Predatory (Immortal Guardians #3.5)(29)

Chapter Nine

This wasn’t the first time that Niko had stared death in the face.

Years before he’d fought off a group of morons who were in the process of lynching a young female psychic who’d been trying to make a living as a traveling gypsy.

Another time he was tracking a witch who was convinced she was destined to trigger doomsday and got caught in her lethal spell.

But he’d never teetered so close to the edge.

And certainly he’d never debated whether it would be preferable to battle through the pain so he could live. Or simply slip into the waiting darkness.

It was the image of dark, serious eyes and a lush, feminine mouth that had driven him to madness only hours before that gave him the grim determination to crawl back from the abyss. And, of course, the persistent sound of his name being shouted in his ear.

Scowling in annoyance, he forced open his heavy lids, not at all surprised to discover his fellow Sentinel crouched beside him with a worried expression.

“Arel?” he managed to croak.

Fierce relief flared through the golden eyes. “Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty.”

Pressing a hand to his aching head, Niko struggled to a sitting position. Shit. He was as weak as a kitten.

“Why the hell am I lying on the floor?”

“A good question.” Arel’s gaze was watchful, no doubt assessing whether he needed to call for a healer. “I’m assuming it has something to do with Dylan.”

“Dylan.” The memory of the crimson-eyed bitch who’d tried to crispy-fry him seared through his mind. “She was here.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Arel growled, his fury barely leashed. “What did she do to you?”

Even though his mind was fuzzy, Niko had a vivid recollection of the pain that had halted his heart.

“She shot me with a shockwave.”

Arel frowned. “I thought they’d all been confiscated?”

“She claims that she built her own.”

“Of course she did.” Arel curled his lips in disgust. They’d all known Dylan spent her free time tinkering with her inventions. A pity they hadn’t kept a closer eye on just what she was building. “Bitch.”

Slowly gathering his wits, Niko glanced around the empty kitchen, his abused heart slamming against his ribs.

“Angela?”

Arel grimaced. “Gone.”

“Goddammit.”

Niko surged to his feet only to lurch forward as his legs refused to cooperate. Thankfully, Arel was swiftly rising to catch him before he could do a face-plant.

“Before you have a meltdown, I can track them,” Arel hastily assured him.

“I don’t doubt your skill, amigo, but—”

“No, it’s not about skill,” Arel interrupted, making sure that Niko could stand on his own before he stepped back and pulled a phone from his pocket. “Look.”

Niko blinked to clear his bleary gaze, then focused on the road map that was visible on the phone screen. Leaning closer, he noticed the tiny light that was blinking.

GPS.

And if he knew Arel, then the blinking red dot was Dylan.

“You tagged her?” he demanded, afraid to hope.

Arel smiled with grim satisfaction. “I set a trigger on the back porch before I came in. As soon as Dylan opened the door it attached itself to her shoe.”

Niko released a shaky sigh despite the cold chill that inched down his spine at the realization of how easy it would have been for Dylan to disappear with Angela while he was unconscious.

“What if she hadn’t come through the back door?”

“I might have set a few others,” Arel admitted. “You know me. Better safe than sorry.”

“You?” Niko snorted. “Safe?”

Arel gave a casual lift of his shoulder. “Okay, call it overkill.”

Overkill. Yeah. That was definitely more Arel’s style.

“How long have I been out?”

“At least half an hour.”

Niko growled in frustration. Dylan might need Angela alive and relatively unharmed if she was to get what she so desperately wanted, but that was no guarantee of her safety. The female Sentinel was as volatile as she was unstable.

A lethal combination.

“We have to go.”

Arel moved to block his stumbling path toward the door. “Dammit, Niko, you can barely stand.”

Niko glared at his friend. “Don’t even start.”

“Be sensible. I could travel faster without you.”

Niko was shaking his head before Arel finished. “This is an argument you’re not going to win, so give it up.”

“Stubborn bastard.”

Moving like a drunken sailor, Niko sidestepped Arel and continued across the room and out the back door. He’d made it past the pool when Arel caught up with him. Offering Niko a frustrated scowl, the younger Sentinel led him to the garage where he’d hidden his vehicle.

Niko lurched into the garage, giving a lift of his brows at the sight of the large four-wheel drive pickup with massive tires that looked like they should have been on a tank.

“Christ,” he muttered, struggling to lift his foot high enough to reach the running board. “Overcompensating for anything, amigo?”

“I just like power,” Arel said, giving Niko a shove in the ass to get him up and in the passenger seat.