“No.” He paused. “No, Rayne, Jasmine will never kill me.”
“But you don’t negotiate. You said that.”
“True,” he stated.
His eyes briefly went to mine and there was nothing in him that suggested he was submitting. I saw in his cold eyes that held discernible power.
He stopped in front of us.
“Turn around. Hands behind your back,” Jasmine said.
He did without hesitation.
Jasmine let me go and pointed her fingers at Waleron as the white webs wrapped around his wrists. Then she grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face her, a slow, sensual smile on her lips. “Mmmm, finally. You, my love, are in for a treat.”
My stomach cramped as I thought of what could only be Jasmine’s idea of a treat.
She slithered up to him, her lips a breath away from his mouth. “I have a new place for us. One you’ll never be able to escape.”
The snake tattoo’s eyes blazed bright red and slithered up over his ear then disappeared behind his neck. “Release her from the collar,” Waleron ordered.
Jasmine sighed. “I could get you to do anything if I keep her.”
Liam strode across the room. “And they won’t give me Abby without releasing her.” He grabbed the necklace around Jasmine’s neck and yanked. The leather snapped and he pulled the key from the locket and slid it into the prong collar’s latch at the front of my neck. It clicked and the collar released. He tossed it to the floor.
I sagged against the chains, every muscle straining from remaining paralyzed for over an hour. God, Roarke had been kept like this for days. No, weeks.
Liam glared at Waleron. “Where’s Abigail?”
Balen appeared in the open doorway, Abby beside him with what looked like a tiger guarding her. There was a thin string of light connecting Balen and the tiger.
He dropped his hand from Abby’s shoulder and she hissed and sneered at him. The tiger swiped at her with his paw and she darted out of his way.
“Abigail, come,” Liam ordered.
She walked across the room toward Liam, but there was a shift in the emotions, the sudden alert of danger as heartbeats escalated. I didn’t know what was happening, but I felt it all around me.
Waleron stiffened and his gaze went from the girl to the staircase.
“Damien,” Waleron shouted. “No.”
The Scar dropped from the second floor and landed in front of Abby, blocking her path to Liam.
No way in hell was I allowing this to go down. Abby was not becoming Liam’s slave.
I reached out to her and she flinched. “Abbs.” She shook her head and looked from me to Liam then back again. The draw to Liam and his blood would overpower her whether she wanted it to or not.
“You bastard,” Liam roared.
“Damien, move away from her,” Waleron ordered.
I ignored him, my focus on Abby, but ready to react if Liam attacked. A tear slipped from her right eye and trailed a wet path down her cheek before dripping off the edge of her jaw.
“The promise,” she said, her voice a scratchy whisper. “Damien, please. Before it’s… too late.”
The promise. That one promise I wouldn’t give her, and she wanted it now. She was asking me to do the unthinkable—to end this.
Kill her.
“Abby—” That was all I managed before she was shoved out of the way and Liam dove on top of me, his fangs at my neck. I plowed my fist into his throat, shoving him off as I flipped and kicked him in the abdomen. I leapt to my feet at the same time he did.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the commotion as the Scars crashed through the windows and attacked Liam’s underlings.
Balen dove for Abby, his arms locking her to his chest as she flailed against his hold. My attention on Abby instead of Liam, I missed his attack and his fist slammed into my jaw. I staggered back several feet, banging into the banister. He hissed then dove for my throat again.
I ducked and side-kicked Liam in the chest, sending him backward into another vampire. They both crashed into the glass coffee table and it shattered beneath their weight.
The burning in my eyes swirled. Energy building.
Liam slowly came to his feet, eyes glaring at me. “You’re going to die knowing that little witch will be spreading her legs for me.”
“Fuck you.”
We lunged for one another.
KILTER, JEDRIK, DELARA, TYE, Keir, Balen, and Roarke. Roarke? He was helping the Scars? Grit’s were the Scars’ enemy, Kilter’s enemy, and yet they trusted him enough to help them.
They attempted to hold off the vampires and CWOs who filtered into the house from every direction. It was chaos, and yet controlled chaos, as they fought in harmony, as if they knew one another’s moves before they did it. Even Roarke.
The only one who didn’t move with them was Damien, and he was fighting Liam—well, he was. Now he was on the ground with Liam on top of him. I couldn’t see what was happening other than hearing Damien’s roar of agony.
“Get to Waleron. Now!” Keir shouted to Tye, Jedrik, and Balen.
Jasmine’s webs wrapped around Waleron’s chest as she backed out of the room with him. Every step caused the webs to tighten and his breath was ragged.
I looked up at my chains and jerked on them as hard as I could. Blood dripped down my arms as the metal cut into my skin. I tried to slip my hands through the manacles, wincing as my skin scraped the edges. They were too tight. Shit.
“Rayne, stop,” Kilter shouted from across the living room. “I’m coming.”