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When her brother finally spoke, he sounded as though someone were choking him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t give me a chance to! I’ve tried for the last two nights!” She banged the door again. “Now let me out. I’m supposed to meet my…someone at Darius’s.”

Havers whispered something.

“What?” she demanded. “What did you say?”

“I can’t have you going there.”

As the anguish in his voice snuffed out her anger, the back of her neck grew tight with alarm. “Why not?”

“It’s no longer safe in that house. I…Dear God.”

Marissa splayed her hands out flat. “Havers, what did you do?”

There was only more silence.

“Havers! Tell me what you have done!”

Beth felt something hit her face hard. A hand. Someone had slapped her.

With a groggy jerk, she opened her eyes. She was in a barn. Strapped down to a table with metal bands around her wrists and ankles.

And Billy Riddle was standing over her. “Wake up, bitch.”

She struggled, straining against the cuffs. As he watched her, his eyes lingered on her breasts and his mouth pressed into a tight line.

“Mr. R?” Another male voice. “You do recall that you’re out of the rape business.”

“Yeah. I know.” Billy’s glare got worse. “Makes me want to hurt her just thinking about it.”

The blond-haired man who’d abducted her came into Beth’s line of sight. He had a shotgun on each shoulder, muzzles up.

“I’ll let you kill her, how’s that? She can be your first.”

Billy smiled. “Thanks, sensei.”

The blond man turned toward the barn’s double doors. They were wide open, revealing the dimming light in the sky.

“Mr. R, we need to keep focused,” he said. “I want these guns loaded and lined up with boxes of ammo on that work-table. We should put out knives, too. And go get the can of gasoline from the garage as well as the butane blow torch that’s next to the Hummer.”

Billy slapped her one more time. And then did as he was told.

Beth’s mind turned over slowly. The drugs were still in her system, making everything seem like a dream, but with every breath she took, the fog was lifting. And she was getting stronger.

Wrath’s violence was so deep, so vicious that it put frost on the walls of his chamber, and his breath came out in cloud bursts. The candles flickered slowly in the dense air, throwing off light, but no measurable heat.

He’d always known he was capable of great rage. But what he would bring down on those who had taken Beth from him would be for the history books.

There was a knock on the door. “Wrath?”

It was the cop, and Wrath willed the door open. The human seemed momentarily thrown by the temperature in the room.

“I…ah, I went to the Caldwell Martial Arts Academy. Guy’s name is Joseph Xavier. No one’s seen him today. He called in and got a replacement for his classes. They told me where he lived, and I did a drive-by. Condo on the west side of town. I broke in. It was clean. Too clean. Nothing in the fridge, nothing in the garage. No mail, no magazines. No toothpaste in the bathroom. No evidence that someone pulled out in a hurry, either. He may own it, but he doesn’t live there.”

Wrath was having a hard time concentrating. All he could think about was getting free of this godforsaken hole in the earth and locating Beth. Once he was outside, he’d sense her. His blood running through her veins was like a GPS chip. He’d be able to find her anywhere on the planet.

He grabbed his cell phone and dialed. As Butch made a move to go, Wrath said, “Don’t leave.”

The cop settled on the leather couch, eyes alert, body calm. Ready for anything.

When Tohrment’s voice came through, Wrath pulled the trigger on the brotherhood. “At ten o’clock tonight, you will take the brothers and you will go to the Caldwell Martial Arts Academy. You will infiltrate and search the place, and then you will throw the security alarm. You will wait until the lessers arrive and then you will slaughter them and burn the building to the ground. Do you understand me? Ashes, Tohr. I want fucking ashes.”

There was no hesitation. “Yes, my lord.”

“Watch