Damn it, Faythe! That’s what you get for trusting the bad guys to tell the truth!

My heart beat furiously, and despair washed over me at the sight of another tall, thick tom with his back to me, bending over Marc, who lay unconscious on the floor. The assholes hadn’t even bothered to put him on the bed!

But then I noticed the familiar cut of the tom’s jacket and the length of his dark brown waves, just as his scent penetrated my flustered brain. “Dan!” I breathed, as Kevin pounded on the door hard enough to shove me forward at least two inches.

He stood and turned to shoot me a nervous grin. “I think he’s okay.”

“Good. Help me block this so we can get him out of here.” I scooted to make room for Dan against the door as he crossed the room. “Jeez, you scared me. I thought you were one of them.”

His uneasy smile faded as his hand wrapped around my arm, pulling me almost gently away from the door. “I kinda am, Faythe. I’m sorry.”

“What?” Shock numbed me so quickly that by the time I remembered to react, he’d already pulled the door open to reveal Kevin standing in the hall with his fist poised to bang on it again, his other hand covering a nose gushing blood. “Dan, no!” I shouted, jerking free from his grip. “Don’t do this.” Glancing from one to the other, I backed up several steps, and they let me. “You know what he’s done. He implanted you with a tracking device, so his dad can spy on you whenever he wants!”

Kevin huffed a nasal laugh. “Yeah, he volunteered for that—guinea pigs get paid extra.”

Shit. That’s why Dan was first on the list….

Kevin wiped his nose with the tail of his shirt, then pinched his nostrils shut, lending an odd quality to his speech. “Then he helped lure the others in with massive quantities of alcohol. Do you have any idea how much whiskey it takes to get a two-hundred-pound tom drunk enough to believe he passed out?”

“You flea-ridden bastard!” I shrieked, fury singeing every nerve ending in my body until it felt like every inch of my skin was on fire. My fist flew before I even knew I was going to throw a punch, and blood spurted from Dan’s freshly broken nose—a matched set to Kevin’s.

“Hold it down, unless you want to explain all this to the cops,” Yarnell said, stomping unevenly down the hallway. “I do have neighbors, you kno—” He appeared in the doorway, and his eyes widened the minute he saw the blood pouring down the front of Dan’s shirt, in spite of the stray’s best attempt to stanch it. “Fuck! My carpet!”

For some reason, Yarnell’s surreal complaint about the ruined decor shocked me back to myself, and I darted across the room and over the twin bed against one wall. My fingers were scrabbling for purchase on the window latch when Kevin cursed behind me. “Shit, Pete, grab her!”

Arms wrapped around my waist just as I twisted the first latch open, and I was hauled roughly off the bed and set on my feet with my arms pinned at my back. “Told you I’d see you again soon,” Yarnell whispered, his lips brushing my ear. I turned my head and pulled away from him, but he only jerked me back. “And this time it’s your turn to scream. I had to Shift four times just to be able to stand up straight after all the ribs you cracked, and my fingers are as crooked as a country road.” He held up his hand to show me bandaged and noticeably bent digits. “And in a few minutes, you’ll be begging me to kill you.”

“Not likely,” I growled through clenched teeth, fury flaming in my cheeks. I moved my weight onto one foot and slammed the other one into his shin, as hard as I could.

Yarnell howled, and jerked mercilessly on my arms as he hopped on his good foot behind me. “Can we tie the bitch up?”

“Please do.” Kevin reappeared in the doorway with an olive-colored hand towel pressed to his nose, and tossed its mate to Dan. “Tape her hands and feet and put her on the couch. When we’re done with her, she’s all yours.”

I wanted to ask what they were going to do with me, but I couldn’t afford to appear so weak or desperate for information. So I pressed my lips together and began to walk only when Yarnell shoved me forward, viciously twisting my shoulder in the process.

On my way out of the room, I got a glimpse of Marc. Not much, but enough to be sure he was breathing. For the moment, anyway.

“Where’s Jace?” I demanded, and as we passed the third door, Yarnell shoved it open to reveal Jace lying on the bare floor of another, smaller spare room, his breathing soft and even, his hands and feet heavily bound with acres of duct tape. Dan had probably knocked him out the moment I was out of sight, and they’d no doubt made it into the house before I’d even gotten to the front yard. Which meant…

“You knew we were here the whole time?” I asked, when Yarnell pushed me into the living room. In one smooth motion, he pulled my jacket off and tossed it over the arm of a chair, then pinned my wrists again before I could swing around for a shot at him.

Kevin shook his head as if our scuffle had never happened, and shot Dan a bitter scowl as he tore a two-foot length from a roll of duct tape. “I had no idea until Painter showed up at the back door with your backup slumped on the porch like a rag doll.”

Dan shrugged apologetically, still wiping his nose. “I didn’t have a chance to call without being overheard. ”

Kevin sighed. “You know what they say about good help….” He held the first strip of tape out in my direction, and when Yarnell took one hand off me to take it, I twisted from his grip and swung around in as powerful a roundhouse as I could muster.