Dage nodded and stood. Helplessness and frustration cut harsh lines in his strong face. “I’m going to reach out to any allies we have and will report back with news.” He turned on his heel and strode from the room.
Talen slowly stood, feeling much older than his three and a half centuries. His son stretched to his feet, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him. When had Garrett gotten so tall? They grew up too damn fast. Talen slammed a hand against Garrett’s back to offer comfort, oddly proud when his son didn’t move. “Janie will be all right.”
Garrett turned, meeting his gaze directly. “I know.”
The hint of fear in the air proved neither one of them believed their words. Talen cleared his throat. “Zane saved your life once, and I understand your need to think he might be a good guy.” Shit. Talen needed to think so, too.
The smile Garrett flashed showed fangs. “I owe him, it’s true. But he took my sister away from family and into danger.” Garrett’s metallic gray eyes morphed into a startling aqua. “That means he fucking dies.”
Zane shoved through time and space, the molecules in his body tearing apart. Drawing deep on a rapidly waning strength, he opened the air and fell to land flat on his face back in Idaho.
Agony burst through his nose.
Again.
Jesus. How many times could a guy break his nose in one day? He rolled over onto his back to find Nick Veis staring down.
“How many times have you teleported today?” Nick nudged him with a size sixteen flack boot.
“Too many,” Zane croaked, accepting a hand up. Each jump weakened him, and he hadn’t had time to restore his strength. He blinked blood out of his eyes, and his large intestine cracked. The small computer room swayed around him, and he stood still until things settled. “Please tell me you’ve found my mother.”
“No.” Nick dropped into a chair facing a computer and tossed him a cheeseburger from a bag. Then, taking a good look, he threw the whole bag at him before turning back to the screen. “I have narrowed her location down to Maine, Brisbane, or Hong Kong.”
Three different continents. Zane polished off a burger in two bites and reached for another one. “And Logan?”
“Nothing.” Nick punched in keystrokes, and Sam took shape on the screen. “We do have an idea, however,” Nick murmured.
Bruises and blood covered Sam’s face, clearly visible in HD.
Anger burned through Zane’s gut. “Are you all right?”
“Of course.” Sam spit out red. “The fighting here is dying down, and I thought I’d head to Africa.”
Zane frowned and took the seat Nick kicked toward him, eating his third burger. “Where?”
Nick tapped more keys and split the screen to show a map next to Sam’s face. “We have troops here, here, and here.” Nick pointed to the three places. “Since Sam can teleport, we thought he’d check them out one by one.”
“What if Logan isn’t in Africa?” The last thing Zane needed was Sam weakened by multiple jumps. With their demon and vampire mix, they could jump more consecutive times than any other demon, but they still had limits and needed to recharge. He eyed Nick. Too bad the older demon couldn’t teleport. So far, neither could Logan, although he was still young. Sometimes the talent took a century to develop. Zane had been able to teleport since puberty, and so had Sam. Rare indeed.
Sam shoved to his feet, a pained grimace twisting his lip. “This is our best shot—and it’s all we’ve got. As soon as you get a lock on Mom, we need to get there. If I’m already with Logan, we save a step.” He leaned toward the camera in his cell phone, his eyes the same green as Zane’s. “I can’t just sit tight any longer. I need to go find him.”
Zane cracked his nose back into place. He did like the idea of Sam being off Suri’s radar and out of Iceland, and if Sam found Logan, even better. “All right. Um, Sam? Suri has given us twenty-four hours to turn over Janie, or he’ll kill Mom.” Zane swallowed, his gut churning. “I can’t turn her over.”
Sam’s jaw clenched. “I don’t want to be the kind of people who’d turn a little human woman over to the Kurjans, Bro. No matter who she is or what she might mean to you.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Let’s find Mom.”
Emotions clogged Zane’s throat. His brother was a damn good man. “We will. Keep in touch.”
The screen went black.
The door opened, and Suri stomped inside. “Status?”
Zane finished chewing and remained sprawled in the chair. “The best time to hit Realm headquarters is tomorrow morning at ten a.m. There’s a shift change, and several of the forces will be out on training drills, if they stick to their current schedule.” Part of his report was true and the rest complete bullshit. “Too bad you can’t teleport to help tomorrow.”
Nick shot Zane a warning glance.
Zane half-shrugged. At this point, he was done. “Where’s my mother?”
“Safe but well hidden.” Suri’s vocal chords sounded more mangled than usual. Stress must be getting to the leader. “If you attack at that time, you’ll have less than an hour to get to Janet Kayrs and bring her here. To save your mother.”
