“T-t-that’s right, sweetie, I’m your gramma,” Hope said, raising an arm, trying to touch her grandpup.
Seeing what his mother wanted, Jackson set Daniel down on the bed alongside her. “Be careful, Daniel. Gramma’s not well yet.”
Grinning at his gramma, Daniel patted her hand before grabbing one of her fingers, he promptly put it in his mouth and started gumming it while drool ran down his chin.
“Oh jeeze, Daniel, no. Gramma’s finger isnota chew toy,” Jackson admonished.
“L-l-let him be, Jackie…he’s not hurting me,” Hope said. “He’s got your blue eyes.”
“That’s what Steel claims,” Jackson said. “Steel’s my mate, Mom.”
“D-d-dakota told me…when will I see him?”
“As soon as Ian says he can visit,” Jackson replied, smiling at his mother.
“Hope,” Ian said, “five more minutes and then I want you to get some rest, okay?”
“N-n-no, I want Mac first,” Hope insisted.
“I’ll go get him now,” Ian said, smiling at Jackson. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t worry, Mom’s having a good time with her grandpup,” Jackson said.
Nodding, Ian hurried out of the room, grinning at the sound of Hope’s soft laughter. Heading toward Mac’s office, he stopped when he heard Colton call his name. Turning around, he looked at his mate running toward him, wondering why he was in such a hurry.
“We’ve got incoming!” Colton said, “Fionn…they were ambushed at the courthouse. Cody’s bringing Fionn back…he’s unconscious. The chopper will be here in a few minutes.”
“Find Mac and send him to Hope’s room, tell him ‘five minutes’. I want everyone out so she can get some rest. Then get the triage room ready. I’ll go meet them. Does Jackson know?” asked Ian.
“No, not yet.”
“He will, shortly,” Ian said, brushing past his mate and on his way to meet Cody and Fionn.
~/~/~/~/~
The helicopter was fast disappearing when Dylon took out his phone and opened the tracking app, looking for the blinking red dot that would tell him where Hunter was. Finding it, he sprinted to the waiting elevator. Oncedown and in the car again, he gave the driver instructions, then sat back, drumming his fingers on his knee.
Dylon had no doubt Eideard MacDùghlas was behind the attack, but why? The easy answer would be the judge denying MacDùghlas’ claims but that wasn’t it because this attack would take time to plan. And besides, MacDùghlas expected the judge to approve his claims. So that left the only other possibility—the uncle wanted Fionn because he was a white dragon.Damn!Dylon realized at that moment the claims were merely a distraction—and it had worked. He was so focused on stopping the judge from allowing the late claims, he failed to consider the possibility it was the white dragon’s power MacDùghlas was really after.
It was now late afternoon when the car stopped at the entrance to the courthouse. Dylon climbed out, instructing the driver to wait for him and keep the car running. Looking down at his phone, he tapped a few keys before entering the building which was deserted.Strange.There should’ve been at least one security guard, but as before, when they were attacked, there wasn’t anyone around. Bypassing the elevators, Dylon opened the door to the stairwell, sniffing for residual signs of the attackers, but finding nothing, he quietly closed the door behind him before ascending the stairs to the floor where they’d been ambushed.
Pausing before opening the door at the top of the stairwell leading to the hallway, Dylon checked his phone and, according to the red blip, Hunter was close by. Cracking the door open a bit, he peeked through it, looking down the hall toward the banks of elevators. What he expected to see wasn’t there; no bodies or blood—just a clean quiet area. Not a sign that anything out of the ordinary had happened. Sniffing again, Dylon detected faint scents ofother shifters but none strong enough to indicate any were lurking around.
Opening the door wider, Dylon entered the hallway, his wolf on alert but not detecting any threats. He headed for the elevator they’d been in and stood in front of it, scanning the floor for any tell-tale signs of blood, but whoever cleaned up the carnage was thorough. Pressing the button for the elevator they’d been in, he watched as the numbers lit up, showing it was coming up from the parking garage where they had left it.
While waiting for it, his wolf’s ruff stood, alerting Dylon that he wasn’t alone. Quickly turning around, his eyes surveyed the hallway, but found it empty. Walking over to a door opposite the elevators, he yanked it open, claws extended, ready to defend himself, but found only a closet filled with brooms, mops and pails—and a strong smell of blood. Flipping on the light, Dylon grimaced at blood-filled pails on the floor.Someone has been busy. His phone sounded, signaling the app had located Hunter, but something wasn’t right. Moving everything aside, Dylon finally found what triggered the alarm. Tucked away at the rear, under a pile of rags, were Hunter’s clothes—along with the tracker.Fuckingbedamned!Now he was back at zero.
Grabbing the clothes, Dylon turned to the elevator after hearing it ding, arriving at it just as the doors opened. Grunting at what he saw, Dylon walked in, punched the ground floor button and, as the doors closed, lifted a dead wolf off the floor, tossing him over his shoulder.
Now it was the only lead he had to help find Hunter.
Chapter 38
Ian squinted into the waning sun, watching the helicopter set down. Feeling a hand on his back, he looked over his shoulder, finding Colton standing behind him. “Is everything ready?” he shouted over the noise of the rotating blades.
Leaning in, Colton cupped his hand around his mouth. “Yes, Mac’s standing by and Jackson’s been told what happened.”
Nodding, Ian’s focus turned back to the chopper, now on the ground. As soon as Robert opened the passenger door, he saw Cody descending with Fionn in his arms, walking toward him. Grabbing the gurney, he glanced at Colton and shouted, “Let’s go.”
