---

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 
BENTLEY
“Well… this isn’t looking too good,” I say. “I’m sorry you guys were dragged into this.”
My cellmates look angry enough to tear the place down with their bare hands, but Marcus pats my back. “It’s not your fault they’re royal dickballs.” That’s the moment a guard decides to do his rounds. Marcus’s attention fixates on the young man walking past whose whole body stills out of fear.
Marcus steps toward him, wicked grin on his face. “Just wait until I get out of this place. I will ruin every… last… one of you,” he says, and the man literally crumples to the ground and tries to belly crawl away because Marcus’s aura is so suppressing. It’s quite remarkable, if I do say so myself.
“Ah, so much torture,” Alexei says before laughing. Literally laughing. They’re meant to be best friends; it’s wildly unclear how they haven’t noticed this yet.
We weren’t told anything as we were taken here and crammed into the cell. They refused to answer questions or even acknowledge us as I wonder how far this will go. Will they fabricate something to keep us behind bars? They planned to just arrest me, but the moment Marcus stood up for me, they arrested him and Alexei for interfering with the arrest. They gave them no second chances, telling me that they were looking for a reason to arrest them.
I sink down on a bench and sigh loudly while the other two taunt the guard.
“He pissed himself!” Alexei says.
“Weak little human,” Marcus says and they both grin.
They’re insane. That’s all there is to it. But they stood up for me and went to jail for me, so I guess I have to embrace their insanity.
“Thank you guys so much for all of this,” I say. “I’m really sorry about this.”
“It’s fine. Finn’s pretty damn smart, he’ll figure out how to get us out of this. I bet he’s working really hard to get us out.”
      
RIVER
“Oooh, I love popcorn,” Finn says as he shoves a handful into his mouth, and I can’t help but glare at him. Because I too love popcorn and can currently eat none of it.
Banshee is sitting on my lap as the three of us stare at each other across the table.
“So we have the location of the sale. We just need to expose them and the sale, right?” I ask.
Finn tosses a piece of popcorn at Artie, his mammoth dog. “We’ll need to figure out how to get in, which is our current issue. I mean, I know I’m pretty awesome but trying to sell me off might be a bit hard. We don’t know how the sale works, or if anyone can bring humans, which I highly doubt. If they could, there’d be way more risk of people fucking up.”
I try to think. “Well, there were a lot of humans there as like… pets. The vampires would bring them in and drag them around for fun, it seemed.”
“Ah, okay. I can be a pet.”
“I’ll see what I can do to get us in,” Claude says. “If I can nab the identity of two vampires, then perhaps we can waltz right in.”
“The issue we fall into is even if we expose them, what happens when they cover it right up again,” Finn says. “So let’s say we find out Governor White or whoever the fuck is involved in this and then what? Bowman just has us arrested and he has a whole army of vampires to back him up.”
Banshee takes that moment to yowl for no real reason before smacking a piece of popcorn that’d fallen out of Finn’s bowl. Hela, Finn’s tiny dog, snatches the flying piece right out of the air, very satisfied. “What if… okay, so what if I record it and make the video live like I did with the others? What if I wear a camera and live stream it? Of course they’ll try to take it down, but it could take them minutes or more to remove it and we could have the whole damn world on our side,” I say. “You guys struggled to get the video down every time I streamed, so I might get enough recorded to help us put them all under.”
Finn points at me. “That’s an excellent idea. They’ll know we’re there, though, so we’ll have to be careful. I’ll get you a body cam through Brooks, and we’ll set up an account and do our best to keep it from being taken down immediately. This could work.”
He grabs his bowl of popcorn and takes off as Claude turns to his computer. I’m not sure what else to do, so I just set up a new account to stream from as Banshee chases after Hela for daring to eat her popcorn. Hela thinks this is a wonderfully fun game, no matter how threatening Banshee appears.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 
RIVER
According to Corbyn, there’s little way to get into the sale beyond an invite. Even Claude struggled to get anything concrete to get ourselves in.
“Are you a little concerned Claude says he’s got an idea?” I ask curiously as we wait for Claude to arrive. We’re about a block from the location that Corbyn directed us to and I’m anxious that none of this is going to work. “Or concerned that Corbyn might have lied and we’re walking into a death trap?”
