Feral Craving (16 page)

Today would be the day they’d bring this
asshole terrorizing Mackenzie out into the open.

They couldn’t fuck this up.

****

Bari sat in a corner of her shop, his
gaze roaming over the patrons. The sit and wait approach never sat well with
him, but they didn’t know where this bastard was and were forced to wait until
he
made a move. Every instinct in Bari’s
head screamed, and it made his skin crawl. Mackenzie was purposely setting
herself up, and he didn’t like it one bit.

Byron had been sent to Mackenzie’s
mother's for the weekend, and she tossed herself into work, flitting around the
shop. Her mood didn’t fool him: Bari recognized the nervous energy and from the
stress lines around her eyes, he knew she was just as upset about this.

He also didn’t like that, not one bit.

Alex set up down the street, stationed in
an undercover sedan that screamed cop; Bari’s team was strategically placed all
around town, surrounding Mackenzie’s shop. Bari knew his team was good, knew
they wouldn’t let anything by, but this was Mackenzie’s safety they played with
and it didn’t calm him.

Just then Mackenzie caught his gaze and
crinkles formed around her eyes as she passed him a smile before she turned
away.

Didn’t work,
Angel.

As Mackenzie approached his table, he
turned his attention from the crowd to her green, beautiful gaze. He took
another moment, his thoughts rolling around, going different directions on what
he wanted to say or should say. It was a battle, one he had grown familiar with
in her presence. Worry lines strained the area around her mouth.

“I won’t let anything touch you, Mac.”

He took his role seriously with anyone he
protected, but with Mackenzie, it was an extreme need. He didn’t want to try to
evaluate it, but recognized it as something that was like a second skin.

“I’ve killed more than I can count,
Angel. Some I’m not happy about, though with others it was kill or be killed.
But something you are going to have to understand about the way I kill…” He
paused for a few moments and held her gaze, needing her to grasp who he was.
“I’ll show no remorse. I know nothing about this world, but killing, it’s just
what I do. The only thing I’ve ever been able to do well. Especially when
someone messes with what matters to me.”

Mackenzie’s eyes flared. “You talk about
it as if it should be something I’m comfortable with.”

“Mac,” he shrugged, “it’s who I am.” Bari
held her gaze. It wasn’t the killing or even the reminder of what he had done.
It was who he was. Point blank. No holding back, things were placed in her lap.
She would have to be the next to move.

Checkmate.

He cleared his throat and studied their
surroundings, looking for anything out of place, and felt as if everything was.

“So what are we looking for? Can you
describe him for me again?”

As Mackenzie spoke, he studied her and
saw her body tremble. Bari’s frown deepened, and he had a brief image of him
tossing her over his shoulder and hiding her away until the threat passed. The
urge to do it was so strong that he ground his teeth together in order to stay
seated. A tendon snapped in his jaw and shook him. Bari kicked out a leg,
wrapping it around the leg of a chair and pulling it close.

“Sit.”

Mackenzie did immediately, and he leaned
forward, his thighs spread enough to wrap around the sides of hers, and
commanded her attention.

“Mac…” He lifted a hand, unable to stop,
and brushed a loose tendril of hair from her face. Her shining eyes lifted to
his, and Bari blinked as her hands came up to palm the sides of his face.

“Bari…”

He let out a deep breath and forced his
body to relax, which really wasn’t fucking easy with her hands on him. He
pushed down the response and waited for her. Mackenzie’s mind screamed at him,
the touch on his face enhancing the connection. She wanted this threat removed,
wanted this stalker found, and wanted what he yearned to give her. Bari focused
on her need for safety, pushed the rest away and in doing so, it about crushed
his heart in two.

With her touch though, he recognized a
spike in his power. It wasn’t something he could explain but more so almost
like a spike in energy, as if he had drunk a six-pack of Red Bulls. The power
pushed to be used, begged to be set free. He gave in to the temptation and
closed his eyes. Something needed to be done.

