Page 42 of Enchanted with the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #4)

Enka

T he plan that Dristan had set in motion was simple but straightforward.

One that I was certain we’d be able to execute quickly and efficiently.

I was so grateful to the mates of these males for sending them to assist us.

Dristan had grumbled fiercely about how Pen—so pregnant that she was about to pop—had shoved him out the door and told him that he wasn’t allowed back without Hanna.

We were going to locate David by letting Rudgar’s team hack into the street cameras near where Hanna had last been seen. When they found her, they’d find him. Once we had a close enough range, we’d canvas the area until we found him.

“No one’s going rogue,” Dristan said to the group of us that were squished together in his car. Rudgar and Darak’s cars were behind, carrying everyone else.

As it turned out, transporting our clan was going to require more vehicles.

I eyed the way Dristan drove with quiet confidence and was glad that he’d been the one who had taught me to drive the smaller automatic vehicle that I used.

Now, though, I needed something bigger so I could help with this part of the clan’s needs.

“No one,” we all agreed, except Savla who sat next to me, his gaze on the darkness outside the window. I nudged my shoulder against his, but he didn’t respond, still lost in his thoughts.

I left him alone, knowing that when he was like that, he needed to sort out whatever was going on in his head. I wasn’t sure if it was because a female had been abducted—it was eerily similar to what had happened to Zara, his best friend.

Perhaps this had brought back terrible memories. Either way, I returned my attention to Dristan, knowing that we only had a short time to prepare.

“Is this a good idea?” Krusk hissed to Rok, who shushed him just as quickly.

We were currently squatting behind a dumpster with Rudgar, Dristan and Darak posted behind the dumpster opposite us. I was trying my best to ignore the stench from the alley and garbage, but it was hard.

The building we were facing looked older and the area around it was on the sketchier side of the city. The lights were all off, unlike the buildings surrounding it, so it was probably abandoned,

“He’s in there,” Rok said, scowling as he tilted his head toward the solid metal door behind us. “And Rudgar’s team just have to make sure that no one’s nearby using the magick box.” He gave a firm nod and I rolled my eyes.

Rok still didn’t have a full grasp on technology, even though he’d been here longer than the rest of us. I wasn’t able to understand the background processes of the things that happened on this plane, but I could at least tell the difference between that and magick.

“Shouldn’t be long then,” Krusk said, and I grunted my agreement.

Rudgar’s team was amazing when it came to tracking, and they could find anything that you needed in a few taps. I was still struggling to learn the basics.

The low whistle from the other dumpster had us all standing and making our way to the door. Dristan, Rudgar and Darak had their hands near their belts and I was certain that they were getting ready to draw their guns.

I had mine—and had learned to use it along with my brothers—but I would have preferred having an axe. Rok hadn’t even given them a chance, the sound of metal swinging clear in the air as he drew his.

“How come Rok gets to keep his axe and we have to use these?” Krusk muttered in annoyance and everyone shushed him even though I agreed.

Dristan nodded his head, pulling his own gun free and facing the door while Darak moved up to it, pulling a slim case from his jacket pocket, opening it and pulling long implements from it before ducking and starting to work on the lock.

Rudgar had also drawn his weapon, facing the alley behind us instead.

With a few scrapes of metal meeting metal, there was a clicking sound and Darak lifted his hand to turn the handle.

My brothers and I had our guns drawn immediately.

The door swung open with ease and both Dristan and Rudgar ducked out of the way, gesturing for us to do the same.

We pressed our bodies against the concrete walls. My ears twitched as I focused on listening to anything that was happening inside the building. There was a low murmur of voices, but it wasn’t anywhere near this door.

We all looked to Dristan and when he gave a small nod, we moved in a group into the empty room.

Rudgar pressed a hand to Dristan’s chest and there was a small moment of what had to be a silent but heated argument with their eyes.

It ended when Dristan rolled his eyes and Rudgar moved to lead the group instead.

With sure, silent steps Rudgar made his way forward. I knew that he had the layout of the building from one of his team members. We made our way toward the stairs, quietly climbing to the third floor.

Stepping into the open corridor was nerve wracking. I tightened my hold on the grip of the gun, careful not to squeeze the trigger at all. I kept expecting someone to jump out from a corner.

Instead, the entire place appeared to be empty except for the two voices that we’d heard downstairs. My ears twitched as I heard the same voices still speaking. The conversation was getting more heated now and I could make out some of the words.

“—ridiculous. All over some fucking woman? You need to get your shit together. No whore’s worth this.”

I felt heat rising in my face, my fury bubbling. Savla, the one who was usually the calmest of the group released a low growl. Everyone turned shocked eyes in his direction, but he wasn’t looking at us, his gaze narrowed on the door down the corridor where the voices were coming from.

As one, we made our way closer to the door just as a feminine gasp of pain sounded behind it. We all froze, snarls sounding as involuntary responses.

Fucking cowards.

“Where the fuck is she?” he asked, and we continued making our way forward, at a faster pace.

We leaned against the walls on either side of the door while Rudgar moved in front of it. I shifted my bulk in front of it instead, easing him out of the way, with Savla right behind me.

