Chapter 30

Adryan

We’d made our way into a long, wide underground tunnel, red security lights illuminating the space. The adrenaline was still racing through me, but I felt a drugging sensation start to settle in my bones.

I stopped and looked down at myself—three bullet holes, one in my abdomen and the other two right under my sternum, all steadily seeping blood and soaking my shirt. It wasn’t just blood, but also something darker and almost luminescent mixed with the red.

I grabbed my shirt and ripped it down the center, the two halves hanging open as I stared at my torso and the bullet wounds. I ran my fingers through the dark, inky substance, rubbing it between my fingers, sticky as fuck.

“Fuckers are getting crafty with their shit.” I looked back down at the dark, pearlescent liquid between my fingers. Whatever they were lacing the bullets with had to be of the Otherworld.

I kept moving as I dug my finger into one of the bullet holes, gritting my teeth as I felt around for one of the slugs. I pulled it out and held the chunk of metal between my thumb and forefinger. I tossed it aside and went about doing the same with the next.

“This is a trap,” I murmured. “You know that, right?”

“Aye,” Odhran gritted out. “Makes no difference though. Still going tae take down all these fookers.”

I grinned and cut a glance at him. “Oh, we sure as hell will, wolf.”

We walked for long moments without seeing any humans, without smelling anyone close. It was too easy. This whole thing was too fucking easy.

The Lycans were taking out the security cameras we passed, letting their claws grow long and deadly and swiping out, taking the entire mechanism off the damn walls.

“You boys have even less self-control than I do.”

The hallway forked, and I stopped, looking back at them. “You see any of these Assembly assholes, you take them out in the most vicious way.” A round of grunts and agreements.

I lifted my hand, and we split up, with Odhran and a few of my crew following behind. The alarm grew louder the deeper we ventured. We rounded a corner just as I heard the stomp of feet in our direction.

“Here we go.”

We took out the three humans who came at us, blood spraying the white cinderblock walls and gray cement flooring.

Another handful rushed in two minutes later, and I fought side by side with Odhran, hearing the vampires growling and hissing, the Lycans snapping and howling.

When bodies were littering the ground and we stepped over them, the hallway forked off again, and I sent the rest of our crew one way, and Odhran and I went the other direction.

We stayed quiet as he scanned every room we passed, but soon that silence faded as we heard multiple noises. Growls, shouts, curses, and a hell of a lot of inhuman sounds came from behind a pair of metal double doors up ahead. I gave Odhran one look before I spotted a keypad beside the entrance, stopped in front of it, and brought my fist down so hard the mechanism crushed beneath the force and shattered into pieces.

There was a loud chirp, a flash of flickering lights, and then the red light above the double doors clicked off. Odhran slammed his boot into the center, sending the doors flying inward.

We both stepped inside and promptly stopped at the scene before us. Cells upon cells lined either side of us, and within those cells were Otherworld creatures. They shouted and roared out, the males slamming their bodies against the bars, and a few were whimpering or crying.

“Holy fooking shite.”

“Yeah,” I said and looked in the first cell, only seeing a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at me. “That about sums it up, wolf.”

I kept staring into those red eyes, ones that were pretty high up and letting me know whatever Otherworld asshole was in there was one big fucker.

Facing the cell, I took a step closer just as the creature did the same.

“We need tae fooking go, vampire,” Odhran said low and hesitantly.

Yeah, we did, and as I was about to turn and do just that, the male with the red eyes behind the bars came into the light and wrapped his hands around the bars. I could see his forearms flexing, could feel the otherworldly magic pulsating throughout this entire room.

There was no doubt in my mind that the only reason none of these creatures were able to get out of these cells was because the bars were mystically protected. And that big, horned, and fanged bastard was able to hang onto the bars as if he was getting a massage.

I knew what he was. I’d seen his kind once in my life. I’ve seen him.

He was called a Diablos.

I’d barely come into adulthood when I heard of a beast terrorizing a small village. Of course, the fiend in me wanted a front-row seat.

And oh what beautiful carnage I’d witnessed.

He was the only creature in the Otherworld that didn’t have a life expectancy and was rumored to be immortal. He was a big bastard, taller than seven feet, with horns curving up and back around his head, fangs that went past his bottom lip, and scars that littered his entire chest.

“Shit, man. You got a face only a mother could love.”

He bared his teeth in a grisly display of a macabre grin. He leaned in close to the metal and said in a low, distorted voice, “Why don’t you let me out of here and say that without these bars between us.”

Kayla. I have to get to her.

