Nodding, she turned to face Kyle. “Yes, I recognize the building and the symbol on the sign from the vision.”
“And you’re sure she’s in there?”
Kyle’s tone held the slightest hint of doubt and she knew she couldn’t fault him for it. Previously, her Gift had worked only through touch. Today, she’d only needed one look into Nortia’s eyes to trigger a vision.
“Yes, she is. Look, Kyle, I understand why you have doubts. But I’m not wrong. Whoever’s behind the kidnappings is in that building.”
After another few seconds of staring into her eyes, Kyle nodded and looked into the rearview at Dan.
“You sure about this?”
Dan made a rude noise that had Tira turning just in time to see him give Kyle the finger. “Don’t make me hurt you, asshole.”
Kyle’s expression never changed. “Hey, man. It’s been a while since you’ve been out in the field, I just want to—”
“You just want to yank my chain. Fuck off.”
Kyle’s mouth curved in a hard-edged grin. “True, but you know Margie’ll have my ass in a sling if anything happens to you. And Cat would cry and I hate to see Cat cry.”
Dan snorted. “And Tam will be all over mine if you get so much as a scratch so don’t fuck around. Let’s get this done.”
Kyle’s smile lightened until he looked almost approachable. The man was a tattooed bad-ass who looked like the assassin he was. But when he smiled, like he was now at Dan or whenever he looked at his mate, Tira saw his true nature. Indomitable but compassionate to the core. A man you wanted at your back.
Nic and Duke would do anything for Kyle, that’s the kind of loyalty he commanded. Hell, they practically worshipped him.
She completely understood.
Dan shrugged out of his coat and pulled his shirt over his head, shedding his clothes in preparation for changing.
When he was naked, he got out of Kyle’s Wrangler and headed for the small patch of scraggly grass closest to the car. She glanced back at Kyle when Dan knelt on the snow-covered ground.
Kyle’s smile had disappeared. “I want you to seriously reconsider going in there with us, Tira. Stay here and let Dan and I clean house first. Then we’ll come back for you.”
She shook her head. “That’s not what I saw. I have to go in with you. There’s something I have to do.”
“But you don’t know what it is.”
She shook her head again, feeling like a broken record because they’d been over this three times already. “I still have to be in there. I’m afraid if I’m not, something will happen to you and Dan. And either of your mates can take me in a fight.”
Kyle didn’t even crack a smile at her attempt to lighten the mood. He didn’t say anything for several seconds, just stared at her. Finally he sighed. “You stick to me like glue. If I tell you to run, you run and you don’t stop. If something happens to Dan and me, just keep running. Go to Sal’s. If you don’t think you can make it there, head for Lacey’s bar on Eleventh Street. Teodoro de Feo will keep you safe until Nic and Duke can get you.”
She nodded, gathering her fast-fading courage. The adrenaline rush from the transfer of power had started to wear off and fear was creeping in.
For so long she’d been a coward. Before, she’d had no idea how to manage the fear so she’d let it control her.
No more.
Dan’s wolf issued a short, guttural growl from beside the car and she jumped, startled, but forced herself to open the door and get out.
Her legs shook and she practically had to lock her knees so she wouldn’t fall. Dan butted his head against her legs and she automatically reached down to stroke a hand along his back.
“Deep breath, Tira,” Kyle said as he came up beside her. “It’s okay to be afraid. Just don’t freeze, don’t let it control you. You need to be able to function. Use the fear to stay alert.”
She nodded. She could do this. She had to do this.
She had backed her best friend Nica a few months ago when Nica had approached the boschetta about making changes, about making the streghe an integral, useful part of the Etruscan community.
About using their powers to benefit their community and not just the boschetta.
Now it was time to put her money where her mouth was. She needed to use her power for more than just forecasting crops and the gender of babies.
She wanted to be useful. To save lives. Especially the two most precious to her.
As she took a deep breath, Dan picked up the leash he’d laid on the ground before changing and sat on the ground in front of Tira with it. She smiled at the honor Dan was giving her, of handing over his leash. Although largely a symbolic gesture, since lucani leashes were designed to break apart from the collar with the right amount of force, it was one no Etruscan took lightly.
She fastened the thin strip of leather around his neck then hooked the leash to it.
When she stood, Kyle held out his arm to her. “Okay, hon. Take my arm and we’re gonna go for a walk. Just like any other couple out late at night with their fat old dog.”
Dan turned to bare his teeth and growl but Kyle just smiled, a sight that would make grown men turn and run the other way.
“Yeah, yeah, I injured your pride. Suck it up. I want to be inside that building in ten minutes.”
* * * * *
“Well, shit. Looks like we’re not the first to the party.”
Duke pulled in next to Kyle’s black Jeep, shaking his head, as Nic opened the door and jumped out.
“How the hell did he find out—
“Vaffanculo. He’s got Tira with him.”
The fear in Nic’s tone bit into Duke’s gut like a dull blade, even as her scent finally hit him. It twisted and tore and did a whole hell of a lot of damage.
