Page 48 of Hitched to the Vampire King

Taking a deep breath, I reached up and grabbed one of Gabriel’s hands, then stood to face him. The fury in his eyes told me exactly how this conversation was going to go. “I was going to talk to you about this first, but I guess the cat’s outta the bag now.”

Anger spilled through the room in a wave of magic unlike anything I’d ever felt from Gabriel before. It sent a shiver down my spine. And from the number of people taking a step back, I wasn’t the only one who’d felt it.

“You absolutely are not,” Gabriel snarled.

The others, sensing the brewing storm, beat a hasty retreat. Jaden mouthed an apology before grabbing Josh’s hand and practically bolting from the room, the others hot on their heels.

“You’re not going back there, Maddie,” Gabriel growled, the dark edge in his voice lifting the hairs on the back of my neck. His eyes blazed with a protective fire, the memories of recent captivity likely fueling his rage.

I held his gaze, understanding the depth of his fear. Were the roles reversed, I wouldn’t want him returning either. That warehouse was a place of nightmares, a place we’d only barely escaped. He’d been unconscious for all of it, but who knew what the constant holy water injections had done to his mind?

“Gabriel, listen to me,” I began, my voice steady. “We have a plan in place. We aren’t just charging recklessly back in. We’re going to go during the day when Nash and Adrian are asleep. We’ve even found a witch who will mask our scents, so there’s no way they’ll know we’ve been there.”

His snarl cut me off, a feral sound I’d never heard from him before. “You think daylight and magic are enough? What about the human guards, Maddie? Remember them? And do you honestly think there aren’t security cameras about? Let’s also not forget that some vampires can move around during the day, as long as they avoid direct sunlight. What if Nash is one of them? Did you consider that? We foundonewindow in that whole damn warehouse. Meaning if Nash is a daywalker, he’ll have free rein of that entire place.”

His words sparked a fresh wave of fear within me. I knew all this, but what choice did we have?

“And what if Adrian’s guards are still there?” Gabriel continued, each word laced with barely contained rage and fear. “He wants us dead, Maddie, and it’ll be during the day, so I can’t go with you! You know what he’s capable of. What he wants. I can’t—” He stopped abruptly, his expression tormented. “I can’t lose you, luv. Not to that place. Not to him. Nash likes to play with werewolves. Torment them. You smelled the blood. You saw the cages. Youknowwhat he’s capable of.”

The vulnerability in his voice almost broke me. I gripped his hands and pulled them to my chest. “I know you’re scared. I am too. But we have to do this. There could be valuable information at that warehouse. We could learn Nash’s daytime resting place, or even Adrian’s. We could learn who is buying the cages and for what purpose. We need that information if we’re going to put a stop to all of this, once and for all. I’ll be armed. So will Sam. I swear, we’ll take every precaution we can.”

Gabriel freed his hands from mine, then he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me flush against him. “Maddie, please,” he pleaded, the anger replaced by desperation. “There has to be another way. I can’t fathom the thought of waking up tomorrow and learning you didn’t come back.”

“That won’t happen,” I vowed. “We’ll be in communication with the others the entire time we’re there. And if somethingdoeshappen, the others will get me out. When you wake up tomorrow, I’ll be sitting right by your side.”

“You’d better be,” he growled, his words deep and heavy. “I have plans for us, luv. A future that stretches far beyond tomorrow. But for that future to happen, you need to be here. So, promise me you’ll come back.”

I met his intense gaze, my heart swelling with a mix of determination and affection. “I promise.”

In response, Gabriel leaned down and captured my lips in a possessive and hungry kiss, as though he was determined to brand my very soul. Luckily, my soul already belonged to him, and I had no desire to change that.

The kiss ended too soon for my liking, leaving me both breathless and grounded, a reminder of what I was fighting for. But before I could lean in for more, the sound of hesitant footsteps approached, signaling the return of our self-exiled companions. Their timing could’ve been a bit better.

Lucy was the first to poke her head back into the kitchen. “Is it safe to come back, or should we start looking for bunkers?”

Jaden followed, a sheepish grin on her face. “Is she still alive in there?”

Gabriel’s response was to hold me closer. “We’re fine. You can come back in now.”

Sam entered next, walking into the kitchen without so much as a glance in my direction. Being that he had his own mate to worry about, along with two young children, I had a feeling he understood Gabriel’s fears and anxieties all too well.

Together, Jaden and Josh strolled to the kitchen counter and fetched the coffee pot, filling up their mugs. “Alright. Then let’s get back to business, shall we?”

With everyone cautiously filtering back into the kitchen, the tension that had crackled in the air seemed to dissipate, replaced by a shared sense of purpose. Gabriel, though still visibly tense, loosened his grip around me, allowing me the space to turn and face our team. His presence behind me was a comforting reminder of the support we shared, not just between the two of us, but among everyone in the room.

I glanced at the doorway and noticed we were missing two werewolves.

“Where are Avery and Aimee?” I asked.

Lucy gestured over her shoulder. “Having a chat in another room. Aimee just wants to make sure she’s doing okay. They said to get started without us, and they’d catch up after.” She then took a seat at the table, her demeanor shifting from joking to serious as she prepared to dive back into the matter at hand. Sam leaned against the counter, his arms crossed, his face set in a grim line that reflected the gravity of our discussion.

Jaden, now armed with a freshly refilled coffee mug in hand, gestured to the corkboard that still displayed Nash’s ever-so-delightful background. “Right, so as we mentioned, we’ve got a witch on board to help mask Sam and Maddie’s scents,” she began, her tone business-like. “We also have Josh looking into the whole security system question—i.e., whether or not Nash has one.”

“And?” Gabriel asked.

“I’m diving into public records for any of a security system installation,” Josh said. “It’s a long shot, given Nash’s underworld dealings. But I’m also scouring real estate archives for any mention of an already installed security system when he purchased the building. Lastly, I’ve put out word among the slayer network to see if anyone has already solved this conundrum.”

Taking a seat behind his laptop, Josh started typing, his gaze never leaving his screen. “Determining the presence of a security system in Nash’s lair is tricky. Usually, I can hazard a good guess as to whether or not the building has one. A hotel that’s housing the Vampire King, for instance, would absolutely have one in place. But a newly renovated warehouse designed specifically for illegal activities? Hard to say. On the one hand, I doubt Nash would want to use anything that could then be used against him later. On the other hand, this man enjoys torturing and killing werewolves. I have a feeling he’s the sort who likes to watch his victims.”

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