Page 78 of Taken By Touch and Torment

Rosalind and I ducked, shielding our heads. Luckily, most of it had flown in the other direction.

“You okay?” I asked her.

Kole turned and asked me the same, altogether ignoring Rosalind’s existence.

“Yes,” Rosalind whispered, and I nodded in return.

The fighting got worse as more vampires were pulled into the fray. I locked eyes with Brennan across the room, his face contorting in confusion.

“Behind you!” Brennan shouted at us—at Kole.

Too late. My vision went dark as black fabric was shoved over my head.

I flailed around. These were the good guys, right?

Right?

Rosalind screamed next to me, and I felt myself get hoisted up into the air and slung across a shoulder. Which did wonders for my aching limbs and various wounds.

This was a long day of pain, sensory deprivation, and manhandling.

And not in a hot way.

When cold air brushed across my bare skin, I relaxed again. It was the second time I’d been outside since I’d been kidnapped.

After a few more minutes, I was set upright, my hood removed. Rosalind was next to me, and in front of us were two buff men with wolf pack tattoos.

I thought of Jaxon.

“You’re Scarlett?” one of them asked, pointing at me. He had brunette hair that brushed his shoulders and a jawline that could cut fruit.

I nodded. “Yes.”

These were the good guys.

“And you’re the friend?” The other pointed at Rosalind. His black hair was cropped, his muscles bulging through his ripped white shirt.

Rosalind looked him up and down before nodding, her features turning sultry. He was having none of it. He shook his head and grunted.

“On our backs and hold tight,” the first one barked, glancing back over his shoulder. Smoke rose in the distance. We were in a secluded alleyway, with no other figure in sight. With two succubi in a district of starving vampires, I knew that wouldn’t be the case for long.

The men began to shift before I had time to process what had just happened. Shirts and pants ripped; bulging muscles pulsed and stretched and sprouted fur. I blinked, and my jaw dropped. I’d seen Jaxon shift countless times, and yet it never failed to fill me with awe.

We’d been found. I was outside. With Rune’s men. Away from the palace and away from Brennan and Kole. I trembled, worried this was one of Durian’s cruel visions or some naive dream.

The two giant wolves lowered themselves to the ground. When we hesitated, one of them growled.

Rosalind met my eyes and shrugged. To my surprise, she hopped on one wolf as I climbed on the other.

It happened so fast. My legs clamped around strong muscle and thick gray fur, and my arms wrapped around my wolf’s upper back. In a flash, two succubi were riding giant wolves through the streets of Hatham.

I didn’t need to know anything about geography to know we were riding to the border.

32

SCARLETT

“Ithought you said you weren’t coming!” I yelled to Rosalind, competing with the rushing wind against our eardrums and the giant wolves’ impossible speed.

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