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  Felicity backed away.

  “He’s only going to take blood to see if the tranquilizer is still in your system,” Ivan said, tossing a notepad back and forth. “I can hold you down until he gets blood, or you can offer your arm. I prefer to see you fight.”

  Heat coated down her throat. She might be able to take both men, but she still didn’t know where Logan was, and there were at least two guards outside the room. She held out her arm. “Take too much, and I’ll kill you next,” she said to the doctor.

  He nodded, dark blue eyes somber. “I won’t take too much.” His black hair had been slicked back, and his hands were cool as he searched for a vein.

  She turned away from the needle as it slid into her skin. The bite didn’t hurt overmuch, but her stomach still ached and her head began to pound. What if she didn’t find Logan before they tried to inject her with the mutated virus? Her system had been through too much lately, and who knew what the injection would do to her? Tears threatened to fall, and she batted them back.

  Her legs trembled. Not from fear, but from the urge to take down both men and go find her son. What she needed was a schematic of the facility.

  The doctor retracted the needle and pressed a cotton ball to her vein. She took over and jerked away from him.

  He nodded at Ivan. “I’ll let you know if the tranq is out of her system.” Without another word, he gracefully exited the room.

  Felicity glared at Ivan. “I’m done cooperating if you don’t let me see my son.”

  He threw the notebook onto the desk, and it clattered across to stop against a keyboard. “I don’t require your cooperation, and you know it.”

  The earth rumbled and shook. Part of the map fell loose.

  Felicity grabbed on to the table, her feet planting for balance. “Earthquake?”

  “Yes. We’ve been getting quite a few of them since you destroyed the other mine on the island.” He shook his head, using a chair to steady himself. “I’m hoping it settles down, but to be frank, some of the earth’s movements have revealed new veins of both planekite and silver. Your little stunt not only has given me the opportunity to make a lot more money, but it has allowed for the rapid mining of the mineral that will kill those damn witches.”

  She frowned. “What do you have against witches?”

  “Nothing until you went and mated one. My partner has a problem with the Coven Nine, but I don’t really give a care.”

  She glanced around, not feeling much movement from mining activities, which meant that she wasn’t in the mining part of the mountain. The offices and bedrooms were on one side of the mountain, and the mine on the other. The two had to be connected somewhere underground, and if she were creating a connection, it’d be close to the war room. The room only had one door, so she needed to look around meticulously when she exited.

  A knock echoed hollowly, and the doctor poked his head in. “The tranq is out of her blood. I have the room ready to commence with the injection.”

  Felicity twirled around and bunched her legs to attack.

  Ivan held steady, a green gun in his hand. The laser kind that turned into bullets upon impacting flesh.

  She faltered.

  “I’m absolutely fine shooting you and carrying you to the medical room,” he said.

  Her heart rammed against her rib cage.

  He pointed toward the open doorway with the gun. “Go.”

  She swallowed and walked toward the doctor, her knees shaking. Stepping outside, she glanced around. The tunnel continued down the way to another large metal door.

  Blood roared through her veins and filled her head.

  She followed the doctor, pain before her, and a gun behind her. Where the hell was Logan?

  Chapter 30

  Daire shucked his belt and examined his boots as the familiar scent of Simone’s penthouse filtered around. Spicy moonflowers. “No metal.” Shit. They wouldn’t be able to wear bulletproof vests because of the metal content, and no guns or knives would make the trip. “Teleporting is more dangerous than I thought.” Considering they couldn’t take weapons.

  Sam finished removing his watch and cell phone to place on Simone’s feminine walnut desk in her home office. “Accidents are rare. There’s less than a ten percent chance that your molecules will be torn apart by cosmic forces.” He smiled. “If you’re demolished on a subatomic level, we won’t ever find your particles, so if you’d like to leave a message for loved ones, now is a good time.”

  Zane snorted over by the satellite pictures glowing on the wall screen from the computer.

  Daire cut them both a glare. His mate’s kids were assholes, but he couldn’t blame them too much.

