Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six
Graham didn’t receive any response from his mindlink. The rush of emotions he felt through the bond though, the relief, the hope, the love, flowed around him and he let his head fall back as he relished the feel of his mate so close to him. Not even the wolfsbane-laced shackles around his wrists and ankles could diminish the pleasure he felt at being so close to getting her back. He could smell her everywhere. The orange vanilla scent of his mate had clogged his senses for the past thirty miles. Now the intensity of it nearly drove him to his knees.
The grin on his face remained even as the doors to the foyer slammed open and Dominic DeAngelo stormed in. Stuart and Gerald were hot on his heels. Dominic looked absolutely enraged.
“How the fuck is he here?” he asked Stuart who watched with his mouth open.
“I…
“You’ve been in contact with your mother, correct?” Dominic asked.
“Yes, she…”
“And you said this morning they were still running amuck without any clue, did you not?”
“Ah, go easy on the kid,” Graham interjected.
Dominic swiveled and Graham saw a flash of uncertainty and fear run through his eyes. The vein in his forehead pumped furiously.
“Perhaps he got bad information,” Graham suggested with a smirk.
Dominic’s head fell back in aggravation. “Have you searched him?” Dominic asked his guards.
“Yes, Sir,” one of the guards behind Graham answered.
The guard rushed forward and handed the bag of items they’d found. He pulled a phone out and Stuart gasped. He lunged forward and snatched it from Dominic.
“Did you fucking hurt her?” Stuart roared.
Graham winked. Stuart walked up and punched him in the jaw. Graham went down on one knee and spat blood. Another blow hit him on the same side. Graham lurched sideways but managed to stay on his knee.
“Enough, Stuart,” Dominic barked.
Stuart was breathing heavily but stepped back. “Fine. I’ll be seeing you later anyway and I’ll make you pay.”
Dominic ignored Stuart as he stepped back beside him. Dominic walked to Graham and squatted down in front of him. He held up the second phone, covered in the councilman’s blood. “This belonged to Levi. Didn’t it?”
Graham looked upward. “Levi… Levi… Name doesn’t ring a bell. Describe him for me.”
Dominic scoffed and stood away. He threw the phone down to the wooden floor, shattering it with the force. “Levi’s no good. Call Mitchell. Get him here at once,” Dominic ordered. He turned back around and crossed his arms to observe Graham. “So, you’re here, in chains. What is the endgame?”
Graham’s good humor evaporated. He spat more blood on the ground and ran his tongue over his teeth. He grunted as he stood up and straightened his back. At his full height, he could look down at Dominic DeAngelo.
“I want to see her.”
Dominic barked a laugh. He looked around at the amused expressions his guards wore. “You’re joking. You think I’ll let that happen?”
Graham shrugged. “Unless you have doubt in your entrapment methods,” Graham suggested, holding his hands up for emphasis. “What could it hurt?” Graham took a few steps forward, hindered slightly by the chains connecting his feet together. Dominic’s eyes went down to track his movement. Gerald and Stuart took a few steps back. “You get me, all dressed up and ready for Stu’s lame attempt at torture. You let me see her. I’ll follow you down to your
dungeon and let you lock me up and throw away the key.”
Dominic slowly eliminated the space between them. He laughed through his nose as poked Graham’s handcuffs. “Normally when bargaining, you have to possess some kind of leverage. What’s yours? The other council members? Do you really think a little political red tape will keep me from possessing her?”
Graham tilted his head forward, getting into Dominic’s face. “You want leverage? You let me see her or…” Graham’s hands jerked forward toward Dominic. Dominic jerked back.
“What the fuck are you…”
Graham snatched Dominic’s gun from his belt and took several short steps back before he placed the gun under his own chin. Dominic immediately held his arms up, stopping his guards from moving forward.
“Or I take away the thing you need most in this world with a little twitch of my finger,” Graham threatened.
“Your death won’t affect her.”
Graham smirked. “No?” He shrugged and moved his finger to the trigger.
“Stop!” Dominic yelled. “Fuck!” He threw his hands down in frustration. “Get her. Now!”
Two guards closest to the door went scrambling through it. Graham kept the barrel of the gun pressed firmly to his chin while he waited. Dominic paced.
“Stuart is going to carve you to pieces,” Dominic growled.
“Make the blade extra dull and rusty,” Graham requested with a wink.