“We have to get the fook going!” Odhran shouted, and I was by him a second later, lifting my arm and giving the Diablos my middle finger.

We made our way past the cells, the creatures trying to get at us, swiping claws through bars, growling, roaring, and some continuously throwing their big bodies against the metal.

There were Lycans and vampires, demons, and even an Angelis species. I spotted a handful of shifters—dragon and bears—some phoenixes, and also a variety of nymphs. I noticed Odhran stopped at the cells of the latter, this frantic look on his face before he moved onto the next.

I followed, watching closely, seeing Otherworld creatures from the Katara Faction mixed within.

“A fucking zoo they got here,” I muttered under my breath.

We busted through another set of doors once the cell block ended, and I instantly felt the hum of Kayla’s blood move through me. I picked up my pace, the need to get to her so fucking strong I could taste it. I followed the call of her blood inside me and turned left, right, right, then one more left. I didn’t know if Odhran was following, didn’t even care.

Get to her. Get to her. Get to her.

And then I rounded the corner and stopped. Fucking froze.

Standing twenty feet from me was Kayla, her eyes wide in fear, her lips pursed as tears tracked down her cheeks, and her body slightly shook. And behind her was James, that fucking traitor, holding a knife to her jugular. His focus was clear and steady, malice pouring from him like black tentacles.

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.”

“I wonder if the most pressing question you have is how James—our mutual associate here—came to be in my company? He?—”

“No,” he snarled and glanced at Salvatore. “Let him fucking admit his betrayal.” When I looked at James, I let my grin spread, all the violence and insanity that made me… me coming through full force. “I want to hear him say it before I rip his heart out and tear it in half right in front of his eyes.”

I could see the anger rolling off James, like waves spreading outward. He wanted to kill me.

I welcomed him to try.

“It’s time you get what’s coming to you. Over a century of ravaging, pillaging, and senseless murder.”

“None of my killings are senseless. I enjoyed every single one of them.”

James dug the knife into Kayla’s neck a little harder, and she whimpered.

“You asshole,” she said to James, and I felt pride well up inside me.

I braced my feet apart and leaned my upper body forward, my head slightly lowered, my gaze locked on James. “I’m going to enjoy destroying you so much.”

The amount of self-restraint I was exhibiting by not snapping his neck was monumental. I was fast, really fucking fast, but so was he. I worried he’d cut her throat before I got to him.

“I’ve been thinking, plotting on how to take you down this entire time. I’ve just been waiting for the right moment. And then fate brought this bitch into your life, and I knew it was meant to be. I was the one who was meant to kill her, to make you watch, to show you how it feels to get your soul ripped out of you, and all you can do is accept it and bide your time until you can exact your revenge.” James’s eyes were watery, his voice loud as he shouted, his hands shaking.

“If you were that broken, maybe you should’ve killed yourself.” I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut, to not taunt him. “But I’m glad you didn’t take that privilege from me.” He held the most precious thing to me, and because she was so very human, one flick of his wrist, a little too much pressure against her chest, her throat, and she’d fade so damn fast.

I kept my palms facing him. It was the most submissive act I’d ever done in my life. It felt so wrong, but I would do anything to keep his attention off Kayla.

And it all clicked, all fell into place like a perfectly shaped puzzle piece.

“It was you who betrayed us, told the Assembly where Cian’s mate was. It was you who nearly got her killed. Not Matteo.”

James’s hands shook even more, and I could see Kayla start to struggle again. She was terrified but refused to give in easily. I kept a hard expression on my face as I looked at her, urging her to stay still.

James chuckled, and it was a twisted sound of pleasure. “Matteo overheard me speaking with a member of the Assembly after the accident when Cian’s mate was taken. I was going to kill him but then realized it was actually a blessing in disguise, Matteo finding out, overhearing me. He’d be my scapegoat. It would give me more time to follow through with my plan on ending you.”

“And what?” My hands were still out in front of me, but I tipped my palms upward. “You’re admitting this all to me now, because you actually think you’ll be able to take me down? Might as well leave all your cards on the table?”

Salvatore clapped his hands, and I gritted my teeth as I stared at James, not about to take my focus from him. I was surprised Odhran was listening and staying still. He was controlling himself and absorbing it all.

“I love when shit goes sideways,” Salvatore said with a chuckle.

“This is all your fault. All the deaths, the kidnappings, Cian’s mate nearly dying, your mate in this position… Mikhail’s death.” James was screaming now. “All of it falls on your shoulders because of what you did, because of what you always do. Destroy everything around you.”