“When you hang around with this crew, River,” Finn says, “you just gotta let go and assume that nothing will go to plan but somehow it all works out. It’s been three days with Marcus and the others in jail, but I just have to look at the upside. There’s so much more room in bed for me, Artie, and Hela.”
I smile at him because I know he’s just trying to make me feel better. “Banshee’s pretty happy too. You should have seen her prancing around the bed the first night, kneading everything.”
Finn laughs before his laughter is sucked out of him, and I turn to see what happened.
For wanting to “blend in,” Claude clearly didn’t get the memo. He’s in a horribly bright pink suit that literally shimmers in the light. It’s covered in some type of tiny plastic diamonds that sparkle in the streetlight and confuse me greatly.
“Claude, we’re trying to sneak in, not whatever the hell this is!” Finn says, clearly alarmed.
Claude hesitates, like he’s confused. “What? Is the hair too much?” he asks as he runs his hand through his brown hair styled to perfection.
“What hair?” Finn asks. “I didn’t even know you had hair. Are you planning on blinding them with your jacket? Is that what this is?”
“My jacket? What’s wrong with my jacket? It’s gorgeous. Now since you two showed up looking like hoodlums, like I assumed, I’ve brought you some clothing. Quickly now, let’s get dressed, my lover and my pet.”
“Oh, dear god,” Finn says as he opens the bag then shields his eyes. “The colors! No!”
Claude sighs. “You’re not cute when you’re all sassy,” he says as he pulls out a neon green faux leather… bodysuit? I’m just thankful as fuck when I see it’s far too small for me.
“No.”
Claude stares Finn down. “The clock is ticking.”
Finn groans but slips into the car, out of sight, to change. There are a lot of unnecessary noises that go on as he struggles to pull it on. Claude pulls out what looks like a pink chainmail shirt that he tries stuffing me into. I grudgingly do as I’m told before he forces me into a bulky leather vest. “There’s a little pocket in there for the body cam,” he says.
“Oh, dear god, this is what I’m going to die in. I’m going to die a leprechaun,” Finn says as he claws his way out of the vehicle in the faux leather bodysuit.
“Oh shush,” Claude says as he ties some type of kilt-looking thing around his waist, loads him down with necklaces and smacks glitter on his cheeks. “And then the final touch!”
He wraps a spiked collar around Finn’s throat and snaps a leash onto it.
“Oh, dear god, I wish Marcus could see you now!” Claude says and then he cackles. Like even he sees how ridiculous this all is.
“Dude, I haven’t even made it this far with Marcus,” Finn says as he gives the leash a tug.
“We are not going to blend in at all,” I say as I check the camera. All I have to do now is switch it on and, using my phone, push it into the live feed.
“That’s the thing. If we’re sneaking around, of course we won’t be let in, but like this? Who could turn us away?” Claude asks, like this is some big brain move, when I think he’s just insane.
“Everyone,” I say.
“Your kinky boy also says everyone,” Finn says.
“Shush, my kinky boy. You are now my pet. Now final touches, everyone wears a mask here, and then let’s go.” He puts a simple black mask in my hand before putting an identical one on himself and Finn.
Then he loops his arm with mine, gives Finn’s leash a little tug, and takes off.
I glance over at Finn through the mask. “We’re going to die, aren’t we?”
Finn nods without hesitation. “Yes. Just be happy to know you’ll die looking like this,” he says as he reaches out and pats my cheek. I think it’s supposed to be a reassuring pat before I realize he was just wiping his glitter all over me. “You will die an armored biker and I will die a kinky boy.”
“You two are so dramatic! Do I need to tape your mouth shut, because I will!” Claude threatens. How he doesn’t see the issue with this, I’ll never know.
“Woe is me,” Finn says. “This will be the life and death of kinky boy.”
I can’t help but grin as Claude pulls him in close. “You’ll be kinky boy with a stinging ass if you don’t straighten up,” he says.
“I’m shuddering in my panties.”
Now I’m just trying not to laugh as we get close. Claude pulls the door open and we head down the stairs to where a man stands.
“Who are you?” he asks as I start to feel strange, and that’s when I realize it’s Claude’s aura.
“I am the best thing that’s ever happened to you,” Claude purrs as he steps up into him so close they’re touching. Then he leans in and whispers something into his ear.
