Forbidden (Blood Ties Book 7)

Clunk. Bang.

Clunk. Bang.

Clunk—

I wrenched my gaze from the monitor and the warning splashing across the screen, Access Denied. Anger already seethed in my veins as that fucking sound resounded along the hallway.

Bang!

“That’s it.” I shoved up from my chair and turned toward the door.

I’d been here for three goddamn hours after the Daughters were locked away in their rooms for the night trying to access the files…any files, for that matter. Now every time I clicked on a goddamn document it came up with a warning. Something was going on. Something I didn’t like.

Clunk.

Bang!

That goddamn sound pissed me off. Did they want to entice panic at every goddamn moment? I strode out of my office and into the hallway, finding the dark blur of a guard dragging something along the doors up ahead. I clenched my teeth and lengthened my stride, slammed my card against the scanner and pushed through the doors after him. Goddamn bastard, he was about to get a mouthful.

That festering rage needed an outlet and right now…that was him.

Clunk.

Bang!

“Motherfucker.” I slammed the card against the door and pushed through, finding him dragging the butt of his gun along the doors, heading toward the Daughters’ rooms.

“Hey!” I barked, trying to keep it under control.

But the asshole never slowed, nor did he turn at my command. Only Coulter’s fucking assholes would goddamn dare ignore me like that.

I lengthened my stride again as he neared the next set of double doors, reaching out to press his card against the scanner.

“I said, hey!” I roared as the asshole pushed open the double doors.

“What the fuck! Stop it! PUT THAT DOWN!” Kane’s roar bloomed from his office further along the hall.

I asshole with the gun turned, holding open the door. “What?” He snarled.

A twitch came in the corner of my eye as I neared him. I lunged, grabbed his gun, and wrenched it from his grasp faster than he expected, then shoved the weapon in his face. “I hear you drag this against any fucking wall again and I’ll make you eat it, you understand?”

“The fuck you DO!” Kane bellowed, drawing my focus.

I didn’t have time for this asshole. I drove the gun against his chest with a brutal blow and shoved through the door, leaving the guard behind. That goddamn nerve in my temple was pulsing by the time I’d hurried to the doorway to my brother’s office…and saw the carnage.

My gut clenched as I scanned the dark room. Coulter stood to the side, watching as his men tore Kane’s office apart.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I barked as his men yanked the cables from the back of the desktop computer, taking the entire system toward the door.

“Exactly what it looks like.” Coulter murmured. “We are taking over.”

Kane’s eyes were wide, his hair disheveled as he stepped in the guard’s way, stopping him with a hand. “Do I at least get it back?”

The guard just looked at Coulter who gave a jerk of his head. In an instant they had destroyed everything. Files and folders were strewn across the floor. Cords had been ripped from the wall…and I couldn’t do a goddamn thing about it.

“Hale is going to be fucking furious.” I forced the words through clenched teeth and turned my gaze to Coulter.

The bastard had the nerve to smirk as he glanced toward Kane before turning toward the door. But Thomas was there, standing in the middle of the doorway, stopping him with his sickening, bloody stare.

Coulter met my brother’s stare, then lowered his gaze to his clerical collar. “You’re next, Priest.”

You’re next?

My jaw flared, still I did nothing as Coulter pushed through, leaving his goons to follow.

“Riven.” Kane snarled.

“Easy.” I warned, watching them leave.

But inside, my mind was racing. The moment we were alone, I glanced around the chaos. There was no doubt the office was bugged. I doubted there was a place in this goddamn building that wasn’t…unless.

I lifted my gaze to Thomas who stared at me.

“The rectory.” I muttered. “Now.”

There was nothing we could do for Kane now, or his files. No doubt any type of effort to gain access would be met with the same warning I’d been receiving for hours…access fucking denied.

Kane followed as I spun toward Thomas. All three of us headed back along the corridor and turned left, making for the goddamn farce of all of this…the rectory.

The moment we pushed through the wooden double doors, the choking stench of stale air hit me. But I was beyond caring as I strode through and left Kane to come in behind.

“What the fuck are we going to do?” Kane pushed past, then turned on me, stabbing his finger toward the door. “This is out of fucking hand.”

It was out of hand. That was putting it mildly. But right now, we had a plan we couldn’t blow. “Nothing.” I answered. “We do nothing.”

“Nothing?” Kane snarled, his eyes wild. “That’s five years of my goddamn life there.”

