Primal Possession (31 page)

The cabin was apparently where most of the males lived, including Liam when he wasn’t with her. It was a complete bachelor’s pad. The expansive first floor was basically one room with the living room and kitchen connected.

Stacked dirty plates and cups looked as if they’d been sitting in the sink for a week, and it was beyond disgusting. They hadn’t even soaked some of the plates. So, she’d decided to do their dishes. Anything to keep her hands busy. To make her feel like she was helping in some way. Not that it did much to distract her mentally.

Aiden, the shifter who’d accompanied her and Erin to and from her store earlier, lounged on the couch in the living room with his eyes shut. A couple other pack members were out patrolling and she’d seen a few females around the ranch, but it was really cold outside and it seemed almost everyone was staying indoors.

Erin sat on the love seat across from Aiden, reading a book. December wasn’t entirely sure, but she had a feeling both of them had been ordered to watch her all day no matter what happened or where she went.

“You don’t have to do that, you know. These guys are pigs and should learn to clean up after themselves,” Erin said without looking up.

December half smiled. “I know. I just hate not being able to do anything. Shouldn’t we be out looking for Kat?”

Erin glanced up from her book. “If anyone will find her, it’s Connor, Liam, and Jayce.”

That might be so, but it didn’t lessen December’s fear any. She’d even tried calling the hospital as a way to distract herself, but after being told five times that Parker wasn’t taking her calls, she felt even worse.

“Oh, shit,” Ryan said almost absently.

The first words he’d spoken in the last half hour. December shut off the sink and wiped her hands on a dishrag as Erin and Aiden stood up.

“What is it?” Erin asked.

“It might be nothing, but I’ve been pulling up various satellite images of Fontana and cross-referencing them with the remote addresses we’ve got so far….” He trailed off as he continued clacking away on the keyboard.

“And?” Erin persisted when he didn’t continue.

He pulled up a couple maps and pointed at what looked like the top of a building in the middle of the woods. “This is on the property Connor and the others are headed to, but it’s not listed as a safe house anywhere. Or if it is, I haven’t cracked that part yet. And see this?” He traced his finger along the screen, highlighting what looked like a faint trail. “This could be an access road. The trees cover most of it, but it looks like it connects
to the highway miles out of the way from where they’re looking.”

December’s heart rate increased. What if this was where Kat was? “Can you call Liam and tell him about this?”

Ryan glanced at her before shaking his head. “They’ve gone dark. None of them have their cells activated.”

She wasn’t exactly sure why, but she could guess. “What if they miss this area? What if it’s where Kat is? And what if they move her?”

“Wait, we can let Ana know and she can communicate with Connor.” Aiden spoke up for the first time.

“I thought you said their phones were turned off,” December said.

Erin glanced between the men, then looked at her. “Connor and Ana can communicate telepathically.”

“Oh, right.” Liam had told her about that. It was just hard to fathom. Before she could say anything else, Erin continued as she pulled out her cell phone.

“She’s not here and I don’t know if she has her cell on.” They were all silent as Erin called. Moments later she snapped her phone shut and shook her head. “Straight to voice mail.”

“Why isn’t she at the ranch?” Ryan asked what December was thinking.

Erin cut her another inscrutable look as she answered the question. “At the hospital trying to talk to Parker. And before you ask why, Liam asked her to go. He knows how important your brother is to you and thought maybe Ana could talk some sense into him.”

December’s throat clenched impossibly tight. Even with everything going on, Liam was still thinking about her happiness. It was tempting to focus on that, but she knew they had more important things to worry about.
She motioned to the screen, diverting everyone’s attention. “How old is this image?”

Ryan shrugged nervously. “Six months, give or take. They update these images once or twice a year.”

December looked at Erin and Aiden questioningly. They all stood there, as if they weren’t going to do a thing. Gritting her teeth, she turned on her heel and headed for the front door. She wasn’t a hostage and if she wanted to leave, she damn well would. It wasn’t as if these APL members had superstrength. If she could get her hands on a weapon, she could defend herself. No one would be sneaking up on her this time.

“What are you doing?” Erin demanded as she strode after her.

