as it hurt him if the way he jumped back and grabbed his nose was any indication. He cursed pushing her towards the old man so hard she hit him with a snap of her neck and bounced into the doorjamb. Before either man got another hold, she took the chance to push her way out into the hall. The old man grabbed at her and part of the dress shoulder ripped off into his hands along with four deep furrows of skin. She ran, curses following her as the men tangled in their efforts to give chase. It gave her the extra time she needed to reach another room.
She took the door at a run, slamming it behind her and locking it just before bodies crashed against it causing pictures to fall off the wall. There was a dresser beside the door and she pushed it into place right as the door cracked along the frame. Only when she was hit in the face with a strap did she look up and see the shotgun sitting on top of the dresser. She grabbed for it, and backed up checking to make sure the safety was off and cocking it. There was another crack along the doorframe as she moved to the side of the door.
A hand that looked a lot like a claw pounded through directly above the dresser and Clytie put the barrel of the shotgun right up against the wrist and pulled the trigger. The blast sent her falling back from the recoil and for a minute, she couldn’t hear the howling. From the sounds, there were more than the two wolves congregating in the hall. The sliding glass doors looked like a sign from on high and with a frantic sob, she headed for sunlight. Before she could get it open with the hand not clutched around the shotgun, the dresser, which she had needed every ounce of strength and adrenalin to move, went flying against the far wall.
She ducked down covering her head with her arms as it crashed inches away. Clancy grabbed her by the hair, pulling her out of the room with a vicious snarl. The shotgun went flying. This time the hand sported claws that dug in while he dragged her down the hall. His other hand was barely attached to his arm by a shredded wrist. When she could see past her streaming hair and tears, she saw the hall full of werewolves, some man shaped, and some on four feet. She would have screamed if she’d the air for it. Clancy shoved her none too gently back into her original prison so she scraped skin on her slide to the mattress. When she looked back at him, his face had lost much of its beauty to rage. He staggered back into the hall clutching his damaged arm and slamming the door of her little prison.
The night she found her sister dead in that smelly hotel room had been the worst day of her life. So far, this was a close second. She wiped her eyes and held her knees to her chest. She shook so badly she wondered she didn’t break apart.
She had managed to stave off rape, but for how long? Clancy may not be in any shape with his wrist mangled but what about the others? Eventually one of those creatures was going to try again. Clytie prayed as hard as she had ever prayed that Eli and Logan survived the attack and Demon would find her in time.
When Clytie was calm enough to think again she sat cross-legged on the mattress and pulled her hair out of falling clips. She held one of the steel clips in shaky palms and wondered how she could possibly make it a work for her. It had to be the most pathetic weapon on the planet but she ground it against the concrete in the vein hope she might be able to rub it into a lethal point. Right. She was in so much trouble.
Chapter 10
“We have him. Stupid Bastard is using his cell phone.” Eli pulled the laptop around to show the blip on the map. He had jumped on the internet the minute he got to the house looking for information on Clancy. He got lucky with the cell phone. “He’s on the move, but as soon as he stops we’ll have him.”
Demon kept up his incessant pacing, Wolf gold eyes staring out into the world promised death. “Where?”
“He’s close. No more than ten minutes.”
Demon took in all the grim warriors that came to their feet. The only ones who had stayed with the plane were Cleo and Ian, and that had been against protest. The rest had been waiting alongside him for word since Clytie had been taken. This was what a pack was, people who would lay down their lives to keep each other safe, not the twisted slavery that Gregory and his ilk would make it. He only hoped he had the chance to show Clytie that Clancy and his breed were not what he was offering her. That he could keep her safe. Please God let him be in time to keep her safe.
Demon’s voice was a savage growl as he looked over his pack mates. “Nobody kills Clancy but me.”
“That’s it.” Eli said a few minutes later. “We have him.”
When the door opened, Clytie knew her reprieve was over. Clancy, without any of his former attempts at charm, radiated menace in nothing but a pair of unbuttoned jeans. He might have modeled for a living with his angel face and trim body but all Clytie wanted was for him to go away again.
He held up his hand, the one she had tried to shoot off, and smiled. “All better love. Now I can show you what we do to little girls who don’t mind.”
Clytie swallowed hard, palming her pathetic hair clip and standing up. If he healed a shotgun blast in only a few hours, she had no chance of hurting him with a little sharpened metal.
He came in and closed the door. “I’m trying to decide if I want to cut your hand off before or after I have you. What do you think?”
She sucked in a shaky breath, determined not to give him the satisfaction of her fear. “Will what I think make a difference?”
“Maybe. Why don’t you try asking nice?” He pulled down his pants until his cock was revealed. His voice lost its false cheer. “On your knees. You do me real nice and I might forget you tried to shoot my fucking hand off.”
“I doubt you would have missed that hand. From the little I can see, and I do mean little, one is more than sufficient for the job.”
The silence was booming, then in a less than human growl he spoke. “I’m going to eat your heart while I fuck you.”
“Can you do two things at once? That’s not what Demon said.”
He started forward but the name halted him half lunge.
“Demon?”
“You did ask me who I belonged to.” She glanced pointedly at his exposed dick, now deflated. “You know he’s going to kill you right?”
“He won’t find us here, but I’ll be sure to send you back to him in pieces. All except the heart.” He took a flying leap forward and ripped what was left of her tattered dress completely off. He pulled her against him. She wanted to gag at the touch of him on her bare stomach. He yanked off her bra bruising her in the process.
She shoved the sharpened hair clip into his neck right above his Adams apple. He roared, throwing her away so that she slammed into the concrete floor and almost blacked out. She was aware enough to see him yank the clip out spraying blood in a hot ark.
“You fucking bitch.” He roared, his words garbled, either because of the damage or because he was changing into a wolf.
Clytie struggled up to her knees, the blood seeping from the cut on her head covering half her face before she made it even that far. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up off the floor. She yelped, grabbing his wrists while her head throbbed. He was going to break her neck, all it would take was a twist of his hands, and she would be dead. She saw the knowledge in his eyes, even as she weakly tried to knee him in the balls.
“Maybe I’ll just send him your head.” He spat out blood with each word, but already his wound had closed. He shifted his grip so her neck was in his grip, his face close. He licked the blood off her cheek with a long swipe and popped his lips in appreciation. “I bet he’ll miss you when you’re gone.”
Clytie closed her eyes and waited for the killing blow. Instead, the sound of the door exploding had her eyes snapping open. Demon. The relief was instantaneous.
