Chapter 41
THE FRIEND OF MY ENEMY IS DEFINITELY MY ENEMY
NELSON
Gary, the dusk-damned asshole, had just kidnapped my mate. Why in the name of magic would Morgan have gotten in that car with him?
“Go!” Parker shouted. “I saw it all. Go after them. I’ll call the others.”
That shook me into action. Standing there in shock was doing nothing but letting Gary get further away.
My shift flashed over me in an instant. I didn’t care if every human in Willow Lake saw me change, I had more important things to worry about.
I’d never been so happy to be a shadow jumper because I could jump to any shadow within sight. And this morning, there were a lot of them. The sun was low in the clear sky still, so every little thing cast a long shadow. Perfect.
I jumped to one at the end of the street to get a better view of Gary’s car. Morgan slumped awkwardly in the seat. When Gary swung the car around a corner, Morgan’s head hit the window. He didn’t wince or cry out. He didn’t do anything at all.
That asshole had done something to my mate.
Rage roared through me. And then I was moving, sweeping from one shadow to the next until I saw my opportunity. I jumped to a shadow that stretched across the street.
Then I waited.
The car would pass over me in one… two…
And boom. I was there, clinging to the underside of the vehicle. A moment later, my shadow squeezed through the ventilation system until I was inside the car.
Shadows didn’t normally anger. We didn’t combust like hellhounds. We didn’t fight for dominance like wolf shifters. We didn’t kick people like fauns.
But having a mate changed that for me. And finding that mate unconscious with a damn needle sticking out of his leg made me want to drag Gary into the shadows and never let him see light again.
I wanted to strangle the asshole. But at this speed, if we crashed, Morgan could be harmed. And I couldn’t let that happen.
That was the only thing saving the asshole from my wrath.
Gary was busy watching the road instead of Morgan, so I let my shadow curl along the edge of the seat and over to the needle. I solidified my form only enough to pull—as gently as I could—the metal from my mate’s thigh. I dropped it on the floor under Gary’s feet, just in case I’d need it later.
I didn’t know what drug he’d used, but he’d better hope Morgan made a full recovery.
If Morgan had any lasting injuries or scars… What was that saying about death by a thousand cuts? Yeah. That sounded about right.
I was open to doing a little experiment. How many times Gary could be stabbed with a needle before he died. A thousand seemed light. Maybe ten thousand. More?
But before I could do that, I needed to get Morgan to safety.
Gary’s phone rang. He scrambled to grab it and open it. I drifted closer, resting part of my shifted form in the dark shadow behind his ear where I could hear exactly what was being said.
Being so close to him made me want to give in to temptation and destroy him. It would be so damn easy to slip inside Gary’s ear canal, and the things I could do inside his head after that…
“What?” Gary barked at the phone.
“Did you get him?” a woman asked. Her voice sounded familiar…
“Just like we planned.”
“And his mate?”
“I lost him.”
“You sure?” she pressed.
“I’m sure. You did a good job getting rid of him.”
Damn it. The coffee spill hadn’t been an accident. I should have known that. Somehow. Instead, I’d failed Morgan.
“How far away are you?”
Gary glanced at the GPS on his dashboard. “Five minutes.”
“Good. Your girlfriend is trying to be clever. It’s like she thinks we’re amateurs.”
And now I knew how Gary had convinced Morgan to leave with him.
Whoever that woman was on the other end of the call, she had Violet.
Gary’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.
The interaction between Gary and the mystery woman was odd, and I wondered if he was doing this to save Violet or if he’d helped with her abduction.
Not that it mattered.
In the end, his whole world would be fucked up either way. I’d make sure of it even if I had to pull bits of his brain, piece by piece, out through his nostrils.
I memorized the address on the GPS, and as soon as Gary threw his phone into his cup holder, I let my shadow crawl over to it.
He hadn’t bothered to lock the screen, so it was straightforward enough to use the phone to text the address to Gage.
I started the message with an exclamation point.
Gage might be a technophobe, but he’d get the message. He’d know I needed help.
Then I slid to the floor and curled around the brake. Then I pressed on it. I felt for Violet. She was being held somewhere, and her asshole boyfriend was involved somehow. I wouldn’t abandon her to her fate, but Morgan came first. Once he was safe, I’d find Violet.
The car fishtailed.
“What the fuck?” Gary tapped on the brake. Perfect.
In the passenger seat, Morgan groaned.
“Damn it,” Gary complained. “You’re not supposed to wake up yet.”
Morgan’s head rolled from one side to the other. His eyelashes fluttered. As if worried about his captive regaining consciousness, Gary pressed the gas pedal to the floor.
Wrong fucking choice, Gary.
The needle rolled across the car floor mat, right into my shadow. I lifted it and stabbed Gary’s calf muscle. The car rocked as he jolted in surprise.
“Son of a…!” He swatted at his leg, but that only drove the needle in further. “What the…?”
“Violet? Where’s Violet?” Morgan’s voice was weak and groggy.
I stabbed Gary again. Blood soaked the leg of his pants.
“Ah!” he cried out again.
“Gary?” Morgan blinked. He raised a trembling hand to his forehead. “What happened?”
Whatever Gary had used to subdue Morgan was wearing off fast. Thank fuck.
Gary cranked on the steering wheel. Gravel sprayed across the undercarriage of the car. Then he stomped on the brake. “We’re here. I’ll get Violet.”
That had not been five minutes. Apparently, Gary couldn’t tell the truth about anything. The fucker.