I couldn’t control the low, rhythmic pumping sound spilling from my chest. I couldn’t control my anger that grew and grew as I was forced to listen to James, forced to watch him terrorize and threaten my mate. I was forced to let him have control right now instead of doing what I really wanted, which was tear his head from his neck.

“This is all on you because you took him from me. You set this in motion. You were the first domino to fall.”

I shook my head slowly, the final piece falling in place as James’s motive slammed me in the gut and filled my head clearly.

“This is all because of him?”

James roared out, “His name was Sean. He was mine.” Angry tears fell down James’s cheeks. He pushed Kayla to the side slightly as if he wanted to get to me, as if he was tired of using her as a human shield. “He was my best friend. I loved him, and you took him from me.” He slammed his fist against his chest. “He saved me, not just my literal life”—he points to the scar across his neck—“but my sanity too.” He looked at Kayla and snarled. “He was there when I almost died, when I was attacked and my head almost cut clean off. He stayed by my bedside, nursing me back to health. He was my everything. He saved me from the desolation of being alone. He was mine, and I was his, and you took my future away.”

I was stunned speechless, which in fact had never happened before. The vampire in question, Sean, had been one of my soldiers. One at the bottom of the hierarchy pole, but an asset to my army nonetheless. Or he had been until I found out he betrayed me, and I killed him.

“Sean was your mate?” James didn’t answer, just kept breathing hard. I shook my head. “Sean was a lying, cheating motherfucker who was going behind my back and stealing from me. Syphoning funds, building his own empire. He was a greedy fucker. He not only put others in danger with his sloppy selfishness, but he in fact killed his own kind for that power.” I narrowed my eyes. “He betrayed our kind. He betrayed you.”I slowly straightened my arm and pointed my finger right at James. “Mate or not, a traitor gets handled accordingly, and I wasn’t about to let him continue on the same path where others were damaged because of his selfishness.” Now I did smile, but it couldn’t be called anything but violent.

I needed to change the trajectory of the situation enough that he came after me, his anger so monumental that all he saw was his rage for me. It was a risky tactic, but I could see James was already unstable, his rage transforming him so all he was seeing was tunnel vision right to me.

He may’ve wanted to hurt Kayla to get at me, but more so he wanted to hurt me himself, with his own hands. He wanted to take my life himself.

“I could kill him fast,” Odhran said. I’d forgotten he was standing there, forgotten about everyone and everything else but James and Kayla.

“No, I’ll handle this.” I wasn’t about to let the wolf get near my mate, not when his priority wasn”t her, and if she got hurt, he wouldn”t think twice.

I was terrified for her, the very thought of James taking her from me tearing at my very soul until all I could think about was how slowly I’d make James suffer.

I gestured for him to come forward.

“You want a go at me, then come on. May the strongest win.” I remembered clearly how James had gotten the scars, how he’d been ambushed by a horde of Therabus, those nasty-as-fuck Katara Otherworld assholes who gained their power from syphoning it out of others. They’d scarred up his face, draining his life force as they all but sawed off his head.

I knew Sean had led a group that saved James, had helped the vampire heal, tending to him around the clock. But shortly after was when I found out about Sean”s betrayal.

A traitor was a traitor who got no mercy. And so I had to take matters into my own hands.

“Or are you too much of a pussy to take me on?” I laughed. “You know how I killed him?” Keep that rage on me, fucker. “So fucking slowly, James. I cut his tongue out first?—”

James roared out and shoved Kayla aside, bracing his upper body forward, his eyes flashing red for battle. I tensed in readiness and anticipation, felt aggression at his rough treatment of her. I bared my teeth in rage and fear when I saw the knife had cut into the side of Kayla’s throat, smelled copious amounts of her blood spilled.

She’d been pushed to the side hard enough she fell into Salvatore, who placed a gun to her temple at the same time he placed his hand on her neck, adding pressure to the wound.

I wasn’t dumb. The fucker didn’t want her dead, because he—the Assembly—would use her to get to me. They’d use her against me, because they knew she was my only real weakness.

Not the sun, not even death could bring me down like the very thought of my mate being hurt could.

My heart jumped into my throat, and I saw literal red as I crashed into James.

Odhran made inhuman sounds right before everything else faded, and all I was focused on was taking this piece of shit out fast.

I could hear the noise of guns going off distantly, the muted sounds of shots hitting bodies, of shouts and growls penetrating the cinderblocks. Another shrill alarm went off, and I took note of the concerned expression suddenly on Salvatore’s face.

Let’s get this fucking started… and ended.

James was out of control as he let his anger propel him forward. His movements were sloppy and fast, his rage getting the better of him as I was able to block his move and counteract.

