Cage looked down at his phone and watched it fail time after time. Truck stepped up beside him, ready for his warm up. “What’s wrong with you, Boss?”

Holding out his phone, he swore. “I can’t get a call through.”

Truck nodded. “Yeah, I asked that little guy… the assistant-”

“Oswald?”

Snapping his fingers, Truck smiled. “Yeah, him. He told me that he put this crazy… signal dampener. It keeps the audience from posting video online since this is a pay-per-view deal.”

Cage sighed. “I feel like this is crazy fast.”

“Crazy awesome,” Truck’s belly laugh startled a few passing staffers. “If you ask me it’s like some kind of… fairy tale.”

“Fairy tale?” Cage narrowed his gaze up at the giant shifter. “You know a lot of fairy tales we’re the characters trying to rip each other to shreds?”

It took Truck a minute to think about it. “I’m guessing the bad guy doesn’t count?”

“Yeah, if the bad guy kicks the hero’s ass, I’m not sure that’s a fairy tale.”

Truck shrugged. “But the guys we’re fighting with aren’t the heroes.” He flexed a muscle and winked at his boss. “We are.”

Cage fiddled with his phone and finally dropped it in the back of his jeans.

“Hey,” Truck lifted his chin, “you worried or something?”

His instinct was to nod, but he wasn’t sure. The second thought in his head was Maggie laughing and telling him to calm down and stop overreacting.

Truck leaned in as Oswald appeared waving him forward. “That guy needs a good stiff drink. Or a massage.” He sighed. “After warm up, you want me to go and check on them?”

“Frances would be at school by now.”

Both men heard the hesitant tone at the end of Cage’s comment, but Truck was the one who added the next comment. “So how do you think Maggie would feel if I just stopped by? You know… to check on her for you?”

Cage didn’t answer him and could only watch as Truck jogged off to take his turn examining the ring that they’d set up for that evening. Stuck alone with his thoughts he found his jaguar sitting in the dark, staring right back at him.

What do you want?

You’re distracted.

I’m worried.

Your fault. With a swish of his tail he showed Cage what he was complaining about. An image of Cage, eyes dark as night, sinking his fangs into Maggie’s shoulder as she shattered around him, clawing at his shoulders through her orgasm.

Yeah, okay. We’ll get there.

You’d feel better.

Cage looked at the ceiling to get away from the dark eyes of his soul, but the eyes just went with him.

You could feel her.

He knew what his jaguar meant, but he also knew he could already feel her in his heart and that alone was confusing as fuck. And yet… he knew he couldn’t wait much longer to make her his mate.

* * *

Maggie came awake with a gasp and then a low keening moan. She hadn’t felt like this since… since she woke up in the hospital coming down off a three-day bender… at sixteen. The only words in her head that time were ‘never again.’

And she’d meant it, so she forced her eyes open and her whole stomach dropped to the floor, which wasn’t hard, since she was apparently on the floor. The cold concrete under her cheek was just as cold all along her body.

She tried to move her hand and felt something tug at her wrist. “Shit.”

Flexing it she realized her hands were bound together.

Memories flooded back into her head in rapid fire.

Frances. The car. The chase. The world exploding around her.

“Someone hit me.”

The room was silent around her, she barely even heard an echo.

Moving her wrist again she felt it bound to something else. More skin. “Frances?” She narrowed her eyes to try to see in the darkness, but when she turned her head all she ended up doing was smashing her cheek and nose into the floor. She was disoriented to say the least, but she was only beginning to realize how off she was. Her wrist wasn’t tied to someone else… her wrists were tied together, but she couldn’t feel her other arm. “Frances?”

No answer.

Tears burned the backs of her eyes. “Frances? Are you here?”

Maggie tried to turn over and couldn’t move. Without her left arm she could only move her legs. Flopping onto her back was the first move. At least then she could use her right arm to push herself up, so she could look around.

And then she remembered, she was in the dark. “Just great.”

The empty silence mocked her.

“And just exactly what am I going to do now?”

A soft metallic click turned her head.

Somewhere in the dark she heard the squeak of a hinge.

Door.

