She stood, dark eyes flashing. “I don’t need backup.”
Darkness settled on Nick’s face, making him look every inch the dangerous demon he was. “That’s too bad, Zaychik moy.” Sucking in air, his lowered his chin, and the air in the room slowly relaxed.
Daire’s shoulders untensed, but he kept an eye on his cousin. Being called My Bunny wouldn’t set well with her, but he was fairly certain she wasn’t currently armed. Well, except with her natural ability of being able to create and throw fire.
Nick turned toward Zane. “As your first in command, I have to say, take me instead of the enforcer.” His eyes held no expression as he nodded at Daire. “No offense.”
Daire rubbed his chin. “None taken.” As an enforcer, he understood duty. “But my mate, my fight.”
Nick nodded. “Zane?”
Zane glanced at Daire. “I’m with the enforcer. Plus, he can communicate with my mom and so far hasn’t burst a blood vessel in his brain.” The demon leader turned back to the picture on the wall. “Yet.”
The family love was going to suffocate Daire. He rolled his eyes. “Simone, I need somebody on you.” Then he winced at the language. “As a bodyguard. Leave here, get somewhere secure, and as soon as I get Felicity to safety, we’ll figure out our next step.”
“No.” She crossed her arms over a pretty red shirt.
Daire sighed and nodded at Nick. “Thanks for your help.”
“Not a problem.” He took two steps into the room. “Come with me willingly or not, Simone. Your choice.”
She stood and planted her feet. “Daire, I can’t believe you’re on board with this.”
He dug deep for patience he really didn’t have. “I’m about to cross dimensions and end up a world away, cousin. In order to concentrate and then probably fight to the death, I need to know you’re safe. So aye, I’m on board. Get to safety, and you can yell at me later.”
She eyed him, no doubt fighting both loyalty, concern, and a glorious temper. “Fine.” She tossed her hair and strode toward the demon. “You’re garna regret this, Nicholai Veis.” Her huff as she swept by him promised a wonderful fight was on the way.
Daire gave him a look containing both gratitude and warning. “I owe you.”
He smiled. “Zane, I have my phone. Call if you need backup.” Without waiting for an answer, he followed the furious witch.
Zane pointed to the satellite picture. “I’m thinking the planekite mine is on this side of the mountain, with offices and such here. See the entrance?” he tapped the screen. “So try Mom again, and ask her for a visual of where she might be.”
Daire leaned against the desk for support and closed his eyes. Felicity? Don’t answer for a moment. We’re getting ready to come in and get you, but all we have is satellite pictures to go on. Give me a picture, a mental image, of what you’ve seen so far. Hopefully her pictures wouldn’t burn his brain as badly as her words and emotions had.
Terror rippled into his head along with a hot blade of pain. He gasped and slapped a hand to his eye. What’s going on?
Nothing. Sorry. I’ll try pictures.
Boiling pins pricked his eyeballs. Slowly pictures began to form in his mind. A dining room. Bedroom. War room. Now a long hallway. Even though her sending pictures didn’t hurt as much as her thoughts, an underlying fear hovered around the message. Whatever was happening had her frightened.
The walls sparkled an odd green glow. Planekite.
His eyelids snapped open, and he strode over to the screen to study the picture. “Based on the hallway, I’d say she’s somewhere here.” He pointed along an area. “But it’s hard to tell, and she hasn’t seen Logan yet.” He dug deep and tried to calm his heart. “She’s scared right now, so the sooner we go, the better.”
“Scared or angry?” Zane asked, a muscle visibly ticking in his jaw.
Daire blew out air. “Scared. Definitely scared.” The primal being at his core sprang awake, ready to wage war. “We need to go. Now.”
“Okay. Go with your gut. Where do we land?” Zane asked as Sam rose to stand next to him.
Daire pointed to the entrance to what he believed was the business side of the mine. “As much as I’d like to go in center mass, I’d hate to land in the middle of a rock.”
Zane nodded. “Keep in mind, one second we’re not there, and the next second we are. If there are guards or anybody with a weapon, they’ll shoot us before we regain our equilibrium.”
Fucking fantastic.
The demon leader leaned in, gaze serious. “Take a deep breath, go as calm as you can, and don’t fight the universe.”
Daire nodded. He’d never really been one with the universe. “We don’t have to hug, do we?”
Zane rolled his eyes. “No.” With a hard lunge, he tackled Daire, and they both went down.
Through nothing. They fell through earth and reality, transporting between dimensions of time and space.
Darkness and an odd whistle echoed around Daire. His body flew away and then reassembled. For the briefest of seconds, true peace surrounded him.
Then he hit a freezing floor and rolled, coming up to face a slack-jawed guard. The guy lifted a weapon and fired.
Felicity entered the medical room and stopped short. Sterile white examination table, white counters, even white tile. Talk about a nightmarish room.
The doctor bustled around, flipping on different monitors. “We’ll keep track of your heartbeat and oxygen levels after injecting the mutated virus,” he mumbled, reading a chart and then scurrying over to the counter.
She shook her head. “Why? If I have a bad reaction, what exactly do you plan to do to counter the drug?”
He turned around and scratched his chin. “I don’t have a plan. This mutation is so new, there isn’t a lot of information about it.” His light-colored eyebrows rose. “To be honest, you’re the first person I’ve met who has already taken the mutation to negate the mating bond. Perhaps if you tell me about the experience, I’ll know what to do.” Curiosity glowed bright in his eyes.
What an asshole. “I’m not a research experiment, and we both know there’s nothing you can do if I have a bad reaction,” she countered, chills clawing down her back.
Ivan prodded her in the kidneys with the gun. “Hop up.”
She stormed away from him, noting the tray of surgical instruments on the counter. “Planning on operating?” she hissed, turning around and jumping onto the table. The smooth sheet bunched under her butt.
The doctor shook his head. “No.” He grasped a small clasp and shoved it on her index finger, and one of the monitors began to beep. “Those are just in case. Your oxygen levels look good.”
“What a relief,” she snapped out.
Ivan shut the door and leaned back against it, gun hanging casually in his hand. “How long does the process take?”
The doctor glanced at Felicity. “Based on my contacts, it takes about two days to fully negate the mating bond.”
Three days, actually, and then about a week of regaining energy and strength. The process was like a human experiencing a very bad flu bug. Felicity shoved hair away from her face. Was it really like the flu? If so, would this one take her down, or would she have created antibodies against the mutation? She swallowed and glanced at the syringe already filled on the tray. “This is such a terrible idea.”
Ivan laughed. “Let’s hope it works.”
She’d known him forever. “Ivan, this might kill me. At least let me see my son once before we take the risk.” She tried to force the hatred from her voice, and it came out quivery.
He shook his head, not concealing the hatred from his eyes at all. “Perhaps this will give you incentive to survive.”
Fear and anger flushed through her. “You are such a prick.”
The doctor cleared his throat and moved to attach a couple of nodules to her upper chest. Her heartbeat blipped on the screen, way too fast. Then he reached for the syringe and glanced at Ivan.