The other just happened to be Quinn. He'd parked his butt in a nearby armchair, cross-legged and elegant. The only other seats were the two sofas near the TV. Kade and I took one, Rhoan the other.
Jack glanced up, and gave me a toothy grin. "Good to see you alive and well, darlin'."
I smiled. "It's good to be alive and well. Jack, Quinn, this is Kade."
"I know who Kade is," Jack said. "I have his files."
Kade raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
Amusement touched Jack's green eyes. "There's no place the Directorate can't go if we so desire."
"Well, that's a little tidbit kept well away from the general population, isn't it?"
"And with good reason. Why were you in that place?"
"He's one of the shifters they were milking," I said, and added, just a touch impatiently, "I don't suppose you want to share Kade's background with the rest of us?"
"Right now? No. There's more important matters to discuss." Jack's gaze narrowed a little. "What do you mean by 'one of?"
Kade shrugged. "There were nine of us in there. I'm not sure what happened to the others after our break out."
"And they were collecting specimens from you all?"
"Yes."
Jack grunted and glanced at me. "And were they collecting samples from you?"
I shrugged. "It's all very hazy at the moment. All I can really remember is waking up in a small lane beside a dead man."
"The lack of memory coming from the drugs or the accident?"
I shrugged again.
"Probably the accident," Rhoan commented, looking at me critically. "The scar on her head looks as if the wound might have been bad enough to cause memory loss."
"What scar?"
My confusion was evident in my voice. I hadn't noticed a scar when I'd showered in the old house, but then, I'd been in a hurry to get to the kitchen and find some coffee. And I certainly wasn't prone to spending hours in front of a mirror. A quick glance was all that was usually needed unless I was going somewhere special and had to apply makeup.
Kade ran a finger from my temple to the back of my head and said, "That scar, sweetheart."
I frowned. "Is it nasty?" God, the last thing I needed was another scar to worry about. I had enough as it was, thanks to childhood mishaps.
"Your hair covers it, no probs."
"So this place is in a nearby town?" Jack said, in a voice that suggested little tolerance for slight deviances from the topic at hand.
I grinned, more than a little used to his impatience. "This place is a town. And a testing ground. They have mock buildings as well as concrete ones."
"Can you lead us back there?" he asked.
"I can," Kade said, before I could. "Riley was unconscious for some of the journey."
Which was so totally fudging the truth. Jack glanced at me, eyebrow raised imperceptibly. He knew the lie, but for whatever reason, wasn't going to argue it. Maybe he figured he needed a horse-shifter in his new task force. He glanced at the com-screen, said, "Area map," then looked at Kade. "You want to give us a rough location? We'll get some of our people to do a flyover."
Kade strode over and pointed at an area on the screen. "I don't think we can afford to wait for reinforcements. They'd have to realize our escape will put their position in jeopardy. I wouldn't mind betting they're pulling out even as we speak."
Jack glanced up at Kade, then at me. And I saw the question in his eyes, even though the words he said next were completely different.
"Do you think five of us is enough muscle to tackle that place?"
"No," Kade said. "But if you want to catch any of these bastards, then we have to take the risk."
And it was a risk. A huge risk, and everyone in the room knew that, including me. But it was one Jack was contemplating. Had to contemplate, if we were to have any hope of finally getting a proper lead on these maniacs.
I continued to meet his gaze, and mulled over the implications of his unasked question. Of giving him what he wanted—me on this raid, taking yet another step on the road to becoming a guardian—juxtaposed against the promise I'd made on the knoll outside Genoveve. A promise to see this through, to see it finished.
"Riley's not a guardian." Rhoan said. And though he didn't add it, the word "yet" seemed to hang in the air as he continued. "You can't expect to include her on a raid like this. It's too dangerous."
Jack glanced his way briefly. "She has senses and reflexes as sharp as yours. That alone gives her an advantage over most other races."
"A good olfactory sense and sharp reflexes aren't going to mean squat if she gets attacked again."
"I'm not stupid enough to send her in alone."
And still he continued to look at me, waiting for my answer. An answer he knew I had no choice but to give, because I wanted to see this finished as much as he did. After all, these bastards were continually coming after me, not him. That alone would have been reason enough to do this.
Even if it was one more step away from freedom, and the life I'd always dreamed of having.
"I'm in," I said, even as my stomach squirmed at the thought of going back to that place. "And I agree with Kade—we had better hurry."
A pleased smile touched the corners of Jack's mouth, but all he said was, "Rhoan, get Riley kitted out, then take her into the other room to catch some rest. Kade, you can stay here and give me an idea of the layout," He glanced at his watch. "We'll move at five—"
"But that's still two hours away," Kade interrupted. "We need to move ASAP."
"Unfortunately, we're restricted by the fact I'm a vampire. Some daylight I can stand, but not a whole lot."
Kade muttered something under his breath, then nodded. Rhoan cast a somewhat dark look Jack's way, then motioned me to follow him.
My gaze went to Quinn. His face was still very expressionless, and yet I had some sense of what he was feeling. Whether that was due to the link we'd formed between us—a link that was closed, and yet not—or whether it was simply wishful thinking, I have no idea Bur Quinn was no happier than Rhoan about my inclusion on this raid.
Well, tough. He'd lost any right to comment on the direction of my life when he'd turned his back on me that final time.
I followed Rhoan out the door and over to the black van. Overhead, the afternoon sky was clear and blue, and free of any soaring shapes. But the day was unnaturally still, free of the busy chatter of bird life usually found in the thick bush that surrounded the hotel. My gaze skimmed the trees circling the cabins, a prickle of unease running across my skin.
"Do you hear that?" I said, as Rhoan pulled open the van's side door.
"Hear what?" he said, looking at me.
"Exactly what I mean. It's unnaturally quiet."
"We are in the mountains, not the city." Even so, he had a look around and his gaze narrowed a little. "Maybe you'd better get inside while I look about."
"Given the things that have been tracking Kade and me, I think we're better off sticking together."
"Riley—"
"Don't 'Riley' me. You haven't seen the orsini. I have. Trust me, you do not want to come upon those beasties by yourself."
"What the hell are orsini?" He reached inside the van and handed me several small laser guns and a knife. My "kit," presumably.
"Weird-looking bearlike creatures with nasty claws and big teeth."
"Ah. Well, if you survived them, I think I might be able to."
"They wanted me alive, Rhoan." Or at least they had, before I'd actually managed to escape the main compound. "It's probably the only reason the orsini didn't actually kill me when I first escaped the cage."
Though their attempts at recapture, if that's what it had been, had felt bloody deadly.