Page 90 of An Unending Claim

I put on the safety and opened the chamber again, taking out a cartridge to inspect it a little closer. When I sniffed the bullet, the scent of copper-zinc and lead were faint, but there was no mistaking them. “These aren’t typical silver bullets,” I commented, not expecting a response as I turned the cartridge to look at the primer. The bottom of the case showed the copper I’d smelled.

“What do you mean?” Léo asked.

I showed him the bottom of the cartridge. “The bullet and casing are only coated with it.”

Léo’s expression turned grim. “Experimenting with silver?”

“Or Xavier here got taken. I’m betting it’s the latter. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be looking into the former.”

I waited for the fucker to stop his caterwauling and pointed the barrel at his midsection once again. “I promised not to kill you, no one said anything about crippling. Should we try this one more time? Where is my mate?” My wolf snarled and it rubbed in my chest. He was getting sick of these games and wanted to know where the fuck to find his mate.

Xavier’s eyes were glazed with pain, but there was no mistaking the hatred burning in them as well. “I’ll take my chances with Azreal.”

Léo snorted. “You’ve lost your fucking mind, man. Nathan is practically doing you a favor by leaving Azreal fewer places to cause you pain.”

“Don’t make me count again, Xavier. I feel like I’m putting a child in timeout.”

When he remained stubbornly silent, I blew out his other kneecap. Léo let him crumple to the floor this time. It wasn’t as if Xavier would be going anywhere.

“Peyton,” I growled.

The next shot went into his shoulder. “I can do this all day,” I drawled.

“Unfortunately, that is not the case, King.” Azreal came from behind me and strolled over to the bloody, crying man on the ground.

The way he just ‘appeared’ from nowhere was a little theatrical, in my opinion. As was his outfit of black leather pants, no shirt, and a gold brocade cape that was secured at the waist, then draped across the chest and over one shoulder. But to each their own.

“I have somewhere to be and I want to get this one settled in his new home first.”

Something in Azreal’s tone made Xavier shudder and he turned his panicked gaze in my direction. “I’ll tell you. Just send him away.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I had no choice, but Azreal held up his hand and shook his head.

He brushed his long, dark brown hair over his shoulder and crouched down in front of Xavier. “You want to make a deal? Her location in exchange for me leaving you to be dealt with by these two?”

Xavier nodded and Azreal turned his head to look back at me. His amber irises were suddenly eclipsed by black then reappeared in dark red. The darker side of him had come out to play and the devil grinned at me before slipping back inside so his eyes returned to their normal shade.

I didn’t fear much, but even I had moments of intimidation when faced with Azreal’s dark side. My wolf wasn’t sure what to make of the demon, so he waited to see what happened next.

“I’ll tell you what, I’m not completely without a heart. So you tell Nathan where to find his woman, and I’ll let you keep your soul.”

Xavier looked ready to wet himself. Well, again, since he’d lost control of his bladder the first time I shot him. “But I still have to go with you?”

“You’d have to offer a fuck of a lot more to get out of that one,” Azreal said in a smooth voice, one that lured many women to cross into the underworld without realizing they were handing Azreal ownership of their souls.

“Like what?” Xavier croaked.

“Let’s start with Peyton, then we’ll discuss your other options.”

Xavier hesitated and Azreal leaned close, inhaling deeply. The sight of the demon king claiming someone’s soul was freaky. Even for someone who’d seen as much as I had.

He paused and licked his lips. “My, my, Xavier. Your soul is even blacker than I expected. You’ll be a tasty snack. Unless, of course, you do something noble…”

The broken Alpha swung his gaze to me and blurted out an address.

I relayed it to Ephraim, who commented that they could be there in just under thirty minutes. They’d tracked Peyton to one town over, but hadn’t discerned where to go from there. Now that they knew where they were going, they took off at breakneck speed.

“Or what about—” Xavier was cut off when Azreal clocked him on the side of the head and knocked him out.