Four-Letter Words Evans, Gabrielle (best detective novels of all time .TXT) 📖

His voice came out hoarse and raspy, barely human, and to whisper the single word felt like swallowing shards of glass.

“Thane?” Lynk groaned again and pressed one hand to the side of his head.

“I’m here.” Right then, he wasn’t so worried about himself. “Are you okay?”

Lynk twisted and moved until Thane had no choice but to release him. “I’m fine.” His teeth clacked together and his voice vibrated when he spoke as the water surged up around him.

“Help will come.” Zasha was still out there. Thane didn’t know what had happened to him, but he could still feel his mate. Even if Zasha couldn’t come for him, surely, someone would come for Zasha. Plus, Raith was prowling somewhere in the night. Even if someone had gotten the drop on him, they were going to be very sorry once he was awake.

“You said they feed on you. How do they get in?”

He understood the importance of the question, but Thane flinched at the mention of his captors. Fear wasn’t going to save them, though. Taking Lynk’s hand, he moved slowly, pulling his brother to the other side of the well with a great deal of effort. Resting his tired body against the wall, he pressed Lynk’s palm against the locked door.

“What is this?”

“Door,” Thane answered. He thought about adding something sarcastic after that, but he fell into a violent coughing fit that wracked his frame, causing pain to explode throughout every inch of his body.

“Okay, shh.” Lynk’s hand landed on his back and rubbed gently. “Just rest. I’m going to get us out of here.”

A loud, menacing howl echoed down into the well and bounced off the stones, making Thane’s ears ring. Four more distinct howls followed the first, and Thane tensed, unsure if the calls belonged to friend or foe.

Lynk, however, was bouncing on his toes, causing the water to ripple in waves around them. “My mate is here, and he’s really unhappy.”

Moments later, a huge shadowy figure appeared at the top of the well, growling, grumbling, and breathing heavily. There were no words spoken, but Thane got the impression that Lynk was communicating with the agitated werewolf.

“Hold on,” Lynk whispered. He helped Thane farther away from the door and pressed him back against the wall. “Stay there.” A loud explosion rocked him sideways, but Lynk caught him before he could topple over. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

“Unlocking it would have been simpler,” Thane chastised, but honestly, he was just happy to be free.

“Probably.” Lynk turned his face up toward the moonlight, and Thane could hear the cockiness in his voice when he called up to his mate. “Still got it.”

The water receded rapidly, gushing into the room beyond the shattered door. At one time, Lynk had been so much smaller than him. Now, though Thane was still taller, Lynk had little trouble supporting his weight as he helped him up the stairs and through a trap door.

“Want to see it again?” he teased.

Thane didn’t care. Each step was more torturous than the last, and what small measure of strength he had was fading. His head spun, his vision dimmed at the edges, and his empty stomach cramped viciously. “Just get us out of here.”

There was another booming echo as the door exploded outward. The little shit just couldn’t resist showing off. Still holding him up, Lynk practically dragged Thane out into the chilly night where they were greeted by five towering werewolves. “Can I get some help?” Lynk called.

One of the smaller werewolves appeared instantly at his side, carefully lifting Thane into his arms and cradling him like a baby. The world was slipping away from him, and he could barely keep his eyes open, but they needed to know.

“Zasha.” He had to pause and take a breath before he could continue. “Third windmill.” He couldn’t see his mate, but he could feel the vampire. As everything else faded, Zasha’s energy grew stronger, almost like a homing beacon, leading Thane right to him.

The werewolf just rumbled and tilted his head to the side. Thane didn’t know what that meant, and he didn’t have time to clarify that the beast understood him before everything went dark.

Chapter Two

Waking up to find himself drugged and bound inside one of the windmills was a nice, juicy cherry on the top of an already shitty day. Zasha remembered hearing a sharp intake of breath from behind him, but he had no recollection of what happened after he’d gone to investigate the sound. Judging by the sizeable lump on the side of his head, he imagined he’d been struck with something heavy.

His worry for Thane had distracted him, and he hadn’t even seen Axton coming. In fact, if not for the Enforcers who’d come to his aid, he might have never known it was his friend who had beat him senseless. It was still hard to accept that Axton had done such cruel, vile things. The man had been his friend for years, almost like family.

He’d only seen the aftermath, but he knew Axton had paid dearly for his actions. After everything he’d done, all the lies he’d told, and all the pain he’d caused, Zasha couldn’t find the appropriate level of remorse. Had he been charged with doling out Axton’s punishment, however, he wasn’t sure he’d have reacted in the same way as Lynk’s werewolf mate.

As far as he was concerned, death was too easy, too lenient for the crimes Axton had committed.

By the time he’d been found and freed from his makeshift cell, Thane had already been moved to The Council house. Then Zasha had been detained while people tossed a thousand questions at him that he didn’t really know how to answer. Once they’d finished interrogating him, he’d driven at breakneck speeds back to Casper to see his mate. While the drive to The Council house had been uneventful, he’d encountered something of a roadblock upon his arrival, and he’d still yet to set eyes on his intended.

“I want to