“Do you want me to walk you to your hotel?”
“I’m fine. Now go. Your kids are waiting for you,” she urged.
“All right, but be careful,” Joan warned. “It’s pretty slippery out there.”
“I will.”
The fire department had closed down the entire building where the restaurant was located so she didn’t have an office, but the PR company they hired, Emerson Communications, offered one of their conference rooms as a temporary office and headquarters while they managed this crisis.
It wasn’t very late, probably only after eight o’clock in the evening, but it was already dark, and snow had begun to fall again. Also, she realized that she hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours, and she was dead tired. Emerson Communications had booked her a hotel suite nearby, so it would be a quick walk and then she could collapse into bed and put this day behind her.
She shut down her laptop, packed up her things and grabbed her coat, then made her way outside. The Meridien D.C. Hotel was on the same block, and she was glad it was only a short walk. She entered the lobby and headed straight for the elevators.
As she waited for the first available car, she took out her phone, checking her email and news alerts for any mention of the explosion. When she heard the sound indicating the arrival of the elevator car, she walked straight into it without looking up.
“Excuse you,” she muttered as she felt someone jostling her. When she turned around to face the front, there were four men taking up the bulk of the entire elevator. “Penthouse, please,” she said. None of the men pressed the button, so she cleared her throat. “Penthouse,” she said in a louder voice. One of the men turned to press the “B” button. “Hey! What are you—mmm!”
The scream she tried to let out was muffled by a large hand that covered her mouth. Her heartbeat spiked, and she tried to get free, but two strong arms wrapped around her and she felt a small prick at the base of her neck.
Madre de dio. She was being kidnapped.
Whatever they injected into her was making her woozy and she struggled to keep her eyes open. Her feet left the ground, and the man who held her lifted her up over his shoulder.
Stay awake! She took in small gulps of air. Her Lycan system would quickly get rid of the drug in her body, then she could shift into her wolf form and run away. But for now, she had to keep making them think she was out. Technically, it was forbidden to shift in front of humans except in cases of extreme emergency, but she was pretty sure this counted.
“Grab the car and pop the trunk,” a gruff voice said.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the near-empty garage. She willed her body to work faster at getting rid of the drug. Once she was in the trunk of some car or they decide to pump more drugs into her, it might be harder to escape.
“What’s taking him so long? We gotta—what the fuck? You guys secured this place, right?”
“Yeah, boss, we did.”
“What the—motherfucker! Take care of him!”
The grip on her tightened and she felt her kidnapper swing around and then run. She lifted her head, struggling to focus her vision as her head bobbed up and down as they sped away.
There were three blurry figures behind her. One moved around fast and then two fell to the ground. The man carrying her faltered in his steps, making her bump her nose into his back. When she looked up again, she saw it. A flash of silver running straight for her.
Darius.
He sped up and caught up with them, grabbing her arms and pulling her from her abductor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they tumbled to the ground.
“Run, Adrianna!” he urged as he scrambled to his feet. “Get away from here.”
He turned around to face the man coming after them. As her vision focused, she saw something metallic in the other man’s hand. A gun.
“No!” she screamed. Darius lunged for the man, and his body jerked as three gunshots echoed through the garage. Her inner wolf howled, and she struggled to control it while getting to her feet. As she stumbled towards them, she heard a fourth gunshot.
“Oh, God!” Darius was lying down on the cement floor on his back, his shirt stained with red. The other man was a few feet away, facedown and unmoving, blood beginning to seep out from under his body. “Darius! Darius, please!” She knelt down and cradled his face in her hands. “Please be okay! Don’t die!”
His eyelids flew open, and he gave her a weak grin. “I won’t.” To her horror, he let out a sick gurgle and spat out some blood. “The bullets went through. My body will heal in no time.”
She knew he was right; he was a Lycan after all and the wounds were probably starting to close already. It didn’t stop that pit in the bottom of her stomach from forming. “I should get some help. I can call—”
“No!” His hand grasped at the lapel of her jacket. “No. I’m fine. We should go. I can’t be found here like this.”
She hesitated but realized that if they got the authorities involved, it would be terribly messy. They could cause trouble for the Virginia clan, and the senator would not like that. “I have a suite. We can go there.” She hooked her arms under his chest. “Can you make it up the stairs?”
“I can,” he said.
He was heavy, but she was a Lycan too. She could carry him up bridal-style, but he would probably protest. The walk up twelve flights of stairs wouldn’t be good for his wounds, but using the elevators were too risky.
They were nearing the staircase entrance when a loud screech made them both look behind. Loud shouts and curses came from the direction of where they had left her
