble and shake.
The moon was rising.
Fighting to hold her hands steady, she slipped the knife between the ropes that held his wrists and sawed as fast as she could.
“Hurry, hurry,” Braden coaxed, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out over his skin.
A ripple ran the length of her spine, seizing her muscles. Her grip on the knife slipped and she accidentally cut into the flesh of Braden’s wrist
s. She forced herself to concentrate and regripped the handle, plunging the knife back and forth.
A howl cut the air at the same time the ropes snapped apart. Chase burst into her peripheral vision, a wolf at his back and one at his throat. Alek had entered the fight.
Chase rolled away from the snapping jaws at his throat and wrestled off the wolf at his back. Before he could regroup, Alek lunged, broadsiding him and propelling him away from Markko who turned toward Beth.
“Change, Beth.” Braden pried the knife from her hands and bent to saw through the ropes around his ankles. “Now!” He commanded.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Markko prowled forward, his eyes, two burning gray orbs, piercing her. He pulled his lips back from his teeth and snarled.
Even in human form, every instinct told Beth to drop her head, protect her neck and back away. She stood her ground. She was the only thing between him and Braden. Markko didn’t hesitate—he lunged, jaws wide, aiming for her neck.
A violent shudder raced through her, pulling at her muscles as the wolf fought free. She fell into the spasm—didn’t think, didn’t breathe—and allowed the wolf total control. She shifted in the heartbeat it took Markko to slam into her, rolling them across the ground.
Beth came up from the roll on all fours, completely transformed, the wolf at the forefront of her mind. She matched Markko’s steps as he circled her, the two of them moving in a semicircle around each other.
Markko plowed into her, driving her back. The air rushed out of her lungs and she braced for the jaws she expected to close around her throat. Nothing happened. She pushed herself to her feet and turned, watching Braden lose his battle against the pull of the moon and shift, his feet still bound together. He managed the change, though his hindquarters torqued obscenely halfway through, ripping a cry from his throat. Completely transformed, he tried to kick his way out of the ropes tangled around his legs.