His mind sought past the crowds around
them, through the town’s population, searching. He felt each of his team
member’s minds as he touched them. In response, there was a quick second of
surprise before they linked to his mind. He searched for the dark presence
lurking by, a threat he knew was very real to Mackenzie’s life. It was
something that tainted the clear air of Nantucket and darkened the town as if a
storm cloud passed above. Nothing seemed to be meeting his search, and his free
hand fisted at his side. His frustration grew, and just as he was about to pull
away, he found what he sought.

Blood lust hit him sharp, and he drew in
a ragged breath, his brows drawing down and his face twisting into a snarl. It
was a hunger filled with such hatred that it melted in his mind like soft
chocolate until he couldn’t tell his own thoughts from those of the one he was
linked to. Tyler urged him to pull back, but he ignored him and focused on the
target. The malevolent mind held Mackenzie’s image in his head, and the threats
streaming through were enough to horrify even Bari. The man was several miles
away but closing in at a fast pace—focused on the kill to come.

Bari growled. The fucker was a tad bit
too cocky for his own good.

“He’s coming. He knows we’re here.” He
saw everything in this male’s mind, all the lewd, cruel things he planned for
Mackenzie. His gut rolled. Opening his eyes he met Mackenzie’s gaze before the
air shifted, almost as if a whisper of movement suddenly surrounded them. He
didn’t have to look away from her hypnotizing gaze to see his team had arrived.

“We need to go, Bari. Not here.” Tyler’s
voice rumbled down to Bari, and he stood and then tore his eyes from Mackenzie
reluctantly. Their minds linked together gathered power to the connection, made
it stronger than he’d felt before. This connection felt new, yet at the same
time so natural. It was reminiscent of the connection when they were in the
field, but Bari hadn’t understood it then. Now it was pungent, full of life,
powerful, and addictive. Mike, miles away, fed information over their
connection. Like always, they didn’t need to speak, and Bari didn’t need to
give commands. His team simply operated as a single mind, and now he understood
why. He took in everything Mike sent and watched as the threat drew closer to
town.

Alex burst into the shop, confusion
playing over his features. “What’s going on, Bari?”

Bari tilted his head at Mackenzie’s
brother, a little unnerved at just how in tune he was to his sister. He’d
always heard twins had links to one another but hadn’t understood it until now,
as he held a link of his own. His team pulled the cop in, needing Alex to stay
behind and watch over Mackenzie. There was no way in hell he felt comfortable
leaving her right now, but having her brother close by gave him some measure of
comfort.

“Stay here with Mac.”

Alex stepped forward. “Let the cops
handle this, Bari. Don’t be stupid.”

Bari turned his icy blue glaze toward the
man. Her brother’s eyes were so damn similar to Mackenzie’s that he had to take
a moment and rein in control to prevent his patience from snapping. This
protection urge was a living and breathing monster inside of him.

“The cops handled it once and fucked it
up. Don’t worry; he won’t be a threat any longer. Stay with her, Alex.”

Turning, not waiting for a response, the
three of them stepped behind the shop, out of public view, and honed in on
Mike. Tyler set his hand on Bari’s shoulder before they disappeared.

Chapter
Twenty

Just outside of Nantucket, near the state
forest, the team appeared and converged on a small cabin. Set away from
civilization, the cabin was tucked deep in the woods, away from roads, and a
sickening feeling filled Bari’s chest. Being connected to the bastard’s mind
still, he could read all of what he planned for Mackenzie, seeing images of her
in a remote cabin, bound to this man’s will. Bari’s imagination filled in the
blanks, sending a surge of fury through him, power sparking off his skin as it
stretched under emotion. As if called, a male came out of the cabin and looked
around.

Dozens of visions assaulted Bari’s mind,
the attack on Mackenzie and her horror-stricken face filled his vision. It was
as if he had been pulled into the past, forced to relive the violence she’d
been through at the hands of this man. Why hadn’t she told him?

On one hand he felt as if he were
violating her privacy, knew she’d be upset by the knowledge he’d acquired. Yet,
on the other hand, Bari’s beast inside fueled his fury. It grew until his
vision tunneled and his mind warped to murderous intentions. A fantasy burst to
life in Bari’s mind, one including pain, blood, and death—all of it planned for
the rapist who stood in front of him.

