Love's Baggage (11 page)

With a vicious howl, Kinsey leapt across the dirt, and instead of going to meet him, Allen swerved to the side. Kinsey slid past him, and Allen turned to follow. He swiped his paw along Kinsey's left side, leaving claw marks and a shower of blood. The first wound went to Allen, and in that moment, he accepted the fact he would win, becoming alpha of a pack he didn't even want.

Kinsey's age and the fact he'd let himself get soft because of his power showed in his slowness to react to any of Allen's attacks. Sure, the alpha got in some shots, and Allen had at least one broken rib and some bite marks along his sides, but nothing compared to the deep wounds Allen left on Kinsey.

As Kinsey's blood slowly flowed from his body, the older lycan grew clumsy. When he tripped over a small dip in the ground, Allen went in for the kill. He bulled Kinsey over, forcing the injured wolf on its side. He leaned down and sank his teeth into Kinsey's throat.

A howl was all the warning Allen got before he was bowled over by another wolf. Pain shot through his entire body as he slammed into the hard dirt. His lungs burned as he struggled to fill them with air. He wiggled and shifted, somehow managing to avoid any serious damage.

"Enough."

Bright lights flashed and the wolf pinning Allen down disappeared. When Allen could see again, he climbed to his feet and shook off the pain. He lifted his head and spied the second wolf splayed out with Raze standing over it, his eyes blazing with fury. Allen whined low in his throat, and the angel glanced at him.

"Take care of Kinsey. I'll deal with Stephan. Don't worry. I'll get the information we need, even if I have to strip his mind for it."

Allen shivered inside, finally realizing just how dangerous Raze was. The angel hid his true nature under his glib smiles and gorgeous looks. Raze was an angel not afraid to use force to get what he wanted and completely willing to accept the consequences of his actions.

Grunting, Allen moved past Raze and his father to where Kinsey struggled to get off the ground. Without thought or worry, Allen took the wolf down and calmly tore out his throat. He spit the gory flesh out and shifted until he stood over the dying man.

"No mercy. You started it by jumping me, and now I've finished it by killing you. The gods will decide your true punishment when you face them."

Allen watched as the light died in Kinsey's eyes and the wet, gurgling sound faded away. He turned when a scream ripped through the night. Raze dropped Allen's father's limp body to the ground. The angel's grin caused a shiver to run down Allen's spine.

"I know where the lair is," Raze said.

"Good. Go and save Bandit. Roman, Gianni and I will take care of the pack and bodies. It's all a formality anyway." Allen staggered, and Roman encircled his waist, helping him to stand.

Raze came over and hugged Allen. "We'll find him and bring him back for you. I promise."

Allen rested his head on Raze's shoulder for a moment, breathing in the frankincense and sulfur scent surrounding the angel. "I know you will. That's why I'm not going with you."

"Aside from the fact you're injured and would just slow us down."

"True." He brushed a kiss over Raze's cheek. "We'll see you back at Max's when you're done."

Raze stepped back and, in a blink of an eye, he was gone. Allen took another deep breath before he eased away from Roman. He turned to his brother and flashed a tired grin.

"Let's gather everyone and get the ball rolling on moving the pack to Canis territory."

Roman and Gianni both nodded. With his first order, Allen felt the mantel of alpha fit comfortably over his shoulders.

Snarling, Bandit fought against the hands holding him. How the hell were these humans able to keep him captive without using silver or wolfsbane? He struggled, but it didn't work.
Christ!
He was sore and sure he was bleeding in places.

They'd snatched him when he stopped to double check his directions to the Dow territory. The humans jumped him and somehow subdued him. Bandit didn't know where he was or what they wanted him for, but he knew it wasn't good. Worse, he didn't even know how long they'd had him. It could have been only an hour or two, or it could have been days. Somehow the non-preters had knocked him out, and he woke up only when they pulled up in front of the building.

"Stop fighting us, wolf. You're not going to get out alive. We have plans for you."

Bandit chuckled. "So you torture me and shit. Don't matter. I'm not going to be here for long."

"No one's coming to save you, dude. Just accept it."

