Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
TYNAN
T ally’s position hasn’t changed.
Her guards haven’t called in.
No one has seen her at O’Malley’s or on the street.
Unlocking the door to Rafferty’s nest is something I never thought I’d have to do, but here I am.
The scent of their coupling as it rushes past me as soon as the door opens is obnoxious, like a punch in the face.
I can’t look at their writhing bodies as I step past them.
It’s intrusive of their privacy, but it would feed my anger, too, which isn’t fair at all.
By the strong Alpha pheromones and the subtle warning sounds they give off, Ronin and Keegan are mid rut, and Rafferty is happily drowning in their adoration.
Me interrupting Raff’s heat is a dangerous move.
But they’d do the same if the situation was reversed.
Using the key to access the emergency cupboard where the large red button sits, exactly for moments like this, I don’t waste time second-guessing why I haven’t acted sooner.
When I slam my hand against the button, it hisses angrily, almost like a warning too. I race away, counting off the precious few seconds we built into the program so I could escape the room.
The first drops hit my face like a gentle summer rain shower. Nothing will happen, but still I wipe off the heavy-duty chemical suppressant, not liking anything but Tally’s scent near me. Especially now.
Standing in the entrance to Rafferty’s nest, I watch as the sprayers built into the ceiling burst alive, streaming and saturating every inch of Raff’s nest with the powerful pearlescent foam.
It was Rafferty’s one insistence when we had the emergency system installed; the color of the foam, that is. But if we’re ruining his space, interrupting his vulnerable time of need, then he gets anything that might make the intrusion more bearable.
Ronin roars, exactly like a threatened wild animal would. Having all his senses ripped from him would be excruciating but also triggering his most primal drives—his need to protect his mate.
Keegan turns and hisses at the threat he can feel but not yet see, the foam rendering them blind. Temporarily.
The fast-acting drug is designed to snap a heat nearly instantly. Supposedly, it’s akin to being dunked in icy-cold water. Where you’re blind and unable to move. It’s designed to shock the person from one state and into another.
I close my eyes, unable to watch my brother’s suffering. If I could safely enter his nest, I’d be there in a second, but both his Alphas would kill, even without knowing, at the moment.
Leaving the door wide open, I let the drugs do their thing and wait in the kitchen for them.
Already knowing we won’t be standing around long and talking, I set out piles of clothing for each of them.
Ronin is out first, still wet from the shower. “What’s happened?”
“Tally’s missing.”
He’s naked, grabbing clothes as he nears.
His face is lined with his exhaustion, his eyes dancing with energy and adrenaline.
Before I can open my mouth to apologize, he’s pulled me to him.
His need to protect what’s his is riding his arse.
He knows, too, that I wouldn't have acted if I didn’t have to.
“You did good, Tynan. Tell me what you know.”
I go to argue we should wait, but he stares me down until the words are spilling out.
“Her tracker hasn’t moved. She was at O’Malley’s, working, but then ended up miles away. Now, she’s not at her place though she was, and her tracker hasn’t moved. I had to break Raff’s heat.”
He claps me on the shoulder again before stepping aside to pull on the clothes I’ve set up on the island, his mobile already in front of him, Paddy’s number on the screen. Ronin’s scent stirs through the room—all Alpha, ready to destroy anything in our way.
Keegan is out next. I give him the same rundown but hand him my phone, so he can see the tracker’s pattern himself. His phone has the same app, but I’m saving time, hoping to appease his Alpha, who is super pissy. Not at me, but I still give him a wide berth, going to search for my brother instead.
Rafferty is sitting on the closed toilet seat, wrapped in a towel, his hair wet and droplets of water on his shoulders. I pass over a protein shake and grab another towel and start drying him down.
“Should you have come sooner?”
I disagree before he even finishes asking.
It’s his guilt that has him asking. I understand completely, though, since the second I woke up, I was blinded by the doubts and plummeting anxiety trying to pull me under until I remembered nothing had changed—I’d stop the world, burn it to the fucking ground for her.
“I felt something, Raff. I know you’ll understand this—Tally’s in danger. I unlocked the door and got you. I didn’t delay for the sake of your heat, because we agreed if there was any problem, I’d let you know. Like always, Raff.”
Rafferty closes his eyes and guzzles the shake down. “I’ll be wicked pissed at ya if you did wait more than a minute. She’s more of a priority than me.”
“Don’t say that. You share the position of the heart of this pack. Come on, let me help you kit up. We’ve got some interrogating that needs doing.”
“Her guards?” he says, passing back the empty drink shaker, drying off quickly before dropping all the used towels in the linen basket for later.
“No answer. So, they’re dead because they did their job or about to be dead for not doing it.”
We might have an emergency, but my brother has also just been yanked out of his heat.
I’m not about to bitch him out for his nesting urges or putting himself back together.
He brushes his hair out, tying it back in a low bun, exposing the bites of his Alphas.
I know better than to touch them, but seeing them is a reminder part of our pack is missing.
“We need to go,” I say.
“Aye. We also need to be killing any prick that’s done her wrong.”
“That we do, Raff. I’m not even going to ask you to stay behind. We’re done playing nice. My thoughts are, we rescue our Omega…” I trail behind him, talking.
Keegan’s fitting on his shoulder holster over his dark knitted tactical jumper. “We’re walking out of this with our wife beside us, even if we leave blood running like a river in the streets.”