Settling in the tree line, Bari growled
deep in his chest. He didn’t realize the sound came from him until a hand touched
his shoulder. The silent support pulled him back from the precipice and forced
him to take a moment to acquire patience. Tyler, Mike, and Tony stood and
stepped out from the wood line. Bari followed a heartbeat later and advanced in
front of his team. The four of them walked with menacing steps toward the
cabin. Standing at the top of wooden stairs, the man’s thick, pudgy cheeks
shook as he drew back. The wide expanse of his stomach strained against the
white stained t-shirt before giving up the fight against gravity and hanging
over the waistband of his dark jeans. The male’s black eyes widened.

“You’re trespassing. Stop!”

Ignoring the high-pitched voice, he
continued to walk forward, hearing the soft footfalls of his team following
behind. Their boots crunched on the dry leaves, and twigs snapped, echoing in
the forest surrounding them. Bari studied the man, watched as his face turned
redder with each step they took closer.

Bari’s team was linked and with that
link, they felt and saw everything he pulled from the man before them. Chad was
his name, and fear trickled out of the male and created an ugly scent. It was
different, being able to identify emotions based on scents, but it was another
part of the change coming. He felt Tyler’s surge of confidence rise, Mike’s
strength and anger, hot and deadly, pushed through Tony. Bari’s faltered at
Tony’s reaction, and he glanced over at his teammate in a brief moment of
confusion.

His attention diverted, Bari didn’t see
the move until it was too late. Tony’s eyes widened and met Bari’s and as he
turned around, he watched in slow motion as Chad raised a gun and aimed it
right at him.

How good of
an aim does he have?

Will speed
fail me now?

A shot silenced his thoughts and just as
it would have hit him, a blur crossed his vision before a grunt sounded. Bari’s
gaze followed the shadow, and curses rang out. The look only took a beat of
time, seemed as if everything slowed to a snail’s pace. Tony lay on the ground
in front of Bari, blood starting to seep out from beneath the sleeve of his
green shirt.

Bari’s gaze snapped back to Chad, anger
filling his blood so hot and fast. He didn’t hold it back and let it rule him.
No one moved; no one stepped forward. Tony rose to his feet, a grunt the only
indicator he’d been shot. Chad trembled visibly, his eyes going wide. Bari saw
the man’s pulse pound against his neck, and then his entire body tensed. Bari
had seen it all too many times in the field and with a curse, he pushed Tony
behind him as another shot rang out. The blow of the bullet hit Bari before he
could even blink.

Breath exploded from his lungs as pain
gripped his body. He fought the discomfort down, focused on Chad. Bari’s pulse
beat loud in his head in time with where the bullet pierced him. He crossed the
yard in two long strides. The fucker snarled, raised the gun, and took aim
again. Bari lifted his arm as he came up on the man and knocked away the hand
holding the gun. His forearm came up underneath the male’s chin and pushed
back, drawing the neck at an odd angle. The male snarled and kicked at Bari’s
legs.

Another bullet echoed through the air,
the gun firing off into the forest as Chad tried to take aim. Bari pushed him
backwards, his long strides forcing their direction. While Chad was a few
inches shorter, hidden muscles, surrounded by the extra weight of his midsection,
spoke of strength and the glint in his eyes screamed anything but human. No, it
was darker, fouler, coating the very Earth’s air with an evil stench. That
scent snapped Bari’s attention back to what he knew—killing.

Bari reached for his SIG Sauer at his
back. He slammed Chad against the side of the cabin. The wall shook with the
force of the blow. Bari’s neck prickled as if someone was watching him, and he
recognized deep inside it wasn’t his team. Bari felt stalked, as if something
more were out there. Still linked with his team, he felt the same confusion and
alarm rise in their minds. He ignored the urge to swipe at the back of his neck
as the hairs rose. Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention,
a flash of light and he ducked, rolled, dropping his grip on the male before
coming down on his own knees and turning toward where he recognized danger.