Jules and Louis betrayed me as well as you. They told these people you were close with Cosette. That you talk with her several times a week. She must have told them. They’re her cousins. Why would they betray her? She’s been taken again. She was at her music class. I had three bodyguards on her. They were killed. The note said only you can get her back. If you don’t come for her, she will live but wish she is dead. My poor Cosette. Again. I know they are saying you must trade your life for hers. I cannot ask you to do this, but I don’t even know who they are.
Gedeon cursed under his breath. “Cosette is his daughter?” He had done his research into Etienne. The daughter was around eighteen or nineteen.
Meiling nodded.
Etienne was asking Meiling to trade her life for Cosette’s. The Frenchman knew that was what he was doing. He might not feel he had any other choice, but he should just own it. Not pretend he wasn’t putting Meiling’s life on the line. Already the program was eating the message, the black holes appearing in it.
“Tell me about this girl and your relationship with her,” Gedeon commanded.
“That was how I first met Etienne. Cosette could be considered one of those poor little rich girls. Her parents loved her, but they didn’t spend any time with her. Etienne was always working and her mother, Manon, had too many society events to attend to really bother noticing what her daughter was up to. Cosette craved attention, so she tended to seek it in negative ways. She would do all sorts of outrageous things to get herself kicked out of school. She’d attend parties that she had no business going to. Eventually, Manon left. She ran off with another man and she didn’t want anything to do with Cosette because the new man didn’t. That just made things worse.”
Meiling sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms tight around them. “Cosette spent a great deal of time online and eventually met someone she shouldn’t have. You know how that story goes. She snuck off one night to meet him. Etienne called me when she didn’t come home. He didn’t think anything of it other than she was being outrageous again, looking for attention.”
Gedeon sat up as well, reaching for Meiling. He wasn’t going to allow her to ride this one out alone. He lifted her easily and settled her onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in tight against his chest. “You didn’t believe that was the case.”
She shook her head. “I read her diary. I went through her computer. She was only fifteen, and I found myself furious at her father. He had this beautiful daughter who wanted to be a part of his life and he was too busy to give her the time of day. If I was right about my suspicions, he might never be able to give her attention again. I found myself invading his office and giving him a piece of my mind.
“He told me she had tried to talk to him about some friend she met online, but he didn’t let her into his office. He was on a conference call. He didn’t remember what she’d said. I told him he’d be damned lucky if he ever got to talk to his daughter again, and I hoped the money he made was worth his daughter’s life. Then I stormed out.”
Gedeon felt her heart beating beneath his palm. He had Meiling wrapped up as tight as he dared without hurting her. All the while he rocked her gently, subtly, offering her comfort. She’d gotten the girl back from a very bad situation. Meiling had tracked her, finding the much older man from his online profile. He had taken Etienne’s innocent fifteen-year-old daughter to a house out in the country to share with his four friends. She was kept nude, chained and available to the five men, who did whatever they wanted to her any time of the day or night.
Meiling brought her home and stayed in her room with her to make certain the nightmares didn’t consume her. She stayed even when Cosette began counseling, because the girl clung to her. Meiling refused the money Etienne offered, but she wasn’t opposed to accepting favors in return. Eventually, Cosette was able to allow Meiling out of her sight for longer and longer periods of time, but they still talked three times a week. Evidently, Cosette had confided that little piece of news to her cousins, Jules and Louis, not realizing they despised Meiling.
“You know even if you tried to exchange yourself for Cosette, they would either kill her in front of you or traffic her. They won’t keep their word and release her.” Gedeonwas compelled to tell her the truth. He didn’t want to. He felt as if she’d been struck by one body blow after another.
“I’m well aware, Gedeon.” She turned her head, her eyes glowing with green and gold flecks, indicating Whisper was close. “I’m counting on you. On Slayer and Whisper. We’ll do this. We just have to stick to the plan.”
Gedeon bent his head to her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her bare skin. “Exactly. It’s a good plan. They expect you to come for her, Meiling. But they expect you to bring an army with you. Soldiers you’ve acquired over time. It won’t occur to them that you would ever dare penetrate their lair with just your partner.”
“My mate,” she corrected.
His heart nearly seized in his chest. “Say again?” His throat had constricted to the point he could barely get the words out. They sounded hoarse.
“My mate,” she repeated. “You’re my partner, but going into their fortress, you’re my mate. My man.”
“I am,” he agreed. “That’s exactly who I am.”
19
THEfence surrounding the front of the fortress was very high, a good twenty-five feet of twisted metal, with each anchor ending in a sharp spear. The anchors were close together; some pointed straight up toward the sky, while others on either side of them pointed outward or inward. This was clearly to keep leopards from scaling the fence and getting in.
Outside the fence was heavily patrolled by four teams of two shifters each, with AK-47s hanging easily on their shoulders. Trees had been cleared right up to the fence, leaving the ground bare. The road leading to the fortress was paved and kept in good shape with no potholes. The ground sloped in gentle swells for miles, with little or no brush or trees thanks to the continual clearing being done.
Gedeon timed the patrols. The shifters were fairly consistent in their routes and how long it took each of them tomake the circuit back to the front gate. Gedeon tracked them one by one. Meiling had infiltrated the grove of fruit trees that stood outside the tall fence. The grove had its own fence but wasn’t within the much more protected fortress. When they had checked out the fruit trees, Gedeon could understand why. In the winter, the fruit trees had to be protected from the biting cold. Whoever had originally planted the fruit trees had chosen the best possible location for them, out of the wind, protected on three sides. They could be covered, and if the temperature dropped too low, they could use machines to keep the trees alive.
He had an appointment to see Bolin Wang and Makar Turgenev, two of the Dragon Justices, in a short period of time. It was an opening ploy. Meiling would be inside, covering him. She had to go in first. Phase one was to make certain their information was correct. They had to know they could count on their exit and entrance routes. This was where they had to be shadows. Ghosts. No one could know they were there. Not even Cosette. Meiling could take a few minutes and locate her, but she couldn’t reassure her. They couldn’t chance it.
As far as Gedeon knew, all five Dragon Justices still resided in the fortress. The lair seemed to be packed with their soldiers and the servants needed to feed and entertain them. The fortress housed a village as well as the palace. The smaller dwellings were on either side of the palace and behind it in a large semicircle. Those homes would only be a problem if Gedeon and Meiling were forced to run in that direction and couldn’t hide themselves. They didn’t foresee that happening, but they had a plan just in case.
He checked the time and waited for the guards to pass out of sight before he eased out of the depression he was in and began to belly crawl to the next strip of grass. He did it slowly. There were cameras everywhere. That didn’tmean anyone was paying close attention. Those watching had been doing so for months, perhaps even years, and had to be bored out of their minds. Still, it paid to be cautious. Gedeon was a cautious man.
They bring girls here all the time, Gedeon, Meiling said.For the soldiers to use. These men traffic them from the other lairs.
It didn’t surprise him. That was the reason Fyodor, his brothers and cousins had gotten out. They couldn’t stomach what was happening to the women in the lairs. They could see the devastation it caused. They could even see the Amur leopard was on the verge of extinction, but still, to prove loyalty, the men continued using and killing the women.
They abuse their own leopards as well. These are sick lairs, Meiling. Those in charge have to know they’re destroying the lair and the shifters from within, but they don’t want to admit they’re wrong, so they continue to make the same mistakes instead of trying to fix what they’ve done.
I’m listening to the kitchen staff gossip as they harvest from the garden. They know just about everything going on inside the palace.