And as if it’s nothing at all, the man pulls the door open and waves us inside. “Have a good time.”
“Why, thank you. Come along, pet and lover,” Claude says.
“What the hell was that?” I whisper as we step inside what looks like a fancy club. It’s definitely not the sale room I was anticipating. Are we at the wrong place?
“Just pushing my aura out,” Claude says.
“Don’t auras generally make people fear vampires to the point of submission so they feed on them?” I ask.
“They can, but fear and thrill run hand in hand sometimes,” Claude says. “So I just played on his desire and he walked right into it. As easy as that.”
“Wait… so you could have mojoed Alexei at any time, and instead you let him abuse you forever?” Finn asks.
“I don’t like doing it and I rarely do. I would never do it to someone I care about,” Claude says. “And it definitely doesn’t work on everyone. You have to be up against someone who wants to be charmed. Using Corbyn’s information, I looked up the man and found that he is a participant in a sex addicts anonymous group and would probably fall victim to my advances. It was easy and I would care about it being immoral if he weren’t involved in this.”
“True. Does any of this look familiar to you, River?” Finn asks.
“I’m sorry, what’s that? My eyes are burning from looking at your shimmer,” I say.
He glares at me. “Not funny.”
I grin as I look around and the anxiety of being here makes my smile fall. “No, it doesn’t… do you think we have the wrong place?”
“Well, I can hear noise farther back,” Claude says. “This way.” He gives Finn a tug, which I’m positive Claude’s enjoying too much. “We’ll need to get a few selfies for Marcus. He’ll love seeing you all tied up.”
“And probably murder you.”
“Perhaps,” he says as I realize that Claude doesn’t look that different from some of the other people here. Along with everyone wearing masks, quite a few of them are dressed oddly or uniquely.
He leads us toward another doorway when the lights flicker on and off, like we’re at some theater waiting during break. Without hesitation, everyone gets up and hurries for the door, catching us in the thick of it.
In case it’s dark enough in there to draw attention to me if I pull my phone out, I tuck it into my vest and start the stream, but I don’t turn on the camera yet. All that’ll require is a simple button. I’ll wait until I’m sure things will get started, in case they catch wind and I scare them off too quickly.
“It’s on,” I whisper, and the others nod as Claude pulls me along into an open room. The moment I see the room, my anxiety lunges up. I really don’t want to be here again. I don’t want to see it, I don’t want to think about it. Gently, Claude guides me into a seat and since the “pet” humans don’t seem to be allowed a seat, he pulls Finn onto his lap and hugs him close.
Claude leans into me. “Calm down. It’s fine. We’re here with you.” He sets a reassuring hand on my leg and pats it.
Someone steps onto the stage and I switch the camera on. “We’ll get started immediately with our first auction item,” the man says as a cage with a human in it is rolled onto the stage. They’re clearly drugged because they just sit there and stare off into space as someone rushes up and says something to the announcer.
“That was fast. I think they’re already on to us,” Finn says as the doors to the room swing shut.
“They’re going to kill us,” I whisper.
“Release the location in the video,” Finn says. “That’ll fuck with them.”
I pull out my phone and quickly type the location into the comment section. Hopefully the police officers who come to help aren’t working for White and Bowman, but it’s clear they will be.
So then I type: Governor White and Chief of Police Bowman are involved and will do everything they can to keep this quiet. They’ve already arrested three officers from the VRC for investigating. We need your help to stop human trafficking. I was one of the people they trafficked, and I will be here to end this, but we need your help. There are only three of us and fifty of them.
I press send and a mere minute after I do, the feed goes blank, telling me they managed to cut it. Was I able to get it out fast enough? Would anyone even bother showing if I did?
“It seems that we have a traitor in our midst who has managed to sneak in and is trying to expose our identities. If you do not want your identity exposed, you’ll find them and bring them to me,” the man on the stage says. From here, with that body type, I’m left guessing that it’s Governor White.
Everyone is looking around as I try my best not to look suspicious.
“Alright. Well, you all know what to do,” White says, and I watch in confusion as everyone turns and says something to the person next to them while the three of us hesitate far too long. There isn’t even a split second of hesitation before someone lunges at Claude and I stare in amazement at how fast Claude has them on the ground, neck at an odd angle. I guess I forgot Claude was older and not just all pizzazz.
