Jason's Salvation (9 page)

“Still breathing.”

“You stay here,” Jason said, pulling out his gun as he hurried to the truck. His heart almost stopped when he saw the passenger door open, and the extra set of footprints in the dirt. He leaned down and pressed his hand down on the ground. He followed the line of tracks and knew they only had a few moments to catch up to her. The abductor did nothing to hide his tracks so Jason knew that he was planning on either fleeing in a vehicle with Eve or killing her right away.

He heard footsteps behind him and found Max helping Rand down the path.

“I’m heading off. You call the others.”

He turned to leave but Max stopped him.

“You can’t go alone.”

“I can handle it. We don’t have time to wait and you can’t leave Rand in his condition. Call, then follow me up.”

He turned and headed out. He knew that seconds counted, and too many had already ticked by.

* * * *

Eve stumbled and fell down on her knees, dropping her pen on purpose.

“Get up, you stupid bitch,” Javier said.

She wanted to snarl at him. The desire to attack him crawled under her skin. A growl vibrated in her throat and her mouth started to water. Her body shivered, not from cold, but from something primal she did not understand. The violence of her need to cause him pain frightened her a bit. She had never been a person who would choose to hurt someone. It took every bit of her control not to take a big bite of the bastard. Once she was sure she wouldn’t attack the man, she pushed herself up and started to dust off the dirt on her hands. He pushed her to get her moving. She faked a limp and walked slowly. It was better for him to think that she was weak.

“I can definitely see why they were interested in you. But, I can’t understand what has held their interest for so long.”

Okay, that was just mean, but she couldn’t let him see that. “Then you should let me go.”

“I have worked too hard for this. I will rule the council, once the Dillons are gone.”

She wanted to argue with him, but she couldn’t at the moment. She knew it wouldn’t do her any good. He might not be stupid, but he was freaking insane. There was no telling what he would do to her if she antagonized him.

He pushed her along and within a few minutes, she saw the wooden shed. There was an SUV parked outside of it. She started toward the SUV, but he stopped her.

“The shed.”

Fear lanced through her. Oh, that was not good. If he was going to take her away, she would have a better chance of running away. No telling what he had planned to do to her. She didn’t even want to think about it but it was hard not to. If all he was going to do was kill her, he could have done that before now.

She walked even slower and he poked her in the back. “Hurry it up, bitch.”

She was really sick of him using that term. She gritted her teeth against the need to verbally assault the man. Outwitting him would be easier if she didn’t completely piss him off. Her stomach tightened with each step. He poked her in the back when she didn’t immediately open the door.

When the door swung open, Eve bit back a gasp. It was a dismal little room, more than likely just put together for hunting expeditions. There was a table with a couple of chairs, an old fridge, a sink, and a bed with a stained mattress. Dirt and cobwebs littered every surface. That was about it.

He pushed her toward the bed. She stumbled and fell onto it. She sat up and watched him with horror. He was already taking off his coat. The smile he gave her sent ice slipping down her spine. Terror had her throat closing up.

“Before I kill you, I want to have a little fun.”

Jason ran along the path, his eye still on the tracks in the dirt. He knew he was less than five minutes behind them, and he was closing in. He could almost still feel it vibrating in his bones. After turning down another path, he saw the pen lying on the ground. It was another sign. He has seen a few of them along the path, and knew that Eve had left them.

He picked it up and continued following the footsteps. With each step, he felt the rightness of his path. Anger vibrated within him, pounding through his blood. His control was riding a thin line, but at the moment he didn’t care. When he found the bastard, he was going to tear him limb from limb.

He slowed as he came to a clearing. He saw an SUV parked by a makeshift hunter’s cabin. The tracks led up to the front door. His joy at finding the small hut was short-lived when he realized there would be only a couple of reasons to bring Eve here. Neither of them were good.

Jason quietly walked up to the front door. He heard someone talking, then Eve’s voice. Relief poured through him. Treading softly, he leaned over to look into the window. What he saw there had his relief dissolving in an instant. It was one of the fucking cats, just like he had thought. And he was walking toward Eve. He saw the fear in her eyes, and the way her face seemed to drain of all color. Her lip was split and he could already see the bruise forming on her cheek.

“I don’t think I stuttered, Eve. The clothes.” The cat grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her up off the bed. “Is this what you want with that asshole, Noah Dillon? I heard he likes to rough women up.”

At the mention of his cousin, anger flashed in her eyes. “Noah doesn’t need to rough women up. He doesn’t need to abduct them either. Only a coward has to do that.”

The cat smacked her with the back of his hand. The hit was so hard she fell back onto the bed, her head smacking against the brass headboard. She fell lifeless on the bed.

“Fuck,” the cat muttered.

Rage heated Jason’s blood as he turned toward the door. He tried the doorknob, but he couldn’t get it to move. He pulled back, and using his shoulder, he pushed the door in. It shattered on the impact and he fell forward. The cat turned on him, and Jason saw the knife but paid no attention to it. All he could see was Eve lying on the bed, lifeless, blood on the sheet beside her. At the moment, Jason wasn’t even sure if she was still breathing.

The cat charged him and Jason avoided the collision. Jason kicked him in the back of the leg. The cat fell forward and into the wall.

He turned and faced Jason. “You bastard.”

“There has never been a question of my birth, Javier,” Jason said.

They circled each other and Jason had to fight to keep his attention on his adversary. He wanted to look at Eve, to check to see if she was breathing. If he turned his back on the cat, Jason would certainly lose his edge.

