The Brink by Shayla Black

Hammer rolled over in bed, not fully awake, but floating in and out of sleep. As he breathed in, the scents of Raine, sex, and something unfamiliar filled his senses. Slitting open one eye, he saw that he wasn’t in his own room but Liam’s.

Hammer remembered exactly why. Raine had climbed on top of his friend and ridden Liam like a goddess until it seemed Liam’s hurt and insecurity had melted away. Watching and listening to their erotic melding, Hammer had stroked his own cock and joined their shared orgasm by coming all over his stomach in a hot, spine-tingling rush.

Rolling to his side now, he slung his arm around Raine and snuggled close. But when he tried to palm her breast, he caressed an expanse of flat, hairy chest instead. Jolting awake, Hammer jerked up. Christ, he’d been snuggling Liam.

His cock instantly deflated. Good thing he hadn’t tried to tap that.

He shook his head. What a wake-up that would have been.

Glancing around the shadowy room, Hammer searched for Raine but didn’t see her. He peered toward the bathroom. The light was off. The door stood wide open. Where the hell had she gone at just after five a.m.?

Grumbling, Hammer inched off the bed and grabbed his pants. As he meandered out of the room, he zipped up and left Liam stretched out on the bed, snoring like a lumberjack.

As Hammer made his way down the hall, light spilled from the kitchen. He frowned. Raine never ate this early. Hell, she was rarely even awake. Was she baking because something had upset her? He couldn’t imagine what. A few hours ago, she’d showered Liam with love and exorcised the jealous demon inside him. Raine should be basking in her achievement, not burying her sorrows in dough. Things were good between the three of them now. At least Hammer thought so.

Yeah, and you thought Juliet was on the same page as you for years. You learned the hard way never to assume anything.

If something was bothering Raine, Macen swore he’d press her until he got to the bottom of her distress and fix it.

Rounding the doorway, he found the kitchen empty, other than counters cluttered with bowls, measuring cups, and various baking ingredients all surrounding her laptop. Hammer fingered the track pad until her screen illuminated. A recipe for date scones?

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. Had she ever made anything with dates? Not that Hammer could remember, and especially not at the ass crack of dawn. Darting a gaze over the ingredients on the counter, he scowled. It looked as if everything lay out, waiting for Raine’s baking magic…but she’d simply walked away.

Hammer felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. Surely she wouldn’t have run away again. Would she?

With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, Hammer turned and sprinted down the hall. As he burst into Raine’s room, he flipped on the light and flung open her closet door. Her clothes hung in a row, just as she’d left them. He knew she hadn’t taken any of her things from Liam’s closet; he would have heard that. A wave of blessed relief washed through him.

But as Hammer turned off the light, he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling seeping through his bones.

“Damn it, where are you, Raine?” he whispered.

The state of the kitchen stuck in his head. She never left it cluttered or untidy, much less abandoned a recipe like that. He strode back to the mess, then compared the recipe to the items on the counter.

“She didn’t have any dates.” He scowled and stormed toward the back door, his keys jingling in his pocket with every step. If Raine had gone to the grocery store in the damn dark without telling him or Liam… Hammer shook his head. He’d redden her ass another shade darker.

Shoving the heavy metal door open, he stepped out into the cool night air. Raine’s car sat beneath a floodlight. But the driver’s side door stood wide open. Her purse littering the ground blasted Hammer with ice-cold fear.

Sprinting to her car, he found her personal items spilled haphazardly across the pavement. Her keys gleamed in the driver’s seat, and her cell phone lay upside down on the floorboard. His heart thundered in his chest.

Raine would never leave her things here voluntarily. Hammer looked around for anything that might tell him what had happened. What could have transpired in Shadows’ small parking lot? A mugger? A rapist?

Bill?

Son of a bitch.

“Raine!” Hammer screamed, hoping she might be nearby and hear him, scream in return.

Nothing but silence.

Panic bled through his veins. “Oh, god. Raine! No, baby. No.”

Racing toward the club, Hammer yanked his keys from his pocket. At the door, he trembled as he tried to open the lock. Dread crawled up his spine and wrapped around his throat, choking the air in his lungs.

“If you have her, you cocksucking motherfucker, I’m going to kill you,” Hammer vowed as he yanked the door open. “Liam!” he bellowed, tearing down the hall. “Liam!”

The doors to Beck’s and Seth’s rooms banged opened simultaneously as both men stood blinking at Hammer. Roused from sleep, they looked startled and confused.

