Chapter 21

CATALINA

I threw myself at her, uncaring of the guards rushing our way. I was indifferent to everything but the desire to pummel her face.

“What the heck is wrong with you?” I wrapped my hands around her throat, squeezing tight. I didn’t intend to kill her, just choke her until she passed out. If she did die, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.

God, I sounded like Kol.

I screamed in rage when I was suddenly lifted off her by the waist. I squirmed in the arms holding me, wanting to get one more good punch in.

I looked over, just in time to see a baton coming toward my face. There was a burst of pain against the side of my head, then everything went dark.

When I came to, I immediately knew where I was. For one, I was the only one here.

Two, I was in a hole. I was under the impression that solitary confinement would be in the basement or something. Not outside in a deep hole.

~Kol? I’m here. What’s the plan now? Are you guys on your way?~

I scanned the walls around me. Slick, hardened mud surrounded me. The hole was at least twelve feet deep and maybe four feet wide.

Not much room to do anything but turn in circles. I was a sitting duck in here for whatever god was nearby.

~We’re here, kitten.~

LUCIFER

No one followed the plan.

The moment the car stopped, everyone ran out, heading for the doors, a look of murder on their faces. Kol informed us that Catalina was in the hole.

For some reason, this made him lose his shit. If he could still teleport, I guaranteed he would’ve left us.

“Remember not to use your powers,” I demanded from the back. “Although there is a strong presence here.”

“Must be the god,” he said. It worried me how excited he sounded.

“Kol,” I warned. Now was not the time to expose ourselves. He ignored me, pushing through the entrance door.

Nick, Mateo, and Sebastian followed him. It went without saying that we left Jayden behind. In fact, I hadn’t seen him all day, and that bothered me.

Two policemen and a woman sat behind a desk. The woman looked up as we approached, fixing her glasses.

“Can I help you?” she addressed Kol.

“Where’s our girl?” Lucien snarled at her, slamming his fist on the table. The two guards next to her jumped to their feet, hands on their guns.

I shook my head. Couldn’t these morons do anything right?

“Sir, I’ll have to ask you to calm down or please exit the building.” She tried to sound confident, but I could smell her fear.

Nick shoved Lucien out of the way. “What my friend was trying to say is we’re looking for someone.”

“Sarah Miller,” Kol supplied. Nick gave him a funny look. Why didn’t he tell us she was booked under a fake name?

The woman nodded, facing her computer to type. The guards eyed us like the threats we were. I heard more footsteps heading our way in the distance.

Did she push a panic button we didn’t know about?

“I’m afraid she’s been moved to solitary confinement, which means no visitors.” Wrong words to say, lady.

Kol, who had been holding it together until now, shifted in the middle of the room. The woman screamed, and the guards aimed their guns at him, eyes wide.

~I said no powers!~ I shouted down the link.

~Guess we’ll have to kill them all to keep our secret.~ He gave me a wolfish grin, then launched himself at the nearest guard.

The other guard took aim, but Mateo beat him. In a flash, he was at the guard, breaking his neck. Mateo jolted as if he’d been hit, then looked at Nick with wide eyes.

“My dragon is back,” he breathed in amazement. I looked at Nick, who nodded. Great, now we had two humans.

The footsteps from earlier had gotten closer. No longer walking now but running.

“We have guests coming on our left.”

Kol spat the decapitated head of the guard out, taking off for the hallway to our left.

~I think saving Kol gave me my powers back,~ Mateo said as we followed Kol. I nodded in acknowledgment but didn’t respond.

There was no time for conversation as twenty guards greeted us at the end of the hall.

NICK

Not having powers was…different. I had gotten used to the dragon, but now I had nothing. I felt so powerless. Was this how Lucien felt?

I couldn’t afford to dwell on it. Catalina needed me, and whether I was human or not, I wasn’t going to let her down.

Fortunately, our opponents were just as human. Unfortunately, they were armed.

I lashed out with my fist, connecting with a guard’s face. The other guys were handling the majority of the guards.

I was positioned at the back to catch any strays.

Two of them came at me simultaneously. I cringed, thanking the gods for my Fae training. I held my own against the two of them until one knocked me to the ground.

I punched him in the stomach, chest, and face, but somehow his hands found their way around my throat.

I continued to struggle, but he squeezed as hard as he could. Black spots began to dot my vision. Gods, being human was a pain.

Before I could pass out, he was yanked off me with a growl. Kol, in his lycan form, flung him against the wall.

He charged toward him but shifted mid-step and stumbled. When he got up, he looked at his hands with a grin, shadows forming around them.

“Oh, thank fuck I’m back!” Then he was gone. He couldn’t wait to perform that disappearing act.

My eyes snapped to Sebastian, who was locked in a fight with three men. Even as a human, he was taking all three on without breaking a sweat.

If I hadn’t seen Kol regain his powers with my own eyes, I would have thought Sebastian wasn’t human at all.

Mateo was launching fireballs at anyone who got too close to him. Why hadn’t I known I could do that when I had his powers?

Lucien was fighting like the ex-lycan he was—ripping out throats and clawing faces. Even without the animal, he was pure beast.

I jumped to my feet, ready to rejoin the fight. Now that we were down a man and half our team was fifty percent human, we needed all the help we could get.

CATALINA

Sitting on the muddy ground, I tried to keep my mind occupied. Kol had said they were here, and that was the last I heard from him.

Were they in the building? What was happening? How did they plan to get me out?

“Kitten.” My head snapped up. Kol was leaning over the hole, a huge grin on his face.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” he sang.

My grin matched his as I rose from the floor. “I think that’s my line.”

“Sorry, my hair isn’t as long as Nick’s.” He extended a hand to me, and I rolled my eyes.

He chuckled. “I’m only kidding.”

One moment he was above the hole, and the next he was beside me. Before I could say anything, his lips were on mine.

I kissed him back immediately, grabbing the front of his shirt to pull him closer. Kissing Kol always felt like kissing sin.

It sent a thrill through me like riding a rollercoaster. He broke the kiss all too soon, pulling me close with one arm around my waist.

“I can’t wait to get you home.” I jerked back in surprise when he bit my ear.

“You weirdo!”

He smirked. “Your weirdo.”

~Kol, where the hell are you?~ Lucien’s voice shouted in my head.

~Lucien!~ Oh, how I missed my lycan. I missed all my mates.

~Pup! Where are you? Mateo doesn’t see you on the cameras.~ The cameras? How would Mateo have access to the cameras?

~We’re on our way,~ Kol answered for me. It was then I realized how he got to me.

With the excitement of seeing him, it hadn’t registered that he had regained his powers until now.

“Oh my God, Kol! How’d you get your powers?” I jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist.

He held onto me tightly, grinning in satisfaction. “Saving your fairy’s ass. Honestly, your men were nothing without me. Completely useless.”

I smacked his chest playfully. To be honest, I couldn’t tell if he believed that or was just joking.

“Let’s get out of here, cupcake.”