Lucky (Inked Menace MC 1) (9 page)

A sound roused her from slumber, plucking her from a wonderful dream filled with sunshine, happy babies, and a rushing river of healing.

“Come with us,” a sinister voice whispered near her ear, rancid breath blowing across her face as a hand covered her mouth.

Cecelia stilled, inhaling deep, then snapped open her eyes to meet the crazy stare of the Delta Dogs hyena. He jammed a knee against her ribs, pressing her down into the mattress to keep her from moving.

“If you come quietly, we won’t kill your mate.”

She glanced left out of the corner of her eye just as a gleam of light glanced off of a silver knife poised at Lucky’s throat. “We shot him up with a sedative, but we’re not above killing him to make you cooperate.”

Cecelia nodded once, wondering if she should struggle, scream, bite his flesh and draw blood. She decided to wait and bide her time.

The hyena chuckled under his breath. “Good girl. Stay quiet.”

He used his free hand to grab one of her wrists, then the other, and duct taped them together. He shifted to his right and bound her thighs, then her ankles. After he ripped one small piece off, he moved his hand and as she gasped, slapped the tape over her mouth.

Cecelia started to panic until she realized she could breathe through her nose. A new terror set in when the creepy fucker picked her up and hefted her over his shoulder fireman style. Good thing she’d put on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top before passing out.

Three men crept out of her and Lucky’s room, wearing all black, no cut, but she knew who they were. The Delta Dogs. Seemed they weren’t taking any chances on tomorrow’s meet. She supposed it was better this way. Lucky and his club would be safe. No more blood would be shed on her behalf. The oaf carrying her was the last one out the door, and briefly, she entertained the idea of moving quickly so he’d drop her.

Then she remembered he was a shifter, and that thought squashed her little bit of hope.

She resigned herself to the fate of being traded for two million dollars just as a small voice said,
Fuck that. Fight like a badass. If you go down, go down swinging and take out as many of those fuckers as you can.

Cecelia called to her inner magic and opened the door inside her body that would allow her to tap into the secret energy burned into her blood. She closed her eyes as the hyena carried her and focused on pulling the strands up to the surface of her thoughts and skin, then sent the rays outward, just touching the aura of the shifter who’d kidnapped her.

The hyena shuddered for a second but kept walking. She’d have to get close enough to the others in order to tap into their energy fields so when the time came, she’d be able to protect herself from death.

At least, that was the plan.

The cool night air wove around her body, calling to the core of her being to do whatever was necessary in order to survive.

As the hyena turned to close the door softly behind him, she noticed that a black panel van was waiting near the rear exit of the club. The van’s door slid open, then she was shoved inside and tossed to the ground like trash. Her head hit the metal floor and stars flashed in front of her eyes as her teeth slammed together and blood coated her tongue.

She whimpered, but an eerie chuckle from the creep stopped her cold. The copper tang of blood and her pounding temples made her stomach roil with nausea, but she refused to give in to the black void of oblivion. Cecelia needed her wits, and she needed to know where they were taking her. She inhaled for five counts, and exhaled for six counts until calm radiated from her mind to her limbs.

The vehicle’s engine fired up, then it pulled away from the safety of her allies.

Two men were sitting in the front, and two had remained in the back with her. None of them spoke. She reached for her magic again, sending it flaring out from her skin to create a bubble around her body, then forced it further, to touch the other shifters’ auras. She closed her eyes and concentrated on merging her magic with theirs. She needed to make sure she’d be able to control them both, and for that she had to fuse their auras to hers. Small strands pulsed from her blue hue to their red color. Most shifters, from what she’d been told growing up by the gatekeeper council, had power colors. Red or orange, usually, but a small percentage had other colors.

She could only see their auras when she activated her magic, which she’d only done once, back during her schooling at the gatekeeper lodge.  Satisfied, she let go of the magic swirling like a mini tornado and quieted her entire being for what was to come. She’d need every ounce of her energy to do what must be done.

14
Chapter Fourteen

Lucky woke with a pounding head, cottonmouth, and an awareness that someone had been in his room. He rolled over and cracked an eye open, a fresh day beating sunshine into his head. The space next to him was empty, and Lucky bolted upright, then clutched his head.

After three breaths, he eased his head upright and stood on marshmallow legs, then stumbled to the bathroom looking for Cecelia, but also to relieve his bladder. When he was done, he threw on a pair of jeans and staggered out of his room. He pounded on doors, a sense of panic overtaking him, and as he reached Hammer’s door, tears began to leak out of his eyes.