“What the hell are you yelling about?” Seth asked with a scowl.

“For fuck’s sake. Are you two idiots arguing again?” Beck shook his head in disgust. “Keep it down before Raine has both sets of your balls hanging from the kitchen window like wind chimes.”

Hammer ignored their comments. “Liam!”

As he thundered down the hall, his friend emerged with his pants half zipped and looking disoriented. “What the bloody… What’s wrong, Macen?”

“She’s gone,” Hammer choked out, trying to swallow the fear and anger lodged in his throat. “I’m worried Bill has her. Her car’s in the lot. The driver’s door is open, and her stuff spilled everywhere. She wouldn’t have walked away and left her wallet, her phone, her…”

Macen’s whole body trembled as he gripped Liam’s shoulders, needing to ground himself with something solid.

“No. That can’t be.” The same horror Hammer felt filled Liam’s voice and stare.

“I don’t know how long she’s been gone,” Hammer barked, trying to contain his panic. “I woke up maybe five or ten minutes ago and found her missing.”

“Oh, fuck. If it’s Bill…” Beck growled, pinning Hammer with a knowing stare.

The doctor knew exactly what Bill Kendall was capable of since Hammer had called him the night Macen had discovered Raine in the alley. The two had slipped a sedative in her soda so Beck could examine her. Hammer had taken photos to document the horrific abuse she’d endured at the hands of her loving father. Liam had seen the pictures just last week. He’d also had the displeasure of meeting Bill, so he understood well the urgency to find Raine.

Swallowing tightly, Liam gripped Macen’s arm. “The security room, mate. The cameras will tell us if that piece of shit has our girl.”

As all four men raced down the hall, an ominous déjà vu crested through Hammer. He swallowed back the urge to vomit.

“What was Raine doing in the car park alone during the wee hours?” Liam asked.

“I think she intended to bake something.” Hammer unlocked the door, flipped on the lights, and hurried inside the private room. “There’s flour, sugar, and other shit all over the counters, but I think she needed an ingredient she didn’t have.” He scrubbed a hand over his face as he sat in front of a bank of wide monitors. “I can’t believe she didn’t wake one of us up to go with her.”

Liam paled. “What was she baking?”

“Something she’s never made. Date scones, I think,” Hammer growled.

Why did Liam care? Bill could well have taken the woman they loved. Macen didn’t want to focus too keenly on the brutalities she could be suffering at this very moment. He just wanted her back.

“God, no.” Liam’s voice cracked. “Oh, love… Not the scones.”

“Why not?” Seth asked. His brows slashed as he stared at Liam, who looked more shaken than ever.

“She wanted to make them for me.” Guilt and remorse roughened Liam’s voice.

Struggling to keep his own emotions in check, Hammer rewound the security feed from the parking lot. “We never had the chance to tell her that Bill had been sniffing around. She went out to that lot, never imagining…”

God, now he wished he’d made the time.

Liam curled his hands into fists. “I thought we could protect her.”

Hammer had, too. They’d been wrong.

When he found the right file and hit play, no one in the room said a word, just stared at the monitor. As Raine hurried from the back door, the time stamp showed four forty-six a.m. Hammer glanced at his watch. Quarter past five now. His gut clenched at the thought of all the terrible things that could befall her in nearly thirty tormenting minutes.

On the monitor, she made her way toward her car. A tall figure dressed in black and wearing a baseball cap stepped into view, sneaking up behind her. Hammer’s stomach pitched as he watched the man grab her. Raine fought, throwing an elbow, stamping on his foot, struggling like a mad thing, using every trick she’d learned in the self-defense classes in which he’d enrolled her. When she turned on the man, still fighting, she tried to knee him in the groin, but he held her down. Raine attempted to shove the heel of her palm into his nose but only succeeded in flipping the hat off his head. Startled recognition had her jaw dropping, her eyes widening.

The face and glowing blue eyes Hammer had hoped never to see again filled the screen.

“I knew it,” he roared, turning toward Liam. “That motherfucker has her.”

Liam nodded grimly. “Wind it back.”

Hammer jerked his attention to the screen once more. Without the hat to conceal Bill’s expression, an evil sneer consumed his face. Chills froze Macen’s every muscle, rolling through him in a debilitating wave.

Liam pressed the rewind button and homed in on Raine. She snapped her hand toward Bill’s cap, knocking it to the ground. Hammer could clearly see the bastard’s bulbous nose and the long white scar bisecting his cheek—a result of a wound Raine had given the son of a bitch over six years ago, when she’d last fought not to let her father take her innocence and her life.

