Addict (Hunter #2)(62)

“Not any longer.”

The truck stopped, and I was outside in one of those blindingly fast vampire moves. My good arm was wrapped around Marcus’s shoulder. From the wall of elevators that led to the compound, I saw a group waiting. Henri and Hugo began jogging toward us.

Marcus turned back to Sloane. “If you ask me to choose the world or my lover, I will always choose her. When you live as long as I have, you come to see the world means very little.” I felt terribly numb as he carried me toward the entrance. “Henri, you will prep the operating room. Our Hunter is going to lose her arm.”

“What!” Hugo’s voice rang through the garage.

Henri turned and began to run back up to the hospital unit.

Casey stood with Liv still unconscious in his arms. He cradled her carefully against his chest as though she was infinitely fragile. He looked super young and slightly scared standing there. Marcus’s next words didn’t give him any comfort.

“Mr. Lane, you will take care of Miss Carey, and then you’ll come to the hospital. I require a word with you.”

“Yes, sir,” Casey managed. He was obviously not looking forward to the next hour or so. Then again, neither was I. I was about to get acquainted with the word amputation.

“Kelsey.” Sloane’s shout echoed through the garage. I glanced back over to where he stood alone now. His face was a mask of grief. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

Marcus kept walking.





Chapter Thirteen



“How is this possible?” Henri examined my arm with a frown on his face. “This should have taken much more time. She was fine when I saw her earlier today. This damage should have taken many hours of raw exposure to the elements.”

“It was Abbas Hiberna.” Marcus’s entire countenance was grim as he sat next to the gurney I’d been lain on.

Henri had spent the better part of an hour examining me. He’d taken x-rays and shoved me into his MRI. He’d spent what felt like an eternity studying those reports when I was sure they’d all told him the same thing. I knew what he was really trying to do. He was putting off the time when he had to call for the bone saw and relieve me of my arm.

Hugo cursed under his breath. “What’s that bugger doing here? Doesn’t he have a realm on the Hell plane to rule?”

“He’s expanding,” I said bitterly. The waiting was starting to get to me. The outcome was inevitable. There was a part of me that wanted to get it all over with. “Henri, is there any point in drawing this out? Cut the damn thing off.”

I’d figure out what would happen later. I could guess. The king wouldn’t consider me an effective Nex Apparatus without my dominant arm. Marcus could talk about taking me back to Italy, but I doubted that would last. I gave him a month tops before he started wondering what he was doing with someone like me. I had no illusions about my relationship with Marcus. He was attracted to me because I was a Hunter. I was a dangerous, unpredictable creature and that got Marcus off. Without that, I had to wonder what we would find to do together. There was a big old piece of me that already accepted that I would be alone again.

I would have to learn how to do shots with my left hand.

Henri’s face fell. “No, there’s no reason to wait if you’re ready, dear.”

“I’m not going to get any readier.”

The doors to the small operating room burst open and Gray strode in. I noticed the king wasn’t far behind him.

“Kelsey, don’t let him touch you,” Gray commanded.

Marcus was on his feet immediately. “What are you doing in here?”

“I couldn’t keep him out, Marcus.” Donovan stared down at my arm and took a deep breath. His eyes came back up. “He called and demanded a meeting.”

“Well, Your Highness, there’s a word you can use,” Marcus spat with more sarcasm than I thought him capable of. “It is no.”

“I don’t think he was going to accept a no.” Donovan’s eyes tightened as he examined my injured arm. “Right now, there are five Texas Rangers waiting outside the building for a search warrant that the lieutenant swears he can get to raid Ether in search of illegal firearms. I would tell him to go to hell, but we all know why I don’t do that.”

He didn’t do that because Gray would find a whole bunch of illegal firearms if he raided Ether. I was sure Quinn was hauling some serious ass to hide the P-90s. The Rangers were the only law enforcement the king couldn’t persuade to leave. They would be ready. Sloane’s commanding officer might not like what he did or how he had to do it, but he wouldn’t let his men go anywhere unprepared. They would be armed with anti-persuasion charms and talismans. Donovan might be the king of the supernatural world, but he was a Texan, and we were raised to respect those badass cops.

Gray wasn’t listening to the king argue with his oldest ally. His eyes were on me. “Kelsey, sweetheart, you don’t have to lose your arm. I talked to the king. We worked out a deal. I’m calling my father in…”

Chaos broke loose. Marcus got in Gray’s way, trying to shove the big half demon away from me. Gray’s fangs came out, and he pushed back at the smaller vampire.

“Stop!” Donovan placed himself between the vampire and the demon. “Both of you get to your f*cking corners.”