Chapter 56 Rescue
Aurelia
Lia fought like a cornered animal as they shoved us into the backseat of the black SUV.
Her elbows flew, her nails raking up and down the face of the shifter holding her.
Her voice rose in sharp, furious bursts. “Get your hands off me! Let go! I only did business with you, what wrong did I do?!”
But the shifter’s grip only tightened, forcing her down beside me.
My ass barely hit the cold leather before rough hands yanked my wrists behind my back.
Rope bit into my skin. They were tied into quick, practiced knots, pinning my arms so tight my shoulders screamed in protest.
I twisted twice, trying to slide out of the seat, but they were faster.
A wet cloth clamped over my nose and mouth. Chloroform.
The sharp smell shot up my nose and straight to my head.
Awareness leaked out of me in slow, syrupy waves.
“Hey… what did you… putinmy…”
My tongue felt thick, the words slurring into nothing.
I could feel my lips moving, I could feel the vibration in my throat, but I couldn’t hear myself.
I couldn’t hear anything anymore. My head lolled sideways, my cheek pressing against the seat.
Darkness rushed in mercilessly, swallowing everything.
‘Aurelia, what did they do to you?’
The voice cut through the black like a blade. The voice was deep and edged with fury and panic.
I knew that voice. I loved that voice.
‘Aurelia, what have they done to you? Where are you?’
The growl rolled through the bond again, it was deeper this time, and more desperate, shaking me awake.
I jerked upright, gasping, my elbow slamming into warm skin beside me.
Lia grunted in pain, curling in on herself.
Oh, goddess… maybe I should hit her again. Right in the ribs this time as payback for selling me out like I was nothing more than a bounty ticket with legs.
We were still in the backseat, the SUV eating up highway at a ruthless speed. Lia slumped beside me, her head banging against the window as the vehicle moved at break-neck speed.
I couldn't see anything, but I knew it was her head hitting the window.
The chloroform had knocked her out cold. Zhayad's voice through the bond must have been what woke me up.
‘Aurelia, talk to meeeeee!’
Zhayad’s voice exploded through the bond, wild, fraying, like he was one heartbeat away from ripping the planet apart to find me.
Anger, fear, desperation, all of it poured over me in a single crushing wave. I didn’t know whether to feel furious, heartbroken, or strangely justified.
Because he’d shut me out. He’d chosen the clone instead of digging hard enough to sniff out the fake between us.
But he was screaming for me now.
I swallowed hard, my throat raw from the chemical burn after inhaling chloroform.
Varrick wouldn't sense me communicating with my mate through the bond, but I had to be careful.
I risked it, barely a whisper through the bond.
‘Zhayad… Varrick has me. I don’t know where we’re going, but I’m in the backseat of a car.’
There was silence for one agonizing heartbeat. Then his growl rolled back, deeper, more lethal than I’d ever heard it.
‘Hold on. I’m coming. I’m already coming. I'm coming for you.’
The words were rough, jagged, like he’d torn them out of his own chest. I closed my eyes, letting them anchor me. Just for a second.
From the front seat Varrick’s laugh slithered back. He'd been talking but I wasn't paying attention.
“….I want to fuck her first and taste her.”
I stiffened.
“They say you see light burst out from her chest whenever she’s fucking. I want to see it.
Maybe it’ll make me strong?” He chuckled. “Hehehe.”
My stomach lurched. I wouldn't let him touch me. I would fight him with the last of me.
The bond snapped taut, Zhayad’s fury flooding through like wildfire. I could almost feel his claws digging into the earth wherever he was.
Lia woke suddenly, violently, actually, her lungs ripping open in a raw, piercing scream that filled the entire car.
“Oh, shit,” I breathed.
“Make her shut her fucking yapper!” Varrick barked from the front seat, his voice snapping like a whip.
The SUV swerved hard into the next lane.
My body flew forward, my shoulder slamming into the partition, my head cracking against the hard plastic.
Pain burst behind my eyes, and tears rushed down my cheeks.
Lia kept screaming, hurling every insult she could think of.
“Bastards! Swine! Dogs! Let me out of this car right now!”
She threw herself up and down, against the door, jamming her elbows into my stomach.
“Keep quiet, Lia,” I tried to console her. “They’re going to hurt you worse if you don’t.”
She didn’t listen. She screamed louder, like a banshee.
Her side door flew open mid-swerve. A loud, open-handed slap cracked across her cheek.
The sounds of her whimpering followed next.
“You deserve to be punished for making us stop halfway, naughty girl,” her attacker wheezed, voice thick with ugly satisfaction. .l“Do you know how we punish naughty girls?” He asked.
“Fuck that big mouth of hers,” Varrick ordered from the driver’s seat, his tone casual, bored, as if this was entertainment for him. “That’s her punishment.”
My stomach heaved.
“Don’t touch her!” I begged, my throat shriveling up the moment I realised I was actually begging Varrick. “She won’t do it again. Please.”
Varrick’s laugh rolled back.
“Maybe we should fuck you instead while she touches herself, Luna.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “How about that?”
“Try it and Zhayad will rip you apart to shreds.” I retorted.
“You've reached him through the bond, haven't you? Good girl. Let him come find us so I can tear him to shreds with my teeth.” Varrick bragged.
I swallowed dryly, waiting for my gut to tell me what to do next.
“I hear something.” Lia whispered.
“Don't try to do something stupid, you—”
She interrupted me smoothly. “I hear something like howls. Is that your Alpha coming for you?”
“I can't hear anything. It's going to take a lot of time for him to reach—”
A savage force knocked into the side of our car, and a sickening, wet crunch followed.
Rage from the bond flooded me.
Varrick let out a deepthroated scream which was promptly cut off.
I could feel my mate here, his scent. I could hear his growls. He'd muted his emotions while getting down here so I wouldn't feel him until he arrived.
The door of the car was wrenched open with brutal force, and there was burning heat for a few seconds before I was carried out of the car.