“Bring them to me,” White growls. “Dead or alive.”
Finn whips out a gun and just starts nailing them as I stand there unsure of what to do. I’m still having trouble not tripping over my own feet when they move faster than I’m used to.
Someone drives me into the ground and I kick them hard, struggling to get them off me. Panic socks me in the stomach, reminding me of when Corbyn would set them loose on me, and I punch them in the face hard enough they howl.
Swift as that, Claude grabs me and gets me up on my feet where Finn squishes me between him and Claude.
“Finn, you’re more at risk!” I say.
“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to chance you getting hurt,” he says as he sizes up the enemy which includes far too many vampires. “We are with the VRC and everyone who is in this building is under arrest. If you try to attack me or my—”
Someone chucks something at Finn and Claude pulls him out of the way a split second before it nails him in the face.
“While you look super cute being all bossy, I don’t think they care,” Claude says.
“I don’t think they do either,” Finn says as they zero in on us. “Let’s… head toward the exit, alright?”
Before we can do anything, a group of them rushes in. Finn tries his best to keep them at a distance while I try to figure out how to fight without a gun or a needle to drug them with. I’m thrown back and slam against the wall as I elbow someone off me and turn to rush to the others, but I don’t see them.
Suddenly, something is wrapped around my neck and I’m torn backward through a doorway and dragged down a hall.
“You think you can make a fool of me? They all blame me for this shit. Like I was going to know you were such a fucking hassle when I took you. Yet I get blamed while Bowman is the real fuckup here when he created that monster,” Novak, the doctor who’d taken me, growls. Finally, the man who started the chain of events is back for me to destroy and ruin, but again, I don’t know how to stop him.
I scratch and claw at my neck, trying to grasp the thin wire being held against it. He throws me hard onto the ground, sending my mask flying as I look up at the man leering down at me. He pins me to the ground, hand around my throat as he uses his weight to keep me down.
“I wanted to keep you from the moment I saw you, but I wasn’t allowed to. I guess you’re mine now.”
I bring my head up hard and fast, slamming into his.
It seems to do nothing but piss Novak off as he grabs my head and slams it against the ground, making my vision spotty.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR 
BENTLEY
“There is another live stream possibly connected to the ones earlier in the year.”
I perk up at the sound of the newscaster. One of the guards is staring at his phone as he walks past us.
“Hold on,” I say as I scramble to my feet.
The man, probably having heard what Marcus has done to almost every other person who has walked by, jumps to the right, startled.
“No, sorry to scare you. I’m just wondering what’s going on in the news,” I say as I press myself against the vampire-proof bars.
“Oh…” He hesitates before walking over to us and holding the phone up for me to see.
The newswoman is in a tiny box in the corner, but the main screen is filled with what looks like the sale Corbyn told us about.
“What the fuck are those three up to?” Marcus growls. “Why can’t they just be good? Like read a book or watch TV!”
“Are we positive it’s them?” I ask, even though everything is telling me this camera is River’s doing.
“I’d recognize that shimmering arm anywhere,” Alexei says with a sigh.
“Oh dear god,” Marcus says as he rubs his head. “They’re going to get killed. They’re going to get killed while we’re stuck in here for no fucking reason!” He punches the bars hard enough there’s the audible breaking of his hand. “FUCK!” he hisses then stomps around the room holding his hand out before him like it’s betrayed him.
“I’m so glad I’m smarter than him,” Alexei says. “Hey… man… let us out.” Alexei’s attempt at nicely asking the man to let us free seems to confuse him greatly. It even confuses me some. “Bro,” he tacks on.
“Huh?” the guard asks, rightfully bewildered.
“Do you understand what’s going on here?” I ask. “That’s a human trafficking ring that our partners in the VRC have just uncovered. They’ve risked their lives to get this information. The people involved in it are the ones who wrongfully arrested us. You need to let us out so we can save all those humans and our partners.”
“Um… I’m just a guy who works here. I would go to prison if I let you guys out and I don’t even have the means to if I wanted to.” He just gives us a shrug.
“You have to have some way to. If there was a fire, they wouldn’t just let everyone burn. You can get us out,” Marcus says, hand seemingly back to normal.