The image played on, and Raine shot a frightened glance at the security camera mounted to the nearby lamppost.

“She knew we’d come here. Our brave little…” Liam’s voice cracked.

Cold fury filled Hammer with an even colder purpose. He and Liam knew the enemy and had no doubt what Bill was capable of. He’d do whatever it took to rescue Raine. And if her father’s head start was too big to overcome… Macen ground his jaw tight. He’d kill the fucker so slowly and painfully Bill would grovel for death.

“Your brave little sub clearly wanted the cameras to catch her assailant,” Seth concluded as they watched Bill jam something that looked like a cell phone against Raine’s ribs.

Hammer leaned forward, trying to decipher the mysterious object in Bill’s fist. The man suddenly slapped his hand around Raine’s arm, twisting it behind her back. Her mouth opened as if gasping in pain.

Rage thundered through Hammer as Bill yanked her tight against his round belly, drawing the hand with the black square up a few inches under Raine’s ear. A stun gun. He could kill her with that. Oh, deargod.

Unable to look away, even knowing what would happen next, Hammer gnashed his teeth as Bill pressed the probes against Raine’s neck. Her body spasmed, then she fell limp into her father’s arms. He carted her toward a dark van, jumped in, and rolled out of the lot.

“No!” Liam shouted, his face distorting in agony. “Oh, Raine.”

Hammer lost it. Bolting out of the chair, a feral roar ripped from his throat before he slammed his fist on the metal desktop. Every cell inside him seemed to detonate like an atomic bomb. His body shook with uncontrollable rage.

“How do we find her?” Beck asked.

“We?” Hammer arched a brow.

“Yes,” Beck insisted. “If she needs a doctor…”

“Bill Kendall is a dead man,” Liam vowed.

“Fuck yes. He is. We end this now,” Hammer agreed.

“Guys, we need to call the police,” Seth interjected. “You’ve got video proof that Bill kidnapped her. If we zero in, we might even be able to get a plate number off that van.”

Macen didn’t want to involve the authorities yet. When the police found Bill, they’d merely arrest the prick and let him live through a trial, during which Raine would have to recount everything her father had ever done to her, as well as the violence he heaped on her now.

Liam had it right; Bill Kendall needed to die. Hammer wanted to end his miserable existence. The end more than justified the means if it meant they could bring Raine back home. But no way would he sit at the club with his thumb up his ass, answering a shitload of questions while the wheels of the justice system creaked along at a snail’s pace.

“No,” Hammer barked. “I know exactly where Bill is. He’s sitting at home, waiting for me because he wants his paycheck and he’s using Raine as bait. We’re going to pay him a visit. You stay here on standby. We’ll call you if we need to show the police the footage.”

Understanding curled Seth’s lips into an icy smile. “Got it. Get out of here. Just make sure you all wear gloves. Fighting fingerprint evidence in court isn’t easy.”

“I’ve got gloves in my medical bag,” Beck assured. “I’ll get it and be right back.”

“I’m throwing on the rest of my clothes and grabbing my gun,” Hammer announced as the three men darted out of the room, leaving Seth to wait for their call.

He dressed frantically. Liam and Beck must have done the same as they all met up within two minutes. Finally, with his pistol tucked into the small holster at his side, he raced with the other two for Hammer’s car. Piling in, Macen turned to them. “We get Raine out. Whatever happens after that is self-defense. Got it?”

“Bloody fucking right, it is,” Liam growled.

Beck nodded grimly. “Bill charged you when you attempted to call the police, Hammer. We both saw it.”

With a nod, Hammer tore out of the lot. Urgency breathed down his back. He wanted to press the accelerator to the floor, but his mind warred with him. If he got pulled over for speeding, that would give Bill even more opportunity to—

No. Don’t fucking go there. You already failed and buried one woman you loved. You’ll never make it back again if Bill goes too far and you lose Raine, too.

Hovering just above the posted speed limits, Hammer cursed. He couldn’t get the visual out of his head of Raine’s limp body slumped against Bill or the demented look of triumph on the bastard’s face as he hoisted her into his arms and hurried away. The cowering black-and-blue state in which he’d found the girl in his alley years ago also haunted Hammer. The images blended, flashing through his head in a never-ending loop.

