Page 9

Chapter

Nine

R ian hated the plan.

With Adrian monitoring everything, they had used John’s phone to contact the teddy-bear-whatsit guy. They’d set up a meet, which seemed to really excite the guy.

Only John wasn’t going.

Eyre was. And that? Sucked hairy donkey balls.

Even if he was going to be there to guard his mate. With Cyrus. At Quin’s bar.

Quin was back there behind the rough-hewn wood bar, pulling beers and mixing drinks like it was what he did for a living or something. The mirror in the back was made of unbreakable glass, framed by a shit ton of bottles, and it made the respectable crowd in the bar seem like a crush of shifters.

Adrian and Symon were outside in a nondescript van with all of this surveillance equipment that Rian was fairly sure he wasn’t supposed to know where it came from.

And he was sitting here with Cyrus.

Goody.

“Your mate looks hot. I’d do him.”

Cyrus was right on one front, and that was that Eyre looked like sex walking in his stompy boots, black leather pants, and tight, silvery mesh top. They had gone back over to the house, and the guys had dolled Eyre up, putting product in his hair and painting his face with dark eyeliner that was just a little smudged, with glitter everywhere. It was sort of like his mate was a sign that read Come Fuck Me Now.

Which was fine, as long as that sign was for him. That was his sign. No one else’s sign.

“I will kill you right here where you sit. Don’t look at him,” Rian growled.

“I’m supposed to be watching him.”

“You’re supposed to be watching for the bear that might be a snake.”

“Nope, I’m pretty sure the boss told me I was supposed to be watching to make sure the kid was okay. You know the hot fuckable kid. That kid.” Cyrus had the most shit-eating grin ever.

“Do you want me to call Isaac? Because I will. I’ll tell him what you’re doing.” The pallas cat who was a friend of Adrian’s had a weird thing with Cy.

“I told him I’m on a job for Rian, and I’ll have you know Isaac is not worried. Isaac doesn’t have to worry about me.” One eyebrow winged up. “But you’re worried about yours.”

Rian kind of hated Cyrus a little bit. Just a skosh, a tad, a touch. Just enough that he wanted to rip the wolf’s throat out and leave him bleeding out somewhere.

The only reason he didn’t was because he promised Symon years ago he wouldn’t, and the man was very, very good at his job. Rian just wanted him to do it silently.

Suddenly, the air around Cyrus seemed to change—going from relaxed and comedic to still and just a touch icy. “Look alive. Boss, you read me?”

In their earphones, Rian heard Symon. “Comms are a go.”

“Target just entered. Heading toward the bar.”

Without saying a word, Quin nodded and headed over to give Eyre his drink.

He hated that Eyre didn’t have comms on, but they couldn’t afford to have the bastard spooked. They needed to know what the situation was, and this was their best opportunity. Eyre was supposed to stay up at the bar and remain within reach of Quin for as long as he could, so Quin could overhear their conversation.

“It’s about to start, kiddo. If you need another drink, ask for the Angel Special. Everyone will know what that means.” Quin had made Eyre a fake cocktail that no one could have told was virginal. “I’ve got your back. You have my word.”

“Thanks. I’m meeting someone, you know? A friend, I hope. Oh!” Eyre jumped and pulled John’s phone out of his back pocket and peeked at it, teeth sinking into his bottom lip. “It’s them.”

Then Eyre looked around as if he was curious. Rian could read the stress on his face, though, and Quin met his eyes from across the room.

“Rock and roll.”

He held his breath, watching as Eyre tapped something into the phone, clearly sending a text. Then he glanced at his phone again, frowning. He shook his head, then tapped away again, muttering loud enough for Quin’s comms to pick up as Quin scrubbed the bar right there. “No, I will not meet you back by the bathrooms.”

“Good man,” Cyrus murmured. “No letting him get you alone.”

“Nope. None.” Rian would hurt someone first.

“He’s got this,” Symon growled.

He sure as fuck hoped so. He took a deep breath, then let it out. Eyre was street wise. He could do this.

A big, muscled brute slid up next to Eyre at the bar only seconds later, and he eyed the dickhead, not sure if this was their guy or if he was just drawn to Eyre like so many in the bar. Lots of eyes were on him.

Rian hated it.

Eyre turned to face away from the bar, leaning back on it with his elbows. Good. That would mean the guy had to lean closer to Quin at the bar to talk to him.

“So, you’re the guy?” Eyre asked. “The one here?” He held up his phone.

“Yeah. I am. What made you finally decide to meet me?”

Eyre shrugged, his body moving under the silver top. “I got bored. All my friends skipped town.”

Ouch. Crushing. But that just seemed to interest the big guy, who made a sibilant noise. Not bearlike at all. “Well, I guess I’m glad you were bored enough to be curious.”

