Page 43 of Promise & Artem

As he turned off the engine a strange feeling washed over him, a mixture of fear and anger. He paused with the door open and wondered at the weird feeling. When it didn’t happen again after a long moment, he grabbed the bag from the seat next to him and got out.

Another wave of fear hit him straight in the heart and he gasped, his hand clenching the paper bag.

Something was very wrong, but he wasn’t afraid of anything.

Promise came to mind, and he knew that whatever he was feeling must be an echo of her feelings.

She was scared and angry.

Shit.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and realized he’d turned the ringer off. His sister had been calling. He flipped the ringer on just as it rang again.

Isolde’s name appeared on the screen.

“Isolde? Is everything okay?”

“No! Some males grabbed Promise and stuffed her into a black SUV. I tried to help but this guy grabbed me. I thought he was going to break my neck!”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m scared, Artem!”

“What did the males look like?”

“They were both big guys, muscular. The one who grabbed me had tattoos all over his arms and up his neck, he was scary as hell.”

Artem knew exactly who it was who’d taken Promise.

Nero, that fucking asshole.

As if knowing that Artem was cursing his name, a call beeped and Nero’s name appeared on the screen.

“Are you on the way back to the campground?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, drive safe. Nero is calling me.”

He switched the call and tucked the bag under his arm. Putting the phone to his ear, he ran toward the four-wheeler workshop to get his dad.

“Where’s my mate?” he demanded when the call connected.

“No hello? Well, I see your manners haven’t gotten any better since the lesson I taught you about keeping your commitments.”

“Where is she?” he growled.

“She’s safe. For now.”

He hit the door of the workshop with his shoulder and dropped the bag on the counter. His dad looked up from where he was leaning over one of the vehicles. Artem put the phone on speaker.

“What do you want?”

“You, fighting. There’s a fight tonight, as I’m sure you’re aware. You’ll be at the warehouse at nine, ready to fight. You’ll win, and that way, everyone wins. Including your mate.”

Artem looked at his dad, who strode over with a frown.

“Let Promise go. I’ll keep fighting, I swear.”

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