The door opens and I look over as Brooks rushes over to us with Briar and the deputy chief of the humans in tow. Deputy Chief Burns is a nice woman who I haven’t had much contact with since we seem to be divided during cases. “We need to get down to this location immediately. Claude, River, and Finn thought they’d just sneak off and take on the bad guys alone because the three of them clearly don’t have a brain between them,” Brooks says.
“Why’d you let him go alone?” Marcus snarls. Brooks hesitates, like he’s thinking that maybe leaving Marcus behind bars would be ideal.
“You think I went ‘Here ya go, boys. Run off alone right into the middle of a pit of bad people without any help or guidance or anything’? You think that’s what I said?” A man comes out to join us and opens the door.
“Yes. That’s exactly what you said,” Marcus decides. “Let’s go.”
He rushes out, having no idea where he’s going or how he’s getting there, leaving the rest of us to run after him. I guess knowing Marcus is also going to tear the world apart helps make me feel a little better that we’ll be able to get the others out of this alive. Once we’re past the door Brooks and the others came in through, Marcus seems unsure of where to go.
“Which way is the goddamn door out!” Marcus yells as he grabs a door and tears it right off the wall.
“That’s the broom closet, you dumbass,” Alexei says, highly amused while stepping this way and that like he also has no idea how to get out but is ready to kick some ass to get there.
“This way,” Deputy Chief Burns says as she leads us out. “So I have my team already headed to the location and they should be arriving any moment to secure the area.”
“You mean we’re finally going to let humans help us?” I ask Brooks.
Brooks nods. “Well, the person who has been so adamant about humans not being a part of the department is currently under speculation of being involved, so yes. The humans are going to help us. They have as much or more of a stake in this than us,” he says as we hurry out to the car. We all cram into the same vehicle since no one seemed to have thought to bring a second one. There’s nothing like having Marcus on your lap while he threatens to burn down the whole city to find Finn.
I decide to distract myself by snapping a picture that I will send to Finn to make his day when we finally find him and make sure he’s safe.
“Did you just… take a picture of me?” Marcus asks.
“It’s for Finn,” I say before I find myself headless.
His lethal attitude plummets. “Ah… fine. Fine. Finn does enjoy strange things.”
We quickly realize that River’s dumping of information makes it nearly impossible to get within two blocks of the place because people are flocking to it—whether out of curiosity or the desire to help, I’m not sure. The amount of vehicles, police and otherwise, makes Burns stop the car in the middle of the traffic jam and get out right there. The rest of us rush through a group of people who really think they’re helping but are quite unsure of what to do since they have no tie-in with law enforcement.
“I’ll find my group and see how to get us—and he’s already in,” she says as she watches Marcus shoving innocent people out of the way and tearing a door open. I rush after him and Alexei is hot on our trail.
“Most of the time, Marcus is just annoying but for once I happen to appreciate it,” Alexei says as he gives an innocent human that Marcus missed a toss.
The human police follow us in and start grabbing anyone who is trying to flee. The issue is they’re vampires and the humans are having trouble keeping them down. I want to help, but I need to get to River. I need to make sure he’s all right.
“We got this, get going,” Brooks says as he and Briar take a stand at the door with the armed police beside him.
“This way,” I say as I catch River’s scent and rush for a door. We shove our way through it—mostly pushing each other because we can’t seem to realize that being the last doesn’t mean we’re the worst of the three.
I immediately see Claude because the outfit he’s wearing makes him look like a horribly glittering pink target and rush over. Someone at that moment decides to grab Finn’s neck only to have his own neck crushed in Marcus’s grip.
“Marcus!” Finn says excitedly. “We definitely could use your help.”
“Where’s River?” I ask.
Finn shakes his head. “I don’t know. There’s been so much chaos. I lost sight of him only a minute ago. We told him to stay between us but when I was thrown back, he moved out to help me.”
I try to catch his scent, but there’s so much going on that I can’t find it. But unless he’s hidden on the ground somewhere, I don’t think he’s in this room. There are only two doors out, the one I came through and one on the opposite wall that people aren’t bothering to go through. Does that mean it doesn’t have an exit? Is he down there?
I push against the throngs of bodies and through the door into a hallway where I catch a whiff of River’s scent. I slow as I try to place which way he went. Cautiously, I move forward, carefully listening as I hear a hushed voice and then silence. Did they hear me coming? Do they know I’m here?
“River?” I call.
