The Shadow Zone 2: Winning Madeline Read Free Page B

the last of her drinking water into a small plastic cup for her.
    Ivy began devouring the bread with horrifying speed.
    “When’s the last time you ate, Ivy?” Madeline was afraid to ask.
    The girl shrugged her small shoulders. She did stop long enough to mumble with her mouth full.
    “Daddy said he’d bring home something tonight.”
    Madeline shook her head. They weren’t doing well. But then who was?
    She watched the child eating the last of her food, confident in the fact she’d make it until later. Vincent was coming by and he paid her well-usually enough to get her through an entire week.
    While she wouldn’t have minded him coming by more often for the money, she detested his touch. The fact he was a werewolf made her a little edgy. At first she’d been afraid he might transform into his animal self during their intimacy but he never had. He was, however, rough with her, often leaving bite marks and bruises in the shape of his hand. For some reason, she thought he meant to do it, enjoyed it. But she couldn’t, and wouldn’t say anything. A few marks and bruises were much better than an empty stomach.
    Ivy finished the bread and water in record time and Madeline rumpled her hair.
    “Would you like something else? Some tomato?”
    The little girl shook her head. Then she flung herself at Madeline, wrapping her small arms around her hard.
    “Thank you, Maddy.”
    She hugged the child just as tight. Wishing she had more time to spend with her. Yet as she watched the girl skipping out of her shack, she knew she had limited time to tend her garden and straighten up before someone darkened her door, looking for sex.
    * * *
    Vincent was agitated, growling and pacing as he spoke in hushed tones to two of his underlings. They didn’t notice Maddox perched on the rotting roof of someone’s shack, just over their heads. They had no idea that no matter how quietly they tried to communicate, he could hear them as clearly as if they were shouting.
    “What part of this didn’t you understand?” Vincent’s voice sounded preternatural, as if he were on the verge of transforming into his animal form. “All I asked of you was to plant some bait there in the market, knowing that Evers would be there looking for a victim. All you had to do was catch him and you failed. How hard is it to catch a single human?”
    One soldier leaned against the wall of the shack whose roof Maddox occupied. He could feel the young Lycan’s fear of Vincent. He was right to be afraid. He, himself, had watched Vincent rip his own soldiers limb from limb when he was angry enough. It was the reason he was terrified every time Vincent visited Madeline…
    The other soldier’s breathing was a rough, loud sound. Fear would soon consume him. He knelt on the ground at the feet of his superior, his heart pounding so loud it seemed inevitable that it would break free of his rib cage.
    “Do you have any idea how long it took us to even identify Evers? How many sacrifices were made just to discover the identity of one of them? Their anonymity is their best and only real defense. Now that we know him, how can we not have him?”
    “I’m sorry, sir.” The soldier standing was the only one capable of speech. “He must have picked up on the man’s fear. He did piss himself.”
    A low growl rumbled from Vincent’s chest. “Now what? Do we have to wait for the next ceremony? A month from now?” And oh, Vincent’s tone led them to know it would be someone’s head if he did have to wait a month.
    “No,” the soldier replied quickly. “He came away empty handed. I don’t think he smelled a trap so much as he realized the man -- the bait -- knew he was coming for him. Maybe that put him off.”
    “He could have procured someone else by now.” Vincent’s tone had lost none of its menace.
    “No, sir. Ramsley is watching him. I told him to radio at the first indication that he might have someone else but he went back to the facility to work. We