It was down toward her feet and she could only crane her neck, but she saw a sliver of vertical light spread into an open doorway. Two men were visible, but she didn’t think they were there to help her.

Not if those bulges at their hips were any indication. Guns. She knew the shape well enough from her dad, but all she could think of right at that moment was staying alive.

She had to find out what happened to Frances.

The first man walked inside and stopped somewhere in front of her face, he blocked out most of the light behind him. A moment later, a bright light flashed in her face. Round. Piercing. She knew she’d be near blind when it turned off, but she still tried to stare around it and see who had her.

“Who are you?” She didn’t wait for an answer, running into the next question like a steamroller. “Where’s Frances?”

Laughter. “I’m the one in charge here. You’re the one tied up on the floor.”

“You want answers from me? You give me answers… Quid Pro Quo.”

“What the fuck is that? You speakin’ French or something?”

“Latin.” You dumb fuck. “Answer for an answer.”

“Look, lady. I don’t need your shit.” He lowered the flashlight and she blinked a few times trying to focus her eyes and see his face.

“Can I help it if you haven’t seen ‘Silence of the Lambs’?”

“Don’t you even have the smarts to be scared?”

Oh, she was plenty scared, she was just hoping to bide her time and get a good look at this ass, so when Cage found them, she could point him out and watch him gut the ass, spill his entrails all over the floor. Yeah… she was pissed.

* * *

“Hey, Gamble! Gamble!”

Cage looked up at the uniformed officer pushing through the crowd in the backstage area. He winced when he saw it was Officer Boyd from the Police Station. “Hey.”

Boyd skidded to a halt in front of him. “There’s trouble.”

Air pulled into his lungs, but his heart was cold in his chest. “Frances?”

Boyd’s eyes narrowed. “I got a call from the school.” He cleared his throat. “If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve been following her progress. She’s been doing great thanks to you and your girlfriend, but something’s wrong.”

Cage’s jaguar roared to life, tearing at his insides. He felt it too.

“Maybe she stayed back… at the diner.”

The policeman’s eyes narrowed. “I called.” He swallowed hard. “No one picked up the phone. Maybe she was busy. I sent a man over to check, but I knew you were down here, so I decided to stop by.”

Cage nodded and looked over at the officer. “Thanks. I need to get my keys and I’ll go look for her myself.”

* * *

They pulled her out of the room, staggering on her bare feet. Apparently, once they’d crashed into her car and pulled her out, they’d left her shoes behind. Looking around the room as they emerged from the dark, she blinked to adjust to the light. Her purse was on a table, her cell phone lying beside it. The screen was like a spiderweb and from what she could see there wasn’t even a fraction of an inch that wasn’t covered in cracks. Her jailer jerked on her arm and pulled her forward. She turned to glare at him and realized he didn’t have a mask on.

He was showing her his face.

He didn’t think she was getting out of this.

Okay. Her head was surprisingly clear. Okay, she told herself again. First things first. “Frances. Where’s Frances?”

“She’s asleep. And she’s going to stay that way until we get rid of her.”

“What are you talking about?” Maggie jerked at her arm, trying to loosen his hold.

“You think I’m going to hurt the Golden Goose?” He shook his head. “I’m just waiting for my payday.”

“Cage doesn’t have much beyond his business,” she told them. “What do you think you’re going to get from him?”

He pushed her away and she ended up with a few splinters in her backside from the old crate she landed on. “I’m not going anywhere near that monster.” He leaned closer and she saw his bloodshot eyes and smelled the fetid stench of his breath. “We’re sending the kitty back to her natural habitat.”

“England?”

“You pick up quick, lady.”

“Why? What changed with her family?”

He grabbed a hold of the front of her shirt and twisted, tightening her collar around her neck. “I’m not a counselor. I’m hired muscle. I get the job done. And you,” he grinned at her, “aren’t necessary for the job.” He reached behind him and pulled a gun out, leveling it straight at her sternum.

Maggie leaned back and felt one of her feet slip on the floor. It wasn’t just cement beneath her foot. It was plastic. A quick look down at her feet said she was standing in the middle of a wall-sized piece of plastic sheeting.

“Hey!” A door banged open. “Hey, get in here!”

The gun stayed level on her chest as he turned toward the sound. “What?”

