Chapter 54

Fifty-Four

CHRISTIAN

I narrow my eyes at the fucker, refusing to show fear.

“Christian!” Lacey sobs.

“You guys know each other, non ?”

Fucker has a deep accent. Russian, I believe, though I can’t say for certain. And, for all I know, the accent is fake in order for us not to uncover his true identity.

Fucker wants me to give him a reaction, wants me to respond, but I refuse to play into his little game.

And even while staring my mortality in the face, I can’t help but feel relief.

Izzy isn’t here.

My brother isn’t here.

I would die a thousand deaths if it means the two people I love most in the world are safe.

Love.

Since when did I associate that word with Izzy? I know that she makes me smile, that I lose my breath whenever she steps into a room, that I desperately want to hear her laugh, that I look forward to those moments when she comes and visits me in my office.

Is that love?

Am I in love with Izzy?

I’m pulled out of my thoughts when something smacks across my face. My head jerks to the side, pain exploding in my cheek.

“Don’t hurt him!” Lacey screams in anguish, and I mentally scold her for being so damn transparent.

My wolf wiggles beneath my skin, desperate to come to the surface and sink his teeth into this man’s neck. It takes years of ironclad control and willpower to keep him contained. Heaven only knows what these assholes will do to the children if they thought I was a threat.

At the reminder, another wave of anger crashes over me, threatening to bury me alive.

I’m going to kill them.

And I’m going to make it hurt.

Unwittingly, I drop my gaze to the body directly beside me.

Sam.

I didn’t know him too well, but he’s my age. We went to school together. Played football together. Partied together.

And now he’s nothing but a corpse with a bullet wound in his forehead.

I never considered anger to have a taste before, but just now, as it settles on my tongue, it reminds me of flaky ash combined with copper. Or maybe that’s just because I’m biting my tongue so hard that I’ve ripped a hole in it.

“Who’s ready to play my favorite game?” The crazy man laughs jovially. “Now, here are the rules.”

Once again, I find myself staring down the barrel of a gun.

The fucker turns towards Lacey. “I’ll ask you a question, darling, and if you answer how I want you to, I won’t kill your little boyfriend. But if you answer incorrectly…”

The gun goes off, someone screams, and for a moment, I think I’m going to die. I just wish I got to see Izzy one last time. Hold her. Kiss her. Tell her how I feel.

But then I realize that the bullet didn’t hit me but the tree directly behind me.

Holy fuck.

I try to ignore the residual panic coursing beneath my skin as I suck in a deep breath.

Lacey begins to cry harder.

“It’ll be okay, Lace,” I whisper to her out of the corner of my mouth.

She doesn’t respond audibly, just continues to sniffle and sob.

“Now, I’m looking for someone, and I thought that she might be here.” He laughs, the noise high-pitched and manic. “Where is Isabella Martin?”

Ice trickles into my veins, and I suddenly can’t breathe.

Izzy?

Why are they looking for Izzy?

Unaware of the gymnastics routine my heart is putting my head through, the man keeps his attention on Lacey.

“She was here,” she whispers in a shaky voice.

“I know that. Where is she now?” The gun remains steady on my head.

“Lacey, stop talking,” I hiss, fear tunneling into my throat and forming a thick ball of tension that’s impossible to swallow around.

Lacey turns towards me with tears in her eyes. “Christian, I love you. I won’t let you die.” She turns her attention back to the gunman. “I saw her go into the woods?—”

“Lacey, stop.”

“Over there.” Lacey points a trembling finger towards where I last saw my brother and mate. “She’s with another wolf shifter—Ashton.”

“Lacey!” I roar, my wolf fighting to break free.

Lacey refocuses on me. “She may be your mate, but I loved you first. All I want to do is protect you.”

“Mate, huh?” The masked man suddenly seems to find me interesting. He kneels down, and all I can see is a balaclava obscuring his features from view. “You’re Isabella’s mate?”

I don’t answer, though mentally I’m wondering how Lacey could be so fucking stupid to let something of that magnitude slip.

“I think everything is finally starting to make sense.” He straightens and tilts his head to the side, studying the two of us. “You’re in love with him, but he’s in love with his mate. Interesting.”

“Please, just let us go,” Lacey sobs.

“But you were more than willing to have his mate killed in order to have him for yourself.” He chuckles like the entire situation amuses him. “Do you think that he would go to you if he no longer had her? If he knew you were responsible for her death? Bitches like you never learn, do you?”

He tsks his tongue in mock disapproval before turning towards two men standing near the back of the crowd. He jerks his chin once, and the two of them head in the direction of Izzy and my brother.

No.

No.

No.

“What do you want with her?” I demand, knowing I should stay silent but unable to hold my tongue.

It feels as if an elephant is sitting on my chest and compressing my lungs. I can’t breathe.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He chuckles yet again.

Then, without any fanfare or warning, he aims his gun and shoots Lacey in the head.

Her blood explodes in all directions, wetting my cheeks and forehead. I can’t move, can’t think, can’t breathe.

No. No. No. No. No.

Panic, horror, guilt, and a multitude of other emotions claw at me, raking their jagged talons down my spine, leaving behind deep wounds that will never heal.

No. No. No. No. No.

Lacey’s dead. Izzy and Ashton are being hunted as we speak.

No. No. No. No. No.

I try with all my might to hang on to my human self, to keep my wolf contained. Because if I let him out, those children are dead. It’ll be a goddamn bloodbath.

My wolf claws and howls and scratches. I can’t contain him for much longer.

Please don’t.

Please.

But my plea falls on deaf ears.

With a cry of anguish, I find myself being pushed out of the driver’s seat and all the way into the trunk, where I’m tied up and locked away. Darkness coats the entirety of my vision, a curtain drawn shut.

And I know, without a shadow of doubt, that there will be no coming back from this.

My wolf just took control.

The man no longer exists.