Guilt stung him. Why had he cut off Bill’s stipend? Hammer didn’t need the fucking money. He’d inherited a trust fund he couldn’t possibly spend in three lifetimes. By comparison, the paltry amount he’d doled out to Bill was mere pennies. But the peace of mind had been priceless.

Right now, Hammer would gladly give every cent for that peace of mind again. But Bill confessing last week that he’d indeed attempted to rape Raine as a teenager had sent him off the deep end. If Hammer hadn’t cut off the stipend he’d paid to keep the animal at bay, she would be safe and sound and happily baking at Shadows.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I should never have lost my temper and stopped paying him. This is my fault.”

* * *

“Don’t blame yourself, Macen,” Liam insisted. “I’m at fault. If I hadn’t been comparing the love she gave me, Raine wouldn’t have left the club.”

“Comparing? What the hell are you talking about?” Hammer’s brows slashed down in a scowl.

“When I came back from the hospital and lost the bloody plot, I accused Raine of loving you more than she does me,” Liam confessed, banging a fist against the car door.

And didn’t he wish he could take it all back now? That he hadn’t let exhaustion and frustration get hold of his tongue? He should merely have asked Raine about her feelings. If something unspeakable happened to her because he’d demanded that she prove her love for him with everything from sex to scones, he’d never forgive himself.

Hammer’s jaw dropped. “That’s the reason for the jealousy?”

“She’s loved you for years, Macen.” Liam swallowed down his regret. “I didn’t think she could ever…” He shook his head. “Then she proved me dead wrong earlier.”

Beck leaned in and poked his head between the seats. “Raine loves you just as much as she does Hammer. She wouldn’t have been so torn all this time if she didn’t.”

“I know that now, and I wish I’d never doubted her. She showed me everything in her heart.” Liam hung his head, then turned to Hammer. “You saw her do it, too.”

“I did, but do you believe her? No doubts?” Macen shot back.

“None,” Liam replied. “I was convinced the half dozen years she’d spent with you meant more than the five weeks we’ve been together. I feared I’d always come second. I was wrong.”

“It’s not the quantity; it’s the quality.” Hammer gripped the wheel tighter. “Besides, I didn’t tell her how I felt until you forced the issue—which you were right to do. You’ve given her so many things I didn’t. You still give her things I can’t. You see that, right?”

He nodded miserably. “I wish you’d smacked me sooner and told me I was out of line, mate.”

“Nothing I said would have convinced you. Raine had to open your eyes,” Hammer gave Liam’s shoulder a brotherly squeeze. “She did a fanfuckingtastic job of it, too.”

“She’s only whole when she’s with you both,” Beck interjected. “She’d never love one more than the other. At the lodge, she told you she would have both or neither of you because she’d rather live her life empty than half full.”

Liam remembered. Beck had nearly as much insight into Raine’s psyche as he and Hammer. The doctor was probably a damn sight more objective, too.

God, he’d wasted so much energy on jealousy he had no reason to feel. Liam didn’t know if he could stand the regret.

In his pocket, his phone buzzed. He jerked it free, hoping Raine had managed to reach out to him or even that Seth called with good news. Instead, he saw Gwyneth’s name pop up on his display. Why the devil would she be calling before six in the morning? Kyle might have taken a turn for the worse, Liam supposed, and he would be sorry if that were the case. But right now, he had to focus on finding Raine.

He shoved his phone back in his pocket.

The closer they drew to Bill’s house, the sharper his memories of his last visit here. The more his skin crawled. The decay that permeated every inch of Raine’s childhood home sent a shudder up Liam’s spine. How could anyone live in such squalor? And what was the state of the room Bill had locked Raine in right now?

Fear pumped through Liam’s veins like acid. He took little comfort in knowing that he and Hammer would ensure Bill was dead by sunrise. Instead, Liam couldn’t stop wondering what depravity Raine would be forced to endure before they rescued her. Or if they would be too late.

“If Bill wants money, why hasn’t he called for a ransom yet?” Beck pondered.

“Because he knows I’ll come looking for him. I’m sure he wants a little time with Raine so he can finish what he started when she was a kid.” Hammer looked ready to hit something again.

“He’s going to rape her, isn’t he?” Liam choked out the question…but he already knew the answer. He and Hammer had been thinking the same thing, but speaking his fear aloud made it more real. His guts churned.

“Yeah, but she’s a survivor. I’m more afraid of what else he’ll do.” Hammer’s jaw clenched. “That drunk asshole has a violent streak. If he’s been hitting the booze this morning, he may do more than violate her. No telling what.”

