“Sorry I hit you,” Ciro mumbles.
“I’m not,” Lyle mutters. “I deserved it. Somehow, I let these bastards get to her.”
Without another word, he begins jogging toward our house.
“How do I know she didn’t leave of her own accord?” Easton yells, wide eyed as he pulls on his silver hair. “There were gunshots and I watched the kidnapping happen. If you don’tsend someone in the next few minutes, I’ll have your fucking job. I am not waiting for forty-eight hours to call her missing.”
Ugh. Fucking cops. Shaking my head, I begin to feel lightheaded and my body sways. Dario grabs my arm, delayed in his arrival because he was upstairs when everything began to happen.
“Careful, Nico,” he rasps, emotion in his voice as he helps keep me upright.
“It’s the bond sickness, isn’t it?” Ciro asks, wrapping his arm around my waist as I watch Easton fight with the police.
Silas is furiously texting people, which is more than I’m capable of.
“Don’t let them lock me up like an animal,” I breathe. “There are places for people like me…”
“Not happening,” Silas grunts without looking up. “Riley from Pack Thornefield works there. You’re not dangerous to anyone other than the people who took Rosa. Everyone is on their way. Let’s reconvene at our house if you’re okay with that?”
“Thanks guys,” Lyle says. Turning, I see he’s directing everyone out of our house. I don’t care enough to ask about where they’re putting everything or if they’re going to deliver at another time. It doesn’t matter without Rosa.
“I don’t want to be in the house without her,” I admit, coughing as I try to clear my throat. God, I feel like I’m slowly turning into a goddamned animal. “Someone needs to grab Verona and Pablo so they can lock up. I don’t want anyone alone right now.”
We need to find her…
“I got her!” Pablo yells. I don’t know where he is since the gate obstructs my view, but at least we know the ring is working.
That’s something.
“Let’s get to work,” Silas grunts.
Taking a deep breath, I know I can’t help the process of going feral, but I can orchestrate a search.
“Get our men on Rosa’s trail. I don’t care if we end up with several cars following Rosa. Organize it with Pablo, Dario,” I growl.
Using Ciro as my personal crutch, I begin walking toward Pack Mayor’s home.
Please, Rosa. Fight for me,mia moglie.Fight.
Chapter Thirty-Six
ROSALIA
Freezingwater dumps over my body, waking me up as I scream. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that comes out of my voice box, even though my body feels the strain as my muscles want to jerk from the cold.
My eyes snap open, and the creepy woman with the soulless eyes claps happily.
“Your father used to speak about you as if you had superhuman powers,” she laughs. “He said you were better than all of the men he had under his control too. I created a sedative to keep you pliant, but it must be too powerful. You’re so tiny… It makes me wonder if your father was exaggerating.”
Bruno is dead. I bet he doesn’t think Papa was blowing things out of proportion.Even the most dangerous people have off days.
“Oh,” she giggles. “I’m Avery. I can’t wait to see what you’re made of. I need to flush this out of your system first. You’ve been out cold for a few hours, and I’m impatient. This will probably hurt, but since you’re my property now, it shouldn’t matter.Whatever happens next is because I want it to. I paid a pretty fucking penny to buy you off your father. It’ll be fun getting my money’s worth out of you.”
Pulling out a syringe, she shrugs as she calls out for people to come help her. My eyes dart around to figure out where I am, but I can’t see more than the exposed beams of a tall ceiling. The ground is hard and cool beneath me, the building echoes, and I’m naked. You’d think you’d notice being naked first, but my nervous system is on fire despite my immobility.
It also hasn’t been very long since clothes were a luxury and not a right while I lived in my childhood home. Old habits die hard.
Gasping in a breath is about as much as I can do, and my heart is slamming into my chest. It feels like I’m starved for air, which could easily turn into a panic attack if I don’t find a way to ground myself. Nothing has happened yet outside of being kidnapped, I will find a way to escape.