Page 24 of Act of Command

Malik smiled. “Gentlemen, focus. We’re not getting to this location before first light and I don’t even want to think upon what we might find when we do get there.”

“Aye, possibly a lion runnin’ through the city streets makin’ snacks of the mornin’ commuters.” Striker was only partially joking.

Malik tipped his head to the side. “Or he’s fallen into the enemy’s hands.”

No one wanted to think hard on that. It wouldn’t be Corbin’s first time being held captive. All the men had suffered a similar fate in their lives. Some more than once.

Chapter Ten

The sound of Ezra’s voice pulled Mae from her sleep. She opened her eyes, but without her glasses it was hard for her to make out much. Her body wasn’t wracked with pain, so whatever he’d given her was helping. The thirst was better. Not gone but better.

“Bring him in here!” shouted Ezra.

She vaguely made out Ezra’s shape and that of several other men. Squinting, she realized one of the men had another person over his shoulder as if the person was a sack of potatoes. It took Mae a moment to realize the person was a man because of all the long blond hair. Hair she’d seen before.

No. It couldn’t be the man from campus.

Could it?

She blinked again, trying hard to focus with no luck.

The hair obscured the man’s face. His wrists were bound with thick silver chains as were his ankles. He was shirtless but had on military-style pants and boots. The man holding him glanced over the top of the blond’s head as he heaved him onto the floor rather unceremoniously. The blond didn’t move, making Mae wonder if he was still alive. His mass of hair continued to cover his face. It took all of her to remain in place and not go to the man.

Ezra bent, checking the blond’s vitals. His gaze went to the guard. “How much did you shoot him up with?”

The other man shrugged. “I don’t know. A lot. He killed a couple of us. Took another eight of us to subdue him and he was only partially shifted. We had to wait until his body reformed fully to chain him. I’ve never seen anything like it. Kept going on about wanting to know where some woman was. I forget the chick’s name—it was a month or something—whatever it was, he was pissed and driven.”

Ezra motioned to the men. “Go. I’ve got it from here.”

“Denis says there are no doctors on duty tonight. Something about them being offsite. Might as well throw this one in a cell. When he comes to, he’s going to be pissed.”

“I’ll put him in a holding cell in here and then check him over to be sure he’s in prime condition for sale,” said Ezra. “After all, Felix loves to sell male shifters, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think the infirmary holding rooms can handle this one,” said the other man. “He’s a piece of work, and if he breaks free, he’ll rip that female to shreds or fuck her to death. The only shit we had on hand were the tranqs with the sex meds in them. He’ll wake up horny and pissed.”

“I’ll see to it he’s no threat,” said Ezra. “I’ll alert Caesar that we have another item to sell. He’ll see to it the website is updated.”

“I don’t know. Maybe we should call Felix in about this one.”

“By all means, notify him,” said Ezra. “By my calculations, he is at home because daylight is almost on us, probably with several women and men draped over him as he fucks and sucks them. But yes, call and interrupt his feeding to let him know we have another shifter to auction off.”

The other cleared his throat, sounding nervous. “No. I’m good. You keep the asshole in here. I have to check on the redhead. She bit another guy and kicked him so hard in the balls he may never have use of his dick again.”

“Put her in Mae’s cell,” said Ezra, bending over the blond on the floor again.

“You want to move her?” asked the other. “She scares me.”

Ezra laughed. “Tell her I said to go without fighting. She’ll listen.”

“If you say so, man. Bitch is crazy.” He left, and Ezra picked up the blond man with so much ease that Mae gasped. He carried him to the bed next to Mae. Much to her shock, Ezra undid the man’s shackles, freeing him and casting the chains aside.

Mae wasn’t so sure she wanted someone who scared the bad guys next to her. What if he woke up and did as the other predicted? What if he tore her to bits, or worse yet, forced himself on her?

Ezra turned to Mae. “Shh, I can sense your worry. This man is no threat to you. I know him well. That being said, when he wakes, be still until he realizes where he is, okay?”

She nodded and whimpered as her stomach cramped.

Ezra grabbed a cool compress and put it to her forehead. “I know it hurts. Your body is cycling through the toxins. These fools were giving you way too much and didn’t even seem to notice the signs that you were having a reaction to it.”

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