“Where would you like to go instead, Sage?” Alina asked. “If you could go anywhere, where would it be?”
“I want to go wherever Derek is,” she wailed. “Can you take me to him?”
The look of heart-wrenching despair that crossed her face as she said Derek’s name nearly ripped Trevor’s guts out. He’d expected her to say she wanted to go back to her family in Canada, but Tanner had been right. Her instinctive need to be with the man who’d saved her in Tajikistan was stronger than the urge to go home.
Alina gave Trevor a questioning look, no doubt wondering who the hell Derek was and how they could get him here. Unfortunately, that was going to be tough. The man was still active duty Special Forces. He was lucky to see the States more than a month or so out of the year.
“He’s a soldier,” Trevor said. “He’s probably…”
He’d been about to say Derek was probably deployed, but then he caught sight of Tanner waving his hands and shaking his head. Okay, maybe he wouldn’t talk about that.
“Derek’s currently…hard to reach,” he said instead.
Tears welled up in Sage’s eyes. “Can’t I just talk to him on the phone? Please? If I could hear his voice, that would be enough.”
Alina looked at Trevor again. All he could do was shrug. How the hell could he get hold of a deployed Special Forces soldier when he wasn’t even sure where in the world the man was?
“I promise that when we get back to the complex, I’m going to find Derek and get him on the phone,” Alina told Sage firmly. “I don’t care what I have to do. You’re going to talk to him today. I swear it.”
Sage regarded Alina silently, as if trying to decide if she should believe her. Trevor tightened his grip on the tranquilizer gun behind his back. But as he watched, the last of the red glow slowly faded from Sage’s eyes, her claws and fangs retracting. Then she threw herself into Alina’s arms, tears coming hard and fast.
Alina wrapped her arms around the girl, squeezing her tightly and promising she’d keep Sage safe and get her back with Derek as fast as possible. The heartache pouring out of the poor girl in great racking sobs was difficult for Trevor to watch. Damn, he hated seeing a woman cry. It drove a spike right through his frigging heart. Sage was like a wounded animal who was lost and confused and in pain, not knowing why it was all happening to her. He couldn’t imagine how the girl even held it together.
One arm still around Sage, Alina guided her over to the first row of pews and sat down with her, rocking the girl back and forth and making soothing sounds in her ear as she caressed her dark hair. Trevor had to admit that trusting Alina enough to bring her with him had been one of his better ideas.
Releasing his grip on the dart gun, Trevor gestured for the priest to follow him out of the church. Tanner joined them while Jaxson stayed inside to keep an eye on Alina and Sage. Considering the man had seen everything, Trevor was going to have to do some serious damage control.
“I’ve never seen a shifter lose control like that,” the old man said once they were outside. “Is she ill?”
Trevor gaped. Beside him, Tanner looked just as surprised.
“You know about shifters?” Trevor asked cautiously.
The priest nodded. “Yes. The church has been aware of the existence of these very special people for a long time. Our histories say they were poorly treated at first, but once the clergy finally realized they’re no more evil than any of God’s other creatures, the church took on the role of protecting them and their identities.”
Trevor exchanged looks with Tanner. Okay, he hadn’t expected that. “So you’re not going to tell anyone about this?”
The priest smiled. “The girl came into my church seeking solace and peace. She was so scared that it was difficult to understand what she was saying, but I did glean from her words that churches have always represented safety and sanctuary to her. The girl’s secret is safe with me…and the church.” He regarded Trevor thoughtfully for a moment. “You never answered my question about whether or not the girl is ill.”
“No, she’s not ill,” Trevor said honestly. He couldn’t exactly lie to a priest. “Sage wasn’t born a shifter. Someone gave her a drug to turn her into one against her will. The out-of-control behavior you saw is a result of those drugs. We’re trying to help her, but she’s having a hard time of it.”
The priest’s mouth tightened. “Besides helping her, I trust you’re doing whatever is necessary to make sure the person who did this horrible thing isn’t allowed to do it again?”
Trevor nodded. “We’re trying very hard.”
The priest looked like he would have said more, but just then, Alina and Jaxson came out with Sage. The girl was practically glued to Alina’s side, and while she’d stopped crying, she still seemed emotionally and physically drained.
“We can take her back to the complex in my vehicle,” Jaxson said. “I should be able to get us through the gate without anyone paying too much attention.”
Alina hesitated, looking in Trevor’s direction. He was about to tell Jaxson that he’d take them in his vehicle and let the other man run interference at the gate, but then his frigging phone rang. He pulled it out to see who it was, intending on letting it go to voice mail. Then he saw who it was.
Holding up his finger to tell Alina to wait, he moved to the side to take the call. “What’s up, Evan? This isn’t exactly the best time to talk. I’m kind of busy.”
“Well, you’re about to get even busier,” Evan said. “Vivian just called. Thorn is heading to the DC office right now for that classified briefing. If you want to hear what he says, you need to be there in an hour.”
Shit.
Trevor glanced at his watch, trying to calculate how long it would take him to get into the middle of DC at this time in the morning. With traffic, it was going to be close. “Did you talk to IT and figure out a way to get a set of ears into the conference room?”
