Daire hadn’t considered Logan being in danger, either. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” He turned and headed for the SUV waiting quietly for him by the doorway.
Zane grabbed his arm. “Who is Bychkov, and where is Logan?”
Felicity wiped tears off her face. “Bychkov is an enemy, and I don’t know where Logan is. Yet.”
Zane opened his mouth and Daire held up a hand.
“Meet at my penthouse in thirty minutes to figure out a plan. For now, reach out to every ally you have and prepare them for war. Once we find Logan, we’ll need to go in and fast,” Daire said. He didn’t wait for a response but jogged through the rain to place Felicity in the front seat. She trembled, and her face had gone so pale that light blue veins could be seen under the skin. “We’ll find him, baby. I promise.”
She lifted tear-filled eyes and basically sliced his heart in two. “What was I thinking?” she asked, dazed.
He lightly shook her arm, struck by how fragile she appeared. “On the ride to the penthouse, you need to concentrate. I want you to tell me absolutely everything there is to know about Bychkov by the time we get home.” He shut the door, wanting nothing more than to gather her close and soothe her fears. If he was going to find Logan, the cuddling would have to wait.
Running around the car, he barely took note of Zane moving his soldiers out. He twisted the ignition, already barking orders into his phone for reports on Bychkov and his consortia. He also put on ready all Coven Nine forces before making a call to Garrett Kayrs.
“Yo,” Garrett answered.
Daire swerved to avoid an idiot in a minivan. “Garrett? We’ve had reports that Logan has been taken by Ivan Bychkov. Do you know anything?”
Garrett sucked in air. “No. We hit the bars last night, scouting for Apollo distributors, and Logan went home with a redhead. Sexy woman.” Rustling came through the line and then running footsteps. “He’s not in his room.”
“Where are you?” Daire used one hand to steer around a kid on a scooter.
“Simone’s penthouse. She’s the only one with food in the cupboards.” A door slammed shut. “Who is Bychkov, and why would he have Logan?”
Daire rolled his shoulders and tried to keep his mind calm. Terror flowed from his mate, and he had to block some of the emotion to keep his brain engaged. “We’ll have a full debriefing in thirty minutes in my penthouse. For now, you try to trace where Logan went last night.”
“You got it.” Determination and irritation filled the vampire’s young voice. No fear. That was good.
“And Garrett? Be careful.”
“Copy that.” The kid hung up.
Daire glanced at Felicity, who huddled with her arms around her legs. “Garrett will call all their friends and then trace Logan’s movements last night. The kid is a bloodhound.”
She nodded and rested her chin on her knees. “I was so stupid.”
He frowned, much preferring her spunky, slightly crazy attitude. “Trust me, mate. It’ll be okay.” He cleared his throat and punched in another phone number, a call he had to make for both diplomacy and his peace of mind.
“Daire?” the king of the Realm asked.
“Hi, Dage. Quick update. We think Ivan Bychkov kidnapped Logan from a Seattle bar last night. Garrett is fine and is investigating, but I figured you’d want to know.”
“Do you need troops?”
Daire shut his eyes. The question came from a friend and not an ally, and there had been no hesitation in the offer. “Not until we have a location.” Daire purposefully refrained from explaining more, not wanting to alarm Cee Cee.
“You think he’ll be moved from Seattle?”
“Aye.” If Daire had to guess, Logan was already on a plane bound for a more secure location. Maybe on the East Coast? The kid had been gone at least fifteen hours, so he could be anywhere. “If your computer gurus wouldn’t mind finding out everything you can about Ivan Bychkov, I’d appreciate it.” If all his allies were looking into Bychkov, the better.
“Not a problem.” Dage cleared his throat. “Did Zane find you?”
“Aye.”
Silence ticked across the line. “Well?” Dage asked.
Damn vampire was the nosiest person on the planet. “Well, we had a nice talk, found out his brother had been kidnapped, and we’re going from there.” Daire sighed. “And I mated his mother.”
Dage coughed. “You did what?”
Daire pressed harder on the gas petal. They had a limited time to trace Logan before he disappeared, and Seattle traffic was pissing him off. “You heard me. I’ll be in touch.” He clicked off.
Felicity reached across the seat and took his hand with her chilled fingers. “Please make me a promise.”
“Anything,” he said, fully meaning it.
“When Ivan calls to trade me for Logan, let me go.”
Chapter 23
Felicity stepped over the threshold and followed Daire into his penthouse. Smoke still clung in the air from the flash grenades, but the broken window had been boarded up with rough plywood. She bit her lip, noting a scorched area on the leather sofa.
“Man,” Zane breathed, following her inside. He’d arrived right on the heels of the SUV. “What happened here?”
“Your mother happened,” Daire retorted, dumping several of the bags from the robberies onto the damaged sofa.
Zane’s lips pursed and he slowly scouted the room, his brows drawn down. Then he cut his eyes to her. “What in the world have you been doing?”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Watch your tone.”
“Who’s Ivan Bychkov?” he returned evenly.
She sucked in air.
Daire cleared his throat. “I’ll go grab Simone and some drinks. I’m all out.” He nearly passed her and then paused. Slowly, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pinning Zane with a hard look.
Zane narrowed his gaze.
Felicity breathed deep and waited until Daire had kind of shut the damaged front door. “Ivan Bychkov is a demon, and my brother betrothed me to him years before you were born.”
Zane coughed. “All of this is about a lover’s spat?”
“Of course not.”
“Who are you working for?” he shot back.
She faltered. Her stomach hurt. “Nobody. This mission is all mine.”
“Why?”
She had to tell him the truth for Logan’s sake. “I figured that Ivan would leave me alone after I mated your father.”
Zane’s chin lowered. “He didn’t?”
“No.” She took a deep breath and put her shoulders back. “Ivan killed your dad.”
Zane stepped back. “Excuse me?”
“Ivan is the demon who killed your father.” Her heart hurt now.
“But, but you said Uncle Suri killed the man who murdered Dad.” Zane flattened his hand on the wall as if needing support.
She clasped her hands together, trying not to throw up. “I know.”
“You lied?” Shock glimmered in Zane’s eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?” he shouted.
Her head jerked. “Why?” she shouted back. “Are you kidding me? You were barely a teen, while Sam and Logan were even younger. If one of you, and I mean just one of you, knew your father’s killer was alive, you would’ve been obsessed with finding him.”
“Damn straight,” Zane bellowed.
“You would’ve been killed,” she said, her voice softening.
Zane swept out an arm. “So you waited until now, until we were all safe, to go after the bastard yourself?”
“Yes.”
Breath burst from his lungs. “By robbing banks and blowing up mines?”
“For starters.”
“Are you crazy?”
She lifted a shoulder, trying not to cry. “Maybe a little.”
Zane shook his head and huffed out a sound of complete denial. “Who are you?”