The fear of never holding or touching Raine again made Liam feel as if he’d been swept up in a tornado and slammed to the ground. To have her loving, compassionate soul ripped away would be his worst nightmare. Dread, thick and scalding, filled him. The weight of the terror staggered him. Liam didn’t want to simply kill her sire; he wanted to make the bastard suffer interminably.

“Fuck the stoplights, Hammer. Go faster,” Liam growled.

“I can’t risk getting pulled over for a speeding ticket when we’re so damn close.”

Liam knew that, but the logic chafed. “I don’t understand why he had to use the fucking stun gun on her. She’s just a wisp of a girl.”

“Bill knew Raine wouldn’t go willingly. She fought him once and won. The scar she gave him is a daily reminder.” Hammer cursed. “I can’t stop thinking about the way she dropped like a stone into that son of a bitch’s arms.”

As they rounded the corner onto Kendall’s street, Liam tried to hold himself together because panic didn’t do her any good.

Beck handed both men a pair of latex gloves, then donned his own. Hammer drove slowly past the house as Liam craned his neck. He didn’t see a single light on, inside or out.

Pulling to the curb near the middle of the block, Hammer cut the engine. After slipping on their gloves, the three men exited the vehicle, carefully closing the doors with nothing more than a snick of sound. As they made their way down the sidewalk, a dog barked from somewhere behind them. Another followed suit, but neither animal was close enough to attract unwanted attention.

Hammer darted down the driveway, drawing out his gun when he stepped into the shadow between Bill’s house and the neighbor’s. Liam and Beck followed, both stopping to peer through the dirty windows. Liam couldn’t see a thing except darkness. Not one sound came from inside. The place felt dead. An icy ripple slithered down his spine.

Pulling a penlight out of his pocket, Liam made his way to the attached garage. Shining the tiny beam of light through one of the grimy windows along the face of the door, he saw no sign of Raine. Even Bill’s truck was gone.

“Anything?” Hammer whispered.

“No,” Liam responded in the same furtive tone.

Quiet as a cat, Beck crept to the back door. Gripping the doorknob with a steady hand, he twisted it slowly. Giving a short, low whistle to get his and Hammer’s attention, Beck flashed a triumphant smile and opened the door.

It hadn’t been locked. They’d just been handed a gift—or walked into a trap.

Hammer hurried inside first, gun drawn. Liam followed in close behind as Beck quietly closed the door, then trailed them.

The stench of rotting garbage, sour gin, and stale cigarettes hit Liam’s senses like a prizefighter’s right hook.

“Jesus,” Beck muttered under his breath, then pressed a palm over his nose.

Liam wanted to retch but forced himself to breathe through his mouth instead. Shielding the beam from the penlight, Macen raised his hand, and the three men froze like statues, straining to listen for the slightest sound.

Silence.

As Hammer moved through the room again, he looked both furious and frustrated.

“Fuck this. I’m not afraid of that cocksucker.” Macen flipped on the kitchen light. “Kendall, you motherfucking coward, come out and face me!”

Cockroaches scattered in every direction. Stacks of moldy food stuck to mismatched dishes that littered the counters. Liam stared at the black streaks of grime on the yellowed linoleum floor as his eyes adjusted to the harsh light.

Beck cursed again. Repugnance crawled all over his face.

“Raine!” Liam called out, then cocked his head to listen intently.

Hammer and Beck paused, too. No answer.

“C’mon, you miserable piece of shit,” Hammer provoked. “You want your money? I’ve got it right here.”

Quiet enveloped them once again.

“Give Raine to us, and you can live out the rest of your days in style,” Liam offered. “All five fucking seconds of it,” he murmured, his voice low and deadly.

“Raine!” Hammer screamed again. “Make a noise for us. Kick. Scream. Anything.”

Not even a creak stirred from the miserable house. The oppressive silence wrapped around them. Hammer’s expression fell desolate.

Beck opened a drawer near the sink and withdrew two long knives, then handed one to Liam. “Let’s check out the rest of the house, just to be sure.”

“If you find Bill first, cut off his balls and shove them down his throat for me, will you?” Liam sneered.

“Then I’ll finish him off with a round to the head…eventually.” Hammer’s icy glower left no doubt he meant to make the prick suffer.

Liam couldn’t agree more with that plan.

“I want to hurt him, too,” Beck drawled cynically. “I’ve got that shit down to an art form.”

