Read Online Chosen by Sin by Virna Depaul - Free Book Online Page B

Just as he swiped a portion away
from his face, Dex punched the hard plastic handle of the toothbrush into one
of the were’s eye sockets. Rurik howled but Dex didn’t pause. He slammed
Rurik’s head against the tub several times until he was unconscious.
    Swiftly, Dex patted Rurik down, but the were had nothing on him. Dex
grabbed Rurik’s gun off the floor. It was loaded with tranquilizers, not
bullets. So Rurik’s mission hadn’t been to kill Dex but kidnap him. Why? So he
could torture him first?
    “Wake up,” Dex growled. He shook the were, then slapped his face
several times. Rurik didn’t stir.
    Damn it, he wanted to question Rurik, make sure he hadn’t done anything
to Jes, but he needed to get to the hospital, too. He scanned the room as if
searching for an answer.
    From his position low to the ground, he saw the hairdryer under the
sink that he’d failed to spot earlier. He grabbed the hairdryer and ripped the
cord out of the appliance. He turned, intending to tie Rurik’s hands and
ankles, but heavy fingers wrapped around his wrists and wrestled him for the
cord. Caught off guard, he sprawled backwards, giving Rurik the chance to twist
the cord around his neck. Dex barely managed to keep his fingers between the
noose and his flesh.
    Abandoning the cord, Rurik wrapped his fingers around Dex’s throat,
squeezing the air out of Dex’s lungs far too quickly.
    He grabbed Rurik’s thick wrists and tried to pull them away, but the
pressure didn’t lessen. From the corner of his eye, Dex saw the hairdryer he’d
tossed aside. Gasping, he stretched out the fingers of one hand. The appliance
was just out of his reach. Dots appeared in front of him and his vision began
to dim.
    With a frantic lunge, he grabbed hold of the hairdryer’s handle and
slammed it against Rurik’s temple. At the same time, he grabbed the dangling
end of the cord, the one that still had the socket prongs attached, and punched
the metal into Rurik’s other temple. With a vicious twist, he snapped the
were’s neck.
    Rurik collapsed. When Dex rolled him off him, Rurik’s eyes were open
and unseeing. Dex stared impassively at the gruesome sight. “When you get to
hell, tell your brother I send my regards. I’ll see you both soon.” He turned
to retrieve his phone just as it rang. . .
    ***
    Dex jerked awake to the shrill sound of his cell phone. He groaned as
he tried to move. His muscles, his skin—hell, even his hair—ached.
Blinking the haze from his eyes, he took in his surroundings and…
    Shit. He bolted up and the soft sheet covering him fell to his waist.
    He was in bed. Alone.
    The call from Mahone. Rurik’s assault. Even his night with Jesmina.
    It had all been a dream. Hadn’t it?
    But as he scanned the empty hotel room, the scent of her lingered in
the air. On the sheets. On him. No, this was her room. He’d had her last night.
But now she was gone and his phone was ringing. . .
    Ignoring his trembling legs, he lunged out of bed and grabbed his cell
phone out of his jeans. “Mahone?”
    “Hunt,” Mahone snapped. “Where the fuck are you?”
    Dex’s mind spun, trying to process what was happening. He knew what
Mahone was going to say next but how was that possible?
    “Where the hell do you think I am?” he asked slowly. He glanced toward
the bathroom, but it was dark inside and he couldn’t see whether Jesmina’s note
was taped on the mirror or not.
    “Damn it, Dex. Did you hear what I—”
    “A shape-shifter’s been attacked? And taken to Los Angeles Memorial?”
    Mahone’s stunned silence told him all he needed to know.
    “I’m on my way,” Dex snapped before pressing the disconnect button.
Slowly, he stepped up to the bathroom doorway, reached in, and flipped on the
light. The toothbrush was still there. So was the hairdryer. But there was no
note taped to the mirror.
    And fuck if that wasn’t what pissed him off the most.
    ***
    When Rurik Pitts jerked awake, he was sweating, his chest heaving as