Page 21 of Broken

Ireland was pounding on his back, and he grabbed her arm with his free hand and pinned it to the floor. “Possibly.”

“Bullshit. The security system at Fierro’s safe house shows you’ve been there since last night.”

Busted. Ireland, still squirming, growled, “Tell him that doesn’t mean no one’s going to kill you.”

“I heard that,” Boomer said. “Are you under attack?”

“Not exactly.”

Ireland managed to dig her elbow into his ribs, and he grunted.

Boomer asked, “Well, are you getting laid?”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Not at this exact moment, no.”

“Then you’re not busy. I don’t call you just for fun, you know, because to be honest you’re not that fun to talk to, on account of not having social skills. And since you didn’t read my messages, I thought I better tell you that Thanatos got tired of waiting, called out the troops, and we’re currently on the plane preparing to land in Kentucky and rescue you. Or yell at you, depending on the situation. And Big T is not a happy camper.”

“Thanatos is coming here?” Shit.

“I could have told you that before,” Ireland said. “I read your messages.” She started squirming again.

Fuck.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” he said to Boomer.

“Yeah. Now I owe Switch a bottle of Buffalo Trace for hacking your phone on the fly. You’re paying for that, by the way. Because of, I’m pissed off at you.”

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Yeah well, you could have been dead. See you soon. Better hide your pot and porno magazines before Dad—I mean Big T—shows up.”

The call cut off.

Cole looked down at Ireland. Now at least he knew why she’d been in such a hurry to leave. “You’re trying to get away from Thanatos, aren’t you?”

“Riker told me about him. How Thanatos killed his old boss. Maximilian.”

Fucking Riker. “Did he tell you that Maximilian had stolen the souls of several people and was feeding off them? That he kept my brother’s mate captive for years, sucking away her magic, and that he had a knife to her throat and was threatening to kill her at the time Thanatos killed him?”

She stared at him in shock, her eyes wide and bright.

“Yeah. I didn’t think so.”

She bit her lip. He could tell she was torn. “He said Thanatos would try to use me, use my magic. That if he had the bracelet, he’d use it to make me do things.”

Cole sighed.

Ireland said, “You can’t keep me pinned to the floor forever. And your gun—or whatever that is—is digging into my leg.”

She knew damned well what it was, and it wasn’t his gun.

Cole rolled off Ireland and sat up. “Thanatos wouldn’t use the bracelet,” he said. “He’d never bind himself to a woman.”

“Oh, he hates women. Even better.” She was still lying on the floor. “Can you swear he wouldn’t take the books? Use the magic for his own ends?”

That he couldn’t swear to. And she saw it.

She sat up and faced him, suddenly growing serious. “All my life, I’ve been held captive. I’ve had people using me for what they wanted. You know what that’s like.”