The Catalyst - By Zoe Winters Page 0,66

anything, but please just call him... they'll kill me if he doesn't show up." She winced at the way her voice sounded, the horrible pleading in it. There was a long pause. "Z?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I called Cole. I'll be there, too. I don't know who you think I am, but if you think I'm just leaving you to be negotiated over by a bunch of monsters, you've lost your motherfucking mind."

Fiona's gaze shifted to the vampire, wondering if he'd be upset about extra members in the rescue party.

The vampire raised an eyebrow. "I don't care who all is coming. I've got an army of my own. Should be fun. I look forward to the smackdown."

"Fiona?"

She turned her attention back to the phone, still processing the fact that he was coming for her. Directly. No intermediaries. "Yes?"

"Is he there in the room with you?"

She nodded, then remembering Z couldn't see her, she said, "Yes."

"Give him the phone."

She passed the phone to the vampire. "He w-wants to speak to you."

"I'm sure he does."

The vampire took the phone, and then there was a lot of yelling. Fiona couldn't make out what Z was saying, but he was angry.

Without the slightest irritation, the vampire said, "It will be lovely to meet you tomorrow night. Ciao." He chuckled as he closed the flip phone. "That boyfriend of yours has a temper. He told me if I touched a single hair on your head that he'd let me find out what my intestines looked like before I died, then he'd make a noose out of them and hang me while he drove a stake through my heart. Such vivid imagery. It makes me wish he was one of mine."

"He said that?" She wasn't quite sure if the vampire was messing with her, though it did sound like something Z might say.

"Nothing like a kidnapping to bring young lovers together. Just think, without this melodrama, you two might have remained stubborn for years until you forgot about one another. You can thank me later."

"Who will I send the card to?" Fiona asked, uncharacteristic bravery creeping through.

"Anthony Burgess."

"The Clockwork Orange guy?"

Anthony rolled his eyes. "No. Not The Clockwork Orange guy. I swear. Do you have any idea how old I am? More than one person on the planet can have the same name! If I'd known that man would become famous for that book, I would have hunted him down and killed him before he'd written the first page."

Fiona shrank back. "Sorry," she mumbled. This was obviously a sore spot.

Anthony composed himself like someone had flipped a switch, then patted her on the knee and started toward to door. "No harm done. Someone will bring you dinner in a while. I expect you to watch the pup for me until the big showdown."

So what else was new? Kidnapped to be a babysitter. Again.
Chapter Twelve

Z was running on almost no sleep. From the moment the priest had told him they had Fiona, rest had been the last thing on his mind. He shouldn't have taken her back home. Let her whine and cry. He should have listened to his instincts and kept her in the cave.

But he'd been afraid it was less about her own safety and more about him. And that was a rabbit hole he didn't want to fall down. Being attached was bad. He was just starting to get his life back. He'd been so busy trying to get back to his status quo, he hadn't stopped to think about how empty that life had been.

Fiona was sweet and pretty, and he wanted to take care of her. Maybe months with the pup had domesticated him after all. Maybe it was only an illusion that he was still the hard drinking, man-whore panther he'd been before he'd stumbled upon the wolf.

Z couldn't help blaming himself for the mess everything was in. Fiona's life was in danger because he'd taken the pup, though he wouldn't have met her without the pup, either.

He expected to be on his way to Washington state by now, but he was tramping through desert in the middle of the night. Perfect weather, though. It was a demon dimension. His skin felt itchy with the entire Cary Town werewolf pack trudging along behind him. They each had bags and gear, but Z hadn't asked any questions. Being brought along for the trip was enough.

Ahead of him were two demons, Jane - who he'd met before - and a male