Twisted

would bet money on it. Hell, he was betting the lives of his people. “If I think, even for a second, that you’re doing this for Vlad, I will…” What? There was no threat vile enough.

“I’m not. Not at this time,” Tucker added. “He comes and goes, and right now he’s gone.”

“He possesses you like he did Ryder?”

“No. He…guides me.”

Easy fix. “Resist him.”

Tucker jerked at the collar of his shirt. “You don’t understand. I can’t resist.”

“Free will, dude. You should try it.” His gaze flipped back to Ryder. The flesh in his neck actually appeared to be weaving back together, and his features were contorted in a pain-filled grimace.

Pain was good.

Pain meant life.

“Maxwell, drive Ryder and Shannon back to the house,” Aden said, issuing orders to get things rolling. Victoria had saved Aden; Aden would save his friends. Hopefully the consequences would not be as severe. Hopefully he could find a way to prevent Shannon from—don’t think it—rotting. “Lock them in separate rooms, doctor Ryder up, and ignore everything he says, just in case Vlad tries to take him over. Have a vampire, Stephanie maybe, feed them both a little blood.”

“Shannon’s already dead, so okay, but Ryder won’t survive transport,” the wolf said, and after restraining Shannon with the seat belt, knotting the length around his wrists and chest, he moved to the driver’s seat.

“Will he?” Aden asked Elijah.

Silence, again such oppressive silence.

Very well. He’d move forward without the soul’s aid.

“Why don’t you go with them, Seth? You can help take care of both.” What he didn’t say: Seth was fully human, and Vlad could now possess humans. Aden didn’t know how the former king was doing it—he himself had to touch a body to step into it—so he had to take every precaution.

Red suffused the boy’s cheeks as he braced his legs apart in a classic attack position. “I’ll go. But if either one dies…” His narrowed gaze lanced at Victoria.

He’d want revenge.

“It won’t be Victoria’s fault, and you won’t touch her. Ever.” He did, and they’d become enemies. Aden didn’t want that.

There was no backing down on Seth’s part.

A bowl full of cherries right there, but they’d have to deal with it later—if Seth made that necessary. “Victoria will stay with me.” He didn’t like the thought of her around Tucker, but he also didn’t like the thought of her out of his sight. Look what had happened last time.

He reached into the waist of his jeans and tugged out the papers that hadn’t flown the coop. He tossed them on a clean section of the floorboard. “Read everything. Call and tell me what you find.”

Tucker emerged and moved to stand behind the car in the next slot over, using it as a shield. Seth took his place in the passenger seat.

“Can you make sure they aren’t spotted on the drive home?” Aden asked Tucker.

“Yes.”

“Will you?” Wouldn’t be smart to leave things open to interpretation. “Yes.”

Aden had no choice but to believe him. “Then do it.”

“How are you gonna get home?” Maxwell asked.

Good question. “I’ll steal a car.” And it wouldn’t be the first time.

“All right, then. I’ll see you when I see you.” A few seconds later, the SUV was motoring away, leaving Aden, Victoria, Tucker and Nathan—in wolf form—to take care of business here.

“I still can’t risking going inside the hospital,” Aden told them. “As you can see, I’m still in the body-raising business.”

“Nathan and I can go with Tucker,” Victoria said. “We’ll meet you out here.”

He’d known she would step up. That didn’t lessen his nervousness. She was strong, he told himself. She couldn’t teleport, but she could move quickly. “If anything happens to her…” Everyone knew the words were for Tucker, and Tucker alone.

“I won’t be at fault.”

“I bet that’s your excuse every time you hurt someone.”

A muscle ticked below the demon’s eye. “Your friend needed to be eliminated. I let her eliminate him. No excuses necessary. What’s wrong with that?”

They weren’t going to debate this now. Wasn’t like they’d change their minds about each other. “Riley made the mistake of trusting you, and look where it got him. Believe me, I’ll give you enough rope to hang yourself, but that’s it.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, she comes back to me in the condition she’s in now, or I hunt you down and make it hurt when I finish you.”

Tucker snorted, not the least intimidated. “Riley plans to make it hurt anyway. And guess what? I warned him. He didn’t listen to me. This is his fault. So let’s stop yakking and do this. I’ll get your friends, and you’ll get my brother. That’s the deal.”

Before Aden could respond, Victoria said, “I’ll be fine,” as she stepped between them. She offered Aden a small smile. “Besides, Nathan is with me. He won’t let Tucker do anything.”

Aden didn’t point out that Nathan wouldn’t be able to stop Tucker if the guy started throwing those illusions around.

He kissed her, hard and fast. “Do what you gotta do, but you come out of there.”

Her pupils expanded, black consuming blue, and he knew she understood. If she had to rip out a few throats to get out safely, she would just have to rip out a few throats.

“We doing this or what?” Tucker snapped.

“We’re doing this,” Victoria said without looking away from Aden. Then she turned, and the threesome walked away from him, disappearing through the hospital doors.

Aden was left in the parking lot, on his own with his worries and regrets. They wouldn’t help him steal a car, so he shoved them aside and cased the parking lot.

TWENTY-THREE

DARKNESS.

Light.

Darkness.

Light.

The darkness offered solace, the light anguish. Therefore, it wasn’t hard to pick which one Mary Ann preferred. Sweet, sweet darkness. But that stupid, stupid light kept forcing its way into her mind.

Like now. Bump, bump. Bump, bump. Her poor, battered body was being jostled, each movement a new lesson in agony. An advanced class of you-think-you-know-what-it’s-like-to-hurt-well-try-this she would have been very happy to fail.

“You should carry her, Vic,” a raspy male voice said above her.

Familiar. Maybe…unwelcome? Or too welcome? Her heartbeat kicked up a notch in the speed department.

“Don’t call me that. And why would I want to carry her?” Wait. That had sounded like her sorta friend and Aden’s girlfriend, Victoria.

“Maxwell took off with my clothes, so I’m tripping on the toga I stole from little bro’s bed,” the male replied. Yes, he was familiar…somehow. She should know him, but couldn’t quite place him. He just wasn’t who she’d hoped he’d be, that much she puzzled out. “If I drop her, Riley will flip his lid.”