Addict (Hunter #2)(103)

Yeah, he’d seen something, too.

Trent’s eyes went from Gray back to me as though he felt the weird tension between us and wasn’t sure what was going on, but then he hadn’t been treated to the “all possibilities in the world” sex show this evening. “They’re up in the penthouse.”

“Have you seen Winter?” Thank god Jamie was focused on the mission and not his potential sex life. “We need to know exactly where he is.”

Trent shook his head. “No idea, man. I thought he was with you guys. You had a meeting tonight. Kelsey, maybe you need to fill me in.”

“Yeah, I bet you’d like that,” Gray said under his breath.

Trent ignored him. “Let’s go and grab a beer and talk.”

Beer bad. Beer was the vehicle for Winter’s coup d’état. “No. Absolutely not. We have to shut down the bar right f*cking now. As a matter of fact, shut down the whole club. Everyone needs to go home. Now.”

If I could get them out of the building, we might have a chance.

I expected a fight. I expected Trent to look at me like I was f*ck-all insane and start to laugh. Instead, he picked up a walkie-talkie. “Security, I need a full shutdown and evacuation procedures. Right now. I’ll inform Dev.”

“Just like that?” I hadn’t had to talk him into it. No explanations at all and he was shutting down the club.

Trent gave me a half smile. “Just like that. You’re the Nex Apparatus, Kelsey. Now that you’ve passed all the tests, you tell me to shut down the club and I shut it down. I take my orders from you and the royal family.”

No one had explained that to me. I could give orders? Maybe this gig wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. “Winter is somewhere in the building and he’s got a mega shit ton of rabid weres and shifters ready to take out anyone in their way.”

“Are they targeting the king?” Trent asked. His shoulders had straightened back, his whole body going into a military stance.

“I suspect the whole royal family.” I couldn’t forget that Winter had said he would take out Evangeline. He would kill them all if it brought him closer to his goal.

Trent got back on the phone, calling up to the penthouse and getting it locked down.

The bouncers were already hard at work, trying to get the line of people waiting to get into Ether moved back.

“Come on,” Trent said as he started for the club entrance. “We have to find Dev and get him to safety. Everyone else is in the penthouse. They should be relatively safe, but Dev is in the open.”

I jogged to keep up with him. We did have a couple of issues to deal with. “Please tell me you haven’t had a beer tonight.”

“Sure,” he replied as we came to the doors. “Dev brought in a new craft beer. Naturally it required tasting. You know that’s what we wolves are for.”

He grinned at me as he opened the door and I heard a long scream.

“Kelsey, get back here,” Gray said.

Trent stepped inside and then his hand was reaching for his gun. I ignored Gray because I couldn’t spend the evening cowering behind him. I’d let him take care of all those creepy snow creatures, but this was one hundred percent my job.

“What the hell is going on, Owens?” Trent surveyed the dance floor with a critical eye. “I gave specific instructions for the club to be shut down. Why aren’t they moving? They should have turned on the lights.”

“Who did you give the instructions to? One of your drinking buddies?” Fear flashed through me on several levels. Trent was a powerful alpha wolf. If he went crazy, he would take out a bunch of us with him.

He’d taken the drug. The last couple of people who’d taken the drug had died, their brains destroyed. Despite our issues, I really didn’t want that to happen to Trent.

Out on the dance floor, people were still moving around, though I could see a portion starting to move back. A man was on his knees in the middle of the dance floor. I watched as he changed, becoming a sleek mountain lion. The cat roared and immediately attacked a woman to his right.

“Shit.” Trent took aim and fired.

The cat’s head exploded and that got people moving.

“What the hell is going on?” Trent didn’t look my way. He kept his gun up, looking for more threats.

“Winter put the drug in the beer. You’ve all been exposed to it,” I explained.

“You need to get every wolf and shifter who drank that beer somewhere safe. When Winter begins to use his influence, none of you will be able to resist.” Gray held his hand out. “I’m going to need a weapon. This is going to get nasty and fast. I’m the only one who can take out Winter.”

“I feel fine,” Trent insisted, but handed Gray his backup. “And my men are fine. Look, they’re taking care of the problem on the dance floor.”

Sure enough, three of the bouncers were moving in, helping the woman who’d almost been bitten get to her feet. She was nodding, looking infinitely grateful to the man who’d helped her up.

That was when he shot her in the head.

“What the f*ck?” Trent shouted.

Jamie put a hand on the big wolf’s arm. “It’s going to get worse.”

Trent didn’t hesitate. He lifted his gun and shot the wolf between the eyes. He was a hell of a shot.