Page 43 of Kidnapping Their Third

“What an asshole,” Cora muttered, dropping the phone to the floor. Her angry expression dissolved, and Pike saw tears gather in her eyes as she lifted her gaze to Kimble’s face. “But I’ll kiss his ass if he can fix you.”

Chapter 17

Cora

“How are you so calm?” Pike asked her, still pressing his bleeding wrist to Kimble’s mouth. The vampire had swallowed a few times, but not enough to keep up with the sluggish flow of blood from the rapidly healing cut. Small drops of blood escaped the corners of his mouth, leaving trails of crimson down the sides of his jaw.

Cora blew out a harsh breath. “I promise I’m not.”

She might not have gone as far as to twine her soul with Kimble and Pike yet, but it felt like she might as well have. She’d never felt so much fear and panic in her life, not even when Vincent was threatening to kill her and Imani. She wanted to collapse on top of Kimble and sob. She wanted to shake him and scream for him to wake up and say flock, or growl, or any sound!

These two men had only been in her life for a week, and it felt like she couldn’t live without them. It was terrifying.

Pike tilted his head, as if listening to something. “You should open the front door.”

Cora didn’t hear what he was saying at first because she was caught by his eyes. They were glassy with tears, bringing out the green in his hazel eyes. His expression was open and vulnerable.

It occurred to her that Pike was everything nurturing and caring that she wasn’t. He’d never voluntarily leave her, and he’dwillingly live every day ready to be anything she needed. She knew with confidence he’d lay down his life to protect her and Kimble.

That’s when she realized she felt the same. If that wasn’t love, she didn’t know what was.

“Cora?” Pike urged. “The door?”

Pulling in a sharp breath, she gave herself a hard shake. “On it.”

She ran to the door on shaking legs, stumbling a little over the mess of her former coffee table. She flung open the door just in time for a red-tailed hawk to come flying through. The hawk flared his wings and tail, dramatically slowing its speed as he back winged. The bird’s form blurred, and Cora thought her eyesight was getting as shaky as her legs.

“What the fuck?” she exclaimed as the bird morphed into a man wearing an immaculate three-piece suit. Coming to a stop in front of the mess that had been her coffee table, he looked around as he straightened his already perfectly aligned tie.

“What a quaint home,” he said. It didn’t sound like a compliment. This had to be Tobias.

“You’re not here to critique my design choices,” Cora growled, striding up to him and grabbing Tobias’s arm. “You’re here to save Kimble.”

“Don’t touch me,” Tobias hissed, moving out of her reach with so much speed she couldn’t track his movements. One moment he was within touching distance and the next he was on the other side of the couch. “Do that again, and I’ll rip you apart, even if it would upset my Briar. No one touches me except my flock.”

Surprised at his vehemence, Cora held up both hands palms out. “Sorry! I won’t do it again.” She pointed to the kitchen with one hand. “Dying vampire in there.”

“Tobias?” Pike called out, leaning back so he could see into the living room. Fresh tears fell from his eyes. “Please, help him!”

Tobias seemed to disappear from Cora’s sight. Suddenly she was alone in the living room with the front door wide open. After slamming the door shut, she rushed to the kitchen. Tobias was kneeling on the opposite side of Kimble from Pike, the spot where she’d been before getting up to open the door.

“Are you fixing him yet?” Cora asked as she took a position next to Pike. The bear shifter’s wrist was still pressed against Kimble’s mouth, but she didn’t think the wound was even bleeding any longer.

Tobias didn’t look up as he spoke. “There’s an entire layer missing from his aura. Even in his diminished mental state no one could’ve simply taken it. He had to have given it away.”

“Why would he do that?” Pike asked. “He had everything he needed.”

Cora gasped and both men looked at her. “What do you know, human?” Tobias demanded.

Pike made a harsh sound, halfway between a bark and a growl. There were still tears coming from his eyes at irregular intervals, but the planes of his face had changed, and his teeth seemed bigger. At that moment, he looked like the deadly beast he could be.

“Don’t talk to her like that. Her name is Cora.”

“Don’t waste my time,” Tobias shot back then refocused on Cora. “What do you know?”

Feeling all kinds of guilt, Cora pulled the necklace out from under her shirt. “The night he showed up here, he gave this to me. I thought he must have stolen it or maybe found it.”

Tobias leaned over Kimble’s body to get a closer look at the piece of jewelry. “That’s powerful bruja magic. He must have traded for it and that’s what caused this.”

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