Tyrant (Scars of the Wraiths #2)(45)

Crouching in front of me, he grabbed my ankle, lifted my foot, and ripped off my high heel, whipping it onto the roof of the building. Then he snagged my wrist and we ran down the dark alley.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Into f*ckin’ hell,” Damien replied.





“I’m here. What’s up?” I asked Jedrik as I strolled into the club. They knew me pretty well and the bouncers allowed me to bypass the line, even graciously held the door open for me.

“Damien just hightailed out the back with that witch, Abby.”

“What!” I shouted. Shit. Liam had a thing for the witch. What the hell was going on?

“Couldn’t tell you the plan, just in case you dropped your mind shields during your thralls of passion with the bloodsucker.”

“Oh, screw off, Arrow. And I stopped sleeping with him, you know that.”

“Liam doesn’t know Abby’s gone, but he will soon, and I need you to distract him to give them a chance to get away. Up for it, Sass?”

“Arrow, you stupid idiot. What the hell are you doing?” I picked up my pace, heading directly to Liam’s permanently reserved table.

Had Jedrik lost his freakin’ head? Screwing with Liam was like calling an all-out war between the two kinds. Waleron was going to blow his top and then some.

“She drank his blood, Sass. And she’s pregnant. It’s Damien’s.”

Fuck.

I bumped into what had to be a Long Neck with the reek of garbage emanating from his skin. I pushed him aside, ignoring his hiss and the quick sweep of his long, filthy fingernails across my arm. Club rules, neutral territory, but when he stepped outside, I’d deal with him.

“Piss off,” I shot over my shoulder and kept walking toward Liam. He was shaking hands with some woman who had her back to me, and then the woman slipped into the crowd. I attempted to track the stranger’s scent, but with so many people in the club, it was impossible to tell who or what Liam had been meeting with.

I could tell he was anxious, wondering where his little witch had disappeared to by the way his eyes scanned the club and his unusually tense stance.

“Damn it, Arrow. What am I supposed to do?”

“Damien needs ten minutes to get her out of town. Keep him busy.”

“Christ, he will know this is our doing.”

Liam’s eyes found me and he gave a nod in acknowledgement. Oh, that was so not good. A smile would be better. I slowed my pace and put a subtle swing in my hips. He appreciated a sexy woman, and since I didn’t have time to change into something sexier, I’d have to take it up a notch.

“At the bar. Far right,” Jedrik said.

I shifted my gaze and saw Jedrik with his back to me, leaning casually against the bar, beer in hand as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He was actually flirting with the petite blonde beside him.

“Blood,” I said, smiling while reaching out both hands. He amiably took them and kissed the back of each.

He didn’t return my smile, nor did he look at me as his eyes continued to scan the club. Oh shit, this was going to be more difficult than I thought.

No use fighting it. “You look agitated. Something wrong, Blood?” “He’s going to send his vampires hunting. Can’t delay him.”

“I never suspected you’d take her from my own club.” Oh great, he knew. Goddamn Jedrik. “However, she was rather thirsty tonight. Guess you had no choice. It was probably for the best. I assume you will attempt detox?” Before I had a chance to deny anything, Liam’s cell rang and he slid his finger across the screen then put it to his ear.

“He knows. Why the hell did you risk taking her right from his damn club?” I asked.

“It wasn’t the plan. Liam expected her here tonight. If she didn’t show up, he’d know something was going down. We were planning to take her after she left the club, but she tried to bite some guy’s neck and my plan went to shit.”

Liam didn’t say a word to the caller, merely listened, but his jaw tightened and his hand curled into a fist. Pissed. But when I looked at his face there was no anger. Strange. His body was ready to erupt into a furious volcano and yet his expression was calm and controlled. Even as I breathed in his scent, I couldn’t sense anger. Did he not care we’d taken Abby?

He lowered his cell and placed it in his pocket as he raised his brows at me, as if waiting for me to respond to his previous question.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Pathetic, but I had no recourse.

“Of course you do.” He leaned forward, his eyes drilling into me. Then his arm snaked around my waist and jerked me close.

As his mouth drew closer, I anticipated his kiss. Instead, he tilted his head at the last second before our lips touched and whispered in my ear. “Abigail was pregnant. Did you know that?” His arm tightened around me and I had trouble breathing. “No matter. The Transition would’ve killed her in such a state, and we certainly couldn’t have that. I need her alive and you will make sure that happens.” He lowered his voice even further, scarcely audible. “You were once pregnant yourself, weren’t you Delara?”

I couldn’t control my gasp. My stomach twisted at the mere mention of my secret. How the hell did he know that? No one knew I’d been pregnant. No one. Not even Jedrik.