Page 56

Somehow, I manage to not get pulled over in my race to get to Aurora, even though I break a few laws. My heart sinks, and my stomach rolls as we approach the red dot on my maps. There’s nothing here except a line of vacant buildings. Wondering if I’m about to find her dead body inside has a wave of fear washing over me. My head whips around, looking for any sign of her.
“There’s her car!” Carver shouts, pointing to the right.
A small two-story warehouse is nestled in between a couple of larger ones. The lights are on, but I don’t see any movement as I maneuver our vehicle beside her car and kill the engine. We file out and wait for Bennett to park.
“Any communication with Aurora since we left?” Bennett asks as we crouch behind the vehicles and start to plan.
“Radio silent,” I say. “I have no idea who or what is inside. We can’t go in hot.”
“Cut the lights?” Thomas asks.
Hudson’s brows furrow. “No, it could scare Aurora. She could be alone.”
“We go in nice and slow,” I instruct. “Keep your eyes open, and watch my signal. Any hostiles, shoot to kill. Be careful, we don’t know if there are any other innocents besides Aurora.”
“Roger that,” they all mumble.
We edge toward the building quietly, our guns drawn. Once we reach the door, we split into two groups, each taking a side. I hold up my fingers, counting down from three, and when I reach zero, Bennett swings it open. I aim my gun and swiftly enter with the others at my six.
Inching our way further inside, I faintly hear growling ahead. I glance over my shoulder at my men, who all shrug. I point at my eyes and then forward toward the noise before we start walking again.
Please, let that be Lykos with Aurora.
We round the corner and come to a grinding halt.
Surely, I’m hallucinating.
It looks like a fucking massacre took place, and Aurora is standing right in the middle of it. Lykos is standing in front of her, and he’s tense and ready to attack any threat. Her hands are covered in blood, and there are splatters of crimson on her face. My eyes roam over her body, searching for the cause of the injury, but I can’t locate the source. I take a few deep breaths to calm the beast inside that wants to break free and destroy whoever put her in the middle of this fiasco.
“What the fuck?” Bennett mumbles.
“Settle.” Aurora affectionately rubs the top of Lykos head. “You’re gonna need a bath.”
Lykos looks up at her, and I swear the damn dog grins… fuckinggrins.
Did I just enter the fucking ‘Twilight Zone’?
My eyes snap to hers as I march toward Aurora, but Hudson darts around me and intercepts her before I reach her.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asks.
“No,” she says, her eyes never leaving mine.
Hudson nods. “I wouldn’t want to be you right now.” He steps out of my way.
Waving my hand around at the carnage, I demand, “What the hell happened here, Aurora?”
“It wasn’t my intention to call you tonight and bother you,” she says, dismissively.
“Not your intention…bother me…” I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose to try and calm down.
“Rivers!” Thomas hollers. “We got abigproblem, man. Better come take a look at this.”
I throw my hands up. “It can’t possibly get any worse.”
I step next to the face of the body Thomas is hunched over.
I was wrong.