“She’s gone. She’s gone. Something’s wrong.”

Hammer rested a hand on Lucky’s shoulder as Maura opened their door all the way, tying her robe around her waist.

“Who’s gone, baby?” she said, handing Hammer a glass of water.

His president blew out a hard breath and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Cecelia’s missing,” Lucky told him.

“Are we sure?”

Lucky growled, low and deep. His fingers ached with leashed violence. “There were scents in my room. Delta.”

“Fuck. Gather everyone. There’s no telling when they took her. Let’s comb the vicinity before we mount a full-scale search.”

Lucky nodded, his jaw set and eyes hard. He spun, brought his fist up lightning quick, and slammed his hand into the wall, making a gaping hole where plaster used to be. He shook it out and kept walking, banging on doors and yelling, “Get up. The Delta Dogs took my mate!” A trail of club members followed him in various states of dress.

“What do we know?” Hammer asked Flip a short time later.

“The scents are definitely Delta Dogs.  The hyena, and a few coyotes. Three, maybe four. I followed them out the back door and then the scents vanished in a haze of rubber, asphalt, and fucking rain from last night.”

“Get Darius on the phone,” Hammer said to Brick, nodding toward the end of the table. “Find out what he knows. If he answers, he’s probably not involved. If he doesn’t…”

Brick left the table, his phone to his ear as he paced back and forth.

Lucky was close to shifting, needing to sink his teeth and claws into flesh and feel the blood of his enemies trailing down his throat. A low vibration stung his skin. “We have to find her. I can’t go through this again.”

Hammer gave him a sympathetic look but said, “We need you focused, Lucky. Don’t fall into the trap of the past. Cecelia isn’t Amber. She’s…unique. She’ll be okay.”

Brick turned to face both Lucky and Hammer, closing then pocketing his phone. “Darius said to try a cabin about an hour from here. He gave me the address. Said it’s a dilapidated piece of shit that the club used to use for…torture.” His eyes cut to Lucky as he said it.

Lucky balled his hands into fists and nodded. “Let’s get the gear and get moving. The less time she’s there, the better. They’ll need to wait for contact from her ex. She’ll stay alive until they get money confirmation.” He opened his phone and dialed Buzz.

“Hello?”

“I need you. Cecelia’s been kidnapped.”

The rustling of sheets and footsteps came through the phone. “When and where, brother?”

“Be out front in ten minutes. I’ll grab you.”

“Done.”

They hung up.

Hammer glanced at Lucky with a brow raised, then said without preamble, “I heard. We’ll ride together, grab Buzz, and go get the girl.”

Lucky nodded and held on to hope as the club donned their vests, guns, and jumped on their bikes, heading toward Cecelia.

“Be smart, little bird,” he whispered. “We’re coming.”

15
Chapter Fifteen

Close to an hour felt like days as the van skidded to a stop on a gravel road. The crunch and crackle beneath her ear was a dead giveaway that they were probably on some dead-end road in the middle of fuck-all-nowhere.

“Time to go,” the hyena cackled. He lifted her easily with one hand as the side door slid open. He exited, dragging her ankle with him, then picked her up and dumped her over his shoulder, carrying her into what could only be described as a dirty shack surrounded by decayed trees and overgrown grass.

After they had passed through the entry inside, she was thrust into a hard wooden chair. Her neck snapped back and she heard a loud pop. One of the men who’d been driving came closer, holding a tattered rope in his hands, whistling like he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Don’t try anything or you’ll regret it,” he said in an almost girlish tone at odds with his sinister blackish eyes and buzz-cut dark hair. Cecelia averted her eyes, appearing resigned, as she gathered her magic again. It came easier this time, faster, and as soon as he started to tie her up, she unleashed, harnessing his auric field to hers, binding them together.

After she was sufficiently bound, the hyena came closer again, peeling off the back wall like a leech. In his hand he held a newspaper. “Get the camera ready,” he said over his shoulder. “Let’s hurry up and get this sent. The faster we show proof, the faster he’ll wire the money to our accounts and we can get the fuck out of Dodge before they even know she’s missing.”

Cecelia was pretty sure Lucky must know she was missing by now, but maybe he was still drugged and hadn’t even woken up yet. That was a harrowing thought, so she forced it aside and concentrated on the tasks at hand. At the top of her list was to stay alive. At all costs.

The cameraman stepped out of the shadows and peeled his ski mask off his face to wipe the dripping sweat. “Ready,” he said and stalked closer, not looking at her as the hyena cackled again and slapped the newspaper over her midsection, aligning it so it stood up straight. The one getting ready to take her picture walked within her field, and she sent her magic out in a burst, quick as a cobra strike, before he moved too far for her to capture in her sticky web. She wanted to sigh in relief, but this was only phase one.

