Duke stopped behind Tira, his hands landing on her shoulders as she clutched Nic’s hand.
Nic watched Daniels note each point of contact, his expression registering nothing at all. Vaffanculo, the guy was nearly as stoic as Kyle, before Tamra had come into the picture. And that was saying something.
Tira paused for a brief second before sighing. “My mother’s not well. Hasn’t been for several years.”
Daniels stilled, his eyes narrowing. “Is she ill?”
Tira paused again. “Not physically, no. It’s…hard to explain. There are circumstances…”
“What kind of circumstances?”
Tira looked at Nic, her blue eyes dull with confusion, pain and grief. He wanted to wipe those emotions away, hated to see them there. He wanted to go back a few hours, to when they still had the rest of the day ahead of them.
Now…
Nic looked at Daniels. “Su’s mental health is compromised. She has episodes of psychosis that have been getting worse. She can be lucid for days then be out of it for a week.” Or a month.
Now the man actually showed some emotion. He blanched, his skin becoming the color of ashes.
“How long has this been going on?”
“Years,” Tira continued. “It started when I was in my teens.”
That muscle in Daniel’s jaw ticked again. “I’m sorry. If I had known…” He took a deep breath. “I would like to talk to your mother now, Tira. She did send for me and there are things we need to discuss.”
Tira nodded. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted you to be prepared if she should…become agitated or incoherent. It can happen in a split second. She can be lucid and hold a normal conversation one second and the next she’ll be…off. I don’t know why she called for you but if she sent for you, she had to have a good reason.”
As Tira stood, Nic again had the urge to grab her and run. Instead he rose with her, releasing her hand as Duke’s hands fell away from her shoulders.
The lump in Nic’s gut twisted and rolled and muscles tightened with anxiety.
Which was stupid. The guy didn’t pose a threat, not with him, Duke and Dan ready to tear him limb from limb if he so much as looked at Tira or Su cross-eyed.
And no one except Tira had the right to deny Su the opportunity to talk to Daniels.
Nic had deliberately listened in on Dan and Margie’s conversation with Cat while Tira had been talking to Daniels. Only weeks away from sixteen, Cat was bright and levelheaded but she had a soft heart. Everyone, including her three parents, spoiled her but she managed not to be a brat.
Dan was furious with her for shielding the man and bringing him through the wards around the property without telling anyone, but Margie had wanted to know more about Su’s state of mind when she’d told Cat her plan.
Cat had explained how she’d carefully considered Su’s request and taken into account her mental state before she’d agreed to help. Nic could find no fault with her reasoning.
Daniels had no power. He hadn’t simply walked through the wards, he’d been brought through. If he knew what Su and his daughter were, he gave no indication and so far he hadn’t lied about anything. He, Duke or Dan would have smelled it on him.
“Please, follow me,” Tira said. “I’ll take you back to our house.”
Tira and Daniels made polite small talk about the weather as they left Dan and Margie’s. They didn’t linger on their walk. It was too cold for that. Nic followed along behind Tira, only realizing as they reached Su’s house that Duke had stayed behind to talk to Margie and Dan.
Or not.
Duke had his cell phone at his ear.
Vaffanculo. Duke would only have answered the phone for Kyle.
“Nic? What’s wrong?”
Tira called to him from her mother’s porch, where she had one hand on the doorknob.
As he watched Duke, he reached for his own cell and pulled it out to check for messages or missed calls, knowing he didn’t have any. He wouldn’t have missed the vibration.
Duke’s expression went from guarded to stone in a split second. His gaze caught and held Nic’s for two very long seconds before he looked away, nodding as he said something and then pushed the phone back into his pocket.
Tinia’s teat, what the hell else was going on? And did he really want to know?
“Hang tight a sec, Ti.”
After a few words to Margie, Dan and Duke started toward them.
Duke’s expression was carefully blank and that told Nic almost everything he needed to know.
“What’s going on?” he asked when Duke reached him.
“The eteri’s gone and so is Kaine.” Duke shook his head. “Kyle’s pretty sure Kaine released the guy then followed him. I’m going back to help Kyle track Kaine. You stay with Tira. With any luck, we’ll find them both in a few hours.”
Dread made Nic’s stomach tighten into a ball. Dread and resignation.
“One of us needs to stay with Tira,” Duke continued. “It should be you.”
Because you only have a few more hours to touch her.
Duke didn’t say it but Nic couldn’t argue the fact.
He wanted to stay.
Duke should have no trouble tracking Kaine. But…Nic and Duke were a team. They worked like a well-oiled machine, their strengths complementing each other, filling in the other’s weaknesses.
And Kyle was used to working solo. Not that Nic didn’t trust Kyle with Duke’s life. He did. But… Shit.
Torn, Nic battled back the rage threatening to make him howl.
One day. All she’d asked for was one fucking day.
“Go.”
Tira’s voice sounded right behind him and he turned to see her standing only two feet away from him.
“Ti—”
“Whatever’s going on, you need to go.” The resignation in her eyes made his chest throb with pain. “This is going to be hard enough to get through without having you and Duke hovering over my shoulder.” When he winced, she shook her head. “I don’t say that to hurt you. I never want to hurt you. But this is something Mom and I need to do on our own right now. Dan and Margie and the streghe will be here if I need anything. Go. But be careful. Please.”
Nic swore he ground his molars into dust.
He understood. He hated it but understood where she was coming from.
Ho nodded. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
Then he reached out to grab her shoulders and bring her close enough for a long, hard kiss. One hand reached up to cup her chin, his other pressed against her back and brought her flush up against him, fitting them together so tightly, he felt her heartbeat.
He kissed her until he had to stop to draw in air or risk passing out then let his forehead rest against hers.
“Ti, just… I love you, sweetheart.”
Her lips curved in a bittersweet smile. “I know. I love you too.”
And that would have to be enough.
When Nic stepped back, Duke stepped around him, reaching for her. She wound her arms ’round his neck and let him lift her off her feet in a tight hug. Then she kissed Duke with just as much passion as she had Nic.
Nic’s gaze flipped to Daniels, standing on the porch watching everything with that impassive expression. If he had a problem watching his daughter kiss two men equally lovingly, he gave no outward sign.
As Duke moved to pull away, Tira’s hands caught him to her and she whispered something in Duke’s ear, something Nic wasn’t quick enough to catch.