Chapter 30
CHAPTER
THIRTY
AIDEN
“Where the fuck is my fiancée!” I slam my fist into Ashton’s metal desk so hard that I think I may have cracked a few bones.
Ashton turns to me, fury in his eyes. “I don’t fucking know, but if you scream at me again, I am going to inject you with a fucking paralytic to get you to calm down.” He turns back to the screen where we are analyzing video footage from outside the venue just before Ari was taken.
Shade has pulled up the earliest clips of the car to see if we could determine who took her, but the man obviously knew where the camera angles were because he avoided giving us a clear view.
From the video call on the screen in front of us, Shade clears their throat.
“The license plate is a fake, clearly swapped out at some point to remain untraceable. I have video footage following the car to see where it stops, but I have to check multiple angles each time the car turns, so if you give me a few minutes, I can locate something.”
The idea that Ari is out of my grasp and could be hurt or even killed makes my blood boil. Anger bubbles up inside to the point that I am barely in control. My reaper seething beneath my skin.
If anything happens to her… my venom… the reign of terror that I unleash will be similar to the gates of Hell opening to release its demons.
And I will start at the door of the Cartwrights.
I know they had something to do with this. No other family would have big enough balls to take on The Order.
“Fucking find her. Now.” I order as I stand and pace Ashton’s office floor.
Ashton turns back to the screen while Shade continues to send over the footage they are combing through. Each second these people have her while we don’t have answers feels like more weight is added to my chest. I am literally struggling to breathe without her.
The feeling almost mirrors the night Brodie died, the moment he stopped breathing and left us with his Araneae legacy.
My girl has now been taken from me too. Is somewhere out there, having god knows what done to her, and I am not there to protect her. I slam my fist against the wall.
The woman who was never supposed to be mine, who stuck her claws in me, and seduced me with a bloodlust that matched mine.
Slam. Slam. Slam.
The hole in the wall matches the current space inside of me where she is missing.
Fuck all of this.
Ashton glares at me over his shoulder. “Maybe if you didn’t let yourself be taken and shoved into a closet, Ari wouldn’t be in this mess.”
I walk over to the table in the corner where Z is tied, snatching a knife from the wall and stabbing his hand. Z screams in pain beneath the gag as blood leaks from the wound and tears begin to fall down his face. Maybe Ashton will take this more seriously if I hurt his pet.
Ashton’s arm comes around my throat and squeezes with such force that I’m choking for air. “Maim my pet again, and I will kill you myself.” The threat low and deadly in my ear.
Lifting my right foot, I kick his knee, and as his grip loosens around my neck, I grab his forearm and turn him, pinning him to the wall. “Find her, or you will watch him die.”
My phone vibrates, and I use my free hand to swipe it open.
Anthony:
Warehouse over on Bleeker. The one furthest back. Guards posted outside.
Aiden:
I’ll bring back up.
Releasing Ashton, I turn to Gage, who has finished cleaning his head wound. “Let’s go. Warehouse on Bleeker.” I bark, leaving Ashton and his pet behind.
My phone goes off again as I near the car.
Anthony:
You won’t need it.
What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I call his phone as I step into the car, and he answers on the second ring. “What, Aiden?” he growls, like I am the one causing a problem.
“What do you mean we don’t need backup? Do you have eyes on the building?”
Gage hasn’t said a word since he told me she was taken. He white-knuckles the steering wheel and glances over at me when he hears me question Anthony. He’s lucky he still has his hands, given the way I’m feeling.
He speeds through the empty streets and blows most of the red lights as we head west. I put Anthony on speaker so Gage can listen in.
Anthony huffs like this conversation is tedious. “I just left the building, and there are only a few guards you will have to take care of on the outside. Otherwise, it’s empty.”
“What the hell do you mean you just left?” I say, the venom spewing out of me with each word.
“She’s sitting in the center of the main warehouse, tied to a chair.”
“And you just left her there?!”
“Aiden, this conversation is becoming boring. Your fiancée is alive and well. Goodnight.” Anthony hangs up the phone as I throw mine at the dashboard.
“I am going to kill that man,” I say under my breath, but Gage hears it.
He nods his head, eyes on the road. “Let me know when. I would love a chance to slit his throat.” Gage licks his lips when he says this, and I almost like the guy a little more. As long as he keeps those lips far the fuck away from Ari.
Gage pulls up to the door, and I have my gun out, firing before he parks. We easily take out the three guards surrounding the building, and I don’t bother checking them before slamming the warehouse door open.
Ari jumps in her chair and turns to look at me, the relief on her face piercing my black heart. I walk over to the chair, Gage not far behind.
I take her face in my hands and inspect her as Gage unties her. “Are you okay, little venom?” No obvious blood that I can see or open wounds.
She sends me a tired smile. “I am now.”
“Fuck, what happened?” I growl, trying to control my temper.
Ari shakes her head. “Can we talk about it later? I want to go home…”
Lifting her in my arms, she rests her head on my shoulder. “I got you. And I promise you, I will destroy the person who did this.” I may have to fuse her to my body after this because there is no way I will ever allow myself to feel what life is like without her again.
Ari whimpers against me and buries herself deeper in my tight hold.
She’s my goddamn bloody menace. The sweetest venom I’ve ever tasted, and no one is going to take her from me again.