Chapter Four
Lyra couldn’t move. Every inch of her throbbed with pain. She prayed to pass out just to escape it, but luck wasn’t with her. She’d made peace with the fact she was going to die, but they seemed in no hurry to finish her. Instead, it was as if they wanted to see just how much pain she could withstand.
She bled from multiple lacerations. Her nose was bruised or broken. It was hard to tell. She had several ribs that were broken or cracked. Her right wrist had snapped when she’d strained against her bonds. One eye had swollen shut from repeated hits.
She had no clue what these men wanted. She’d lost her ability to focus on them, which rendered her lost in silence though she felt the vibration of noise along her skin. She’d screamed. She felt the rawness of her throat, the pull of her seldom used vocal chords, and she prayed for a trickle of water to ease the ache.
She had no clue how to satisfy the man called Blane. She had no brother, no family at all since her mother’s death. As for the cat he wanted to see? She’d never had a pet. She’d fed a few strays on the streets, but she knew those weren’t what he was referring to. Hell, she’d make up an animal side if she could communicate with him. She’d done a good job of hiding her deafness from people, and now, she was paying for it. Her captors had no clue she couldn’t hear their taunts. She felt their blows, though.
She needed to break free. Somehow. Some way. She needed to figure it out. Her body was ready to cave, but her spirit was unbroken. There was warmth inside her, an urge to do…something. It was as if a promise of safety whispered somewhere within her. She couldn’t find the way to it. So, she held tight to consciousness, even as she prayed to lose it. She felt the press of something inside her, the thing her mother had urged Lyra to repress. It wanted free. It promised relief, but Lyra was too scared to give in.
She thought of the two men she’d seen earlier in the night. The giant who’d framed the doorway of the bar and the apparition who’d appeared across the room from her. She’d felt a connection to both. The one who’d stood in the doorway had scared her on a whole other level. He’d appeared untamed, awakening a sleeping part of her she’d thought forever lost. She’d felt a sexual pull for the first time in her life, and it had sent her running. Especially when he’d stared at her as if she’d been the one he’d walked in searching for then mouthed one word at her. Mine. She’d wanted to be his, and it had scared her. She was a loner. No friends. No lovers. It was the way it had to be.
What if she’d gone to him instead? Would she still be in this predicament, or would he have protected her? She wanted to laugh at the thought of anyone protecting her. She’d been on her own since she’d been a child and her mother had been taken from her. She’d learned to count on only herself. She needed to remember that. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she should have formed the same word with her lips and sent it back to him, staking a claim she had no right to want.
She pictured him clearly, the jeans and straining T-shirt that did little to conceal the man beneath. The way he’d owned the place from the moment he’d walked in. He had power. She’d felt the snap and crackle of it radiating from him. If he were here now, with her, she doubted any of the men with her would be standing. He wouldn’t allow it. He’d shield and protect her, and as much as the idea horrified parts of her, it also acted as a soothing balm.
She let her gaze scan the room. He’d kill these men who were enjoying torturing her. Her blood might be the first spilled, but theirs would be the last.
She pictured the other man. The one who’d been there yet not there. There’d been something about him that had made her want to follow his directive. She’d wanted to brave the dance floor and go to him. The shock of hearing his voice in her head had nearly knocked her on her ass. Then it had made her want to cry. She’d never heard a voice before. Not even her mother’s, which made her question again if she’d heard the words he’d spoken in her head or somehow managed to read them on his lips.
She’d come into a world that had always been silent for her. She knew the vibration of sound, felt it along her skin. Her mother had taught her to read lips by having Lyra cup her mother’s face while she spoke, her avid gaze glued to her mother’s mouth. Every time Lyra had signed it was too hard, her mom had responded by pushing her harder, saying Lyra had a special affinity for lip reading. Her mom was right. Lyra had found it simple. She hadn’t realized how easy until her boss at the bar had seemed so surprised at how effortlessly she read lips. He’d quoted some statistic to her that only about thirty percent of deaf people could lip read.