I stepped closer, keeping my voice low. “And is that more important than our plans?”

He stilled, rage turning his light green eyes dark like emeralds.

“We have to be smart about this. Every fucking step we take is calculated. As of right now, we’re flying blind here. We have no direct confirmation that Hale is in control here.”

“In control?” Kane muttered, looking away in disgust. “This has his goddamn stench all over it. There’s no way in hell he’s handed over the reins to that…scumbag.”

Not willingly, anyway.

The words surfaced in my mind, but I kept them to myself. The last thing I needed was my brothers panicking even more.

“So what do we do from here?” Thomas glared from me to Kane.

“We have a timeline.” I murmured. “So there’s nothing we can do until then.”

“A timeline?” Thomas scowled. “What timeline?”

Shit, he didn’t know. I lifted my hand, pressing my finger to my lips. Shh. Then I changed them for the number two.

“Weeks?” He mouthed.

I shook my head.

He scowled fiercely. “Days?”

My nod floored him. He stood there, unmoving, his gaze fixed on mine. “Then what?”

“Then we pray.” I answered, knowing too well we were leaving our fate in the hands of a woman who was half out of her mind with the drugs and the programming.

“This is going to work,” Thomas urged. “It has to.”

It did have to…there was no other choice.

“Christ, I need a goddamn drink.” Thomas turned and began to pace the floor.

“I can’t argue with that.” Kane muttered and headed for the door.

We all seemed to feel the same. My thoughts were so consuming, I barely felt the movement as my legs carried me through the hallways. Still, I pushed through the doors to the apartment and headed for the bar.

“What the fuck?” Kane stopped cold in the middle of the apartment, staring at the living room.

A cold, eerie feeling crept along my spine as I stepped closer.

Feet.

That’s what I saw first.

Bare.

Ugly.

Fucking.

Feet.

As I took a step, more of the body was revealed, naked hairy thighs, a pale, flaccid cock.

“Oh, Jesus.” Thomas groaned, staring down. “It’s him…the guard.”

What the fuck?

I stepped closer, seeing the ugly, deep purple marks around the swollen, distorted throat. “Sonofabitch.”

Fucking Coulter.

“It’s him.” Kane glared my way. “It has to be. It’s Coulter.”

“Yeah.” I grabbed my cell. “I got it.”

I swiped the screen and pressed the button. I was done playing. Done waiting for that lying, sneaky motherfucker to make his move. I pressed the button for Hunter.

No service.

What?

I scowled, then pressed the button again.

No service.

I checked the number of bars, then airplane mode before I tried again.

Nothing.

“Fuck.” I jerked my gaze to Kane. “Try him.”

He already had his cell in his hand, pressing the button once, twice. “I got nothing.”

Thomas was already trying his, shaking his head as he stabbed and stabbed. “I got nothing either.”

My breaths deepened. That sickening, icy feeling that was trapped inside me turned to rage. It didn’t take a genius to work out what was going on. Still, I needed to find out exactly how deep in we were here. I strode to the counter and snatched up my keys. “Wait here.”

“Where are you going?” Kane bit out as I headed for the external door.

I didn’t answer, because my mind was screaming. Cool night air slammed into me, shocking me back into reality. If he was taking over the compound and pushing us out, then we were in trouble. My thoughts turned to Helene. It didn’t matter if we were out. If anything, I was excited about the fucking prospect…as long as we got her to Hale safely.

That’s all I cared about.

But as I strode along the back of the building and headed for my car, that excitement faded, leaving the taste of ash in my mouth. Shadows moved through the trees. I felt them more than saw them, blending in with the night as they closed in.

I gripped my keys and focused on the parking lot beside the building. If our cell service was blocked and our access to the mainframe was down, then we were all alone, with no way to call anyone, not just anyone, Hunter. We had no way of calling him.

I gripped the key and pressed the button the moment my car came into view. Orange lights flared as the locks disengaged, but before I could even round the trunk, a guard stepped into view, a sniper’s rifle clutched in his hand. He moved to block my way, one shake of his head, and I stopped.

“You seriously going to stop me from leaving?”

“I have my orders.” He answered, his grip shifting around the gun.

I glanced at the movement, then back to that hard stare. I was sure he did, and no doubt using force to stop me from leaving was one of them. I turned around, leaving the car unlocked and strode back to the apartment.

I’d wanted to know how much trouble we were in…

Looked like I knew now.

A whole fucking lot.