Smoke filled the room while gunfire continued unabated outside.
Zane sliced his blade into the demon’s neck and shoved him away. Ducking low to peer under the smoke, he dodged through the room and headed down a long hall to a doorway. Kicking it open, he grimaced at the narrow stairs leading down.
A whisper of sound alerted him, and he half-turned, only to get hit mid-center by a guard. He flailed for the railing and missed, hitting three steps and breaking his ribs. He and the demon fought each other while plummeting down the concrete stairs, finally landing at the bottom with Zane on top. Three hard punches to the demon’s face knocked him out cold.
Zane stood and placed a hand against the wall to keep from falling again. His leg burned, and the world had gone fuzzy as his brain swelled against his skull. Swallowing bile, he turned and jogged down a concrete surrounded hallway to a door with a keypad next to it. He drew out his pistol and shot the keypad, fizzing the wires until the door lock released.
Heavy boots echoed behind him, and he turned to find his brothers. Bloody, sooty, and wounded. Sam half-carried Logan.
Logan grimaced. “A couple of wounds and no big deal. I’m healing as we speak.” He eyed the closed doorway warily.
Sam shook his head. “He’s been shot too many times and needs to recuperate. Somewhere safe.” Sam jerked his head toward the stairway. “The outside is cleared.” He pushed Logan against the wall and took a defensive position in front of his brother.
Zane turned and kicked open the door, keeping his body between his family and whatever lay on the other side. Then he stilled.
Felicity rose from a feminine settee and put down a book. As cells went, it had been decorated for royalty. Apparently Suri hadn’t wanted to piss his sister off too badly.
Zane swallowed and felt like a kid again. “Mom?”
She took a deep breath and ran into his opened arms. “Are you all right?” she asked, leaning back to look at him and wiping blood from his chin.
He nodded, unable to speak. Sometimes he forgot how tiny she was, and she’d lost weight during captivity. Long blond hair flowed down her back in contrast to her midnight black eyes. Faint lines of fatigue and worry fanned out from her eyes.
Zane’s heart clenched. “I’m fine. Did they hurt you?”
“No.” Felicity turned with a happy cry and launched herself at first Sam and then Logan, staying clear of his injuries. Finally, she turned to smile at Zane. “I knew you’d find me.”
Her trust humbled him, but she’d have to dig deep to keep it when she heard what he had in mind. He took in his family. “We have to go before Suri’s reinforcements get here.”
Sam nodded and reached for Logan.
Zane slid an arm around his mother’s petite shoulders. “Sam, take Logan to Alaska and have Janie patch him up. She, ah, may be a little angry when you first get there.”
Sam frowned. “Why?”
Zane shrugged. His brothers had been too occupied with the rescue to take notice of him, and that was fine.
Logan grimaced. “We go with you.”
“No.” Zane shook his head. The vampires were pissed, and the smart move would be to take out everybody with him and then torture him for information to find Janie. He didn’t think they’d kill a female, but his brothers would be perfect targets. “Do as I’ve ordered.” He dismissed his brothers and glanced down at his mother.
She studied him as if considering something she couldn’t quite grasp. “I’d like to go face my brother, if you don’t mind.” Her rough voice sounded more like a bar singer’s than a demon’s, but the anger was there.
Zane tightened his hold and kept his gaze level. “I have a different plan.”
Felicity lifted a pale eyebrow. “Which is?”
“How do you feel about meeting the Realm vampires, Mom?” he asked.
Chapter 13
Janie leaned back against the ice pack, her mind furiously running. Zane hadmarkedher. Burned Z’s into her flesh.
Permanently.
While she’d always thought the marking a bit romantic, actually carrying a brand came with a heavy sense of finality. Of ownership.
She carriedhismark.
