scream had echoed through his mind every single night for the last three months. The pain, the anguish rolling through him, through his flesh and bone as if it were part of him.
He didn’t understand it.
Who was she? Why was she in his goddamn dreams?
Shoving the covers back, he rolled his shoulders, still stiff from the fight the night before, the deep cut he’d taken from some demon’s dirty blade stitching itself back together. Fucker.
He showered quickly, then dressed and headed out in search of Chaos. He’d come in late last night and hadn’t wanted to disturb the male while he was with his mate. Gunner was the only one who had regular contact with Rocco now, mainly because he didn’t give his brother any damn choice in the matter.
Roc was as close to the edge as he’d ever been. As close to tipping into the abyss as he was the day his female was stolen from him—as he’d helplessly watched her being dragged to Hell.
Chaos liked to be kept in the loop; all the brothers did. They were worried. They wanted Rocco home at the compound where he belonged. But Gunner didn’t see that happening anytime soon. Fuck, if ever.
He headed down to the first floor where they trained their demi-demons. Chaos was usually here in the mornings.
A familiar battle cry rang out, followed by several more, but these were not so familiar. He paused, glancing into one of the bigger rooms he was passing.
Grace stood in front of the class, Meredith, Eve, and Mia facing her. The looks on their faces were fierce as they ran through their drills. Anyone would think they were about to go to war, and not just running through their usual self-defense moves—
He paused, frowning.
“What’s up?” James asked.
Gunner turned to the male. “The females are training pretty hard.”
James glanced into the room through the small glass window. “Yeah, I guess they are.”
Their mates would lose their minds if they went out with Grace and her crew. Chaos still struggled with Grace fighting even now, despite how good a fighter she was. Being protective of their mates was just part of their DNA. “You seen Chaos?” he asked James.
“Try the control room.” Then the demi, who helped train others like him when they were brought in with their new powers, scared and confused, walked into the room with the females and joined Grace’s class.
When Gunner made it upstairs, Chaos was there with Lazarus. Silas too. The angel had been living at the compound the last few months since he’d had his wings taken for helping them. And though Laz still had no love for the guy, he’d stopped showing his disdain quite as much—except when they trained. Then all bets were off.
Chaos gave him a chin lift. “What’s up?”
Gunner leaned his ass against one of the desks and crossed his arms. “I saw Roc last night. He fought beside me and Silas for most of the night.”
Silas nodded. “He was quiet, but he seemed more…focused.”
“Yeah?” There was no missing the hope in Chaos’s voice, or the pain. “You think he’s nearly ready to come home?”
“There’s still so much rage inside him, brother. He’s got his demon in control for now, but it wouldn’t take much to flip him out. I say we keep with the slow and steady approach for now.” Gunner let his gaze hit both his brothers. “And honestly, being around you and your mates might be the thing that sends him over the edge. It needs to be on his terms, when he’s feeling solid enough to be around it.”
Gunner found it hard enough to be around the loved-up couples in the compound on the regular, and he’d only felt his mate’s presence for a short time before she vanished—disappearing before he could get to her. He’d never laid eyes on her, knew nothing about her, and still, her loss was a yawning hole in his chest that no amount of killing or fucking could repair.
Not that he’d been up for the latter in quite a while. The killing, though, he’d been partaking in liberally.
He zeroed in on the slight weight around his neck, the small gold cross he never took off.
Close to a year ago, when things had been seriously fucked up for all of them, Gunner had been so unstable, so close to succumbing to his inner demon and hurting someone, he’d had to ask his brothers to lock him away. That’s when he felt her. His mate. He