Defiant: Book 2 of the Forbidden Series

Chapter 17: Familiar

Van

Luca watched Gabriella leave, an inferno blazing in his eyes, but the moment she was out of sight, he turned his attention back to Van and the others. All signs of fire were gone and only cold indifference remained.

It almost broke Van to see what the collar was doing to him. How it had erased everything they meant to each other. The icy tendrils of the void beckoned, promising relief from the pain if she would return, but she pushed it away. Luca was her remedy, and right now he needed her to be strong to save him.

"We're not fighting you, Luca," Hailey said.

"Thank you." Van flinched. How could he sound so much like himself and not at all at the same time? "I would prefer to give you quick, painless deaths."

Synchronized growls rumbled near Van's feet, and she glanced down to see Livy and Bane crouched and ready to spring, the tips of their tails twitching back and forth. Clearly, they had no objections to engaging in a fight with Luca, and with the image of that kiss still lingering in her brain, she wouldn't mind landing a hit or two just to release a little of the rage boiling in her blood.

Hailey snorted. "It's four against one. You're good, Luca, but you're not that good."

Van winced. Hailey should know better. She'd been in Slayer school far longer than Van had. The first lesson on shifters had focused on Alphas. Designed to protect the pack, they had to be able to take on the pack. The only reason they even stood a chance against him was because he hadn't come into his power completely and because Livy was half Protean.

Luca cracked his neck and stepped toward them. He shifted, but not completely. Nails and teeth lengthened to lethal points, eyes flashed gold, and black fur rippled down his arms. Van stepped between him and her friends, her power buzzing below the surface, begging to be used while she denied its release. With her luck, she would shift into a tree or mouse and be useless to the others.

"Do you think I won't go through you to get to them?" Luca demanded.

"Gabby–"|

"Gabriella," he snapped through gritted teeth.

Van grinned. God, how she must hate that nickname if she'd taught him to correct her. "Gabs said you couldn't kill me."

His grimace morphed to a smirk. "You're right. I can't kill you, but she didn't say anything about hurting you, which I will do if you don't get out of my way."

Hailey touched Van's arm and held up her phone. She'd typed out a message on the screen. Smart, because Luca could hear whispers a hundred feet away.

I'm the only one who can take that collar off him. That's all we need to do to get him back.

Floorboards creaked beneath Luca's boots as he shifted his weight, watching them through narrowed eyes. Van studied the collar. Dark as sin, it seemed to swallow the sunlight pouring through the window over the kitchen sink. Disgust rippled over her skin as she remembered the night he told her what they were made of and why they were used. The skin of her people fashioned into a tool to control Luca's people.

That's all.

Hailey wrote the message as if this task was going to be simple, but nothing was ever that easy. They'd been so focused on finding Luca that they hadn't really given a lot of thought about what to do when they did, and it was clear now that the despicable magic in that leather band had done its work. As long as it was around his neck, Luca didn't exist.

Fear gripped her. He had to still be in there... somewhere, right? Was he trapped behind a wall or in a place of despair like she had been? Was he in a waking coma, and would he be as broken as she was when they pulled him out?