“What do you think? If you guys can’t get hold of Liam, then what else can we do? Do you plan to just sit here and do nothing? If this turns out to be where Kat’s being held and they move her in the meantime…” She didn’t finish because it was pointless. She didn’t care what they said.

She was going.

Erin touched her arm lightly as she grabbed her coat from the rack. “Hold on a sec,” she murmured, and looked at the other wolves. “Noah and Jacob are checking out other leads in town and we can’t ask the others to leave the ranch unprotected…but we can go.”

Aiden nodded and motioned to December. “Just leave her at the main house.”

December glared at the tall shifter who spoke as if she weren’t even in the room. “Kat is my best friend and unless you plan on tying me up and knocking me out, I’m going.” The three of them stared at her, but she held her ground. “My brother’s a cop. I don’t own a gun, but I know how to use one. Give me a weapon and I promise
to stay out of the way. Besides, if you don’t take me, I’m following anyway.”

Erin and Aiden both cursed, but the she-wolf nodded tightly. “You stay out of the way or I
will
knock you out.”

“Deal. Now can we leave?” Every second they spent here was a second wasted. Her heart pounded mercilessly, the blood rushing loudly in her ears. Kat might not have much time left and if this was where she was being held, they had to help her.

December wiped clammy palms on her jeans as they drove down the barely formed trail. Snow had fallen hard earlier, making the road thick and slushy, but Aiden didn’t seem to notice as he drove. She sat in the backseat with Erin and so far everyone had been quiet.

They’d missed the turnoff the first time, but Ryan figured it out by calculating the longitude and latitude. Or something like that. She didn’t really understand or care how he’d figured out where they were going. She just wanted to find her friend.

“We should be there soon,” Ryan murmured.

They’d been driving through the forest down the dirt trail for a while, though it probably seemed longer than it actually was.

A few moments later, Aiden slowed the truck and killed the engine in the middle of the trail. He glanced back at them. “We go on foot from here. I don’t like you being here,” he said to her, “so stick close and keep your weapon on hand at all times.”

She nodded, unable to get rid of the nervousness threading through her. “Okay.”

When she stepped out into the snow, she sank nearly a foot into the powdery softness.

Instantly Aiden knelt in front of her and turned so
that his back was facing her. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Liam will probably kill me for touching you, but I’m going to carry you. We can move faster that way.”

She didn’t care one way or another how they got there. Quickly, she slid onto his back and held on as they began the trek down the trail. He was a little taller than Liam and she was thankful for his added warmth. Even with her thick coat her face was already frozen. The farther they went, the thicker the trees got, but there was still a distinct—if smaller—trail that was probably used for snowmobiles.

After a few minutes all three shifters slowed in unison. December had no idea why but figured maybe they scented something or someone.

“We’re close,” Aiden said as if he read her mind. Stopping completely, he bent down and let her off his back.

Adrenaline pumped through her wildly. They were close to finding Kat. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. This was it. It
had
to be. Kat was likely scared out of her mind.

Suddenly, the trail thinned and opened to a small clearing. What they’d seen from the satellite images was a small, dilapidated barn. Not for animals exactly, but probably for storage, though whoever owned it hadn’t kept it up well.

Erin sniffed the air and glanced at them. “You smell that?”

“Dead bodies. Really old ones,” Aiden said.

December didn’t smell anything, but her throat clenched at their words. “Kat?”

Erin shook her head. “No, these bodies have been here weeks at least. The scent is really faint, which means they’re likely buried nearby. Not deep enough, though.”

December started to say something when the sound
of multiple engines silenced her. They all moved back toward the trees and watched.

Two men and an ethereal-looking blond woman drove up on sleek black snowmobiles. When they turned them off and headed for the barn, Aiden motioned to her. “Stay put. If anything happens to us, turn on your phone and call the cops,” he whispered.

Nodding, she crouched down behind one of the trees and withdrew her gun. In her other hand, she held on to her cell phone. She’d kept it off like they’d instructed, but at the first sign of trouble she was ready to take action.

Kat heard the distant sound of engines but kept her eyes closed. She’d feigned being passed out a while ago just to make the pain stop. Somehow she tried to think of what her captor had done to her in detached terms. The colder she got, the easier it was. And she
knew
she was dying.

