the warehouse and storm towards the car. We need to be quick to reach the necromancer before they disappear into thin air and attack another city. It’s up to us now. We are so distracted, we don’t hear him until it’s too late.
A gun cocks, making us freeze.
Something hits me from behind, and I spin, my eyes widening when I spot Thomas. I frown at him, unsure why the old alpha of Remi’s pack is here, why he has a gun in his hand, and why it’s pointed at us.
“Tom?” Remi asks, confused.
“Hey, girl.” He nods to her and then at me. “Khalid.”
“What are you doing?” I query, and he flexes his finger on the trigger, threatening me.
“What I have to. Sorry.” He shrugs, his orange eyes flicking to Remi in sadness. His grey hair is short, and there are four scarred claw marks cutting down the side of his head and face. Probably from when he lost the alpha challenge. His skin is brown and leathery with age, and his body is still huge and powerful in a way only an alpha can be.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Remi inquires, looking between us, and his eyes widen as he shakes his head.
“Still haven’t told her?” He laughs bitterly and looks at her as I inch closer to him. I want to get the gun before he does something stupid like hurt my mate. “Oh, girlie, you’ve been hunting with someone who has lied to you the entire time.”
“Don’t,” I snap, but she ignores me and focuses on him. “Remi, don’t listen—”
“He knew you when you were a child. Ask him how. Ask him why he left. Ask him what you are to him,” he barks, and I narrow my gaze further. My last warning. I trusted him once, and that gives him a pass, but only so far.
“Khalid?” she murmurs, perplexed.
“Why are you here?” I ask him. “Last we spoke, you were—”
“I have to bring you both in.” He looks to Remi then, interrupting me. “I hope you understand. I have no choice. They have my daughter.”
“Who does?” Remi questions.
“The council. Women have been disappearing, and they approached me a week ago to let me know they had her. If I don’t want her to be killed or used to breed, then I need to bring both of you to them.”
“But that was before they put the hit out on us,” she whispers, and he nods.
“You did something to piss off the wrong people, Remi. I’m sorry.” He looks at me. “I think they know. I think they always knew she would lead them to you, and they want you. They want all the gods. I don’t know why. But I need you.”
She steps in front of me and holds out her hand. “We can help you—”
“You can’t, no one can,” he yells. “You have to come with me. If I have to knock you out to do it, I will.”
“Tom,” she whispers. “You protected me as much as you could when I was a kid. You did that, protected me when you didn’t have to. Don’t do this now, not after everything.”
“I protected you for him because he made me. I’m sorry, kid, but I did what I had to, always have, and I have to now or they will hurt her. She’s my family, you aren’t.”
Remi’s heart slams, I feel it, feel her questions, and a moment later, I see him start to pull the trigger. Pure, blind panic takes over—the need to protect my mate. No matter what’s in the gun, it can’t hit her. I spin us, bending over her, giving him my back. The movement is what has him firing, and I feel the bullet rip through me. It would have hit her arm had she been there, but because we moved, it rips through my heart.
I feel it, the blood, the agony, as I fall to the ground. I hear her scream, but I can’t keep my eyes open.
My heart stops.
And not for the first time, I die.
REMI
I watch Khalid fall. His face is pale, his eyes scared before they close, and that’s when I see it—the blood on my hands. There is a hole in his chest, and I stare down at him in shock as he lies unmoving. I don’t even hear his heart.
My own stops as my whole world screeches to a halt, and terror like I have never felt before flows through me. I drop to my knees,