Page 84 of Those That Are Lost

“I suggest you comply with their questions,” Mitch pipes up from the other bed. Demetri stops struggling momentarily to look at his comrade.

“What have you told them?” he spits.

“Not much,” Mitch responds. “Yet.”

“I knew it. I warned Ronan you were an unreliable prick. I didn’t want to be sent here with you. I told him we needed to put you down when he escaped.” He jerks his head towards us, towards me.

“Adicious isn’t going to end me. He made me. And I bring in one of the best salaries, you prick. I’ve been working my ass off.”

“Whilst no doubt feeding information to this traitor the whole time! How the fuck did they find us here?”

“I’d like to take credit for that one,” Antares beams, grabbing the attention of the two arguing males. “Although, you did check in using your real names, to a hotel with quite frankly shocking security, so maybe it is on you. And your lot has been throwing weight around in this city for a while, hardly covert. It was so easy a child could’ve tracked you down.”

“You checked us in under our names?” Demetri growls at Mitch.

“Was I not meant to?” Mitch replies, shrugging as much as he can manage with the ropes around him. Then he locks eyes with me.

He planned it. Gave me a way to find him easily. From that one look, I can tell.

Demetri manages to get himself sitting upright against his headboard, sheets tangling around him in his thrashing. The shadows alert me to the fact he’s got his hands free. They’re still behind his back but I guess he is waiting for the right moment, wanting to have the element of surprise. I relay the information to Red so she is prepared too.

“So,” I say, bringing us back on track. “Adicious hasn’t given up searching for Aurora and wants me dead. Anything else to report?”

At the mention of her name, Demetri’s gaze swings to the Fae looking female on my right. He takes her in fully for the first time and I see when his comprehension catches up.

“You mated her?” he asks.

“I asked him, actually. Not that it’s any of your concern,” Red answers the question clearly aimed at me.

“You’re more powerful than we realised.” Demetri shoots a look at Mitch, then darts his gaze at each of the four of us. I think he’s finally realising how fucked he is. His voice is a lot less confident sounding as he asks, “What are you planning to do?”

“You can’t kill him,” Mitch snaps before I even form the thought. Although that is exactly what I was hoping to do when we captured any of Adicious’s pack. “He’ll feel it through the bond. You kill him and they’ll come for you in force.”

Dammit, he’s right.

Demetri takes this opportunityto lunge, thinking I’m distracted. His free arms don’t take me by surprise at all, nor Red. We’re the first to react and are on the male vampire before he can move from the bed. Red darts across the mattress grabbing his left arm as I swing right and grab the other. We meet at his back, wrenching his forearms higher than is comfortable.

Our prey hisses before swinging to my mate, trying to catch her with his teeth. I smack the back of his head for even trying, snapping it forward painfully, forcing him to lose balance and drop to his knees. His ankles are still tied with the rope.

“You don’t touch my mate,” I growl ferociously, pulling the arm I have hold of higher until I hear the shoulder socket pop.

Red steps closer to me, pressing her side to mine as she looks up at me with a feral glint in her eyes. I think she might have enjoyed my little display. Feeling her heat reassures me she’s okay. We managed to coordinate that attack pretty fucking flawlessly.

‘Well done, sweetheart,’I say, laying a kiss to her temple.

‘I should tell you to fuck off with the praise but that did feel pretty badass.’She flashes me a smile, confirming my thought that she likes me letting my possessiveness get a little violent.

“So, what are we doing with him if we can’t kill him?” Antares chimes in, watching on, licking his fangs.

“We drain him,” Henry says matter-of-factly.

Demetri stops struggling between us and starts begging. “What? No, you can’t do that!”

“It’s the safest thing. He’ll be incapacitated but alive,” Henry reasons as he sees me hesitating. It's the worst kind of torture for our kind. To be present but unable to move, completely at the mercy of others, unable to drink unless you’re fed.

I should know, it’s what the pack didto me.

“Let’s do it.”