Benny watched him go. “That always creeps me the hell out. I mean, we move silently, but feline shifters are just too quiet. Nobody should be that quiet.”
Adare paused. There was a chance they’d just made an enemy if Jordan dug deep enough to find out about the Seven. What he and his brothers had had to do to become the Seven wouldn’t be tolerated by the shifter nation. Or the witch nation. He’d heard of Katie Pride, Jordan’s mate. “Who are Menace and Mayhem?” he asked, heading for the door.
“Jordan’s twin girls, Samantha and Sydney. They have to be in their early twenties by now. Jordan gave them the nicknames when they were born, and they just stuck. Fun kids but definitely wild.”
So Pride had a weakness. Good to know.
Adare shoved open the door to find a lone figure duct taped to a chair in the center of an empty airplane hangar. He had to appreciate the aesthetics of the situation.
The guy’s head hung down, and he sniffled, his hands behind his back. When he lifted his head, Adare saw he was in his early thirties with dilated brown eyes, shaggy brown hair, and a trimmed brown goatee. “Who are you guys? Come on, dudes. Why am I here?”
Adare studied him and drew the knife from his left boot, walking slowly and purposefully across the smooth concrete floor. He let the light glint off the blade and made sure that the idiot could see it. “I’m the guy who’s going to cut you into ribbons, pretty ones, and then decorate this entire hangar with your entrails.”
The human’s eyes widened and he turned his head, puking what looked like pepperoni and pineapples all over the floor.
“Gross,” Benny said, halting. “That’s just gross.”
Chapter 15
Adare twirled the knife in his hand, careful to avoid the vomit. “You picked up my woman earlier today.” It wouldn’t hurt to let the jackass know the sense of possession Adare was feeling.
The guy snorted snot up his nose. “My name is Gilbert. I’m thirty-two, and I want to be a champion gamer. I’m working hard on it.”
Adare glanced sideways at Benny.
Benny shrugged.
Gilbert coughed. “What’s your name? Let’s talk.”
Benny frowned and drew back. “What are you doing?”
Gilbert shrugged, his bony body barely moving in the thin gray T-shirt that covered his sunken chest. Visible goosebumps rose on his skin, and he shuddered, even his nose getting red from the cold. “I thought we could get to know each other.”
“Why?” Adare growled, keeping the blade front and center.
“I, um, saw it on television. That you should try and personalize yourself to sociopaths if they kidnap you.” Tears filled Gilbert’s dilated eyes. “I’m not into guys, man. It’s totally okay if you are, but the BDSM thing has never interested me. I like chicks and have never spanked one. I mean, not one time.” His eyebrows lifted. “In fact, I have a girlfriend named Peggy. She’s blond with dark eyes and she likes slow kisses and no bondage.”
“You do not,” Benny muttered.
Gilbert deflated. “You’re right. I don’t have a girlfriend.” He struggled briefly against the bindings. “Just let me go. I won’t tell anybody about this. I promise.”
Adare cocked his head, studying the human. “I don’t want to kill you, Gilbert.”
“Good.” Gilbert breathed out and nodded wildly. “We’re on the same page. I don’t want you to kill me. This is good, dude. What’s your name?”
Adare shook his head. He was losing control with this twerp. “Obviously you’re not the mastermind here.”
“Nope. Not at all.” Gilbert smiled, his head bobbing. “I’m not. Not even close.”
Just how high was he? Adare dropped to his haunches so they were eye-to-eye. “Who did you deliver my woman to?”
Gilbert blinked. “Huh?”
Adare drew the knife forward and set it on Gilbert’s knee. “I asked you a question.”
“Oh. Okay.” Gilbert stared at the blade as if he couldn’t look away. “The pretty lady with hazel eyes? I didn’t deliver her to anybody.”
Adare grasped the knife. “You didn’t take her to the airport, and that’s where I paid you to take her.”
“Wait. Okay. Wait.” Gilbert shuddered. “She gave me a hundred dollars to take her somewhere else.”
“Liar.” Adare stood, flipping the knife around to more easily plunge the blade into Gilbert’s thigh. Grace had promised him she’d go to the Realm, and she’d looked him right in the eye as she’d made the vow. The only way she wasn’t where she’d said she’d be was if somebody had taken her. “The first