Predatory (Immortal Guardians #3.5)(58)

“Very good.” The man sounded almost fatherly. “Cooperation makes things a lot less messy. Now I’m going to call off Henry, and you’re going to get up and walk quietly to that big van. Understand?”

She nodded, never taking her attention from the beast’s lethal fangs.

Her heart pounded, pounded, pounded as she took short gasping breaths in an attempt to control her fear. Think. Panic wouldn’t save her ass.

As she climbed to her feet, she noted that her captor had picked up her gun and shoved it into a jacket pocket. He held the end of a long leash that was attached to the beast’s collar. The leash looked way too flimsy to contain all that animal power, so she assumed there was more involved in controlling it.

Cassie didn’t move as the man took her phone from her pocket.

“Love cell phones.” He chuckled. “They store so much great info on them. For example, that bloodsucker we offed last night had the phone numbers of the guards that I just sent on a trip to an empty lot on the other side of Philly. Guess they’ll be pissed.” He handcuffed her hands behind her and nudged her toward the van. “We need to move fast. Bet they called in a new guard to watch you. I don’t want to be around when he gets here.”

Cassie bit her lip to keep from screaming. She wanted to fight. But her common sense kicked in. The beast hadn’t killed her, so they must want her alive for some reason. Fighting wouldn’t free her, and there was no one around to hear her scream. Besides, alive was a lot better than dead.

She stared at the van’s open doors. To hell with common sense. She fought. Cassie kicked the man in the leg at the same time she screamed. When he tried to grab her arm, she bit him. She had to keep him from putting her in that van until the new guard arrived.

But as she stumbled away, he moved with a speed no human should have. She had no way to defend herself as he reached her. He punched her in the stomach. At the same time, she felt a searing pain in her arm. Cassie fell.

With a curse, the man dragged her to her feet and toward the van. “See, that was just dumb. You upset Henry, and he got your arm with a claw. The boss’ll be mad because you have a mark on you. That doesn’t make me happy, and you want to keep me happy, lady.”

He shoved her into the van and pushed her down onto the bench. Then he locked her cuffs to a short chain attached to the side of the van. The beast crammed its massive body into the back with her. It crouched a few feet away, its unblinking stare fixed on her. Cassie swallowed hard. She would not throw up.

The man closed and locked the back of the van before climbing into the driver’s seat. He started the van and pulled away from the warehouse.

“How did you know I was alone?” Don’t panic, don’t panic.

“I watched. Two guards went in. The same two came out.”

“Where’re you taking me?” Her stomach ached and she could feel blood trickling down her arm.

“To hell, lady. And if you try any more tricks, you’ll get there sooner than you expected.”

Asshole. Cassie didn’t ask anything else.

Instead, she tried to get her terror under control by staring at the beast. Face your fears. The man had called him Henry. Who would give an animal this frightening such an ordinary human name? Someone sick, that’s who.

He’s only an animal. Calm down. Right. That was like calling a tornado only a breeze. She took a close look at him. Huge furred body. A grizzly came to mind. Three clawed toes on each foot. The talons were at least five or six inches long. And the middle talon on each foot was longer and more curved than the others, good for ripping out stomachs and throats. Breathe, just breathe. They looked like the talons she’d seen in pictures of the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park. And those fangs. Definitely saber-toothed tiger–sized.

Finally, she lifted her gaze to the beast’s eyes. She caught her breath. The beast stared back at her. Those eyes. Cassie recognized them—haunting, compelling, savage.

They were the yellow eyes of the Second One.

Chapter Ten

Cassie quickly shifted her gaze while she tried to control her shaking. “His eyes . . .” She bit her lip to keep from screaming when the animal edged a little closer, as though he knew she was talking about him.

The man sneered as he glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Recognize them, do you? Go ahead, stare at him. You won’t die. He has the Second One’s eyes, so he can draw you in, but he doesn’t have the pretty face to go with them. That means he can’t kill you that way. Doesn’t matter, though, because he has lots of other ways to end your life.”

Questions whirled in her mind until she felt dizzy. What were the beasts? Where was this guy taking her? What would happen when they got there?

Then she thought of Ethan. Would he search for her? She had to believe he would. Cassie prayed that Garrity wasn’t going to use her as bait. Not that she’d have to live with any guilt if she was the instrument of Ethan’s death, because she had no doubt Garrity intended to kill her once her usefulness ended.

And just when she didn’t think she could stand one more minute of feeling Henry’s stare on her, his hunger, the van pulled up behind what looked like a large abandoned building. She didn’t see any lights inside.

The man got out and came around to open the van’s back doors. Henry jumped out and waited as his handler snapped his leash onto his collar. Then the man climbed in to release Cassie from the van. He didn’t take off the cuffs.