“We’ve got to get down there now,” Nic said as he started to rip off clothes. “Something’s up. Tira must’ve had a vision—”
“No, she didn’t,” Duke said as his brain tried to work the problem. “She couldn’t.”
Nic paused for a brief second as that realization hit him. Then he moved faster.
Behind him, he heard Kaine swear under her breath as she too climbed out of the Jeep. “It’s definitely her scent. And Dan’s too. Don’t go off half-cocked here, Nic.”
Duke practically felt the control Nic had to exert to force himself to stop tearing at his clothes and stand half nude in the freezing-cold night. “I’m not, but if Kyle and Dan are in there, then you know something’s going down and we need to get in there too.”
Duke nodded, started to undress then stopped, with a glance into the backseat at the eteri John. The guy watched everything, saw everything. If the guy was lucani, he’d make a damn good speculator, a spy.
As it was…
“Kaine, you and Nic recon, I want details in ten. Eteri, you and I are gonna go the hard way. Down the hill. Don’t fall and try not to make too much noise.”
The guy opened his mouth to say something but it never came out. Kaine and Nic had started their change. His mouth hung open like it should have a hook in it. His mouth snapped shut after a few long seconds but his eyes narrowed into slits, watching every move Kaine made.
“Hey, eteri. It’s not polite to stare. You may get your hand bitten off.”
Blinking hard, John dragged his gaze away to meet Duke’s. “What the hell are you people?”
Duke had a string of curse words ready to fly off his tongue but with what he considered a supreme effort, he managed to bite them back. The guy hadn’t yanked their chain about the address. If Dan and Kyle were here too, something had to be going on.
“You know what we are. You’ve seen it with your own eyes. But we’re not monsters. We’re not mindless animals and we don’t take shit from anyone. We promised we’d help get your sister. We will. But Nic and I have someone we care about down there too. If she gets hurt…” He couldn’t even bear to think about it. What the hell had Kyle been thinking to bring her here?
Duke threw open the door and unfolded himself from the seat then flipped it forward so John could get out.
When John stood next to him, Duke waited until the guy looked into his eyes. “If anything happens to her, get your sister and get the hell out because it’ll be bloody and it’ll be nasty.”
John paused before nodding once. “Understood.”
A flash of movement caught Duke’s eye and he turned to see Nic’s and Kaine’s wolves run for cover of the trees on the hill leading down to the industrial park.
John turned to watch them as well. His sharp gaze followed them even through the trees.
Smart guy. Very smart guy. Hopefully smart enough to keep himself safe.
Because Duke had only one objective in mind—get Tira out unharmed.
* * * * *
Tira felt the strength of the power hit her as soon as they got within twenty yards of the building.
It made her skin crawl and the fear she’d so far kept at bay made a rousing return.
“Kyle,” she whispered as softly as she could, knowing he’d be able to hear her. “Do you—”
“Yeah.”
Then he made a slashing motion across his throat that she figured meant shut up. No problem. She could barely breathe as it was.
Whoever or whatever was in this building, it wasn’t good. But she didn’t exactly sense evil either, which didn’t mean anything because she wasn’t sure she’d ever been in the presence of true evil.
Even the man who’d kidnapped her months ago hadn’t felt evil. Just stressed and under enormous pressure.
While the sense of wrongness was strongest at the rear of the building, they slunk around to the front where the feeling was weakest.
Dan’s wolf sat by the front entrance, staring up at the security camera mounted above the door. The little red light blinked as it swept the opposite side of the building from where they approached.
Kyle motioned her back around the corner and they slipped out of sight as the camera made its way back around.
After a few seconds, Kyle stuck his head around the corner again then strode up to the door, pulling something out of his pants pocket as he went.
Following behind him, she watched him pick the lock on the front door in under thirty seconds. As Kyle turned the knob and pushed open the door, Dan slipped through first as she and Kyle waited. When Dan returned, they followed him into what appeared to be the reception area for a business.
With Dan leading the way, they hurried through the building, winding through several office spaces connected by halls and doors. All looked deserted, cubicles with no chairs, no computers.
She tried to make as little noise as possible. Kyle and Dan made no sound at all. They were ghosts.
Hell, people outside probably heard her heavy breathing.
And each step they took brought them closer to that unnerving sense of wrongness.
After a few minutes, she could barely get her feet to move because her skin crawled and she shook from head to toe. Then Kyle held up his hand in a fist, which she assumed meant stop because he did as well.
Dan had gone ahead to the next door, an industrial steel contraption that looked different than anything they’d encountered already. She could barely make out his form as he sifted through the shadows.
She couldn’t believe no one had confronted them yet or that they hadn’t seen or heard anyone. She’d seen no cameras or security devices but that didn’t there weren’t any.
Kyle cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something. Something she couldn’t hear.
Closing her eyes, she used her arus to sense the world around her instead of her traditional five senses.
The vision hit out of nowhere, disjointed images assaulting her mind. She wasn’t sure how long the vision lasted. It could only have lasted seconds because Kyle remained in position in front of her.
The vision stole her breath, punching into her stomach. She opened her mouth to warn Kyle and Dan.