Their little band of captive and kidnappers paused at a large door. One of the humans typed in a code and the door swung open. They dragged him, and he resisted all the way. The men shoved him into the brick walls and did all they could to hurt him. Something told him he was in the hands of Grime and his henchmen.

His abuse was as effective as a blindfold because since he was so intent on not falling down or hitting his face into the wall, he had no idea how they got so far into the warren of hallways and corridors. He was lost and had no clue how to find his way out if he tried.

One hard push in the back, and Bandit went to his knees. With his hands tied behind his back, he fell hard and winced as his knees cracked against the floor. One of the men kicked him in the ass, causing him to fall face first into the wall. The others gathered around, driving steel-toed boots into his ribs and back. He bit his lip to keep from crying out. Anger rolled inside him and instead of whining, he started to growl.

"Stop it," a new voice shouted. "You're going to make him change, and we don't want that."

The non-preters roughly grabbed his arms and forced him to his feet. He couldn't stand up straight and his head rang.

"Toss him in with the wolf we have in cell five."

"Yes, sir."

Bandit couldn't get his vision to clear before they threw him into a cell. The clang of the door slamming shut jarred him enough to bring him out of his fog. He flexed his muscles, and for the first time, he could feel the rope give. He worked his wrists until blood flowed from the tortured flesh the rope cut into.

As he fought to get free, he glanced around the darkened room. There was a faint light coming from somewhere, but it was enough with Bandit's wolf eyes for him to see the figure curled in the corner across from him. Bandit grunted as he shredded the rope with one last hard jerk. He gagged as a foul scent filled his nostrils. Whatever else was in the room with him was probably dying.

The figure in the corner twitched and lifted its head. Bandit gasped as the low light hit the man's face and he recognized the lycan.

"Jess." Bandit stared at Jess. "Holy shit! I'd lost hope of ever seeing you again."

Jess didn't say anything. Bandit moved closer, and Jess flinched away. Frowning, Bandit crouched next to the lycan and reached out.

"Don't touch me!"

Jess's voice sounded ravaged and harsh. It didn't have anywhere near the strong, confident tone that he had before Grime grabbed him.

"I want to help you, Jess."

"They chained me with silver. I couldn't do anything to help him. I haven't seen him in three days." Jess jerked his head up and his crazed, bloodshot eyes met Bandit's. "Do you know where he is?"

"Where who is?" Bandit eased closer.

"Pavel. They did something to him when they grabbed us. He never woke up, then they came and took him." Tears welled in Jess's eyes. "I tried to stop them, but I couldn't."

Jess held out his wrists, and Bandit swallowed back the bile threatening to escape.

The younger lycan's wrists were weeping sores; blood-caked and dirty. The wounds explained the scent of rotting flesh Bandit had smelled when he was shoved into the cell. Even after shifting and healing, Jess would bear those scars for the rest of his life. Of course, from the defeated look of the lycan, Jess had more than physical scars to deal with.

"Let me help you."

He grabbed the chain holding Jess to the wall. Hissing at the slight burn of his flesh, Bandit yanked as hard as he could. The chain gave a little, but didn't break. Before he could try again, an enormous hand came over his shoulder and gripped the links above his hand.

"I'll do this. Silver has no effect on me."

Bandit jumped, but stepped aside to allow Ba'el to do the job. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Did you really think we wouldn't come looking for you?" Ba'el winked at him and went back to studying the chains.

"Where's Raze?" Bandit asked as he knelt beside Jess.

"He's dealing with some bad guys down the hall." Ba'el grunted and the chain shattered like glass instead of silver. "Rhonda and Malik are freeing the others."

"Pavel? Is one of them Pavel?"

It was clear only Pavel mattered to Jess, since the lycan didn't react to the sight of the demon dispatching the chains, collar, and cuffs with quick twists of his hands.

"Don't know. Wasn't my job to check. I had to find Bandit here and make sure he got out okay, or Allen would skin me alive. Don't know who Pavel is anyway." Ba'el's smile was gentle and less frightening than usual. "If he's here, Malik and Rhonda will get him out."

Ba'el broke Jess free, and Bandit caught him when he fell. Jess was so weak and debilitated, he couldn't move on his own. Bandit swept Jess up in his arms before nodding at Ba'el.

