Torin is out of the library and across the entryway like a shot. He lets out a sigh of relief as he reaches to open the front door. “That has to be her. Maybe something scared her, and she ran, and she couldn’t find us, so she came here.”
Archer and I are a step behind him when he wrenches the door open and Lottie flings herself at him, talking so fast I can barely understand her.
Torin grasps the tops of her arms, catching her before she can fall. “Lottie? What are you doing here?” His eyes dart over her shoulder, looking for her keeper, the big slab of muscle who accompanies her on the weekly visits my dad allows us to have. Ian serves as a deterrent in case we use force to free her again. Veronica, his spy, is another.
Except Lottie is here alone. Behind her, a yellow cab sits feet from the driveway, engine running.
Lottie was babbling while I was looking for Ian, so I missed the first part of what she said. Archer and Torin didn’t.
“What do you mean he has her?” Torin’s voice is sharp.
Lottie sucks in a deep breath, releases it in a rush. “Juniper. Wilkes grabbed her. He bashed her over the head, I think. Shehad a lump, and it was bleeding. Then Wilkes came with a needle.” She winces.
Torin releases his tight hold on her, apologizing. “Sorry. Keep going.”
She nods and continues. “But I was pretending to be too weak to move, and when he was distracted, I shoved him to the floor and I grabbed Juniper. We ran.”
Again I look over her shoulder, but there’s no sign of Juniper. My unease grows.
“Wilkes chased after us, but Juniper pulled me out of the way, and he fell down the stairs, and I think he broke his neck. He wasn’t moving, and there was a lot of blood. Juniper found more pills in his pocket. She gave them to me, and then we ran to the front door to leave. She was right behind me, and then she wasn’t.”
I share a worried glance with Torin and ask Lottie, “She’s still at the house?”
She nods. “Your dad’s house. Something must have happened. I ran until I found a cab, but I didn’t have any money to pay him, so?—”
“I’ll go.” Archer steps around her and jogs over to the cab while I refocus on Lottie.
“How was she?”
“She was really dizzy before.” Lottie chews on her lip. “Wilkes was going to trigger her heat and mate with her before he fell down the stairs. He said it was what he wanted in return for helping trick Juniper. Your dad won’t be happy, Callum. I don’t know what he’s going to do with her, but he won’t be happy I’m gone.”
That’s not true. The newspapers reported that June is our scent match. My dad will be thrilled to have a better hostage than Lottie. He knows we will doanythingto save her.
Anything at all.
The cab driver rolls up his window, does a U-turn, and pulls away from the house as Archer returns after paying him. He closes the door and looks at me. “So?”
I shake my head. “Give me a minute to think.”
He’s not the only one looking at me. Torin and Lottie are too, because no one knows my dad like I do. He’s always been one step ahead of us, but this time, we have to out-think him. Juniper’s life is at stake.
My dad has Juniper, but he won’t be alone at that house. I don’t know if Ian is always with him when my dad keeps Lottie locked up, but there’s one person who will definitely be there now.
“Veronica isn’t out grocery shopping,” I say.
Archer makes a face. “Yeah, I figured as much.”
My dad would have called her and told her about the plan to grab Juniper. He wouldn’t want her anywhere near us in case we got the truth out of her.
“Ian might be there as well.” I’m not looking forward to going up against the big alpha who had an order to put a bullet in Lottie’s head if we ever tried to free her. “Lottie, did you see him?”
She shakes her head. “Wilkes brought me my pill, and Ian didn’t come running after Wilkes fell down the stairs. I don’t think he’s there.”
“We’re going after her.” Torin’s expression dares me to argue.
“No question,” I say, rubbing a hand over my mouth, distracted.
“You have a plan?” Archer asks.