And the door flew open.
* * * * *
Nic heard the sounds of battle ahead and took off down the hall.
His only thought was Tira. If anything happened to her…
He poured on the speed, sensed Kaine pull up beside him. Duke and the eteri raced after them but he and Kaine soon left them behind.
Gunshots rang out, only a few. Then the sound of hand-to-hand fighting and the fierce snarls of a wolf.
Nic paid no attention to his surroundings. He didn’t sense anyone but his companions around him so he concentrated on reaching the fight.
There, the door just ahead…
His first instinct was to barrel into the room and find Tira. Protect Tira.
He didn’t care what happened to him.
He pulled up short, just before he hit the door.
No, wait, that wasn’t true. Gods damn it, he did care. He wanted to live through this. He wanted to spend his life with Tira and Duke. Wanted what he’d told himself he couldn’t have because he’d be dead.
Yeah, well, fuck that.
People changed their fate every day. They took a right when they could’ve taken a left. Maybe if they’d taken the left, they would’ve been hit by a bus. Who really knew?
And if he took the turn that led to the bus, well, then at least he would get Tira the hell out safely before it crushed the life out of him.
Beside him, he heard a soft huff. Kaine, staring at him with her head cocked to the side, questions in her eyes.
With his paw, he motioned for her to follow him through then he stuck his head into the room.
What he saw made him snarl in fear and anger and he leaped into the fray.
* * * * *
Taking cover beneath an industrial-sized metal desk, Tira ignored Dan and Kyle and the battle they fought against the six men in the room.
Gunshots rang out but neither Kyle nor Dan seemed to be hurt so she kept her eyes on the red-haired woman who watched the fight from behind her men with no outward sign of fear. Or concern. Or any emotion at all.
It was like she was watching a TV show she wasn’t particularly interested in.
Tira had no idea if the woman had seen her or if she didn’t even care that she was under attack.
However, she did keep looking behind her at a long, black box. It reminded Tira of a coffin, though she knew there were vents on the sides. And a girl in the box. The girl she’d seen in her vision.
Tira had to get the girl out of the box. Everything depended on her getting the girl out of the box.
She stuck her head around the side of the desk, plotting her course, forcing back the fear that wanted her to stay hidden and safe under the desk.
Safe wouldn’t get her what she wanted.
On her hands and knees, she crawled to the next desk, then the next. She was fairly certain no one had seen her or, if they had, they paid no attention to her.
They must have sensed or known she was no danger to them.
And she wasn’t.
At least, not on her own.
By the time she’d crept close enough to the woman to do what she had to do, Kyle and Dan had managed to knock out one of the men.
And the woman’s face had taken on a faintly worried expression.
You really don’t want to do this. Don’t do this. There has to be another way.
Tira took a deep breath.
No, this was it. She had to do this.
Forcing her shaking knees to take her weight, she stood, drawing the woman’s focus to her.
The woman nodded as if they were acquaintances who’d happened to bump into each other on the street.
“Hello again, Tira.”
Thinking “What the fuck” and hoping she wasn’t about to make the worst mistake of her life, Tira took another step closer.
“You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know your name.”
The redhead rolled her eyes, as if bored with the whole conversation. But her hand lifted to
rest on the box protectively. “You don’t need to. I’ll be gone in a few minutes. Your man and his pet are no match for my men. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“They’re not mine and you’re going to be in for a shock at just how well matched those two men are against your six.” Besides, if her vision was correct, reinforcements would be arriving in minutes and then it would get deadly. “You’re not going to leave. We’re not going to let you kidnap anyone else.”
The woman laughed, cool derision so clear in the sound. “Poor Tira. So pretty but so worthless. You don’t have enough power to be useful to me. Your friend, Nica, she would’ve been useful. Oh, not like my men. They’re much more powerful. Now. But Nica had some measurable skill. And I would have gladly compensated her for her help. But she chose not to join me.”
Tira blinked, her brain trying to wrap itself around what the woman was saying. Saying Nica had measurable skill was like saying the sun threw off a little light and heat.
What did this woman know about the Etruscans and their magic? Did she even know anything at all? What the hell was going on? And what questions should she be asking that wouldn’t give this crazy woman any more information?
She just needed to get close enough to touch her…
“I don’t believe Nica thought you were giving her a choice.”
Tira took a step closer, then another. Almost within touching distance. And since the woman seemed to think Tira was harmless—which she basically was—she didn’t attempt to move away. Her brown gaze watched the fight behind her then came back to connect with Tira’s.
“She would have been well-compensated for her aid.” Something moved through the redhead’s eyes, something that almost looked like grief to Tira. “Which doesn’t matter anymore. I have what I need.”
“What exactly did you need Nica for? If you need help—”
“I don’t need anyone’s help.” The woman looked down her nose at Tira. “Especially not yours.”
Tira’s eyebrows lifted. “Are you so sure about that?”
There. That got her full attention. The woman’s eyes narrowed as she considered Tira’s question then her lips turned up in a mocking grin. “Are you trying to tell me I underestimated you?”
Moonlight Menage Page 18
