CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

" T here will be more security on this floor when the doors open, and they may have been alerted," Craig said. "Keep her back."

Logan nodded. He didn't need to be told to protect Brooklyn.

She was his.

Ben and Marcus were making their way up the stairwell to come at the mafia from the other angle. Surprise was always a good warfare tactic.

"They're in place," Kurt murmured as they watched the numbers on the elevator go up.

Brooklyn leaned into his side, and he placed a hand on her back. He needed his hands. Otherwise they'd be around her.

"Stay near me."

"I'm hardly going to wander off." Brooklyn sassed him.

Craig snorted and tugged a bag onto his shoulder.

What did he have in there? Snacks?

Maybe supplies for the baby?

"Listen to him," the prince said to Brooklyn. "From this point on, we'll be distracted. Logan will keep you alive."

"I know he will," she said, shooting him a look which looked a lot like trust. But her guard was still up.

Logan didn't blame her after the way he fucked her last night. He would spend forever making it up to her.

Ignoring his instinct to teleport her to safety, he focused on the plan.

"Do you have your bearings?" he asked, as they were two floors away.

"Yes."

"Okay, get behind me."

She nodded, moving behind him and gripping the back of his pants.

"Go," Kurt said and because the doors were not open yet, Logan knew he was speaking to Ben and Marcus. Sometimes when vamps telepathed they would speak out loud out of habit.

"Showtime." Craig slapped Brayden on the shoulder. "You know the rules."

Stay alive.

The doors pinged open and four guards whipped their heads up, eyes flying wide.

"The fuck!" one of them cried as Ben and Marcus came flying out of the side door.

"Go!" Craig yelled.

Logan pulled Brooklyn out of the elevator, and she began to run. The prince followed them while the other warriors took out the gangsters.

"There are more up here. Way more," she cried, running.

"How many?" Brayden asked.

"Four. Five."

"I'm here. Move it. Faster," Craig said, catching up.

Logan picked Brooklyn up. They couldn't let her human speed slow them down.

"Tell me," he said, running.

"Left. Another left." Brooklyn said, holding onto his jacket. "Here. Down here."

Already the new set of guards were flying toward them.

"Stop!" A Russian warned.

"Down." Craig said, putting his arm out to stop the prince as the serum gun lifted.

Brayden ignored the commander and teleported past the soldier. He shot his leg out to take out another one at the door.

Holy hell, he moved fast.

"Get Brooklyn down here," the prince yelled.

Logan reached for a Russian who tried to attack him and snapped his neck.

The man fell to the floor.

He tucked her face into his chest, hating that she'd seen him do that. Her hands scrunching his jacket.

"Fuck. How does this work? Brooklyn. Open the door!" Brayden screamed, thumping the doorframe.

Dropping his mate to the floor, Logan took the keycard Brayden was holding—which he must have got from one of the now dead Russians—and handed it to her.

"Open it," Logan told her.

Brooklyn fumbled with it, swiping it over the panel, but shook her head.

"It must be biometric," Brooklyn said, glancing at the body on the floor.

Logan glanced at the prince and without hesitation, the vampire lifted the human into the air and began pressing his digits to the panel.

"He might not have access." Brooklyn chewed her lip. "He may only have access to certain areas."

The prince cursed.

Logan reached for the handle and tried it. Tungsten. There was no getting through with brute vampire strength. Which was how they'd kept Callan for so many months.

Craig joined them.

Then Marcus, Ben, and Kurt.

"Um, try his eyeball." She cringed.

Logan grabbed the other side of the body and with Brayden's assistance they peeled back his eyelid and held it up to the scanner.

A small green light appeared.

Ping.

Bingo.

They dropped the body and Brayden yanked open the door.

"Willow!" he screamed, flying in.

"Fuck." Craig growled and raced in after him.

They all came to a flying stop and banged into the back of the prince.

Who was frozen.

Staring at Willow, who was standing next to Nikolay with tears pouring down our face.

"Bray," she whimpered.

Power shook from the prince like a fucking atomic bomb as Logan glanced over at the cell.

Baby Princess Isabella lay in there alone.

Quietly.

"Oh god," Brooklyn cried, slapping a hand over her mouth.

"She has very little oxygen left. You need to leave." Willow's voice shook. "Please."

Holy fucking hell.

"I am not leaving," Brayden rasped darkly.

"If you kill these men, we can't get in there." Willow gasped, shaking. "She will die, Bray."

Christ.

This couldn't be happening.

Around him, Logan could hear the furious breaths of his fellow warriors as they all stood there, powerless.

Six of the most powerful vampires in the world.

Fucking powerless.

"Open the cage or I will kill you," Brayden growled.

"Well, no. That's not how this is going to play out," the Russian replied calmly.

Logan slid his arm slowly around the back of Brooklyn and tugged her closer.

This was a very delicate situation, and he wasn't sure any of them were getting out of here alive.

Jesus, the baby princess.

He kept staring at her lifeless body and back at Willow, who looked like she was about to collapse.

"What do you want?" Brayden demanded. His voice booming through the room.

"Bray," Willow whimpered and shook.

"Power. Control. All of you dead," Nikolay replied, sliding his hands into his pocket, casual as fuck.

"You will not walk out of here alive," the prince roared.

The mobster laughed. "Yes. I will. If you want your daughter to remain alive."

The balls on this fucking asshole.

"Let me kill him. We will work it out," Craig growled dangerously.

"No. Nobody move," Willow said, panic making her shake. "Bray. Please."

"You have three more minutes," Nikolay said. "Let me walk out the door and tell me where my wife is. I'll then give you with the code."

Three. Jesus.

The prince stared at his daughter, who wasn't moving, and then his mate.

"Brayden!" she cried. "Fucking let him go!"

"Oh god!" Brooklyn cried next to him.

"Motherfucker," Ben said under his breath.

Nikolay shrugged. "If I die, your daughter dies. Two and half a minutes."

Fucking hell.

"If I die, I've rigged the room to explode." He held up a device strapped to his hand.

"Go." Brayden stepped aside. "Go with him and then send me the code," he told Kurt.

They could telepath. The mobster didn't know that.

Brayden hissed at him. "Elizabeth is in room 4405 at the Dufort Hotel. Go."

Kurt stepped forward and the Russian mob boss walked out. Scott fucking free.

The cunning motherfucker.

Willow went rushing into Brayden's arms and began sobbing. "I've got you. Fuck. I've got you, baby."

They all stood staring at the princess, counting the seconds.

Thirty.

Sixty.

Seventy.

Ninety.

Fucking hell.

Suddenly, the prince reached out and punched a code into the panel on the cell.

It clicked open.

Thank fuck.

Beside him, Brooklyn flopped to the floor as Brayden and Willow ran into the cell. Carefully picking Isabella up, Brayden ushered both his girls out.

She didn't move.

"Oh, my god!" Willow screamed. "Is she dead?"

Logan felt his heart breaking as the warriors all pressed together, waiting.

Kurt teleported back in.

"That fucking cunt. I wanted to break his neck."

"I can help," Brooklyn said, clambering to her feet and going to the prince and princess. "I'm a nurse. Let me help."

Brayden turned, Willow clinging to his arm as Brooklyn began to give the baby CPR.

Pride, unlike he'd never known before, rushed through him as his mate—he was so damn sure of it—brought the little princess back to life.

Her scream pierced the air.

Willow fell to her knees.

The warriors finally began to breathe.

Brayden glanced up, away from his daughter, and looked around. His eyes met Craig's as he ordered. "Blow this fucking place to pieces!"