“You said you’d buy me a drink.” Eyre smiled, the expression a little wild. “I like drinks. And dancing.”

“You like a lot more than that if what you’ve told me is the truth.”

“Well, yeah, but I don’t do that without knowing someone a little bit.” Eyre hadn’t let go of his drink, keeping it protected on the opposite side of his body from Teddy. That was good, too. The guy would probably try to drug him.

Rian wasn’t sure that his wolf could handle that shift. He might just attack the guy so…

“Keep it together, man. No one’s going to let anything happen to your boy.” Cyrus was focused. And Rian got it, why Symon was so loyal to this man. He was a hunter, balls to bones.

Thank goodness he was on their side.

“What did you say your name was again?” Teddy murmured, eyes fastened on Eyre.

Eyre frowned. “John.”

The bastard leaned forward. “Are you sure?”

Rian didn’t like this. Not even a little bit.

“Duh. I know what my name is.”

“Really? Because I was told that John was already gone, so you must be his lover. I forget what he told us his name was. Wile E., maybe? Like the coyote?” Teddy lifted Eyre’s hand up to his mouth.

“What? No. Ow!” Eyre flinched and jerked away, his glass falling to the ground with a shatter. Almost immediately. Eyre began to sway and stumble.

“Looks like you had a little bit too much to drink, baby. Let’s get you home.”

What the fuck had just happened? Had the fucker…bitten his mate? Rian growled, his body moving before he could even think. He was going to kill that motherfucker.

Quin went over the bar like the avenging angel of a wolf he was, and he grabbed the snake by the collar, holding him in place. So Rian changed his trajectory to Eyre.

“Love? Are you okay? I’m going to get you to a doctor.”

“He bit me. He bit me. Mate, he bit me. He said…said they have John. He said there were… He said there’re more of them.” Eyre was blinking slow, obviously confused.

“Okay. Okay, you’re going to be all right. I’m going to take you to the hospital.”

Rian held up Eyre’s hand, the sight of the two little bite marks on the back, the skin red and swollen around them, making him see red, and he snarled, his wolf fighting to be free.

“Hey!” Quin snapped. “Not in my bar! Everybody out.”

We have to move him out and put him somewhere safe, brother. Pull it together.

Right. He took a deep breath and let Cyrus fake-muscle him out even as Quin jerked Teddy through the front door.

“Don’t leave me, okay? Please.” Eyre was near hysteria, clinging to him like a limpet.

“Oh, was your puppy out here trying to cheat? Are you trying to step out on somebody?” Teddy grinned. “Learned something about your omega, did you? Maybe you’re not giving him what he needs.”

Rian almost grinned again when it occurred to him that the guy didn’t think that they knew what was really happening here.

Teddy didn’t know that they were onto the kidnapping ring. The son of a bitch thought he was just a jealous boyfriend. That could work in their favor. Hold it together, Eyre. I will never leave you . “If he is, it’s not yours to deal with, do you understand? He belongs to me.”

“Oh, you’d better make sure. Are you sure that he hasn’t been playing around? Looking for something you’re not capable of dealing with? Maybe he wants to feel some more rattles deep inside him?” A clatter sounded, low and shivering on the air.

Be careful, brother. He’s gonna shift on you, he warned.

He’s gonna try. Quin looked as if he would welcome the opportunity to prove that. In fact, he didn’t seem worried at all.

Eyre cried out, though, and his knees buckled.

I have to get Eyre to a hospital, guys. I need to help my mate.

The van pulled up, Adrian’s face appearing as the window was rolled down. “Go. We’ve got this. Get him some help.”

“Yes.” Rian picked Eyre up, knowing a small hospital that specialized in shifters. He just needed to get there. He had his car, so he left the van and the bad guy with his brothers and ran like the hounds of hell were on him. “Hold on, baby. I’m taking you to get help. I got you.”

“Love—you.”

His heart clenched, and he felt extreme gratitude that Eyre could say it to him. “I love you too.”

He got Eyre in the car, buckling him in. Then he headed to the hospital, not knowing if the venom was enough in human form to be lethal or not.

“Stay with me, baby. Okay?”

“Rian…”

He skidded into the parking lot fifteen minutes later, surprised he didn’t have a whole string of cops on his tail. He lifted Eyre into his arms, then hustled inside.

“He’s been bitten by a rattler shifter,” Rian barked at the attendant.

“Take him right back. We’ll get his information from you while he’s being treated.” She buzzed him into the triage area, then showed him a bay where he could put Eyre on a gurney. “How long?”

“Twenty minutes?”

“Where?”

He showed her Eyre’s arm, his heart thundering in his ears. He couldn’t lose Eyre now.