“So, you like beating up women?”

Javier snarled. “We were coming to an understanding.”

“Of course you were. Now, when did she say she wanted to get raped?”

“I was just going to show her what she was missing. Of course when I am leader of the council, it won’t matter.”

Jason laughed. “Like they would ever accept a cowardly loser like you.”

Javier launched himself at Jason, and this time, he was ready for him. He feinted left and Javier fell again. Jason bent over and grabbed Javier by the collar. As he stood, he pulled Javier with him. The anger he had been keeping in check surged forward. Jason pulled his arm back and punched him. The cracking of the cat’s nose beneath his fist gave him a sense of satisfaction. Blood poured from his nose as Jason punched him a second time. They fell to the ground and he kept hitting the bastard. He let loose the rage and everything faded away.

“Jason,” Max said, tugging on his arm. “Jason, damn it, he’s almost dead.”

The red haze dissolved and he found himself straddled on top of the cat shifter. He had his hands around the man’s throat. The cat was limp but he was still breathing. Jason dropped him.

“Eve,” he said. Desperate to touch her, he turned and hurried to the bed. He pulled her up in his arms. Her breath was warm against his throat and he felt some of his fear fade. She still wasn’t responding to him though.

“Move back. Let me see her,” Max said. Jason ignored him, as he pulled her against his chest. She was still breathing, but he needed to feel her warmth next to him.

“Damn it, Jason, let me see her. I need to make sure she’s okay.”

Finally, it registered that he needed to let Max see her. He was the paramedic, the one who had been trained to save lives. He set her gently on the bed as footsteps sounded outside.

He stood and moved with a growl to the door. He settled down when he saw Noah.

“What the fuck happened?” Noah asked.

“Rand was hit, then she was taken.”

“What the hell? Why didn’t he just kill her there?” Ethan said.

“Because he had a plan,” Eve said weakly from the bed.

They all rushed to the bed. Her eyes were barely opened.

“A plan?” Noah asked gently.

She swallowed. “Yes. He wanted to be head of the council. His plan was to lure you here, kill you.”

Then she passed out.

Panic filtered through the crowd, but Max said, “No worries. She is fine. We just need to get her back to the house.”

“What do you want to do with this trash?” Ethan asked as he kicked the cat’s foot.

“Bring him along. We need to know who he is working with.”

Max moved to pick Eve up, but Jason felt the rumble of a growl in his chest. His wolf was not ready to let someone else carry her. Even one of the pack.

“No,” Noah said. “Let Jason take her.”

Jason lifted her in his arms. Her head rested against his shoulder and he could feel her breath against his neck. Some of the fury he had been feeling evaporated.

Jason climbed into the pickup and kept her close to him. He couldn’t even fathom what they would do if something happened to her.

* * * *

Eve came awake with a scream tangling her throat.

“It’s okay, Eve. Just a dream.”

She could feel Max beside her, stroking her back. Jason was holding her. Even in the dark she knew who was with her by their scent. It was odd, but she just understood who they were.

“A bad one.” She tried to pull away, but Jason held on for a second longer and then released her. “I need a drink of water.”

“I can get it for you.”

She wanted to roll her eyes, but she was still in too much pain to do that. Even that small gesture might hurt.

“I also need to go to the bathroom, so you are going to have to let me go by myself.”

He moved off the bed, but in the next moment, he had her in his arms.

“Don’t worry. I got you.”

He carried her to the bathroom and set her on her feet. He turned on the nightlight, avoiding the harsh overhead lighting to save her pain, she was sure.

“I’ll be right here when you return.”

She cupped his face and gave him a soft kiss.

“Thank you.”

“Thanking me? I let you get hurt.”

“You saved me. That’s all that matters.”

He shook his head but she nodded. “You saved me.”

Then she turned and shut the door behind her. She sighed and glanced at herself in the mirror. She had always had pale skin, but at the moment, she looked like a ghost. Or a vampire. The explosion of yellow bruising on her cheek was just lovely, as was the split lip and her swollen eye.

She swallowed. How the guys could even look at her, she didn’t know. With a sigh, she went about her business. She needed to get some more rest.

But falling asleep…she didn’t know if she could face those dreams again. Eve was intelligent enough to know that what happened wasn’t her fault, and thank goodness, Jason had shown up in time to save her from the worst of it. Still, she couldn’t keep herself from feeling disgusted with herself. Dirty, even. Tears filled her eyes and poured over on her cheeks. It was wrong. She didn’t cause what happened to her, or almost happened to her. But she couldn’t fight the feeling that there was something very wrong with her.

There was a soft knock at the door. “Eve, are you all right?” Jason asked.

She dashed away the tears, then splashed water on her face.

“Yes. I promise, I didn’t fall in.”

She dried off her face, then walked to the door, feeling every bruise on her body with each step. She drew in a deep breath, and opened the door.

Jason visibly relaxed. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

She nodded as he picked her up and took her to the bed. He set her back down beside Max, then settled in beside her. Eve breathed in their scents, taking comfort in their warmth and love. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

This time, she prayed the monster would stay away.

* * * *

The wolf gritted his teeth. He should have never accepted that the idiot cat would get the job done. None of them were worth anything. They couldn’t seem to complete a task without fucking it up.

He inched closer to the Dillons’ house. He needed to make sure Javier hadn’t told the Dillons anything. If they knew he was involved, he would be dead. And, he could never take over the council.