She’d become so adept at it that she sometimes caught stuff in her peripheral. It was what made her so good at her job. She didn’t catch everything, especially with those who often spoke with their heads pointed down or away. It was as if her eyes were making up for what her ears lacked. At least, that was how she’d always seen it. So how was it that this man, this stranger, had filled her mind with his voice, urging her to come to him? She pictured him. Tall and broad, though not as big as her male, with shoulder-length hair with shades of brown, blond and red through it. He’d been focused on something else at first, something he’d held. Then he’d glanced up, and she’d swear he’d looked right at her.
She pictured him in her head, placing him beside her male. She mentally shook her head. Not her male. The other male. The one she was certain Blane had referred to as the Costas mongrel. He had ebony hair, much darker than her own deep-brown locks. She couldn’t recall the color of his eyes, but she’d been mesmerized by his gaze.
When she had both males at the forefront of her mind, she tried sending a message back to them. She pictured where she’d been in the alley, pictured the sign of the bar then she focused on the room around her again. Searching for anything that might give an indication of where she was. She didn’t know how long she’d been out, so there was no telling how far from the city they’d traveled.
She let her gaze settle on a map spread open on a table. There were other pieces of paper scattered around it. She skimmed over all of it, seeing but not cognizant enough to draw any of it into clear focus. She paused on the faces of each man, sensing it was important, stopping on Blane and holding him in her sights as she made a call to the men she still envisioned in her mind.
Come to me.
Blane’s lips moved, but with only one eye, she was unable to understand what he said. The look on his face spoke volumes, as did the way the others stood, stretched then headed toward her. As they closed in around her and the first fist fell again, her call became a litany in her head.
Come to me. Save me. Come to me. Save me. Come to me.
* * * *
Aleksy waited until Tony was deep in discussion with Nathan before slipping out. He figured he’d have at least a five-minute head start before Tony took note of his absence. It should be just enough time to grab a bike and hit the road.
As soon as he’d stood up, he’d known which bunker Tony had taken him to. He sprinted for the shed as soon as he cleared the building, dragging the door open and grabbing the closest bike. The one thing he could always count on Tony having was his toys. In this case, motorcycles and four wheelers. Since hunters and shifters both liked wooded areas better than large cities, all-terrain vehicles tended to be a necessity. Hell, the bunker they were using was surrounded on all sides by woods.
Aleksy checked the fuel, knocked the kick stand up then pushed the bike out the door. He took the helmet from the back, throwing his leg over the motorcycle to straddle the seat. He was already heading out when he caught sight of Tony flying out the door. The other man was yelling, his hands gesturing wildly. Aleksy ignored him and kept going. He had to get to Lyra. If Blane and his men planned to kill her, there wasn’t time to spare. He’d already wasted enough sleeping off the knife wound he’d taken.
He’d gone maybe a mile when he swore he heard a voice in his head. It was soft and feminine and stroked over his skin like a lover’s caress. It was Lyra. Aleksy wasn’t sure how he knew it, but he wasn’t questioning. She was telling him to come to her, to save her, and it fit seamlessly with his plans.
“Where are you, baby?” he murmured into the air. His plan was to head back to the alley and trace Blane from there. Tony was good, but he wasn’t a shifter. Aleksy could track anyone once he picked up their trail. If he’d only had the chance to make contact with Lyra, to mark her as his, then hunting her down wouldn’t be an issue. Her blood would call to him.
Images came into his mind. A long line of countertops with an empty container that looked as if it might have held dog bones, according to the faded label. There were cabinets overhead, the shelves empty. There was discarded mail on a table. It was for a vet’s office. There was a partial name. Hend…then the letters cut off.
Come to me. Save me.
“I am,” he swore. “Just hold on for me. Don’t you dare give up. I’m coming for you.”
