Page 38 of Property of Fire

Now, I’m his. His woman. His ol’ lady. As some would say, his mate or his other half. I like the sound of it all, even if it scares me just a bit. I want to be with him. I always have, but with everything that’s going on, I’m more than a little leery that he’ll want to become overprotective.

However, him agreeing with me coming to the bar without him, doesn’t say he is overprotective. By him asking me to promise not to leave or anything before he was to get here is something I was able to promise because it was him giving me something I needed.

Pressing Kinley’s number, I wait for her to answer. It goes to voicemail, which is unusual. Kinley is never far from her phone and rarely if ever puts her phone on vibrate, let alone silent. She keeps it so she can hear at all times even when it comes to notifications.

I try calling her again two more times. When she doesn’t pick up either of those times, I make up my mind. I know I promised Fire I wouldn’t leave the bar, that I would call him, but I need to make sure she’s okay. The fact she’s not answering isn’t sitting well with me. What if something’s happened to her?

It might not be anything, but it could be something.

I leave my office and go out into the bar. I find Francie and tell her to give me thirty minutes, and if I wasn’t back by then to call Fire. If she couldn’t get him on the phone to call Heat and tell them I’m at Kinley’s. She agreed but looked at me with a funny expression, like why wasn’t I going to call them? Or just call them now?

I make my way out of the bar and down the road. Kinley’s house was only a fifteen-minute walk from the bar. She lives in one of the houses in a neighborhood on the other side of the railroad tracks and a few blocks back. You’d think her living so close to the railroad that it would be a pain in the ass, a complete nuisance to have to hear trains go past at random times of the day. Kinley always joked that when Amtrak went past every morning, that was her alarm clock.

Crossing over the tracks in no time, I pick up my pace, not jogging but walking faster to get to my friend’s place. I need to know she’s okay.

A couple more minutes later, I walk up her small driveway, stop at her front door, and punch in the code. Rather than a key, she has a keyless entry. It works great for when the two of us would come in after a night of partying. Not that we had many times, but the times we did it was a good thing. We didn’t have to worry about keys and losing them. We just had to make sure to remember the code.

“Kinley,” I call out her name, stepping inside the house and closing the door behind me. “Kinley, you here? I saw your car in the driveway.”

My heartbeat roars in my ears. I want to know she’s okay. She has to be okay.

“Kinley,” I call her name again, moving deeper into the little house.

“I’m afraid your little friend, Kinley, is a bit tied up at the moment.”

I spin around to face the man whose voice causes panic to seep into my veins, and my heart to go still as I whisper, “What did you do, Holstein?”

Holstein shifts from leaning against the door frame and moves toward me. “Since you were becoming hard for me to get a hold of, the best way to get your attention is through your best friend, is it not?”

He knew what my best friend meant to me. I was stupid enough to tell him as such, granted that was before I knew what he was.

Damnit, all to hell. I’m such an idiot.

“What is it you want, Holstein? Why do you want me so much?” I manage to ask without my voice cracking.

“I thought it was obvious enough you’d know the answer to that.” Holstein chuckles. “You’re the key that will bring two MCs to their knees and give me what I want. I turn you, make you my mate, make you do what I tell you to do, they’ll do everything I tell them.”

“No, they won’t. You turn me, and it’ll start a war,” I tell him. My breathing picking up as he steps closer to me, close enough for me to feel the chill of his body. How had I never noticed it before? It’s unnatural.

“It’s a war, then it shall be because I marked you as my bride the first time I saw you. I knew you would be special. Finding out your connection as I have, it makes things that much sweeter for me,” Holstein says, fingers coming to rest on my sides. “Now, come, we have things to do before the sun sets.”

“What happens when the sun sets?” Now, why did I have to ask that?

“We’ll be leaving. Zaff has taken a liking to your friend Kinley, so I thought it appropriate that she also be turned. He’s with her now. They’ll be ready to go before it’s time to leave. Just think you’ll have your friend with you on your newest journey.”

I think I’m going to be sick. I can feel the nausea coiling up in my stomach. Tears burn in my eyes, but I refuse to let the first tear slip down my cheek. Not now. I can’t afford to show any signs of weakness. I’m too late to help Kinley. Zaff has taken care of that, but I can hope to help her overcome what’s happened to her if we both make it out of this situation.

“You know they’ll kill you, don’t you? My brother, his club, they’ll come for you. Fire will come for you,” I find the courage to snap.

I really hope that Francie remembers to call Fire. He’ll come for me. Goddess, please let him come for me before it’s too late.

“Ahh, yes, the one you allowed to tarnish the beauty of your body,” Holstein says with a click of his tongue. “You allowed him to defile what I ended up taking as my own.”

“It wasn’t yours,” I tell him, jerking away from him, which is something he doesn’t let me do.

“There’s no trying to get away from me, Evelin. I won’t let you. You’re mine, and you always will be. Forever.”

Before I can stop him, he moves us to brace me against the wall, and his teeth sink into my neck. It’s all I can do to scream out for help, though I know it’s pointless. I should have listened to Fire and not left the bar as I promised I wouldn’t.

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