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Chapter 25
Meat Wagon
EDIE
T he agony is nearly unbearable. Like a thousand fire ants filing up and down my body, leaving pain in their wake, turning my blood to lava as it razes through my veins.
I’m chained to the floor of a police van, my naked body exposed to the human males surrounding me. Four of them. Two are sitting on benches on opposite sides of the van. Two more are up front, the guard in the passenger seat holding a high-powered rifle.
Shivers wrack my body as it heals. I grit my teeth to stop the moan of pain as a bullet is pushed from my shoulder, oozing to the floor in a pool of tissue and blood. The gaping hole begins knitting itself, stopping my lifeblood from spilling out.
Healing in my human form is slower and more painful than in my wolf form, but when I tried to shift before being loaded into the van someone hit me with a high-voltage stun gun, preventing my wolf from coming out.
The same man sits next to my head holding the stun gun loosely over my upturned shoulder.
I’ll kill him first.
They secured my wrists together with metal cuffs, pinning them to the floor of the van next to my stomach. My feet have also been manacled.
A few more minutes of healing, that’s all I need. The shot of adrenaline I took before attacking Charlie is still surging through my veins.
I set an internal timer and close my eyes. Ten more minutes and then I’ll have to strike. There’s no more time. If they get me to Rikers, I’ll be under the control of shifter guards in the most secure part of the prison. There will be no escape. No path for vengeance.
Exactly ten minutes after I close my eyes, consciousness returns. I listen carefully and know we’re on the bridge to Rikers. It’s now or not at all. They’ll be prepared for my arrival on the other side.
My body is still healing, but I can’t wait.
I glance around. No one is paying attention to me. The two officers up front are talking in low tones. The one with the stun gun has his head twisted around as he looks through the tiny window at the back of the van. The last one is looking at me. Not me, my body, his lascivious eyes holding a vicious glee at my helplessness.
I’ll kill him second.
Taking a deep breath in, I jerk my hands up, tearing out the pin holding my handcuffs to the floor. I grip the wrists of the guard holding the stun gun and squeeze with all my strength, shattering his bones while his screams fill the van. After I’ve neutralized the stun gun, I grip him by the neck and crush his windpipe.
One down.
Everyone is shouting and trying to grab hold of me, but the close quarters are to my advantage. They can’t get a shot off for fear of shooting each other. Their soft bodies are sitting ducks under my shifter strength.
I revel in the power I have over them, viciously snapping the bones of the other guard in the back when he tries to grab me. By the time I’m finished with him, his arms are shattered and his head is twisted almost backward. I drop him to the floor.
Two down.
I shift into my wolf as one of the guards from the front aims his high-powered rifle at me. Before he can shoot me, I tear his arm off with my teeth, spraying blood through the van. The van swerves sharply, as the driver tries to control it. It throws me off balance but doesn’t stop me. I right myself and tear the throat out of the one-armed man.
Three down.
I want to kill every single one of them, but I have to think of myself. Killing the driver means no one’s in control of the van. I’ve come this far to exact my vengeance. I can’t die yet. Not until I destroy the man who destroyed my life.
I throw my body into the back door repeatedly and it gives way as the van veers and slides on the road while the driver fights to control it. Behind us another vehicle screeches to a stop.
Through the windshield, I see a couple of bear shifters.
Damn it. I hadn’t anticipated an escort.
I can’t fight bears in my condition.
There’s only one thing I can do if I’m to have a chance at escape.
I leap from the back of the van as the bears throw the doors to their vehicle open. A massive man lumbers toward me, his body sprouting fur, his proportions doubling as he gains momentum.
I turn my back, his roar echoing in my ears, and I race for the edge of the bridge, scaling the barrier. His clawed arm swipes me, but he doesn’t have enough time to grab me.
I jump, hurtling from the bridge, the inky black water of the East River rushing up to envelope me.
CHARLIE
Chaos erupts around us. Teams of officers are gearing up for the hunt, their equipment and voices banging around in the background while Charlamagne and Lennox argue.
“Charlie is Edie’s target,” Lennox growls sharply. “She needs to be taken into protective custody immediately. I’ll take her to Wolf-Haven; we’ll hunker down until you’ve caught Edie.”