Making their way through the house, Liam found it remarkably more revolting than the first time he’d been there. The gut-churning odor of rotting garbage and fetid decay clung like an oily black film. Beer cans and cheap gin bottles littered the floor as they made their way down the hall, searching for Raine.

Exploring every closet and cubby, they called out to her, pausing to listen for the tiniest scrape or moan. With each room that turned out empty, the glimmer of hope Liam had been clinging to faded darker until the red he’d been seeing turned black.

Standing outside Raine’s old room, Liam felt his hand tremble on the doorknob. He didn’t want to see the posters of her teen idols on the walls again or be reminded that his raven-haired lass had once lain on the bed only to have her innocent dreams stripped away by the monster she’d called Dad.

Beck seemed to read his mind. “Go ahead. I’ll check this room.”

Hammer’s brows furrowed with concern as he stepped in behind Beck. A snarl rumbled from Macen’s throat as he darted back out and raced down the hall toward Bill’s room.

Beck emerged less than a minute later, pale and visibly shaken. He shook his head bleakly.

“Son of a bitch!” Hammer bellowed.

Liam and Beck ran down the hall, then bolted into the master bedroom to find Hammer pacing and cursing. Empty dresser drawers gaped open. Macen ripped several hangers from the barren closet before heaving them across the room in a violent rage.

Bill had left, and Liam had little hope the bastard had any intention of returning. The gravity of Raine’s peril slammed into him anew. Finding her now would be difficult, if not impossible. A needle in a fucking haystack.

“I’ll call Seth and have him contact the police,” Beck said in a dismal tone.

“Goddamn it, I thought she’d be here.” Hammer sounded stunned, shaken. “That he just wanted money and the chance to yank my chain. Where the fuck is he?”

Liam wondered the same thing. And what if they’d wasted time on this wild goose chase instead of calling the police, and it cost Raine her life?

“Come on,” Beck urged. “We need to get out of here.”

Hammer nodded, then he and Beck hurried outside. Liam followed, closing the door behind them. The snick of the knob left him feeling as if he’d abandoned Raine.

Liam swallowed the fear in his throat and followed the other men across the yard. A new level of panic trampled him. Time was running out if they wanted to find her alive. He could almost hear the mocking tick-tock in his head.

Once in the car, Beck rang Seth. Hearing the doctor say that they’d failed to find Raine choked Liam with hopelessness. But he’d bloody well keep fighting to get her back…unless he knew for certain he had nothing left to fight for.

“Before we head to the club, the private eye I hired to check in on Bill periodically sent me the names of a couple of the asshole’s haunts. Let’s check them out,” Hammer suggested.

“What kind of places? You think he’ll be at one of them?” Liam asked, almost hating his wretched hope but needing it so badly.

“Mostly restaurants and bars, so I doubt he’ll be hanging out. I’m hoping someone will know where to find him or will have seen him recently.” Hammer scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“Let’s go,” Liam urged.

Hammer pulled from the curb and sped down the street. Liam noticed his friend wasn’t concerned about getting pulled over any longer.

As they darted onto the highway, he remembered the photos Hammer had shown him of the last beating Raine had suffered at Bill’s hands before running away. Liam tried to clear his mind, not fixate on the horrors Raine could be experiencing as they broadened their desperate search.

The first bar Hammer stopped at was closed. The second, though open, had only two patrons inside, eating eggs. No one had seen Bill lately. Ditto with the third.

Liam felt the despair rolling off Hammer’s body. It echoed inside him.

“Where next?” he asked, his frustration spiking.

“That was the last place on my list. Fuck!” Hammer snapped, anxiety taking its toll. “I’d convinced myself she’d be at Bill’s, just waiting for his cash. Now I don’t have a goddamn clue.”

“We should head back to the club,” Beck suggested. “I’m sure the place is swarming with cops. Maybe we can help them somehow.”

Liam wanted to believe that. Unfortunately, he didn’t. He had to pray that his strong, wily girl, who had escaped her sire before, could somehow do it again.

If not, he and Hammer would lose another woman they shared, only this one had been a blissful surprise who’d stolen his heart as well. The sick irony was, they’d be sharing the debilitating pain of losing Raine together, as they should have after Juliet’s death. Jesus, how had Macen lived through this devastation alone?

Damn Bill Kendall to hell and back. The bastard had forced him and Hammer to play by another set of rules, and having the control ripped from his hands filled Liam with a sense of despair. Still, he’d do, give, or say anything to have Raine back.