"You lead the way. Have to admit I don't mind being rescued by a demon. You're practically indestructible."

The demon chuckled. "Glad I could be of service."

Bandit winced as he followed the demon into the hallway. His own injuries bothered him, but he could overlook them in light of Jess's suffering. Also, he'd crawl over broken glass drenched in lemon juice to get back to Allen. He wanted to tell Allen how much he loved him and make love to the slender lycan all night long.

Shouting came from down the corridor, and Ba'el stopped, making sure Bandit stayed behind him. A high-pitched screech ended in a wet gurgle. Someone ran closer to them, causing both Ba'el and Bandit to tense.

Raze dashed around the corner and skidded to a halt a few feet away from them. The angel held two swords that gleamed wetly in the low lights. His grin flashed white in his blood-covered face.

"Fancy meeting you all here," Raze quipped.

Bandit shifted Jess's weight in his arms, and Raze looked at him over the demon's shoulder.

"Hey, man, good to see you." His wild eyes widened at the sight of Jess's battered body. "Shit!"

"Yeah, kind of how I reacted when I saw him," Bandit commented.

Raze nodded. "We've got to get out of here. The place is rigged to blow. We'll detonate as soon as we're all clear. Rhonda and Malik have the others out in the vans."

Snarling, Ba'el reached out and yanked Raze to him. They shared a hard, urgent kiss, and Bandit's cock hardened at the sight, though after a minute, he cleared his throat.

"Sorry, guys, but now really isn't the time for this," he pointed out as they broke apart.

Raze wiggled his eyebrows and chuckled. "You're right. Let's go. Hey, do you know the guy you're carrying?"

Ba'el led the way in the direction Raze had come from. Bandit followed, doing his best not to hit Jess against the wall. Raze brought up the rear, making sure no one came up behind them.

"Yeah. This is my friend, Jess. Remember I mentioned a vampire and lycan were taken a couple weeks ago. We knew Grime had them, but we'd lost track of where they were." Bandit sighed. "The bad news is Jess said the humans took Pavel a couple days ago. He doesn't know where they took him."

"Maybe he's with the others."

Bandit snorted at Raze's optimism. Guess you could take the angel out of heaven, but couldn't take the golden outlook out of the angel. Of course, Raze seemed more the avenging angel type, considering how well he used the twin blades he carried. They paused at an intersection of corridors.

"Where's the exit?" Bandit asked softly, resting against the wall. He wanted to put Jess down for a moment, but wasn't sure if he should.

Raze and Ba'el looked at each other for a few second before nodding. Ba'el headed to the right.

"Stay here. Rest, because we don't know how fast we might end up having to move to get out of here. We'll check and see which way is the exit. Be right back."

Bandit set Jess on the floor and slid down the wall to join the injured man.

"Heads up."

He put his hand up in time to catch the handgun Raze tossed him.

"Safety's on the right side. It's got a full clip. You shouldn't have any trouble with bad guys. I pretty much cleared this entire area, but we don't know if they got the call out for re-enforcements or not."

"Thanks." Bandit chambered a round as Raze disappeared down the left hand corridor.

After the angel's footsteps faded into quietness, Bandit found the silence oppressive. He listened to Jess's labored breathing and thought about how happy Nick was going to be when they brought Jess home.

"There's someone who is going to be over the moon when you show up with us," Bandit commented. "If Serpens and Gryphon hadn't hounded him so much, I'm pretty sure Nick would have worried himself to death by now. Once he stopped being able to talk to you, he freaked out, sure you were dead. Gryphon had to talk him off the ledge a couple times, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Nick's always been a little high-strung when it comes to his friends. Probably because he doesn't have a lot of them." Jess didn't open his eyes. "Do you really think Pavel's alive?"

Bandit sighed and looked off into the shadows. "I'm not sure what you want me to tell you, Jess."

"Just be honest. I need someone to tell me the truth. I've only been held captive for a week and already I'm questioning everything I've been taught."

"I'm a glass half-empty type of guy, and my gut says no, Pavel isn't alive. Grime isn't known for being merciful. There's a reason he's been taking preternaturals, besides killing them in gruesome ways. We're going to have to figure out what he wants."