“Cain might have her phone calls monitored,” Lilly pointed out. “I imagine he’s keeping her on a short leash if her blood is the key to these hybrids.”
“What about contacting her through her dreams?” Dalton asked.
“That’s typically a mate-bond thing.”
“But, Tanya, the bond between healers might be similar,” Lilly offered. “I’m sure there’s lots we still don’t know about their magic.”
“That’s true. Which is why I think we should go the phone-call route first. If it doesn’t work, then maybe our girls can figure out a way to contact her.” Nick looked at Claude and noticed the vampire appeared to be in a trance. “Will this parasite be able to fool Cain into thinking nothing is amiss? He looks sort of…”
“Drugged?” Myanin bounced on the balls of her feet. “That’s because he’s under Tenia’s exceptional power. He can’t do anything except what she’s planted in his teeny, tiny, parasitic brain.”
“Tenia,” the warlock queen said softly, “you’ve got to rein her in.”
“Me?” Tenia scoffed. “What about her mate? He’s your general. You can order him to.”
“Gerrick?” Lilly looked in his direction.
The warlock warrior smirked. “My mate has no supernatural power and can still kick my ass in the sparring ring. I think I’ll just stand here and watch her be crazy and love her, regardless.”
The djinn in question leaned over and touched her lips to Gerrick’s cheek. “And that is why you’re perfect for me.”
He grinned at her. “That doesn’t mean I won’t spank you once you’re out of fighting mode.”
Nick coughed, and a round of chuckles and curses spread across the group.
“And on that note…” Tenia stepped over to Claude and turned him so she could look him in the eyes. “We’re going to get our spy in place and get the crazy djinn chick out of here.”
Nick was pretty sure he’d never heard a better idea. He didn’t know if Myanin had always been nuts or if it was a product of her being stripped of her power. Whichever, it didn’t really matter. As long as someone could keep her from falling off the sanity ledge that she was barely clinging to.
“Claude.” Tenia’s voice was strong and commanding. “Every order I have given to you goes into effect now, and you will continue to obey them until I release you. Additionally, you will contact the gypsy healer within Cain’s compound. You will ask her to call the number programed in the phone. You will ensure that Cain does not know or find out that you are working for us. If you suspect he knows, you will leave immediately and come to the designated meeting location. Do you remember?”
“Yes.” Claude’s voice sounded mechanical.
“If you begin to feel confused, you will leave immediately and come to the designated meeting location. You will report everything that happens within the compound to me. When we drop you at the gate, you will simply tell them a fae dropped you off. You’re resourceful and an excellent liar. Make it believable. Am I clear?”
“Yes.”
Tenia looked at Synica. “Can you flash with us and keep us covered?”
Synica nodded and laid a hand on Tenia’s arm. The fae wrapped a hand around Claude’s wrist. She looked at Skender. “Be back in a sec.”
Skender said nothing. He simply stared at her with a look that Nick recognized. It was the same one every true mated male wore when they looked at their mate. Sheer protectiveness mixed with a little bit of crazy. The obsessiveness concerning their females never went away.
The trio flashed, and everyone went still, as if any movement might somehow screw up Tenia’s task.
“You good?” Kara’s voice filled Nick’s mind. “You just got really intense. Not that you aren’t always intense, but this seems to be more.”
His lips turned up slightly. “Is that your polite way of saying I’m a little unbalanced?” As if she hadn’t just heard his thoughts on the matter of Canis lupus males.
“Babe, you’re the one who thought it,” she pointed out. “I’m just making sure it’s not getting out of hand.”
“I’m no more unstable than I was when I left you.” He then filled her in on everything that had happened. By the time he was done, Tenia and Synica had reappeared.
“Why’d it take so long?” Skender pulled Tenia against him.
The fae frowned. “It was only a couple of minutes.”
“All you had to do was drop him off,” her mate pointed out.