“I’m the one coming after you, asshole.” Tony’s voice filled his helmet, and Aleksy almost jerked the bike in surprise.
“I couldn’t wait,” he told his friend. “They’re going to kill her. You said it yourself.”
Tony sighed. “Nathan and I are right behind you. The rest of the group will meet us there. Take the road west when you get to the highway. They headed toward the country. You’ll waste time if you go back to Chicago.”
“They’re holding her in an abandoned veterinary clinic.”
“How do you know that?” Tony asked.
“She’s telling me.”
“She’s…” Tony’s voice trickled off, and there was a long pause of silence. “I thought you didn’t get a chance to mark her.”
“I didn’t,” Aleksy admitted.
“We really need to talk once we save her and things settle down a bit. There’s more going on here than we’ve seen before.”
Aleksy usually didn’t mind when Tony went into Watcher mode, asking questions and gathering facts. Right now, Aleksy needed to get to Lyra though, and time was of the essence.
“I’m getting the first four letters of it. H…E…N…D…followed by veterinary clinic. Any clue?”
Tony had an eidetic memory. If he’d ever seen such a place listed on a map or even on the internet while doing a search, Tony could recall it perfectly.
“Henderson,” Tony answered. “It went out of business less than six months ago. The building’s been vacant for the last four. Dr. Henderson died of a massive heart attack. His place was one of the ones I marked as a possible site Blane might utilize. I’m not sure how she’s communicating with you, and it’s a little scary. But keep me posted if she shares anything else. I see you up ahead. Let me take the lead, and I’ll get you as close as we can without announcing we’re there.”
Since the bikes were nearly silent thanks to whatever Tony had done to them, Aleksy didn’t think announcing themselves would be an issue. At least, until his beast hit the ground running. There would be no holding it back once they got close.
“Okay,” Aleksy agreed. He wasn’t sure how Lyra was managing to communicate with him. He was damn happy she was though. Faces began filling his head. Men with hard, angry expressions. Men with blood on them. Her blood. Rage shook Aleksy. He’d hunt down every single one of them and make sure they paid for hurting his woman.
“Be quick,” he growled as Tony and Nathan reached him. Nathan was quiet, but Aleksy could tell he was focused. He hoped the other man lived through the day. There were no guarantees when it came to the war between hunters and shifters. Too many people had been killed as it was.
“Follow me,” Tony said and shot his bike around Aleksy. Nathan fell in behind them.
Aleksy could feel Lyra. She was hurt. Had they beat her? Cut her? Chained her to the wall as they were so fond of doing? Had they stripped her flesh bare to their eyes? Was she afraid? God, he’d do anything to be there with her. He should have ignored the vision in the bar and crossed to her immediately. If he had, maybe he could have prevented all of this.
He shook off the what-ifs, focusing on the connection with Lyra. It was growing weaker, and that worried him. It should strengthen the closer he got to her. He wasn’t so concerned with how she’d linked with him when they’d yet to bond. Bottom line was they were mates. His animal knew it, and hers must, as well. Their connection was meant to be. It would only grow stronger once he marked her with his bite and she did the same to him. Of course, she’d have to find her inner beast and let it free before she could fully claim him.
“We’re pulling off up here,” Tony said. “Single file through the turn. We’ll take the access road to the one we’ll need. Watch my signal. I want to pull off before we get too close. We’ll go the rest of the way on foot. Nathan and I brought packs. We should have plenty of ammo until the rest of the team gets here. Just keep a level head, Aleksy.”
Aleksy said nothing. His skin crawled. Lyra’s voice had faded completely. Either she’d passed out or they’d knocked her out. Either way, it didn’t bode well for his mate. His beast was ready to take over the search. His black liger would cover the ground far more quickly than he would. It would also do more damage with its massive claws.
He followed Tony through the turns, and when they finally pulled off, Aleksy was off the bike and stripping before the other two had even dismounted. It was time to rescue his woman.