Free Stealing Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 5) by Mallory Crowe Page A

with him, right?”
    “Best friends.”
    “And what he’s doing with me, keeping me here, that doesn’t bug you at all?”
    Cade set his plate down, his normally silly expression turning serious. “Listen, I know this isn’t great for you, and I feel for you. I really do and I know Lucian does too. But when you’ve been alive as long as we have, it’s hard to see brother after brother die without any hope of survival. We need you. We need the hope you represent.”
    “And I need to be here for that?”
    “This vampire shit is real and it’s dangerous. If they know about you, they will kill you without a second’s hesitation.”
    She opened her mouth to say more, but Dean rushed in from the hall. “Dude. Code red from Dmitri. Lucian and I are heading out. Watch the girl.”
    With that, he teleported away, leaving her and Cade in the kitchen. Cade cursed and moved past her to the hallway. “I’m going to try to find out what’s going on. Yell if you need anything.”
    And then she was left alone.
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    T he sudden clatter of footsteps and raised voices pulled Ella’s attention from the book she was reading in her room. The sound of something crashing to the ground and glass breaking reverberated through the house. What the heck was going on down there?
    She stood up to check it out but stopped herself. It could be dangerous. She didn’t know much about these people, but she knew they were involved in shady dealings. She crumpled up her comforter and ran the material through her fingers. Lucian promised she’d be safe here. So far, he hadn’t hurt her, and no matter how misguided his beliefs were, he did seem sincere.
    It was late in the evening, but a small amount of light still filtered through the windows, so she wouldn’t be breaking the rules by going to investigate. Steadying her resolve, she threw the comforter onto the bed and strode out of the room.
    A loud curse from Dean filtered through the house, followed by the sounds of pained breathing. Though it was impossible to go down the old stairs quietly, she did her best to not draw too much attention. Not that she needed to worry. Everyone was too busy to notice her anyway.
    Dean had returned, and he wasn’t alone. Over his shoulder was a seemingly unconscious man and, judging from the amount of red droplets falling onto the floor, he was badly injured. Ella flattened herself against the wall as she balanced on the last step while Cade approached Dean from the other direction. “Move him into the study. I made sure all the curtains are down.”
    Dean carried the injured man over to the darkest corner of the room. Ella couldn’t see anything but the man’s foot from her vantage point on the stairs.
    “Cade, grab him a drink. I’m going to get Roman on the line and try to sort this shit out. Have you had any contact with Lucian?”
    “No. Last I saw, he was holding his own. He should be here any minute.” Cade lowered his voice. “Hang in there. I’ll be right back.” Then there was silence and Ella had a feeling Cade wasn’t in the house anymore.
    Dean started to leave the room but stopped as he reached the doorway. He fished his cell phone from the pocket of his cargo pants and turned back to the man. “Think I can reach your dad at the apartment?”
    “No,” bit out the injured man. “Cell.”
    Dean cursed under his breath. “Hang tight, okay?” He strode into one of the spare offices as he punched some keys on his phone.
    When he was out of sight, Ella scooted closer to the study, trying to get a better look at the newcomer. He didn’t come completely into view until she was right at the threshold. A shiver of unease snaked down her spine, but she shook it off. They wouldn’t bring any dangerous, or whatever they considered dangerous, people here. If so, he would be in the basement. In the dungeon.
    Cade and Dean seemed to generally care about his well-being. They might be her