“Yes. Kane has had men building a state of the art research facility on the outskirts of Boulder. He’s been flying most of the day from Europe to get here—I just had him diverted to Colorado. He’ll beat us there by minutes.” Dage lifted her chin, his gaze searching. “How are you feeling?”
“Me?” Emma frowned. “Why?”
“Because you’ve been with your sister the entire time you’ve been here. If she was infected ...”
Emma’s stomach swirled. “I don’t know. I feel nauseous, but that could be fear.” Damn.
Dage’s jaw clenched shut before he gave her a gentle push toward the door. “Find Janie and pack for both of you. I need to talk to Talen.”
Emma turned on her heel toward the door and a blinding flash filled her skull. Pain radiated out her ears. She moaned, swaying in her bare feet. Both hands pressed into her temples to keep her brain from oozing out. Darkness wavered over her eyes, and she began to drop into nothingness.
Strong arms caught her, pausing for a moment before lifting her into the air. A hard chest cradled her face and she centered herself with the rhythm of an ancient heartbeat. Dage. He tucked his chin around her head, drawing her nearer, protecting her from the world, his body rigid, his breathing even.
Sure movements had her on the couch, the king kneeling next to her, still shielding. “Love? Let me recall the doctors.”
She opened her eyes. Her vision cleared and pools of concerned silver met her gaze. “Ouch.”
Dage frowned. “I’ll be right back.”
“No.” She tried to sit up, but one large hand pressed against her shoulder and kept her in place. “I’m all right. I had a vision.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Does this happen every time you have a vision?”
Hell no. She shook her head and winced as pain fired from her neurons. “No. Usually I only have visions while dreaming. Never when I’m awake. Why now?” She put a hand to her still aching temple.
Sandalwood and spice tickled her nose when the king leaned back on his haunches, thoughts scattering across his face. Finally, he sighed. “The marking. Your abilities have increased, melded with mine, and you’re not used to the power. Your gift will someday develop to match mine.” He brushed a curl off her cheek. “I’ll help you control the ability so it doesn’t hurt.”
Freakin’ terrific. She had a brand on her shoulder, could feel what he felt, and would now get visions that made her want to cut off her head. “This is just great.”
He grinned, reaching out to knead her shoulders. “It’ll be okay, I promise. What did you see in your vision?”
“Katie. Frightened and running alone through an alley in some type of city.” Emma bit her lip, her gaze on Talen as he entered the room. “I couldn’t recognize any of the buildings.”
Dage helped her to a seated position.
Talen tapped the communicator at his ear. “Find Jordan Pride.” Golden eyes shifted to pin Emma. “Any idea the time of year?”
Emma shrugged. “Light rain was falling, and there was no snow or ice on the ground.” She needed more information.
Dage tugged her to her feet. “We’ll figure this out, sweetheart. Don’t worry.”
“I know. I’ll have the vision again. Hopefully next time I’ll get more details.” Emma glanced toward the bedroom.
Talen followed her gaze. “Cara fell asleep. Do we have a lab set up?”
Dage shook his head. “We need to fly to Colorado—Kane’s lab is the best we’ve got. The best there is.”
“Is it ready?” Talen asked.
“The facility is almost ready. But we still have humans there.”
“They’ll just have to stay out of our way,” Talen said, a grim set to his jaw. “I want the jet—Cara can sleep in the small bedroom.”
Dage nodded. “I’m leaving Conn and Jase here to finish running the colloquium with Terent. The rest of us will leave in ten minutes.” He clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Your mate will be all right, Talen.”
Talen’s eyes flashed a hellish fire. “She damn well better be. Or the Kurjan nation will cease to exist.”
Several rooms down, Katie paced by the window, using every ounce of willpower she had to force nausea down. Now she had the freakin’ flu. Wasn’t it bad enough to watch Jordan play the diplomat yesterday and flirt with that fucking witch from the big apple? No wonder Katie had been puking for hours.
She hated the flu. Spasms ripped through her stomach and she clutched her ribs, biting her lip to keep from crying out. She needed to shift. She’d heal faster in animal form.
Groaning, she glanced around the room. She’d probably bust up some of the furniture with the energy released during the shift, but at least no one would get hurt.
Her bathrobe swished to the carpet before she dropped to the floor. Pain sparked through her skin. Damn, she was sick. She straightened her hands, searching for her other half—for the animal inside.
She sought the connection to the wild, the amazing energy bubbling beneath her skin to allow her a primitive release into true nature. She searched for the feeling of freedom as muscles tightened, focus centered, and humanity fell to the side. She awaited the sense of being one with the earth and her creatures, a lost binding she mourned when in human form. She delved deep, and ...
Nothing.
Odd. She hadn’t had to concentrate to shift into a lioness in, well, forever. A buzzing set up between her ears and she shook her head to dispel it. Then she slowed her breathing, focused and ...
Nothing.
Panic blasted through her system, heating her blood. She couldn’t shift. She tried again. Only pain met her attempt. Yanking on her bathrobe, she ran to the door, tripping over the belt in her haste. The carpet burned her knees when she fell.
Sobbing, she scrambled to her feet to throw open the door and run down the hall to Cara’s room. She stumbled inside, relieved to see Jordan standing with Dage and Talen.
Jordan rushed toward her, his tawny eyes alight with concern. “Katie?”
She tripped into his arms, her breath coming in short bursts, words tripping over themselves.
He gave her a slight shake. “Slow down. I can’t understand you.”
She sucked in air, gulped down the pain, and met his gaze. “I can’t shift.” The buzzing exploded into stars and she fell into the comfort of blackness.
Chapter 8
Emma clasped her bag to her chest while leading Janie across the rough asphalt. The scent of night jasmine wafted on a slight breeze. They’d made haste driving in dark SUVs to the private airport, and she was sure she’d forgotten more than one pair of shoes back at the hotel. Dage assured her his men would go through all the rooms to double check.
A dark rumble of clouds toppled across the dusky sky and the wind bit her skin. She shivered, tugging Janie into a jog across the tarmac where the silver jet waited at the end, engines running. For some reason she felt like a thief scurrying away to safety. Displeasure rumbled toward her from Dage as he ran on her right. The king wanted to stay and fight and only made this move to protect her. Damn but being the king must suck sometimes.
Her ears began to ring. How in the hell had she gotten caught up in this war? She was a geneticist. Cara studied plants. Janie should be in bed early so she could go to preschool tomorrow. While Emma’s world had never seemed safe, at least she’d understood the rules. Vampires and shifters were supposed to be make-believe. Not real.
Talen jogged ahead of her with Cara in his arms, Jordan carried Katie, while Max hurried along next to them. Kate had yet to regain consciousness, and the fierce curling of Jordan’s lip bespoke pain for whoever had infected the lioness.
Several vampire and shifter soldiers surrounded the group.