Chapter 66 Maddy #2
On the video feed, a familiar form emerged from the front door—the slender, supermodel body and gorgeous face of Viola.
Even though it was the middle of the night, she still wore massive designer sunglasses.
As she stepped into the destroyed living room, she took the glasses off and glanced around at the destruction.
My wolf growled in my head at the sight of her. I bared my own teeth in a silent snarl.
The man who must have chased me appeared on camera as he came down the stairs.
He shared a few whispered words with Viola.
I couldn’t make out what they were saying.
They were too quiet for the microphones to pick up.
Viola surprised me by rearing back and slapping the man, who stumbled sideways before catching himself.
“Idiot,” she spat at him.
Viola glanced around the room until she spotted the black bulb on the ceiling that contained the camera. She moved until she was directly below it and stared into the camera. I had the eerie feeling that she was staring directly into my eyes instead of a bundle of electronics.
“Hello, my dear Maddy. Can you speak through this pretty thing, or is this going to be a one-way conversation?”
I looked down and saw a button that read Speaker. I chewed at my lip for a moment before pushing the button and speaking. “Go away. I’m not coming out.”
Viola’s eyes widened in pleased surprise, and she clapped her hands softly like a child who’d gotten exactly what she wanted for Christmas.
“Fantastic. It appears even these shifter dogs know what they’re doing with technology.
Now, Maddy, why don’t you come on down, so we can talk about this like ladies?
” Viola turned to her men and swept a hand.
“Search the house. See if there are any others hiding.”
I pressed the button again. “I’m not coming out. Just go!”
Viola knelt over the two wolf bodies at her feet and looked up at the camera again.
“They aren’t dead, my dear. Only tranquilized.
Now…” She gave a little shrug. “If you do want them to die…” She snapped her fingers, and two of the men stepped forward and pulled out pistols.
They aimed the guns at the sleeping bodies.
My breath was hissing in and out of my nose. I was on the verge of hyperventilating. Every muscle in my body vibrated with fear. What did I do?
But I knew there was only one thing I could do.
“All I have to do is say the word,” Viola said.
“But if you want them to stay alive, you’ll come out.
” She shrugged. “My safe houses were breached. I would really love to know how you and all your little wolfy friends managed to accomplish that. Thankfully, I’ve been staying close, making sure I could keep an eye on you and the others.
Lucky for me. Unlucky for you, it seems. Come now, sweetie, let’s get this over with. ”
My finger hovered over the button to speak again, my hand trembling like a leaf.
I should say no. I should tell her to go fuck herself.
Except, that would sentence Nico’s parents to death.
There was no way I could do that. I’d never be able to live with myself.
Even if I could, Nico would always know his mother and father had been killed because I was a coward.
He’d say all the right things, tell me he understood, that it wasn’t my fault, but deep down, he’d always resent me.
Just like I’d resent myself. I couldn’t let anyone die for me.
Viola was getting impatient. She waved at the two men. They pulled the slides of their guns back, chambering a bullet. I slammed my finger into the button. “Stop!” I shouted. “Stop. I’ll come down. Please don’t hurt them. I promise I’ll come down.”
On the video feed, Viola’s bright red lips spread into a smile, revealing perfect pearly teeth. “What a good girl you are,” she purred.
I gritted my teeth and unlocked the door. My wolf growled and raged at me, but I shoved her aside in my mind. She didn’t want me to surrender, but there was nothing to be done. I couldn’t allow them to die for me, and that was final, no matter what my wolf had to say.
The door had barely swung open when black-clad arms and hands started reaching in, dragging me out into the bedroom. They shoved me to the floor and pinned my hands behind my back, wrapping zip ties around my wrists.
“Ow,” I hissed, kicking at them.
I struck one in the shin, and he barked out a curse before hitting me on the back of my head.
Stars shot through my vision. I hadn’t been hit that hard since the night I’d been attacked at the bar, and those men had nearly beaten me to death.
Rough hands seized me under the armpits and lifted me up.
The pressure of them carrying me forced my hands apart, causing the plastic of the ties to cut into my skin.
I hissed in pain while they carried me, my feet hovering an inch off the ground as they moved.
Viola stood at the bottom of the stairs.
The two men still held pistols at Julia and Carlos’s heads.
Fear jackhammered in my chest. These people were not the type to keep their promises.
Would she have them killed even though I’d agreed?
I tried to keep my eyes glued to her and not stray a glance toward Nico’s parents.
Maybe if I didn’t look at them, she’d forget about them.
Maybe she’d take her prize and go, leaving them safe.
Viola stepped toward me and ran a red, manicured nail gently down my cheek. “You are a beauty. Maybe, if you’re very lucky, I’ll leave enough blood in you so that you can come home and suck on that shifter cock some more. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Hmm?”
“Fuck you,” I snarled.
“Oh my,” Viola said, withdrawing her finger and smiling.
“Such vigor. So much power. I’ll be very intrigued to see how you feel once the full moon rises.
A super moon, no less. It should be very enlightening.
” Viola glanced around at her men. “Time to go. The dogs won’t stay asleep for long.
I can smell them all over this place. Really, darling, I don’t see how you can associate with mongrels.
There’s a reason my ancestors pulled Edemas and his family down from their little pedestal.
Shifters, and especially werewolves, aren’t meant to rule. They are meant to be ruled.”
As the men dragged me out of the house, I glanced back and gave a small sigh of relief that Julia and Carlos had been left alive. I could see their chests rising and falling as the men dragged me out of the front door.
“Your ancestors were just jealous,” I said. “They either weren’t shifters, or their blood was so diluted they couldn’t shift anymore, and they might as well have been human. That’s what it was all about. Nothing but jealousy.”
Without even looking at me, Viola swung her arm back and backhanded me. My head jerked to the side, and coppery, viscous blood pooled in my mouth. I spat it onto the ground just before they heaved me into the back of the van.
Before they got me there, I looked around to see if I could call for help.
The problem was all the houses near Nico’s were his family.
His parents were unconscious, and his brothers were scattered across the country.
The closest house where someone might be was over a hundred yards away.
A hundred yards of space plus insulated walls.
Shifters had enhanced hearing, yes, but not that advanced, and not when a shifter was deeply asleep.
I winced in defeat as a hand shoved my head roughly into the back of the car.
I was pushed to the middle, and two men climbed in, flanking me.
Sandwiched between two men, I had even less room to move.
My hands were tied and pinned behind me.
My wolf felt trapped, like an animal in a cage.
She was making it hard to think as she writhed and whined inside my mind.
I blinked and shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
I had to stay focused, to think. My claws were extending and retracting involuntarily.
I could hear the leather of the seat tearing as I tried to clench my fists.
Hearing the sound of tearing leather, Viola looked over her shoulder from the front seat.
“Victor? Show our guest what we have for her.” The man to my right pulled a hypodermic gun out and pressed it to my side.
Viola went on. “If you don’t keep your beast under control, I’ll have my associate here put you to sleep like the two inside, understood?
The tranquilizer works in seconds. Don’t think you’ll be able to manage any heroics before you go night-night. Okay, precious?”
I bit my tongue, holding back a retort. I closed my eyes as the car started pulling away from the house.
All our planning. Everything we’d thought would work.
It had all been for nothing. Nico and everyone else was too far away to help me.
The royals had me. I was being taken to an unknown location.
Tears slipped out of my closed eyelids. I was screwed.