She did so, sketching out a scene that left his blood running cold. If Tempest hadn’t had the wits and courage to escape when she did, she could have been lost to him forever. If Carlo wasn’t Victor himself, then he must be one of his lieutenants. Either way, he had to find the man. He had to be punished for his involvement with the crimes against Dark Ones.
And for touching Tempest.
“—we were hiding behind—what?”
“Hmm?” Merrick tried for an inscrutable expression, but was unsure of whether he pulled it off.
Tempest frowned at him. “Did you say something?”
“I wouldn’t interrupt you that way,” he said, allowing a bit of righteous indignation to temper his tone.
“Oh. OK. Well, we were hiding behind this stack of logs, watching for the car to come back—”
Merrick’s mind wandered to the things he wanted to do to Victor, but he was very careful to shield them from Tempest.
“—and then we decided the coast had been clear long enough, so we went to get the phone, but it was broken, so we just started walking toward the nearest big town. I figured we’d get a train back to Nice, and are you growling?”
Merrick stopped growling to himself. “No.”
“Oh.” She looked over her shoulder. “No growlies, Kelso. Savian is your friend.”
“Eh?” Savian said, looking confusedly between the dog and her.
“Which direction were they headed before they stopped at the petrol station?” Merrick asked Tempest, starting the car and preparing to head out in chase.
“North, but I don’t know what the destination was. It had to be somewhere in France, though, because Ellis’s passport was with the hotel, and he wouldn’t be able to get across the border. Although I don’t think they knew that. Hmm.”
Savian pulled out his phone. “Let’s see. Nearest large town is Tourrette-Levens, although I don’t know that you’re necessarily looking for a town.”
“We’ll go on the assumption that he was heading that way, since your trail indicates the same. Can you track from the backseat?”
“I am the best thief taker in all of Europe,” Savian said with a laugh. “I could track blindfolded. Well, all right, not blindfolded, but with one eye patch.”
“What exactly are you talking about?”
Merrick focused on his attention on driving while Savian explained his profession and the sanguine trail to Tempest, who, as expected, was delighted by both.
“This is so cool!” She turned to Merrick and punched him lightly in the shoulder. “Don’t you see what that means? That trail that Savian was following was me. It shows that we’re connected.”
“I didn’t know you had a mate,” Savian said, catching Merrick’s eye in the rearview mirror. “It would have been easier to separate the trails had you mentioned that.”
Merrick said nothing, his teeth grinding just a little.
Tempest gazed at him with raised eyebrows, finally saying, “Well? Aren’t you going to protest that you don’t have a Beloved, and you don’t need one, want one, or intend to ever have one?”
He unclenched his teeth. “No.”
“Really?” He expected elation on her part, but was surprised when her brows pulled together in a little frown. “Why?”
Does it matter? There are more important things to be discussed now, such as the possible motives of Carlo in kidnapping you. I wonder now if he really is Victor, or if he’s fronting for him.
I would prefer to think my cousin isn’t a horrible murderer, and don’t think I don’t know that you’re changing the subject, because I can feel how uncomfortable you are at discussing relationships.
“What were you doing in Nice?” he asked aloud in order to keep her from continuing along that particular conversational path.
“Looking for you. Ellis wanted to see you, and I knew you’d like to meet him.”
He sensed something in her, a little bubble of emotion that she acknowledged but pushed to the side.