Then again, I was stronger, faster, and far more deadly than him. I had my own rage urging me on, but I’d learned to shape it, use it to my advantage. I’d trained myself to twist that anger and hatred so I was able to use it to my advantage, so I let my power grow because of it.

Over a hundred years of learning to be stealthy, becoming an expert in my control, and using the fucking malice running through my veins to become the strongest, most deadly being I could be.

And I used that all toward this piece of shit.

This would be a fast fight. I might have killed him slowly, played with him a bit, but not when it concerned my female. Not when he’d directly put Kayla in harm”s way… not when he touched her, dared to lay a finger on her.

He swung at me, and I gripped his arm far faster, twisting it back and cracking the bone in half. He grunted but was fueled with adrenaline. I spun, wrapping my arm around his throat, my focus going to Salvatore, who still held Kayla, the gun pressed to her temple.

“Don’t even fucking think about it, Lycan,” Salvatore shouted to Odhran when he was about to lunge.

“No!” I grated out and broke James’s other arm, relishing his scream in my ear. “Don’t you fucking move, Odhran. You get her hurt and I’ll fucking kill you with my bare hands.”

The wolf looked at me and bared his canines. “Fook ye, Adryan. Vampire bastard.”

I was done with this, done with James and his weak-minded manipulation, done with his bullshit schemes and tactics, and really fucking done with my female being in danger.

I spun James around and slammed his body against the wall, the back of his head connecting with the cement, broken bone sounding like music to my ears. His broken arms flopped lifelessly at his sides. The fact that he kept his murderous gaze trained on me and kept spitting out insults impressed a part of me.

“Too bad you couldn’t put that strength to better use.” I leaned in and inhaled deeply, looking in his eyes and smelling the tinge of fear, but his anger overrode it all. “So much hate in there, James. Admirable,” I murmured.

While holding his gaze with mine, I slammed my hand right through his chest, breaking his ribs, curling my hands around his heart, and ripping it from his chest.

“Look at that,” I said wistfully as I held the organ up between us. Because he was a vampire, he hung on a few minutes longer than a human would, and I relished the wide-eyed look he gave me. “I’ve broken two hearts tonight.” I let him go, his body falling to the ground. And as he stared up at me and I looked down at him, I ripped his heart in two and let both halves fall to the ground.

“Shit,” Salvatore said from behind me, and I spun around, baring my fangs. “They said you were savage, but seeing it firsthand… a thing of beauty.”

“You’re next, motherfucker.”

Salvatore smiled and shook his head. “Not today, vampire.” He pointed the gun at Odhran. The shot rang out, and Odhran growled as he was flung backward from the impact, the bullet hitting him in the shoulder.

Just as I was going to take down Salvatore, the fucker pushed Kayla forward with so much force she stumbled and lost her footing. I was in front of her a second later, pulling her up, dragging my tongue along her neck wound to seal it, and keeping her close as I wrapped my arms protectively around her.

And then Salvatore was gone, disappearing behind the door he’d originally come through.

Smoke started to fill the interior, the scent of a fire burning somewhere in the tunnels catching up to where we were.

Odhran dug out the slug with a hiss and tossed it on the ground, then turned and held his glowing blue eyes with my red-hued ones.

“She’s in there,” Kayla said and pointed to the door Salvatore had just gone through, her gaze locked on Odhran. She didn’t have to say who. We all knew who she meant.

“Go!” he said so loudly my ears rang. “Get your female out, and I’ll worry about protecting mine.”

We stared into each other”s eyes, a silent communication that I couldn’t sway him. And I understood. As I held my female in my arms… I understood.

“Good luck,” I said low but loud enough that he heard.

He nodded once and then was gone.

Going after Salvatore and finishing this rode me hard. Making sure Odhran was okay despite him telling us to leave was paramount in me. But getting Kayla out of there and to safety was even more important, and that’s what I was going to do.

So I took my mate out of that godforsaken underground torture chamber. My soldiers were smart, powerful, and resilient, as were the Lycans. They’d get out of there. But if anyone tried to stop me, human or Otherworlder, they’d feel my wrath for getting in my way when I needed to get my female to safety.

I needed to mark her, to make her see and know and fucking feel without a doubt that she was mated to a fucking psychopath who would burn cities to the ground for her.

I needed that for me, too, to really feel that she was here, safe, and with me and never leaving again.

I needed her alone so I could fuck her hard and rough and raw and come so deep inside her there was no way she wouldn’t get pregnant.

I needed in her.

And no one, nothing would stop me, not even Kayla.