  “I want to go,” Garrett grumbled for the tenth time from where he sprawled across a plush sofa.

  “Too risky,” Zane said. “We can get you in, but we might not be able to get you out. I carry Daire, and then Sam brings back Daire while I bring back Mom and Logan.”

  Daire nodded. “You give me your word that if you can only get one person out, you take your mother, and Sam takes Logan.”

  “No problem,” Zane said easily.

  Daire was suddenly sorry he’d sent Kellach to Titans of Fire headquarters with orders to get to the bottom of the Apollo connections no matter what. He was done taking it easy and going slow, although right now he could use some backup of the friendly variety.

  A knock sounded on the outside door, and Simone glanced up from the computer screens. “Now who is here?”

  Daire winced. He’d already had a discussion with Zane, and this might’ve been a bad idea.

  Heavy footsteps echoed through the pristine penthouse, and a rumble of tension violated the atmosphere. Nicholai Veis crossed into the room.

  “Bloody hell,” Simone said, sitting back in her chair. “You called the damn demon?”

  “The Coven guards are on the way to fetch you, and I’m a little busy right now,” Daire shot back at his cousin. He’d had to scrap his plan to get her away from Nick in order to save her neck. “So aye, I called for backup.”

  She stood, dark eyes flashing. “I don’t need backup.”

  Darkness settled on Nick’s face, making him look every inch the dangerous demon he was. “That’s too bad, Zaychik moy.” Sucking in air, his lowered his chin, and the air in the room slowly relaxed.

  Daire’s shoulders untensed, but he kept an eye on his cousin. Being called My Bunny wouldn’t set well with her, but he was fairly certain she wasn’t currently armed. Well, except with her natural ability of being able to create and throw fire.

  Nick turned toward Zane. “As your first in command, I have to say, take me instead of the enforcer.” His eyes held no expression as he nodded at Daire. “No offense.”

  Daire rubbed his chin. “None taken.” As an enforcer, he understood duty. “But my mate, my fight.”

  Nick nodded. “Zane?”

  Zane glanced at Daire. “I’m with the enforcer. Plus, he can communicate with my mom and so far hasn’t burst a blood vessel in his brain.” The demon leader turned back to the picture on the wall. “Yet.”

  The family love was going to suffocate Daire. He rolled his eyes. “Simone, I need somebody on you.” Then he winced at the language. “As a bodyguard. Leave here, get somewhere secure, and as soon as I get Felicity to safety, we’ll figure out our next step.”

  “No.” She crossed her arms over a pretty red shirt.

  Daire sighed and nodded at Nick. “Thanks for your help.”

  “Not a problem.” He took two steps into the room. “Come with me willingly or not, Simone. Your choice.”

  She stood and planted her feet. “Daire, I can’t believe you’re on board with this.”

  He dug deep for patience he really didn’t have. “I’m about to cross dimensions and end up a world away, cousin. In order to concentrate and then probably fight to the death, I need to know you’re safe. So aye, I’m on board. Get to safety, and you can yell at me later.”

 
; She eyed him, no doubt fighting both loyalty, concern, and a glorious temper. “Fine.” She tossed her hair and strode toward the demon. “You’re garna regret this, Nicholai Veis.” Her huff as she swept by him promised a wonderful fight was on the way.

  Daire gave him a look containing both gratitude and warning. “I owe you.”

  He smiled. “Zane, I have my phone. Call if you need backup.” Without waiting for an answer, he followed the furious witch.

  Zane pointed to the satellite picture. “I’m thinking the planekite mine is on this side of the mountain, with offices and such here. See the entrance?” he tapped the screen. “So try Mom again, and ask her for a visual of where she might be.”

  Daire leaned against the desk for support and closed his eyes. Felicity? Don’t answer for a moment. We’re getting ready to come in and get you, but all we have is satellite pictures to go on. Give me a picture, a mental image, of what you’ve seen so far. Hopefully her pictures wouldn’t burn his brain as badly as her words and emotions had.

  Terror rippled into his head along with a hot blade of pain. He gasped and slapped a hand to his eye. What’s going on?