Knew it bone deep. It wouldn’t be much longer. When blood had trickled out of her mouth and nose, it hadn’t been hard to guess she had internal bleeding. With no one here to help, it was only a matter of time.

Only a vague sense of triumph remained. After all his abuse the bastard hadn’t been able to get it up, so at least he hadn’t raped her. As she tried to take another ragged breath, she closed her mind off. She wasn’t here and she couldn’t give him any more power. When she died, she wasn’t going to be thinking of him. No, she’d be focused on something much more pleasant.

She was in Miami. On the beach. The warm Atlantic water lapped around her feet as she dug her toes into the white sand. Jayce was next to her, holding her hand, telling her all the things she’d ever wanted to hear from him but he’d never said.

The sound of the large exterior door rolling open jerked her out of her thoughts. More tormentors arriving? She almost dry heaved at the thought. Her heart clenched on a fresh wave of terror as she tried not to stir or alert them to her consciousness.

“Oh my God! What the hell have you done?” a female voice shrieked.

Kat decided to open her eyes. Everything was hazy, but she spotted two new men and a woman entering the building.

The petite blond woman glowed supernaturally. The humans wouldn’t be able to see it, but thanks to her seer abilities, Kat could. The female wasn’t human, but she couldn’t tell exactly what she was. Not a vampire and not a shifter, that was for sure. There was no underlying animal at the blonde’s surface. She was unique in a way Kat had never seen. The thought was clear in her head. But what was she? And why was she with these men? Her mind briefly struggled to put together what she was seeing, but just as quickly she gave up even worrying about it. Didn’t matter. Kat was dead anyway.

Deep down she didn’t want to die, but she didn’t want to live if this pain was all that was left for her. If they were going to keep torturing her pointlessly,
then
she’d rather be dead. She wanted to cry but it was too painful, especially since she could barely breathe. The tape was so restrictive it only added to her misery.

“I was trying to get information out of her,” Greg, her tormentor, said casually.

“Then why is her mouth taped shut?” a man with a scarred face asked. “If you’re going to torture someone, you have to do it right. Don’t fucking lie to me. She’s our ticket to bringing down the enforcer, but if she’s dead, she won’t be of any use to us.”

“You’re all monsters,” the blond woman breathed out, horror lacing every word.

The man with the scar turned and backhanded her. The sound of the blow ricocheted around the small space. “This is a war. If you can’t handle this, then leave.” As if she meant nothing to him, he turned from her and back toward the men.

“Listen, I didn’t sign up for this shit. I thought we were just holding her hostage. No one said anything about…
this
.”

“Shut up, Joseph. You’re such a fucking pussy,” Greg, her tormentor, said, his voice full of venom.

The three males continued to argue. The man with the scarred face was angry because Greg had beaten her so thoroughly. He made it clear he couldn’t use her as a bargaining chip if she was dead. Apparently enough time had passed and she’d been missing long enough that the scarred man—Kat guessed he was the boss—was ready to contact the enforcer and see what they could get in exchange for Kat’s safe return. But now they would have to wait until she healed a little—if she recovered at all. She must look pretty bad if they thought she might not recover. Her most animal side knew this was it. She wanted to scream out in anger—if her mouth weren’t taped and if she had the energy—at how short her life had been. There was so much she still wanted to do.

As she stared at the three men, Kat watched in horror and fascination as the blond woman smoothly pushed to her feet and started to glow incandescently. Instead of being fearful, the woman looked angry. Her entire body lit up and her blue eyes flashed darkly, almost evilly. Kat couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sight. By their expressions, it was obvious the males could see her glowing too. She wasn’t visible just to Kat’s seer senses.

“You arrogant bastard,” the woman breathed out, her voice eerily dark and unnatural. All her focus was on the scarred man. “For months I’ve put up with all of you, but
you
are the worst. Controlling your sick, twisted mind has drained my powers on a daily basis, but no more. Finding out who your boss is isn’t worth
this
.” Her voice deepened even more, sending a chill snaking through Kat’s entire body.