Resisting the Moon (Royal Shifters #2)(42)

“Where’s Tyla?” I growled. The wolfsbane had definitely taken its toll on my body. I felt the poison eating its way through my hands. Stefan opened the cage door while the other two pulled me out and slammed me into a chair. Before I could go on the attack, they wrapped a large rope around me, tying me to the hard, wooden chair. As bad as I wanted to shift, I couldn’t. There was too much wolfsbane on my body, weakening me.

Leaning against the wall, Jaret smiled. “Tyla’s still sleeping soundly in my bed.” Then his gaze met Amelie’s. “I made a mistake in choosing you. Your cousin knew exactly what to do to please me.” He licked his lips. “I can still taste her.”

My whole body shook with rage, my insides on fire. “You son of a bitch,” I growled. “If you’ve touched her in any way, I’ll rip off your goddamned head.”

“Oh, I did more than touch her,” he claimed, grabbing his crotch. “Many times actually. Can’t you smell her on me?”

Amelie’s screamed, “No! How could you do that?” I could smell her scent on him and it only fueled the fire more.

Jaret walked over to her and grinned. “Simple. I spread her wide and f*cked her. She was begging for more by the time I got done.”

Even though it burnt her skin, Amelie reached through the bars and smacked him. “I hope you rot in Hell.”

He rubbed his cheek and winked at her before coming back to me. “Once tonight’s over, I’ll kill you both and not have to worry about you getting in the way. Then, when I’ve gotten what I want from Tyla, you can reunite in the afterlife. But first,” he nodded at his men, “it’s time for a little fun. Some would call it payback.”

Amelie gasped, her eyes wide. “Jaret, stop! Don’t do this.”

His men surrounded me, two of them holding me to the chair. Jaret reared back and punched me in the jaw, the sting of it burning like fire. My head snapped to the side, but it wasn’t enough to deter me. Jaret cracked his neck and approached me, his eyes and claws shifting.

“That was for me.” He cracked his knuckles. “This is for my father.” He punched me again, then slashed his claws across my chest. Blood oozed through my shirt as my skin split open. Before he could hit me again, his attention was drawn to the door opening. “What the hell are you doing in here?” he growled.

“Just checking on you, dear brother.” The voice sounded like music. I couldn’t see her, but judging by the look on Amelie’s face it had to be Laila. “I thought you could use some help. You need to conserve your energy for tonight. Besides, you have a lot to get prepared.”

Clenching his teeth, Jaret huffed and backed away. “Be sure to make it exponentially painful.”

She laughed and it sounded exactly like her mother’s. It pained me to think of Alina’s child as being evil. “Don’t worry about me. I know what to do.”

Jaret walked out of the room and so did the other wolves, their footsteps hard and determined as they left the house. I couldn’t hear anyone else moving around, not even Tyla.

“You are such a conniving bitch,” Amelie hissed. “I trusted you.”

“I’m not your enemy,” Laila replied softly.

Amelie scoffed. “Liar. You better hope I don’t get out of here. You’ll be one of the first ones I kill.”

I heard Laila’s steps edging closer. I saw the wolfsbane plant in her hand before I looked up at her face. She looked exactly like her mother, the same red hair and slender body . . . but her eyes were different; they were blue instead of green. I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut. I recognized them. They weren’t Vincent’s, but another’s. I wondered if she knew the truth.

“Plan on using that on me?” I asked, hooking a glance at the plant. How was she even able to hold it?

She tossed it to the floor. “Looks like you’ve had enough already.”

“Like you care,” Amelie grumbled.

Laila rolled her eyes and freed me from the rope. “I wouldn’t be down here risking my life if I didn’t.”

“Where’s Tyla?” I demanded. “What’s happened to her?”

She pulled out a vial. It smelled like Tyla’s blood. “Hold out your hands.” I did as she said and she dropped a few drops of the blood on each open wound. My burns healed up as if nothing had ever happened. “Tyla’s fine. She’s upstairs sleeping.”

I jumped up, the chair slamming down on the floor. “What did he do to her?”

Laila backed away, holding her hands up in the air. “He didn’t violate her, I promise. I wouldn’t have let that happen.”

“Then why does he smell like her?”

She sighed. “He got in bed with her this morning so her scent would be on him. It was just to get a rise out of you. When I got back into town last night and found out he’d switched plans, I had to do something. My only option was to give her a tonic to put both of you to sleep.”

“How did it work on me?”

“I have a way of linking things. I knew you’d go crazy if you could see what was happening in her mind. That’s why I made sure you passed out along with her. Jaret doesn’t like sleeping with women if they aren’t coherent. He likes the fight. If she’d fought him, he would’ve killed her, and then you would’ve died seeking retribution.”