A blinding light made her see spots as he took her picture. Then he skulked back to his corner, probably to email or text the photo to her ex-husband Peter or his goonies.

“Should we remove the tape on her mouth, give her some water?” the shifter on her left asked. He’d been the one riding shotgun on their excursion to the middle of nowhere.

“And listen to her bitch and moan? Fuck, no,” the hyena said, then he left the room, a clang signaling he’d gone outside.

“What do you think, Badge?”

“Do what he says.”

The nicer of the thugs shrugged, averted his face from her gaze, and walked to the far wall where he sat down, legs outstretched, and pulled out his phone. Video game noises wafted around the room and she rolled her eyes.

“Turn the sound off,” the cameraman said. “It’s fucking annoying.”

“Well, sorry, your princely highness.”

The cameraman bent and slapped the video gamer in the head.

“Ouch, fucking bastard. What’d you do that for?”

“Insolence won’t be tolerated once I’m president and alpha, reject. So keep your trap shut, listen and follow orders, got me?”

The gamer mumbled something too low for Cecelia to hear, but the cameraman punched him in the face, sending the kid sprawling out onto the ground, his phone flying from his hands.

The hyena burst through door and yelled, “The fuck y’all doing? Stop fucking around. We got work. You get the picture sent yet, Badger?”

“Yeah. Cell reception ain’t great, but it’s on its way to our liaison.”

“Good. Hopefully the tycoon’s good for the money. All this will be over soon, then we can start our own pack and charter. Fuck Darius and all his stupid rules.”

“Word.”

“Soon as we get confirmation, kill this bitch.” The hyena hiked a thumb toward her, and an involuntary shiver snaked down her spine. She had to be smart and fast. Before the hyena turned to leave the room, he looked her in the eye. “It’s nothing personal. Just business.”

Yeah.
She thought.
Well, it’s personal to me.
Thankfully the tape hushed her mouthiness; otherwise, she’d probably end up with a bruised face or dead sooner rather than later.

“She’s not going anywhere. I’m gonna have a smoke.”

The video gamer got up and brushed by her chair, then left the room.

“Just you and me, pretty,” the cameraman said. He stalked closer to her, reached his hand out and pulled her t-shirt away from her body so he could see her breasts.

Cecelia trembled.

The lecherous look he cast her made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. If he went any further, she’d have no choice but to use her magic, and she didn’t want to play that card yet. It was too early.

He backed away, licking his lips, eyes trained on the spot between her legs. Fear spiked Cecelia’s blood with the fight or flight reflex and her heart raced.

“I like ’em scared,” he said. “I can smell your fear from here. Like a sweet ambrosia.”

Someone yelled from outside, “Race, get out here.”

He shrugged. “There’s always later.”

As he walked by, he bent and licked a wet trail up her neck, then inhaled close to her ear.

A moment later he vanished, the outside door banging hard as he left.

There was no use trying to calm herself down after that bastard had put the moves on her and all but told her he was going to have his way with her, whether she wanted it or not. Instead of falling into being a hapless wallflower during her own demise, Cecelia crushed the feelings into tangible energy, stoking her internal reservoir of magic to boiling. Her time was almost up, and shit was about to hit the fan.

The backs of her eyes hurt from the concerted effort, but once voices had grown louder and the outside door had opened, blowing in a myriad of foul scents, Cecelia decided to make her move.

The four men walked into the cramped, empty living room, well within her field. The hyena spoke in a dangerous voice. “Money’s been wired, princess.” His words were oddly spoken, like a snake hissing, followed by his trademark cackling laugh.

“Gun, knife, or claws and teeth?”

Since Cecelia’s mouth was still taped shut, she didn’t think they were asking her opinion on which way to kill her.

She didn’t hesitate. She snapped her eyes open and released the ball of magic surrounding her, casting it around the room to make a large bubble. In her mind she said, “Paralyze,” knowing her command would grab hold of the shifters’ aura and lock them into place.

As Cecelia stared at them, their faces bulged with strain as they tried to remove themselves from her power. All she had to do was keep a steady stream of energy connected from her to all four of them.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy
, she thought
.

Instead of using her energy to hold herself upright, she sagged in the chair, letting her chin fall to her chest, and focused on the strand of energy pulsing in blue from her toes to their feet.

Time ceased to exist as the room fell away, leaving her alone in the dark, clinging to the ropes of her fate.