“Bentley? Bentley, he’s here—”
I run forward and push open a door and see River lying on the ground, holding his throat as blood runs down his chest. Why’s there so much blood? Is he okay? What happened to him?
Suddenly, there’s a rush of movement before someone slams into me. Quickly, I grab them and throw them off but not before he draws something tight around my throat. Knowing he won’t kill me with it, I dive my head down, cutting off my own oxygen as I throw him forward and grab him before slamming him to the ground. He’s up, but before he can do anything, River’s stabbed him in the chest.
“You ruined my life, you fucking asshole,” he cries as he stabs him again. The man, older and stronger than River, grabs for him, but I reach out and tear him to the ground where I throw him onto his stomach and yank his hands behind his back. I hear the far door open before Finn comes running in.
“I have handcuffs,” he says as he wipes at blood on his cheek.
“Thanks,” I say as I grab them and snap them over one of the man’s wrists before I see River rush past. There’s a full moment before I realize that he wasn’t trying to just get away. He smelled the blood on Finn.
He tears Finn to the ground and latches on to his throat just above the collar as Finn hits the ground on his back.
“River, stop!” I yell as I leap off the man I’m pinning down to stop River before he hurts or kills Finn.
“Hey, it’s okay, just let go of me, River,” Finn says, as calm as can be. How the hell he can still be calm when his life is in danger, I’ll never know.
I wrap my arms around River, but I don’t want him to tear Finn’s throat open, especially when River’s eyes are dilated and his movements are wild. He growls at me like a feral animal as I try my best to reason with him.
“River, please let go. Finn, shoot him with a tranq.”
“I don’t have any left. He’s fine, he’ll let go,” Finn says calmly, but I’m not calm because he could kill him so easily. A young vampire is rarely a rational one. I shouldn’t even have him around Finn.
“River, please. Please let go of him.”
River slowly begins to open his mouth, pulling his fangs off Finn as he realizes what’s happening.
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry,” he whispers, and that’s the moment I feel the cold metal of a gun against my head right before I hear a gun being fired twice in quick bursts.
      
RIVER
The sound deafens me for a moment as I sit there stunned. Finn’s on the ground where I put him—where I attacked him—and Bentley is slumped over him, blood oozing from wounds in his head.
Novak keeps the gun aimed at Finn as he loops an arm around my throat. “Move and I’ll kill him,” he says.
“No, no, no, please,” I whisper as I reach for Bentley. Why isn’t he moving? Why did this happen? This is all because I attacked Finn. If I hadn’t attacked Finn, everything would have been fine. It would’ve been all right because Bentley already had Novak down.
“Just let River go and we’ll let you go. We’ll turn our backs. Won’t even mention you were here,” Finn tries to assure the man.
I can’t see Novak with him behind me, but I can hear the huff of his laugh. “Oh, I don’t care what you say. I have what I want,” he says as he grabs Finn and pulls him to his feet. He lets go of me, which surprises me until I realize what’s going on. “I’m going to shoot the human if you don’t follow along like a good boy.”
“No, please,” I whisper as I look back at Bentley who is still unconscious. He couldn’t die from that, right? He’ll be fine, right? But the gun is Finn’s, I think, not Novak’s. What kind of bullets did it have in it?
“Come,” he snarls and starts dragging Finn away and I’m left with no option but to walk after him as he hauls Finn out through a back door where he binds him and then me with the vampire-grade handcuffs Bentley had been planning on putting on him. Once we’re both tied up, he drags us out into a fenced-in alleyway and right into another building. We’re taken down a set of stairs as I question what to do.
      
BENTLEY
“Fucking wake up, Sleeping Beauty!” Marcus shouts, and I’m violently shaken awake.
“Good god, what the hell is wrong with you?” I ask as the world spins around me.
“Where’s Finn?”
I sit up so quickly that I smash my head into the side of Marcus’s which makes him reel back with a roar. “River?” I push up to my feet and stumble before Marcus catches me.
“I can smell Finn’s blood. Where is he?” he growls.
“Brother, calm down. It looks like Bentley was shot through the head, give him a moment. He’s barely healed,” Claude says. “I can smell Finn’s blood this way.”
Claude hurries off and Marcus drags me after them.