“I refuse to lose my best detective with a murderer on the loose,” Charlamagne argues. “Besides, Charlie is useful to us here. We can use her to lure…”
Lennox steps toward his captain, his fists clenching, his incisors growing. “You’re stepping into dangerous territory, Charlamagne.”
“I’m your Captain!” Charlamagne growls. “Despite what you may think, I’m the one who gives the orders around here.”
“When it comes to Charlie, I am the only one qualified to make decisions on her behalf.”
I step in between them, placing my palms on Lennox’s chest. “Calm down and listen to yourself. When it comes to me, I’m the one who decides what happens and I’m not going anywhere.”
Lennox glares and grips my waist, drawing me against him. Fear and rage vibrate through him, an inferno about to take over. The desire to hunt Edie is strong within him, which tells me he doesn’t want to leave New York any more than I do.
“We’re needed here,” I add. “Captain Charlamagne is right; I can be useful in trapping Edie.”
“Absolutely not.” Lennox’s brows lower and I hear the arguments in his mind.
Too dangerous. Too fragile. What if something happens to her?
“I trust you to protect me,” I tell him.
He’s silent, but there’s a war going on inside him. His wolf wants him to whisk me immediately off to Wolf-Haven castle and doesn’t understand why we’re still talking about it.
“What if she finds you?” he asks, anguish in his gaze.
“You’ll be with me.” There’s no chance I’m going anywhere without Lennox. If Edie can’t get to me, she may go after him directly. He’s not the only one terrified of losing a mate.
“I refuse to use you as bait.” He’s as unmovable as his wolf on this.
“You won’t need to,” Charlamagne says grimly. “I assume Edie Thornton is both intelligent and experienced?” At Lennox’s nod, he continues, “She’ll have the resources to track you. Take Charlie somewhere safe; the shifter woman will likely make her way to you.”
I feel Lennox’s wolf start to panic again, conjuring an image of Wolf-Haven, so I say, “We’ll go to your place.”
Lennox’s frown deepens. “She very likely knows where I live.”
I nod. “Which means we’ll capture her all the sooner, making the city safer for everyone else.” He shakes his head, but I push, “Listen, Lennox, your place is perfect. There’s only one entry into your apartment and no windows. If we set this up correctly, she won’t be able to escape.”
I feel his intention to kill her in his mind. He won’t let her escape a second time. He wants me safely out of the way while he does it, but he knows I won’t leave him. He could force me to, but he doesn’t want that. He wants to keep eyes on me at all times.
There’s only one answer. We have to lure Edie so he can kill her.
I’m surprised at the bloodthirstiness of my thought, but it makes sense. I feel sorry for Edie, don’t want to see her die, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. Her hatred of Lennox is too deep-seated. If she’s arrested, she’ll find a way to escape and threaten us again.
My eyes meet Lennox’s and though our thoughts aren’t organized in a conversation, we understand each other.
Lennox turns to Captain Charlamagne. “Since there doesn’t seem to be an alternative, I’ll take Charlie to my place. We’ll need plainclothes on three building entrances and on all floors. I’ll take six uniforms with me. I want them armed with high-powered rifles. Tell them they need to aim to kill.” He pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’ll get Duncan to send a couple of bear shifters.”
Captain Charlamagne looks like he wants to argue, but doesn’t, probably realizing his people are woefully inadequate against a raging wolf shifter. Instead, he says, “After this is over, see if any of Duncan Sharptooth’s people want to join the force. We can use that kind of muscle around here.”
We grab our things and as we head for the door, I grip Lennox’s arm, “What about Luke? He spent the night with my parents, but they’ll have dropped him off at school by now.”
Lennox nods and says to Charlamagne, “We’ll need to send a uniform to Charlie’s son’s school.” I supply the school and address while Charlamagne writes it down.
I think hard for a moment, then realize if Edie did her research she might know where my family lives. They likely aren’t targets in her crazy vengeance scheme, but she could go looking for me at their places.
Lennox picks up on my concern and tells the captain to send officers to my parent’s apartment too.
Placing his hand on my back, Lennox says, “Let’s go.” We’re surrounded by officers as we leave the building with more climbing into their vehicles all around us. The hunt for Edie has begun.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26 (Reading here)
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41