Page 30 of By The Moon

He staggered through a doorway and stumbled to a stop. The room was empty. There was no furniture, no window. The walls and floor were the same as the ones he’d been held in. Spinning around, Jerome noticed a door in the corner of the room and rushed over to it but never reached it. Skylar appeared in front of him and Jerome skidded to a stop, falling back on his ass.

Skylar’s eyes glowed, his lips pulled back revealing his fangs, hands clenched. “You fucker. You’re going to be sorry for what you’ve just done.” He stepped toward Jerome, then stopped tilting his head. “I’ll deal with you later. We need to go.”

Jerome scrambled back away from Skylar as he approached and kicked out, trying to hit him. Skylar growled and batted Jerome’s feet away as he tried to grab hold of him. Jerome knew if Skylar managed to grab him then he was gone. Skylar would move them to another location, maybe even farther away from Louis.

Louis!

There was nothing, but Jerome expected it considering the drug Skylar had injected him with. “Leave me alone!” Jerome kept moving away, glancing over his shoulder, seeing the space between him and the wall diminishing. Soon he’d have nowhere to go. He needed to reach the door and escape.

Skylar jumped toward him and Jerome cried out, crawling away on his hands and knees. Skylar managed to grab his ankle but Jerome kicked out, dislodging him. Whimpering, Jerome swung a fist out and hit Skylar’s shoulder but Skylar shrugged it off.

“I’m going to fucking kill you when I get my hands on you. Fuck torturing you and making you do what I want. I’m just going to rip your head right off.”

Jerome screamed and rushed for the door, knowing it could be his only way out. Maybe. He had no idea where the way out was but he had to do something. He wasn’t going to die. He had a life ahead of him with the man he loved and Skylar wasn’t taking that from him.

“Louis!” he screamed.

“Think he’s here? Think he’s going to help you? You’re going to be dead soon enough and I’m going to be the one to help him get over it.”

“Fuck you! You’re fucking nuts!” Jerome lashed out, trying to keep Skylar away. He had to fight. He had to survive so Louis could find him

Skylar lunged and grabbed Jerome’s ankle then grinned. “He ain’t gonna find you, bitch. You’re mine.”

Chapter Thirteen

“No, he’s mine.” Louis lunged at Skylar and punched him in the face hard enough to knock Skylar on his ass. Kelvin rushed forward and grabbed Skylar, pulling his hands behind his back and handcuffing him. “And now you’re not going anywhere.”

“Fuck you.” Skylar spat at Louis, who slapped him across the face. Louis shook his head and turned away, going over to Jerome, who lay naked on the floor. Pulling his coat off, he draped it over Jerome and pulled him up off the ground and into his arms.

“Louis,” Jerome whispered his name, his body trembling in Louis’ arms.

“I’m sorry it took so long. I never thought this would happen to you.” Louis leaned back, framed Jerome’s face in his hands and kissed him softly. “Did he hurt you? Did he touch you in any way at all?” That was his fear. That Skylar had raped his mate.

“No. He told me he was going to and then he was going to kill me. He wants you to himself. I think he loves you or he thinks he loves you and I got in the way.”

Louis stared over his shoulder at Skylar. “You were going to rape him then kill him?”

“He’s human!” Skylar’s face reddened. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Louis and Jerome. “We deserve better than that. Look at him, all weak and pathetic. What kind of mate can a human be?”

“That’s a dangerous thing to say considering all of us here have humans for mates. I’m sure I could accidently drop you into the sea and forget where you were.” Kelvin growled at Skylar. “My mate means everything to me and you just insulted him.”

“Like I give a fuck about the human you’re stuck with. We are better than them. They should be bowing at our feet, worshipping us like the gods we are.”

Gray circled his finger at the side of his head. “You’re nuts. You need a full psych eval when we get back.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you and you can’t make me.”

“Really?” Gray folded his arms across his chest. “And just how are you going to escape? You can’t ‘port because you have the cuffs on, and there is no one here to save you, so just how are you going to get away from us?”

“Maxim will come for me.”

“Maxim?” Kelvin yanked the cuffs up, forcing Skylar to bend over as his arms were raised high. “That vampire put his hands on my mate. I hope he does come for you. I really do.”

Skylar cried out and tried to move away from Kelvin. “Let my arms go, you bastard.”

“Now, now. Less of the language. We have humans around and you know how weak they are.” Gray rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Louis. Take your mate to the hospital and get him treated. I’ll deal with the council for now, but you’ll have to see them too.”

“Understood.” Louis took Jerome in his arms and thought of home. Once he was there, he grabbed some sweats for Jerome and helped him put them on. “Hospital now.”

---