as they raced down the street to a run-down blue building facing the water. Cassidy skidded to a halt in front of it while Kyle continued for a few feet before realizing she’d stopped.
This was where the bond was bringing her, and judging by the putrid aroma drifting from it, there were more than one or two Savages inside.
“Shit,” Kyle said.
“Dante’s in there.”
“Then let’s go.”
Cassidy glanced at her twin. She didn’t want him involved in this, but when he flashed her a crazy grin, she knew there was no place he’d rather be. They were family, they were friends, and they would fight to the death for each other.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go have some family bonding time and kill things.”
Cassidy managed to give him a strained smile, but between her concern for Dante and her dread over having to kill anything again, her legs felt wooden as she made her way inside the building.
She removed one of the stakes tucked inside her jacket and touched the small crossbow in her other pocket. Rats screeched and skittered out of the way as Cassidy jogged through the building with Kyle at her side. She searched the shadows and strained to hear anything other than the four-legged critters as her bond drew her onward.
“Cassidy, slow down,” Kyle hissed when they entered a small back room.
She couldn’t slow down. She was frantic to see Dante and reassure herself he was okay. He was still alive—she felt that—but for how long? Had they made it this far only to be too late to save him?
The possibility sent jolts of adrenaline through her. Each jolt caused her hands to tremble as her brain yelled at her. Go faster, run, or you’ll be too late!
When she spotted a set of backstairs, she started toward it, but Kyle grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She glowered at him, and he glowered back as he lifted a finger to his lips and held it there.
“They can’t know we’re coming, or we’ll all end up dead,” he whispered.
Cassidy nodded, but Kyle continued to stare at her until a rat ran over his foot. He released a muffled squeak and jumped back from the rodent that vanished under the stairs.
“I hate rats,” he grated through his teeth. “Why are these things so fat? What have they been eating?”
Under normal circumstances, Cassidy would have found his reaction amusing, but she couldn’t experience humor when terror pulsed through her with every beat of her heart.
Kyle took another deep breath before focusing on her. “Let me go first.”
Cassidy opened her mouth to protest, but she decided not to waste any time arguing with him. He edged past her and, keeping his back to the wall, started up the stairs. Careful about where she put her feet, she held her breath as she waited for one of the steps to give out completely.
They were halfway up when one of the stairs creaked before bowing beneath her weight. They both froze, and Kyle’s head turned toward her. He reached for her, but when the stair remained firm beneath her, his hand fell away.
They stared at each other for a second before they both looked to the darkened stairwell. Cassidy bit her lip as she strained to hear any sound while waiting for something to burst out and attack them.
The chatter of the rats became as loud as gunshots in her ears as the silence stretched on, and then Kyle started forward again. For a second, she couldn’t move. Sweat covered her palms and stuck her shirt to her back. Some of her siblings thrived on this adrenaline junky garbage; she despised it.
What would they discover above? Was she ready for this fight?
Move! Or you’ll discover Dante’s body. That spurred her on, and it took everything she had not to shove Kyle out of her way and bolt up the steps.
The stair beneath Kyle’s foot squeaked; he grimaced as he paused.
Please let them think it was the rats, she inwardly pleaded.
A loud boom sounded overhead, and the walls quaked from the force of whatever caused it. Her heart leapt into her throat, choking the breath from her. No!
Forgetting about being quiet, Cassidy surged forward, and so did Kyle. He took the steps two at a time as they bypassed the second floor and continued to the third.
Another bang shook the building as Kyle arrived at the heavy metal door and shoved it open.
Chapter Forty-Four
Cassidy barely had time to take in the strange scene that