Graham heard heels clicking in rapid succession down the hallway outside the door. He tried to keep his face twisted in a devil-may-care expression while his heart threatened to break through his rib cage. His hand shook slightly and he prayed no one noticed.
“Which door?” Catherine yelled and his body shook. Dominic definitely noticed that.
The door opened and his mate rushed in. Their eyes locked and her steps faltered. Her blotchy face became ashen at the sight before her. Her brow crinkled over her eyes while her expression twisted with fifteen emotions at once.
“Graham,” she breathed. She started to move toward him but was immediately seized by Dominic.
Graham’s eyes sharpened as she screamed in his grasp. Dominic held her by her waist and yanked her back to the other end of the room.
“Hold her, dammit,” Dominic ordered Stuart.
Stuart grabbed Catherine from behind. He held her tightly around the waist. Her eyes blackened and her back arched as she tried to shift. Stuart clamped his arm around Catherine’s neck, stopping her from turning lycan. After watching her attempt to get to him, the barrel of the gun was pressed so firmly to the soft skin of his jaw it was drawing blood.
“You’ve seen her,” Dominic argued. “Drop the gun.”
Graham watched Catherine’s face turn red. She shook her head. A metallic glint caught his eye a moment before Catherine plunged a steak knife into Stuart’s thigh. Stuart groaned in pain but did not release her. Catherine pulled the knife out again and drove it in harder. Gerald took her wrist and twisted until she dropped the knife to the ground. Then he hauled his hand back and slapped her. Graham’s growl vibrated the paintings on the wall. He pulled back the hammer of the gun.
“Enough! Take her away and drop the gun!” Dominic ordered.
“No,” Graham whispered.
“No? We had a deal.”
“And now it’s changing. Let her go, Stuart, or I’ll pump your head full of silver and leave one for myself.”
Dominic rubbed his face. “Do it.”
Stuart released Catherine who fell to the floor. She coughed and hacked as she tried to suck air through her bruised windpipe.
“She can come get the gun.”
“Not a chance.”
“She takes it, or it stays where it is. Hurry up. My fingers are cramping,” Graham warned.
Without waiting for permission, Catherine staggered up to her feet and ran toward him. When she reached him, she fell into him. Graham dropped the gun and held her the best he could while being handcuffed.
“Hey, Baby,” he whispered into her hair. “It’s okay.”
“What have you done?” she asked, sobbing.
She looked up and cupped his face. Dominic growled behind them and started toward them to break their embrace. Before he could, Catherine sealed her mouth over his. Graham groaned and drove her head back with the force of his kiss. She moaned and gripped his hair hard.
Come find me tonight, he spoke to her mind the moment before Dominic grabbed her upper arm and spun her away.
Dominic’s fist connected with Graham’s jaw, sending him to the ground. Graham chuckled as he lifted himself back up. Then he noticed the changing scent in the air. He glanced up to look at his mate whose aroused scent caught everyone’s attention. Dominic looked at her flushed face and then back to Graham. He started to laugh and with each passing second Graham’s fury grew and grew.
“Well, well, well, I guess we found the missing ingredient we needed,” Dominic said, stepping up to Catherine and inhaling deep. She stepped back only to be caught by Gerald. “I suppose I should thank you, Graham. You’ve just set off her heat. Maybe I’ll get to claim her a night sooner than I thought.”
Graham growled. “Touch her and die.”
“Right, right,” Dominic waved his hand at Stuart. “Take him down below and do what you will.” He stepped closer to Catherine whose eyes turned black and glowing blue.
“Don’t touch me,” she warned.
“I won’t… not until you’re begging for it.” Dominic looked to Graham who was being lifted up by the guards around him. “Based on your scent, I’m guessing that’ll be a few hours?”
The door opened and Curtis strolled in. Graham glared at the man whose face seemed bright and far too healthy. He was succeeding in taking Chloe’s magic.
“I was told you needed me,” Curtis said with a look of disinterest toward Graham.
“Yes,” Dominic said. “I’ll need you to sever the mindlink between these two. Don’t want them hatching any plans.”
Curtis nodded. He held his head back and closed his eyes.
Graham, I…
Then Catherine’s voice was gone. She kept her face impassive but her pupils were wide with fear. She shook her head and he smiled. A moment later the butt of a gun connected with his temple and his world went black.
