Two days later"Wh - "A hand slapped over my mouth. "Do not make a sound. They've found us," Lukas breathed against my ear. Fuck. It was bad enough that I'd been stuck in this stupid place for the last two days without anyone telling me what was going on. But now Lukas loomed over me, his usually open and happy face dark and closed. I nodded. All I'd been told was that we were waiting for Reece. Who apparently wasn't part of Iron Serpent. Yeah, I'd believe that crap when I saw it. I pushed myself up from the cot I was sleeping on. Luxury conditions, this. I shoved my legs into my pants. Standing up behind Lukas, I tapped his back when I was ready to move. He reached around and grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers. He opened the flap of the tent. It was pitch black outside. To the far side of the camp, I could hear dogs braying and sniffling around. Arcs of light from flashlights zoomed over the low hanging mist in the sky, setting up a lightshow the likes of

"Xander, how's everything? Every...thing good on that end?" I asked as Lukas crept back out under the rock that hid our current hiding spot. "It's good, sweets. All good."I closed my eyes, they were burning with the need to cry. I just didn't have enough moisture to spare. "Good. Any idea on when Taryk should be getting here?""You're only about an hour away, Kiema. He'll move heaven and earth to get to you as fast as possible."I wiped my hand under my nose. "Thanks for picking up the phone. I know it's really late.""I was up already. We..." he cleared his throat, "I've been looking for you. You're a hard woman to find."That they had been looking for me, that he and Taryk answered my phone call in the middle of the fucking night, not only healed my heart, it melted it. These men were mine. All of them. I wasn't going to share. I wasn't going to let anyone hurt them. They were mine. I laughed, the sound like glass in my throat. I was so fucking thirsty. "Well, when H

"Again!" I punched my gloved hands together, lifted them to guard my face. Taryk and Atlas had been silent since telling us they were headed back here. The waiting was driving me insane. If I'd still had wings, I would've gone after her myself. Not been stuck in here, no matter what Kiema said. She was mine. I should've been the one to go get her. To save her from the horrors since she'd been taken from the cabin.Saint rushed me, his gloved hands up and ready. I stepped out of the way. His fist glanced off my ribs.I had a longer reach, but Saint was faster than a demon. He slid to the side as I returned the blow. The edge of my glove brushed against the end of his nose. He raised his knee, slammed it into my side. I inhaled the pain with a grunt. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him bouncing on his feet. He didn't go for the kill shot. The bastard.I bit back the begging I'd been sending to Gaia every night since Kiema had been gone. I needed the escape. I needed

It felt like someone was running sandpaper through my veins. I whimpered against the pain. Everything hurt.A low voice next to my ear was murmuring, the tone low and soft. I turned my head, wanting more of that sweet music. With a fight, I raised my lids a fraction. Bright light surrounded me, stabbing me through the eye straight into my brain. I snapped my lids closed, turned away. That low sonorous voice grew harsh as it barked commands. Soon, darkness descended behind my lids as a cool mist fluttered into the air around me. Like being dipped in a cool pool after too long in the sun, I could feel my skin soaking up the moisture. I relaxed down onto the uncomfortable bench, letting my muscles lengthen as much as possible. "That's the way, love. Let the eggheads do their work," Lukas said. His accent and slang making me smile. "You can take your hands off her now. And no, that wasn't a suggestion," someone said from above me, voice harsh and tight. "I'm not leaving un

I rushed back into the room that held Lukas. Wrapping my hand around his wrist, I yanked him to follow me. He groaned as he clutched at his stomach. Stumbling behind me, I half carried him out to the hallway."Touch him." I pointed at Asher's bear. Lukas leaned down, another pained groan flowing from his mouth, and touched Asher without another word. Awful rips and groans, tears and screams emerged from my rapidly changing brother. Xander woke at the first tearing sound. He pushed back as far as possible, a horrified look on his face. "What the fuck is happening to Asher?""I think Saint has some questions for him that he didn't want to wait for answers over the implant," Taryk said, a hint of a chuckle in his voice. I snarled at the man behind me. Asher lay naked, panting and retching on the cold concrete floor of the lab. "The fuck, Saint?" he said between dry heaves."Explain yourself, Asher." I could feel myself going cold. That place inside me that held not my