“She’s awake and pissed. You’ve gotta inject her again!”

Maggie started to get up and the guy pointed the gun at her again. “You better keep your ass on that crate. If you get up or try to leave… when I get back, I’ll put a bullet in your ear.” And then he ran into the back room.

And Maggie sat there because she wasn’t about to leave Frances. No, they were going to stick together until they could find a way out of this mess.

* * *

Before Cage could get to his car, he saw Gordon in the doorway. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

“My daughter is missing. She never got to school.”

“Your daughter? I didn’t know you had-”

“She’s my friend’s… he’s dead. But none of that matters. She’s mine,” he saw Gordon step back and knew his eyes must have bled black, he could feel his jaguar rising under his skin, “and if you stand in my way you’re going to regret it.”

“You’re going to run out on this event because she’s playing hooky?”

Brass ran up. “I called Caber, but he’s not answering his phone.”

Cold chills ran through Cage’s body. “Take one of the others, trace his route this morning.”

“Will do.” Brass slapped his hand down on Cage’s shoulder. “I’ll find him.”

Sirens from the street told him that back up had arrived.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Gordon cross his arms. “This is crazy. Do you know how much money you’re wasting on a juvenile delinquent? I should have known this was going to be a mess.”

“Ask me if I care about the money,” Cage leaned closer and his jaguar surged up until he felt as if he was stretched thin over the jaguar’s form, barely in control.

“You walk out now, Gamble, and you’re ruined. You’ll never have this kind of opportunity again. I never should have let Wently talk me into this.”

In a flash, the man wrested control from the beast. “Wently?”

Cage saw the slightest wince on Gordon’s face. Leaning closer he saw a bead of sweat make a slow and laborious trip from the man’s temple and down the side of his face.

Gordon made a helpless gesture with his hands. “If you have to go, we’ll figure something out.”

Two men stepped out of the sunlight and up to the gathering group. Cage recognized Devlin Kerr. The first shifter to reveal his second nature in front of cameras and the tiger shifter who now headed a special branch of police for the Sylvan City PD. Beside him was a man Cage didn’t recognize by sight or scent.

“Cage, I got the call from Boyd. We pulled up some footage from security cameras. The car that pulled up in front of the diner has fake plates. We saw Frances get in the car-”

Cage felt his stomach twist into a knot. She was so used to just getting in a car and going.

“And then Maggie ran out of the diner and jumped into her own car to follow.” He blew out a breath. “Down the road after they were stopped at a light, Maggie started to exit her car, presumably to approach the other car, but before she could get out, another car came out of an alley and t-boned Maggie’s car. The last we see of them at that point is a white unmarked panel van that blocks the camera. When it pulls away, Maggie is gone, and her car was left abandoned on the side street.”

A roar tore through Cage’s throat, his back bowed into an arch and his eyes, when they turned back to the event organizer shimmered with power. “Tell me. Tell me who has them!”

Devlin turned to listen as well, but the man who had organized hundreds of professional fights paled and his mouth opened, but barely made any sound.

“I can’t,” he gasped, “it can’t be him.”

“Who?”

Cage took a step forward and Devlin got in between them. It was a dangerous position to be in. Violence was a foregone conclusion, but they’d have to avoid deadly, at least with so many witnesses around. “Who?”

Devlin looked back over his shoulder at the other newcomer. “Dom?”

Taking off his shades, the other man stepped forward and tucked the sunglasses into his jacket pocket. “I think I can answer some of that.” He looked at the man shaking at the knees. “You started your career running illicit bare-knuckle boxing matches in the backrooms of London and some outer lying communities. That’s where you met Charles Hallsworth, whose official title is Viscount Wently.”

Cage made a grab for the other man and two of his fighters jumped in to hold him back. He knew that any other day they would have gladly helped Cage pull the man apart, but Cage was more beast than man at the moment and they needed the man alive.

Later would be another story.

“This was your plan from the beginning?”

“No,” the man shook his head, flinging drops of sweat from his skin, “no. When Wently came to me with an idea for this I thought he was crazy. I knew what he thought about shifters, but he convinced me that he just wanted to make money and to hear him tell it, if one of you died during the event, especially with it being broadcast for pay, that it would be fine with him and only make more in the end. Infamous is better than famous any day.”