  Nothing. Sorry. I’ll try pictures.

  Boiling pins pricked his eyeballs. Slowly pictures began to form in his mind. A dining room. Bedroom. War room. Now a long hallway. Even though her sending pictures didn’t hurt as much as her thoughts, an underlying fear hovered around the message. Whatever was happening had her frightened.

  The walls sparkled an odd green glow. Planekite.

  His eyelids snapped open, and he strode over to the screen to study the picture. “Based on the hallway, I’d say she’s somewhere here.” He pointed along an area. “But it’s hard to tell, and she hasn’t seen Logan yet.” He dug deep and tried to calm his heart. “She’s scared right now, so the sooner we go, the better.”

  “Scared or angry?” Zane asked, a muscle visibly ticking in his jaw.

  Daire blew out air. “Scared. Definitely scared.” The primal being at his core sprang awake, ready to wage war. “We need to go. Now.”

  “Okay. Go with your gut. Where do we land?” Zane asked as Sam rose to stand next to him.

  Daire pointed to the entrance to what he believed was the business side of the mine. “As much as I’d like to go in center mass, I’d hate to land in the middle of a rock.”

  Zane nodded. “Keep in mind, one second we’re not there, and the next second we are. If there are guards or anybody with a weapon, they’ll shoot us before we regain our equilibrium.”

  Fucking fantastic.

  The demon leader leaned in, gaze serious. “Take a deep breath, go as calm as you can, and don’t fight the universe.”

  Daire nodded. He’d never really been one with the universe. “We don’t have to hug, do we?”

  Zane rolled his eyes. “No.” With a hard lunge, he tackled Daire, and they both went down.

  Through nothing. They fell through earth and reality, transporting between dimensions of time and space.

  Darkness and an odd whistle echoed around Daire. His body flew away and then reassembled. For the briefest of seconds, true peace surrounded him.

  Then he hit a freezing floor and rolled, coming up to face a slack-jawed guard. The guy lifted a weapon and fired.

  Felicity entered the medical room and stopped short. Sterile white examination table, white counters, even white tile. Talk about a nightmarish room.

  The doctor bustled around, flipping on different monitors. “We’ll keep track of your heartbeat and oxygen levels after injecting the mutated virus,” he mumbled, reading a chart and then scurrying over to the counter.

  She shook her head. “Why? If I have a bad reaction, what exactly do you plan to do to counter the drug?”

  He turned around and scratched his chin. “I don’t have a plan. This mutation is so new, there isn’t a lot of information about it.” His light-colored eyebrows rose. “To be honest, you’re the first person I’ve met who has already taken the mutation to negate the mating bond. Perhaps if you tell me about the experience, I’ll know what to do.” Curiosity glowed bright in his eyes.

  What an asshole. “I’m not a research experiment, and we both know there’s nothing you can do if I have a bad reaction,” she countered, chills clawing down her back.

  Ivan prodded her in the kidneys with the gun. “Hop up.”

  She stormed away from him, noting the tray of surgical instruments on the counter. “Planning on operating?” she hissed, turning around and jumping onto the table. The smooth sheet bunched under her butt.

  The doctor shook his head. “No.” He grasped a small clasp and shoved it on her index finger, and one of the monitors began to beep. “Those are just in case. Your oxygen levels look good.”

  “What a relief,” she snapped out.

  Ivan shut the door and leaned back against it, gun hanging casually in his hand. “How long does the process take?”

  The doctor glanced at Felicity. “Based on my contacts, it takes about two days to fully negate the mating bond.”

  Three days, actually, and then about a week of regaining energy and strength. The process was like a human experiencing a very bad flu bug. Felicity shoved hair away from her face. Was it really like the flu? If so, would this one take her down, or would she have created antibodies against the mutation? She swallowed and glanced at the syringe already filled on the tray. “This is such a terrible idea.”

  Ivan laughed. “Let’s hope it works.”

  She’d known him forever. “Ivan, this might kill me. At least let me see my son once before we take the risk.” She tried to force the hatred from her voice, and it came out quivery.

