Page 31 of Roman

What other supernatural things were out there that she didn’t know about?

“I wouldn’t do that again.You wouldn’t want to make me angry now, would you?”She dropped her hand, the bullet falling uselessly to the ground and rolling away.“Now, let’s try this again.You are coming with us, and you will not argue, shoot anyone else, or put up a fight.If you do any of these things, I will make you feel horrible pain, do you understand?”

Charlotte nodded helplessly, her arms falling to her sides and dropping the gun on the floor.She felt utterly defeated as the two men stalked past her, picking up the bags she had packed for her and Ava.

Anger swirled in her, the feeling surprising her.For the third time in a few days, she was being taken against her will to God knew where.Charlotte was sick to death of all this crap.People kidnapping her, people hurting her.The thing that angered her the most was she still was no closer to finding Ava.The thought frustrated her even more as the men pushed back past her with the luggage.

There was no point trying to fight them, though.She was going with them whether she wanted to or not.

Roman will come for me,her mind whispered as the witch walked toward her.

“This will only hurt for a second.”She smiled as she held up a dagger.

God help me.

11

Roman stood in the center of Charlotte’s tiny, trashed apartment.He seethed with anger and knew damn well his eyes were glowing, but he didn’t care.Looking at the destroyed coffee table, couch, and other objects in the room reminded him of what those filthy demons had done to her the night they first came here, beaten her and then abducted her.

Touched what’s mine,the angry whisper crept through his mind as Armaros appeared in the doorway of Charlotte’s room.

“Belongings are missing, clothes and toiletries from the bathroom, same as in the other room.Someone must have interrupted her while she was packing her things.Whatever bags she had packed have been taken as well.”

“The demons must have her.”Grigori shut the fridge door in the ridiculously tiny kitchen, taking a swig out of a beer he’d grabbed from it.

Roman glared at him, but the heavy footsteps coming up the hall stopped him from yelling at the fool.Phoenix entered the apartment, followed closely by Lucian.

“Your car is untouched and has no trackers placed on it.I find it quite odd they left the Noire behind,” Phoenix told him, running a hand through his sandy, disheveled hair.

“Maybe they knew you’d kill them just for touching it.”Lucian chuckled, walking slowly around the room, kicking things with his big black combat boots, and looking for any signs of who may have been there.

Roman peered over at Armaros, the warrior frowning and focusing on a blank wall by the door.

“What is it?”he asked the dark angel.

“Magic.I can feel it.They had a witch with them.Powerful, too,” he said with distaste, making his way over to the wall, staring hard at some invisible thing Roman and the others couldn’t see.Armaros’s eyes glowed as he held up his hand, placing it in the center of the wall.He whispered too low for any of them to hear, and then the wall shimmered, words appearing out of nowhere, sending chills down Roman’s spine.

I have her, Roman.Come and get her if you dare.

“It’s written in blood.I can smell it.”Maalik’s voice broke the silence as he entered the apartment, looking from the wall to Roman.“If she truly is Lucifer’s way out of Hell, we are all fucked now.”

Roman watched as his brother’s eyes turned black.Maalik’s body stilled in the unnatural way only a vampire could.His head slowly turned as his eyes stopped on the pool of dried blood at his feet on the floor.He hissed in a breath, and Roman caught a glimpse of Maalik’s fangs.

“Brother?”Roman asked, confused at his odd behavior.

Maalik never took his dark eyes off the blood.“Her roommate.She has been injured.Is she here?”he asked, finally dragging his eyes away from the stain and locking eyes with Roman.

“No.There is no sign of either of them.From what Charlotte told me, her friend was knocked unconscious when they were attacked two nights ago.Charlotte must have come looking for her.She’s been worried about her ever since,” he answered, trying to gauge Maalik’s reaction.

He wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was becoming clear to Roman that Maalik was drawn somehow to Charlotte’s friend.Why, he didn’t know, and now was not the time to get into it.Charlotte was in danger, and they needed to find her and get her back.He gave Maalik another once over, noting how he looked angry enough to tear the city apart, and then his gaze landed back on the bloody writing on the wall.

Roman’s blood boiled.Lucifer’s demons had taken Charlotte.He had to find her.Everything depended on them finding her before she was taken to Hell.If she made it past the gates of Hell, there would be no way they could get her back.They would all be doomed… again.

“Roman, what are we to do?”Lucian asked, staring at the wall.“And whose blood is that written in?”He pointed to the deep red letters on the wall.

“It’s her blood,” Maalik told them, watching Roman carefully, his eyes still black as night.

The thought of them hurting her, cutting her to use her blood, pushed him over the edge.His temper flared violently, fire coursing through his body as he stalked toward the wall with an angry roar, slamming his fist straight through it.

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