Ronin joins us, a thunderous warning dancing over his eyes.
He's all Alpha, hardly any man. Just as the situation requires. “Seems like things are happening. Arthur Kelly got the cut of death last night. Someone sliced him ear to ear. Paddy wants us home, but I’ve told Da to shove his invite up his arse. We’re finding our Omega first and foremost.”
“I see no issue with that,” Keegan hisses, storming over to the weapons cabinet and adding another knife to his personal arsenal.
“I’m no betting man, but Tally’s tracker is not moving and Kelly having his throat cut from ear to ear are connected.
I’ll be forever changing families tonight if she’s hurt.
And that includes my own flesh and blood.
Paddy shoulda removed Arthur from our world years ago.
We’ve been warning him too long about the fucking games at play. ”
“True about all you said, Ronin. Des would agree with us knowing something is amiss but also about us being men of our word. If he could talk, that is.”
Both Ronin and Keegan fall into focusing on getting Rafferty ready.
No one talks—we don’t really need to—and I pass over the weapons I had ready for my brother, leaving them to help him dress and arm him.
They won’t leave until they both feel he’s adequately protected.
It’s an Alpha thing, and considering I’ve just smashed their heat and told them our Omega is missing, they’re going to be obnoxiously protective and obsessively challenging everything that happens from here on out.
Leaving them fussing over my brother, I line up travel flasks full of coffee for Ronin and Keegan and an oversized one of hot chocolate for Raff.
Not the normal tin stuff. No, Rafferty’s post-heat treat is luxurious and silken melted chocolate imported from Belgium.
I hope we get the chance to spoil Tally like this.
It’s a balance, giving my brother everything he deserves while dealing with a deep rage that’s rendering it harder to stay polite and amicable the more time passes.
Rafferty is careful not to be dismissive of the way his Alphas are doting, but nonetheless, he hurries them on. No doubt, his anxiety is made worse because of our twin bond, where he’s also dealing with my impatience.
He turns so Keegan can tighten the custom holster Keegan had made for my brother but is dancing on his feet, dragging us closer to the door too.
“Do we look at Paddy for this? O’Leary’s talk on loyalty seems more targeted than ever now.” Keegan’s voice is deeper than usual, full of the similar emotions we’re all dealing with.
“As far as I’m concerned, we assume everyone is guilty unless proven innocent.
I’m not fart-arsing around today, playing handsy because of alliances I had no say in.
Any person we question will be given two chances.
They choose to lie to me, then the second time they open their mouths will be to beg for mercy. ”
Unsurprisingly, none of us has an issue with Ronin’s stance. And while I’m mostly sure Paddy, and Jeanie, aren’t involved, I’m not going to vindicate them of their involvement until the doubt I’m currently feeling is gone.
Locking the apartment down, we step into the lift, and as it starts to descend, I hear them all release a long, hard sigh.
Keegan’s phone rings, and Rafferty keeps a calming hand on his Alpha as Keegan’s stress leaks through his scent, making all the warmth in it disappear completely. Even the temperature in the lift drops.
“Black, tell your mutts to keep their voices down. I can hear them from here, already arguing you don’t owe us nothing.
You do. You’ve been rats for us forever and a day.
And since you’ve been accepting our money, it’s a sign you are owned.
Wouldn’t ya agree?” Keegan’s accent is thicker than usual, his Irish getting hard to understand even for me.
He takes a large breath, letting it blow slowly out through his clenched jaw.
“I don’t give a fuck if you’re talking to the Taoiseach or God himself, you’ll come when I tell ya. If you make me wait, we’re at war.”
Keegan hangs up and slips his phone into his tactical pants pocket as the door opens, cracking his neck before speaking.
“Black will be meeting us for a debrief once he’s finished pretending he knows how to run an investigation.
There was an anonymous tip to police headquarters on Arthur’s killing. ”
Ronin’s lip twists into a menacing smile, and he claps his hand over Keegan’s shoulder but looks back to include us too. “Let’s go find Tally girl.”
Rafferty takes the driver's seat, Keegan climbing into the passenger seat. I sit behind Keegan and Ronin behind Raff, and as my brother does a quick check we’re all belted in, the rest of us get on with our own tasks.
I pair my phone with the computer in the car, and the small blue dot is visible to everyone.
It blinks on the screen with each pulse her transmitter gives out.
I’m sure she won’t be thrilled with discovering how we’re able to find her so fast, but there’s not one person in our pack that has any regrets about getting the doctor who came to fix her after she was stabbed to insert it, either.
Keegan’s iPad is clipped next to the car’s computer screen.
From his device is a street view of where we’re going.
A rental truck blocks a lot of the view of the row houses.
The truck itself isn’t cause for alarm; this side of the city has a huge transient population because of the council estate terraces.
They’re cheap and in need of repair. Unless you had a reason or a terrible drug habit, you wouldn’t choose to venture here, which has us all worried, because why the fuck is Tally here?
A text hits my phone, and the news of Tally's guards being found shot in the back of their heads isn’t a surprise, given their loyalty to us.
It’s fucking gut-wrenching and infuriating, though, only adding to the growing storm were all traversing.
“Our boys watching Tally have been found. I’ll call through with our condolences to their loved ones. ”