  He shook his head, not concealing the hatred from his eyes at all. “Perhaps this will give you incentive to survive.”

  Fear and anger flushed through her. “You are such a prick.”

  The doctor cleared his throat and moved to attach a couple of nodules to her upper chest. Her heartbeat blipped on the screen, way too fast. Then he reached for the syringe and glanced at Ivan.

  The demon nodded.

  “Just take a deep breath and relax,” the doctor said, grasping her arm with chilled hands.

  Shots fired in the distance.

  Felicity’s head jerked up. Daire was there.

  In one smooth motion, she grabbed the syringe, twisted her wrist, and plunged the syringe into the doctor’s palm. He cried out and backed away, windmilling his arms. His ass hit the counter, and the tray of supplies tumbled to the floor. Sharp knives and hooks clattered across the hard tile.

  “I’m mated,” he cried out, yanking the syringe free.

  “Not anymore,” Felicity hissed, throwing the oxygen counter at his head.

  Ivan darted forward, and she kicked, nailing him in the balls. He doubled over with a pained oof.

  She grabbed onto the bed, swung around, and hit the doctor under the chin with a hard kick. His head snapped back, his eyes fluttered shut, and his body pummeled down onto the tray.

  He’d only be out a few minutes.

  Felicity slid to her feet just as Ivan stood up to his full height.

  “I’m going to fucking kill you,” he said, turning the gun on her.

  Cold purpose flowed through her like bubbling rage. She stood and held out her hands. “You really need the gun for that?” Her lip twisted.

  His chin lifted. “No.” Slowly, he shoved the gun in the back of his waistband. “I rarely like to get my hands dirty, but I’m going to bathe in your blood.”

  She smiled. “I’ve been waiting for this way too long.” Bunching her knees, she jumped into the air, clapped her thighs on his head, and twisted. Gravity did its job, and she dropped, taking his head with her and forcing his body to follow.

  He bellowed and punched her in the hip.

  Agony spread along her lower back.

  Her hands slapped the floor, and pain ricocheted up her arms to her shoulders. She released his head, rolled, and came up swinging. A jab
to the throat threw her back against the counter.

  She wheezed in air and sent healing cells to the broken trachea, her eyes wide.

  Ivan stood to his full height, blood streaming from a cut on his forehead.

  She scrambled down and grasped a scalpel to hold up in front of her.

  He chuckled, the sound low and evil, before drawing a jagged knife from his boot. “Mine is bigger.”

  “It’s not the size—.” She ducked into a slide, went past him, and cut his heel as she went. Blood spurted.

  He bellowed, turning and yanking her up by the hair. Quick as a shifter, he flipped the knife in the air, grabbed the base, and jabbed the handle against her mouth.

  Pain shrieked through her lips, and blood spurted. She jerked her head, freeing it. Her entire face felt like it was on fire. Gasping, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and maneuvered to the side. He took one step toward her, swinging out and backhanding her left cheekbone. Stars exploded behind her eyes, and she careened into the wall.

  Tears clogged her vision.

  Another punch came out of nowhere, right to her stomach. She doubled over, and her knees went weak.

  She kicked out, her heel impacting his nose. Cartilage crunched with a satisfying thud. He yelled and clapped a hand over his bleeding nose. She took advantage of the weakness, jumping up and spinning a kick into his ribs. At least two of them shattered.

  He swung out, nailing her in the temple. Her stomach lurched, and she went down.

  He grabbed her hair and dragged her over to the examination table, lifting her up and slamming her down. She bounced, and her vision turned black.

  He planted a fierce grip around her throat and held her down, scrambling through drawers to the left.

  She struggled and tried to stay conscious. For so long, she’d trained to fight him. It couldn’t end like this.

  “There.” His voice filled with triumph, and he turned toward her. “I changed my mind.” He squeezed with enough pressure to cut off all oxygen. “First I’m going to stick you full of this shit, and then, if you survive and negate the mating, I’m going to make you mine. You deserve to be fucked and often until you can’t live any longer.”