Devlin cut in. “Where’s the girl?”

“I have no idea.” He shrugged. “He didn’t even tell me they were going to take her. He just said he wanted to see her again, make some peace and money to go with it.”

“And money he needs,” Dom provided, “Frances’ family, on her mother’s side is near destitute and Frances, she holds the key.”

Gordon was looking for a way out, but by that moment, there was a whole crowd formed around them.

Cage reiterated Devlin’s question. “Where are they holding them?”

“I don’t know!” Gordon started to clutch at his chest. “I’m just here to run the event. It’ll make everyone a lot of money!”

“As if that matters!” Cage was so close to shifting. His jaguar wanted blood, lots of it.

“Give me their phone numbers.” Devlin took out his phone. “We’ll start a trace with their cell companies.”

Dom reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a packet of papers and held it out to Cage. “You’ll want these to give to your lawyer.”

Cage narrowed his eyes but took the papers.

“I doubt you have a copy of this. I managed to dig it out of,” he looked at the gathered crowd, “of somewhere.”

Shaking his head, Cage tossed it to one of his men. “I don’t have time to slog through the words. What is that?”

“The Trust that your friend left for his daughter. Its value is a cool million and change.”

“Fraces’ phone isn’t on the grid,” Devlin looked up at Cage, but I’ve got Maggie’s phone pinged between three cell towers in the old warehouse area,” he met Cage’s eyes, “only about ten minutes from your place.”

Cage pushed through the group and grabbed Gordon by his shirt. He had him a few inches off the floor and could have taken him further, but the man sounded like he was going to have a heart attack. “The only reason I’m keeping you alive right now is because we haven’t found my cub and my mate. Once they’ve been found? All bets are off, Gordon.” He tossed him to the side and one of the men caught him easily. He looked at Devlin. “We taking your car?”

Devlin nodded. “It’ll give me a chance to test the suspension on it.”

Dom shook his head. “How many we got?”

Cage turned around and saw all of the local fighters waiting for instruction. “Looks like we’ve got more than enough.”

* * *

Maggie was still standing in the center of that big plastic tarp when one man came back out. She wasn’t leaving anything to chance. “What happened? What did you do to her?”

He shrugged. “We knocked her out with Ketamine. She’s no bigger than a kid. And even when we used enough to put down a horse and keep it down, she burned through that before you were awake.”

“And the next dose?” She didn’t want to encourage him, but she wanted to keep him talking. Any information she could get was helpful.

Information was necessary since she was already in trouble. Her arm was still numb? What kind of damage had been caused by someone slamming into her car? Well, she’d worry about that later. She just needed to know what parts of her were still in working order. The way she was now, the best she could hope to do was slow the men down and give Frances a chance to escape if the opportunity arrived.

“The next dose?” He swore under his breath. “I had my hands full keeping your little Poison Ivy from biting off my arm, so I had numbnuts in there give her the shot. The second one wore off even faster than the first. He probably can’t see for shit.”

“She’s probably afraid, you can’t hurt her. It’ll only make her mad.”

He glared at her. “I can handle one little bitch. Just like I’m going to handle you.”

He raised his gun and fixed it at the center of her chest. “You should have just let us take her. Smart people don’t play the hero where they’re not wanted.”

“I couldn’t let you take her,” she found some strength in the anger she felt, in the way it crawled across her skin. “She’s family to me.”

He swore under his breath. “People like you are sick in the head, lady. I’m doing the world a favor if I get rid of you and her at the same time. You think you’re tolerant or enlightened. You’re just as flawed as these… these monsters are!”

“Think what you want, but that young woman in there is one of the best people I know! I love her like a daughter and I love Cage. Don’t do this.”

“We’re leaving in a few minutes. Maybe I’ll do us all a favor,” he grinned at her and her blood ran cold, “maybe I’ll save you and let the kitty cat have a bite to eat later. Then again, why worry about dragging the two of you around?”

He pulled back the hammer of his gun, the click echoing in the room.

“At least you won’t go sticking your nose into other people’s business anymore.”

The bang echoed off the walls.