She took out a Sharpie and circled the bite marks and the swelling and redness the bite had produced up until now. Then she pushed a button on the call device hanging from her scrubs.

“Snakebite in unit one. Rattlesnake. Fox shifter?” At his nod, she went on. “Antivenom treatment, stat.”

Seconds later, he was all but pushed out of the room as a team of people arrived. In fact, one of the techs did push him out, ignoring his protest.

The guy must have been a rhino shifter or some shit. He was way too strong for Rian to fight him.

He pulled out his phone and texted Quin.

Getting treated. Look for John. Eyre says snake said he’d been taken, but it couldn’t be long. He was at the house when we stopped to get his phone

That meant someone had been watching the boys. Right?

Rian paced, trying to listen for Eyre in his head, but getting very cloudy, confused responses.

If Rian had that Teddy son of a bitch in front of him right now, he would eat him alive, snake or no snake.

His phone rang, and he yanked it up, Cyrus on the line.

“Here’s the sitrep. Adrian and Symon have snakey boy contained. Quin is coming down to have a discussion with him after his bar closes. I’m heading to the house to check on the boys. How’s the fox?”

“Still in there getting his antivenom. He’s with me though. He’s alive.”

“I can’t see how the venom would kill him; don’t stress that. Why would they bite him, if they wanted to keep him, if it was going to kill him? I think it makes them really, really stoned, and that’s where they’re pliable. That way, the assholes can get them out. I mean, that’s what they do, right? They’re drugging everybody. Even the pig dude drugged them, right?”

“Still, I don’t like it.”

“What is there to like? Even if the guy wasn’t yours, it would suck. A group of assholes is taking omegas, drugging them, and then doing God knows what to them. This is not a good plan. This is a bad fucking plan.”

This was possibly the most human he’d ever heard Cyrus.

“I can’t imagine what I’d do if they’d hurt my…” Cyrus stopped short. “Anyway, I’m heading to the kids. I’m gonna sit there on the house until told otherwise. Does that work for you?”

“Totally, I’ll let you know if we need you.” Rian couldn’t wait to talk to Symon and let him know that the pallas kitty was Cyrus’s ‘my’ now?

That was a ton of blackmail material. Or at least deep teasing about mixed-media cats…

“I’ll be with Symon and Quin as soon as I can.”

“Dude, your mate comes first. I’m on call. Just holler at me if you need anything.”

“I will. Thank you. If you get names, send them to me. I’ll get my paralegal on gathering information.”

“Will do, man.” Cyrus just hung up, but he never expected niceties from the man.

He took a deep breath, then texted his paralegal, Kamen, an omega wolf shifter who was inhumanly efficient.

You gonna be up for some research this evening?

You pay me overtime and I’m up for anything

That made him chuckle.

You’re on. I’ll send the stuff as soon as I have it.

I’ll be waiting.

“Sir?” The front desk attendant caught his attention. “They say you can go back now.”

He followed her, forcing himself not to growl. These people were helping, not hurting. He didn’t push past her or run, but he wanted to see Eyre.

Rian? Is that you? Eyre’s mental voice wasn’t exactly clear as a bell, but it was there, and it was coherent.

I’m right here, baby. You got a snakebite. He pushed through the curtain drawn around Eyre’s bay . “Hey, you.”

“Hey.” Eyre’s voice was a croak. He held out his not-bitten hand.

“How are you feeling?”

“Swollen. Sluggish. Doc says I’m doing okay, though. He must be able to control the dose in his human form. I’m barely hot and red.” He held up his bitten hand.

The swelling was barely bigger than the initial Sharpie mark.

Thank the moon.

“I’m so glad it’s wearing off. Cyrus thinks he uses it like a drug to knock people out.”

“John.” Eyre licked his lips, his tongue seeming a little clumsy. “He said they took John.”

“I know. Cyrus is on it. That means they were watching the house.”

Now Eyre scowled. “The other guys?”

“Safe with one of Cyrus’s men.”

“Okay.” Eyre struggled to sit up.

“Oh now.” The doctor had quietly left, but a nurse came in, a little plastic pitcher of water in hand. “You need to rest, Eyre. You can’t be up running around.”

“But my friends…”

“Eyre. Maybe if—Can he shift? That will heal him faster, right?”

“Let me check with the doctor. Make sure he feels like the dose was small enough not to hurt him in fox form.”

“Okay, thank you.”

He sat next to Eyre on the gurney, and his mate leaned on him. “I’m so queasy, Rian.”

“It will pass pretty quickly. He didn’t mean to damage you. Just to get you to go with him and not be able to fight. Just concentrate on getting it out of your system. Then we’ll go after John and the others.”

Rian was going to get Eyre well, and then go rescue his friends. And if that snakey fucker was there right now? Rian would kill him.