I didn’t wait before I kicked in the door. A loud feminine screech sounded across the room, and I wasn’t shocked to see that it had come from one of the men instead of the female on the floor. I ducked back behind the wall, shoving Savla with me when two guns lifted in our direction.

The loud crack of a gunshot sounded and I heard the reverberation of it hitting the wall behind me. My lips parted in a snarl as two more gunshots sounded, the bullets slamming into the wall opposite us through the door.

Savla was shaking with fury next to me and I still couldn’t understand what was happening. Pushing the worry aside, I eased my way back to the doorway. Hushed, hurried words made their way in the ensuing silence.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck . You didn’t say she had bodyguards!”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“I’m getting out of here!”

A scuffle ensued and I heard my chance. I darted my head back inside, and saw that one male had thrown himself on the back of another who was halfway to the door on the other side of the room. They were distracted, and that was all I needed to aim my gun at them.

Savla pulled my hand away, his eyes wide with worry, hurrying over to the female on the floor. That was when they noticed us. And they weren’t aiming for me.

Savla.

He reached the female just as the two of them raised their guns.

I lunged in front of him even as the gunshots rang inside the room.

From their direction as well as behind me.

The impact in my chest had me staggering on my feet, spinning me around like I’d been punched, followed by the burning sting of something in my forearm.

My brother’s wide, horrified eyes turned my way, finally distracted from where he’d run for the tiny female crumpled on the floor.

I was still in front of them, protecting them, when I heard the bodies falling to the floor behind me.

I sent up a small prayer that David hadn’t died while I ignored the pain.

He’s mine to kill.

“Go,” I hissed, shoving at him before I turned back toward the males, my own gun lifting in case they got up. The leaking sensation on my arm had me frowning at it for a moment before I realized it was blood.

Fuck. I’ll look at it later.

Savla lifted the shocked female into his arms with ease, hurrying out of the room, and I stared at the two forms writhing on the ground. They weren’t going anywhere, so I loosened the buttons of my now-torn shirt, peering down at the vest that Dristan had insisted we all wear before we arrived.

There was a damaged section where pain was radiating from my chest, letting me know that whatever the hell it was made of—-and now I had to wonder if it was magickally reinforced—had saved me from the bullet.

The wet dripping from where the second bullet had hit my arm called my attention next as the rest of the males swarmed into the room, guns aimed at the men on the floor.

I should maybe do something to stop the bleeding, but I was too interested in what was happening in front of me.

The slimy face of the asshole I knew to be David lifted, fear visible on his face. The fucking coward had expected my mate to be here instead. He hadn’t thought she’d have backup of any kind.

The growl that left my throat was loud in the room and both males whimpered at the sound. The acrid scent of urine filled the space between us and I rolled my eyes, scoffing.

Darak had David on his face, his hands tied behind his back in seconds. Rudgar did the same with the other idiot. I didn’t need to know his name. The fact that he’d played any part in intimidating an innocent woman told me everything I needed to know about him.

I stalked toward David, but Rudgar got in the way. I barely checked the impulse to bare my fangs at him.

“Not here,” he said in a low voice. “It’ll be harder to clean up any messes.”

My eyes flashed to meet his, and I saw the same dark fury there that I felt inside me. With a solemn nod I stepped back, watching as David’s expression cycled between terror, fury and despair.

“I didn’t do anything!” he yelled, trying to pull his arms out of the restraints to no avail. “I was trying to save her! This asshole’s the one who took her!”

The other male snapped out of his blubbering state long enough to throw an incredulous look at David. “What the fuck , asshole? This was all your plan!”

“I have no idea what he’s talking about. Just… just take me to Tasia. I can tell her what he did,” David said, trying to gather his wits again.

I was beginning to realize that this obsession of his hadn’t been kicked out of him yet. But it would be. I had plans for that.

I squatted in front of him, leaning down until we were eye to eye. He pulled back, away from me, until he was almost lying on the floor, his expression one of sheer terror again.

“W-whatever she’s paying you,” he hissed in a low whisper, “I can double it.”

My smile was slow and a tad bit evil. “My mate doesn’t have to pay me a cent to deal with trash like you,” I told him, baring my fangs. “I deal with all her problems for free.”

I fisted his shirt with one arm, standing and lifting his limp body with me until he was dangling a couple feet off the floor, our eyes now even as I kept the same smile on my face. He looked down, swallowing hard and flailing.

“And you’re a problem,” I told him in a low voice. “So we’re going to take you on a little trip.”

He opened his mouth to start screaming, but Darak came up behind us, reaching forward to slap tape over the male’s mouth. It made him scream harder, his eyes bulging with terror. The last thing he saw was my grin as Darak covered his face with a black hood.

I turned to look at the other human whose head was also covered while he lay on the floor in the fetal position. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. The punch to David’s stomach made him double over and Darak snorted out a laugh before dragging his wheezing form away.

Rudgar rolled his eyes at me and I shrugged before grabbing the second male, holding him away from myself so the urine didn’t drip on me. I scowled as I turned to take him downstairs.

Pathetic.