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"Get up, bitch," he growled
Sid didn’tto ave her a cruel s faster than her hurabbed the youngest of the woing fro softly
"Get up," he repeated to Sid "Or I’ll drink her dry and leave the husk"
Sid tried to put all the hatred she felt into her stare as she stood, keeping her back against the wall "Leave her alone," she de," Pinto sneered But he opened his fingers, releasing the teenager She dropped to the floor with a clatter of chains, then crawled over to rejoin the knot of terrified captives
"Come then, Sidonie Reid Let’s find out why a cold bastard like Aden would find you so irresistible"
Sidonie walked slowly, steeling herself to ot there A deafening noise suddenly rocked the house, a loud crack of wood followed by a hard sla to the floor Like the heavy front door Her heart soared as she realized Aden must have found her, that rescue was at hand, not just for her but for the other women She opened her mouth to scream, to let Aden knohere she was, but before she could so ripped her waist, pinning her to his side, the other covered herroom to the opposite end of the hallhich opened to the kitchen
It sounded like war had broken out behind the fro room Sid knew a moment of fear for Aden before she was jerked back to her own danger as Pinto slah to knock her breath away He flattened hi there a longin the kitchen And then just as abruptly, they were ht as th far exceeded hers, and he didn’ton in the living room With one exception, Pinto’s henchut told her it was, Pinto’s huers didn’t stand a chance
He wrenched her to a stop onebetween the kitchen and living rooers over her htly that she could barely breathe She thought she knehy he aiting The door to the driveas on the other side of the kitchen, and Pinto would have to pass right in front of the living rooet there Even at va room for a few precious seconds
Pinto held her in place,to persuade hi no one would notice and cursing Aden in the sa to ive away their position, but Pinto had her crushed face first up against the open shelves of a pantry cabinet, the edges digging into her cheek, her breasts, her thighs Cold air from the wide-open door to the outside brushed over her face, and if she rolled her eyes sideways she could see the opening
Pinto’s ent, and Sid kneas steeling himself for the final dash to freedom This was her moment of truth She either acted now, or she surrendered her freedom and maybe her life
Her left arrip and the shelf that was jaht ar Pinto was too busy with his oorries to pay attention to what she was doing, Sidonie slid her right hand down over her belly Sheup the double layer of her hoodie and T-shirt, sliding beneath it until shehis reaction But he see rooe as a threat
Leaving her hand flattened over her belly, she waited until he ed her past the cracked porcelain sink,va rooh to lean forward and sniff the air outside the driveway door, and Sidher hand under the bellyband, she curled shaking fingers around the grip of the small 9mm It felt solid in her hand, heavy, as she inched it out of the holster, as she sucked in a deep breath of courage And then with an effort that was un until it was jaer over and over until the slide locked back and there was nothing left to fire
ADEN DIDN’T WASTE any ti to Elias, whom they’d met up with as scheduled, Pinto had only one vampire left from the crew that Aden had deciers ere happy to act as guards and enforcers The pay was good and the risk was low Or it had been before tonight Tonight, hell itself was going to descend on theet house was in a far worse neighborhood than the previous one Pinto probably felt safer here The authorities rarely ventured down these streets, usually only in response to overt violence, and there was nothing about this house to draanted attention