“I let him out of my sight for one fucking minute and he’s gone,” Marcus says, but the catch in his voice doesn’t go by unnoticed. He’s upset and I don’t blame him. I just have to wrap my head around what’s going on as soon as it stops oozing blood and I can comprehend what’s happening.
“I had him,” I say. “The man attacking River… I had him.”
“Well, now you don’t,” Marcus growls.
Claude steps between us. “Marcus, calm the fuck down. Do you really think it’s Bentley’s fault he was shot in the head and doesn’t know where the others are? We’ll find both of them.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I panicked, and I let my guard down.”
Marcus sighs. “I know. It’s okay.”
We keep moving as we follow the scent across the alleyway and into the opposite building. When we push the next door open, I come face to face with Chief Bowman who is standing in the room completely alone.
“I will fucking ki—” Marcus starts.
“Hold on, hold on,” Bowman says with a smile as he holds his hands in the air.
If Corbyn wasn’t lying, this is the man who twisted his life around, ruining it.
“Where are they?” I growl.
“I’ll kill you.” Marcus is ready to do just that, but Bowman looks relaxed and happy as he just smiles at him.
“Sadly, if you kill me, you’ll never find them. Or, if you do, they’ll be nothing more than corpses. You guys do not want to fuck with me. You are merely pests to me. I control all of this—everything that’s going on—and you’ll soon find out that I’ll control the four of you too… do you even work for the VRC?” he asks Claude. He waves him off, not bothering to wait for an answer. “You guys can walk out of here right now and tell them that I’m the big bad guy.” His voice is so condescending that it’s clear he’s talking down to us. “But if you want the human and the other one back alive, you’re going to cooperate, and when I tell the world how thankful I am to the brave detectives in the VRC for stopping this heinous crime, you’re going to shake my hand and smile for the cameras.”
“You’re going to give me Finn and River back or I will kill you,” Marcus growls.
Bowman doesn’t even seem concerned. “And if you try, they’re both going to die. If you take even a fucking step toward me, I’m going to have them both killed. Do you want their blood on your hands? So you have one choice: turn around and go back to helping round them all up and I’ll let them live, or condemn me and send them to their deaths.”
Claude steps up behind Marcus and sets a hand on his shoulder. “Brother, be careful. We don’t know what he’s planning.”
“I’m planning on killing both of them if you don’t listen.”
“Say we listen,” I say. “How do we know you’ll give them back to us? How do we know you won’t hurt them?”
Bowman smiles as though he’s excited for this question. “I guess you don’t. But I know Corbyn has been spouting shit to you. I can break these two just as easily as I broke him. It doesn’t take much.”
How could I have let this happen? I’m nearly shaking from anger at the thought that this man… this man could touch River; he could hurt him.
“If I don’t call Novak in two minutes, he has permission to hurt one of them. It’s our way of making sure this goes through. So, please, take your time deciding if you don’t care which one gets hurt first. Humans are so much easier to break but I love the challenge of breaking a vampire.”
Marcus growls but Claude keeps him held back as I realize what pure rage feels like for the first time in my life.
“Your time is ticking. Thirty seconds. Are you going to turn around or am I going to have to break some fingers? We’ll start easy on them.”
Alexei pushes me back. “We will turn around and walk out of this room but every day, at least once a day, you will show us a live feed of both of them where they will talk to us so we can see that they are alright. If you fail to do this, we will ruin you. Do you understand?”
“Ah, easy enough,” Bowman says, so extremely amused by all of this. “I’ll let you have a few minutes every day. Won’t that be nice?”
“Come on,” Alexei says as he tugs my arm. But I can’t just leave, can I? I can’t just let him take River from me.
“No, I can’t. Please give him back. Please! I’ll do anything—” I plead.
Bowman cuts me off. “Perfect. Then fuck off.”
Alexei shoves me out of the room and Claude pulls Marcus after us. “We can’t let them do this. We can’t—”
“Fuck!” Marcus yells.
“Stop this, Marcus,” Claude says. “We have to think reasonably. We have a promise he’s keeping them safe because he knows that he won’t make it anywhere if he doesn’t have something being held over our heads. You’ve solved so many cases that I’m positive if you take a step back and think it through, we can figure this one out too.”
Marcus takes a deep breath and nods as Claude wraps him up in his arms. And the moment Marcus sinks into Claude, I realize that I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so alone.