Page 168 of Secret Shifters Next Door

Coldly, Ryland lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. The shot boomed inside the warehouse, and a neat red hole appeared in the hunter’s forehead. A spray of blood and gore shot out from the back of his head and his body fell backward, slamming into the concrete. My knees buckled, and I slid limply to the ground.I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the dead man lying on the floor, from the pool of blood slowly puddling around his head, the sightless eyes staring at the ceiling. An awful sound echoed through the building. It took a moment to realize the sound came from me. I was screaming.

Ryland shoved his gun back into his belt and knelt next to me, lifting me back to my feet. “I’m sorry you had to see that, April. You have to believe me when I say your brother really wasn’t supposed to get hurt. I apologize for that.”

I was gasping for breath, fresh tears pouring down my face. Ryland brushed the strands of hair from my face, and I flinched away from his touch. He looked sad that I didn’t want him to touch me.

“That hurts my feelings, April. I understand, though. I don’t blame you. It has been a rough day.”

“Luca? Were you… the one?” I mumbled through the tears.

Ryland nodded and smiled like a proud boy showing his mom something he’d worked hard on. “Were you excited about your gift? I thought about sending the video, but thought that was overkill. I can still show you once we’ve gotten out of here and you’ve calmed down. I’m sure you’d love to see how he screamed and begged. I’d wanted to do worse when the first article came out. I couldn’t believe the lies he was telling. All those vile things and fake pictures.” He drew a gentle finger across my cheek, making my skin crawl. “You’re sweet. No one could believe you’d do such awful things. I know you. I’ve loved you for so long. You have no idea how excited I was when I saw you in the bar that night. I knew our time had finally come.”

He walked me over to a steel folding chair and helped me sit down, then snapped his fingers at the two remaining minions. “Water. Now. Some for her to drink and some to clean this blood off her.”

The men worked quickly, obviously not wanting to end up like their friend on the floor. I stared into the void, doing my best to keep my eyes off the dead body. I wondered what Steff was doing. He’d surely gotten to the house by now. All the blood. Did he think I was dead? I still felt the lump in my pocket. The watch Kellan had slipped in there just before he’d gone unconscious. Would it really be any help? I wasn’t sure and couldn’t allow myself to hope.

The men scrubbed my brother’s blood off my hands and arms, then handed me a bottle of water to drink from. I took a sip but stopped. Even the taste of water made me want to throw up. I held it in my lap and stared at it while the hunters moved around me.

Ryland pointed to the back of the warehouse. “Brock, get the truck ready to go. We have to leave soon. God knows how far behind the shifters are. Carl, make sure the tripwires and timers are set. I want us out of here before the building blows.”

Blows? My heart hammered away in my chest even faster. What was he planning to do? Was he going to blow up the building?

I gritted my teeth and worked up the courage to speak. I looked Ryland in the eye, and said, “What are you planning, Ryland?”

He smiled sadly. “The shifters are coming. One thing those creatures are good at is tracking. We planned on them following us. Coming to the rescue, you might say. We’ve made sure this is the last place they’ll ever see.” He shrugged. “The boss will be pissed that I killed the dragon, but sometimes plans change. Once the beasts are dead, we can move on from Lilly Valley.

“The lady dragon and her whelp will still be here, but even I can’t bring myself to kill a baby. I told you before, I’m not a child killer. And leaving those girls without a mother is a pretty shitty thing to do. I’ll leave their fates up to our boss.”

I could barely breathe. He was cruel and heartless. I shook my head at him. “Why are you doing this? What did the shifters ever do to you? All they want to do is live their lives.”

A flash of rage swept across Ryland’s face. “They are not of God. Unnatural creatures should not exist. They are creations of Satan, and go against everything God deemed holy and natural.”

I blinked at him. “Wait. God? Are the hunters some crazy religious cult or something?”

“This isn’t a joke, April.”

“I’m not joking. I’m trying to understand how you all can do these horrible things.”

“Don’t you understand? It’s not horrible. It’s glorious. It glorifies God. We live by a code, and that code is to rid the world of all unnatural things. The Lord did not create half-animal, half-human monsters. We will eradicate them all, one city, one town at a time.” He smiled. “I’ll show you. Soon, you’ll understand soon. Once you’re one of us, a true believer, you can become my wife. We’ll sweep across this country, rooting out every beast of the night. We will create a world in God’s image and be a family.”

The thought of that repulsed me. My mind, body, and soul revolted against the idea of doing anything with this man. Especially murdering innocent people. That’s what shifters were, they were only people. The hunters wanted to kill them simply because they’d been born different.

I shook my head and grimaced in disgust. “My brother was just killed in front of my eyes. You and your cult killed one man and mutilated another. Nothing you have done has been donefor God. You are the opposite of what God wants. What gives you the right to be judge, jury, and executioner?”

Ryland leaned forward and grabbed my chin hard enough to hurt, but I refused to make a sound. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt me.

“You need to watch your tongue. The Bible says a woman shouldlearn quietly with all submissiveness. I’ve done so much for you. I’d think you could at least thank me for it.”

I glared at him, not saying a word. Instead, I tried to force him to feel all the hate and rage I had for him.

I sneered at him.

“If I didn’t love you so much, I’d teach you some manners by force.Spare the rodisn’t just for children. Remember that. Our organization isn’t one to be messed with. Our leader is a powerful businessman. He has politicians in his back pocket. This is happening. The shifters will all die. You’d be wise to choose the winning side.”

The hunter named Brock came running back from the far end of the warehouse and called out to Ryland. “No movement on the cameras. I think we managed to dodge being followed.”

“Good. That means we should have at least an hour before they track her here. Set the front door to blow anyway, in case you’re wrong.”

Brock jogged off to do Ryland’s bidding. Panic set in. I had to do something, but I didn’t know what. Steff, Tate, and everyone were on the way to try and save me. If they walked into this building after we left, they’d all die. How did I stop Ryland? I had to do something.

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