Page 70 of Brock’s Mate

The gunmen prodded Brock around the van, to the bottom of the porch steps. After a minute two dark warriors carried DB out. He was unconscious. One of them put a long knife to his throat, the blade glowing with magic.

Brock started to growl, and didn’t even bother to suppress it. But he said, “Don’t bullshit me. You’re not going to kill him; he’s too valuable.”

The hood tilted slightly, as if the sorcerer were thinking. “You’re right,” he said finally. Turning to the men on the porch, he said, “Cut his arm off.”

The blade moved to the shoulder joint.

Unfortunately, this was something Brock totally believed they would do. He pulled out his phone. “Fine. What do you want me to say?”

The sorcerer said, “Tell her you came here and found the dragon, and he wishes to speak to her. Only to her. She must come at once.”

DiSantos added, “And let me see the message before you send it. Otherwise he loses an arm anyway.”

Brock snarled at him, and started typing into his phone.

Found DB. He won’t come back with me—says he’ll only talk to you. He says you understand what it’s like to be a runaway.

Then he added, I tried bribing him with Twinkies and banana splits, but no go. Can you come? Only you. No one else.

He held the phone out to DiSantos, who demanded, “What’s this bullshit about Twinkies and stuff?”

Brock sighed. “I have to make it sound real, or she’ll know something’s up. Twinkies and banana splits are his favorite foods.”

The rookie said, “We did find all those Twinkie and Yodel wrappers in the house. Kid’s a junk food addict.”

DiSantos looked at the sorcerer. “My lord?”

The sorcerer was silent for a moment, and then said, “Send it. But if it is a trick, you each lose an arm.”

Fucking awesome.

Chapter 27

Desi was pacing the great room when her new crew phone pinged with a text from Brock.

She fumbled it, getting it out of her pocket. She’d been having stabbing anxiety in her stomach for the last ten minutes.

But it must be okay. If there was trouble, he’d be texting Brandon, not her.

Wrong.

She read the message through twice, and then went over to Brandon’s office on the other side of the house. Kitty followed behind her. “Brock’s in trouble,” Desi said, not caring that she was interrupting a phone call.

“I’ll call you back,” Brandon said. “What’s up?”

She handed him the phone. Colt and Remy had been huddled over a computer in the back of the room, and they came and looked over his shoulder.

Brandon frowned. “I agree, it’s suspicious. Brock would never call you out there on your own.”

“Well, yeah. But this is the real tell.” She pointed to the part about the banana splits.

“What about it? Except that I’ve never heard DB mention anything specifically about them.”

“Banana,” Desi said.

“It’s some kind of code word?”

Brock was going to kill her, but she had to say it. Lives were at stake. She sighed. “It’s Brock’s safe word.”