by Nalini Singh
He was almost startled to discover they were still alive when they skidded into the parking lot of an airport so tiny, it didn't even have an air traffic control tower. From what he could see, all it had was a tin-roofed shed that functioned as the administration building, snug up against a large hangar.
Bo was certain the place had far more tech than was visible to the naked eye. Teizo had let it drop that this was Lantia's preferred airfield. "Too much wear and tear on the city with the heat from the jets," the younger male had said. "Lantia's strip can accommodate all aircraft, but mostly everyone uses the island."
"Safe journey," the driver said after Bo jumped out.
"I think I've survived the most dangerous part already," Bo pointed out as he swung Kaia down to solid ground.
The driver was still cackling at Bo's response when he drove off in a whirl of dust.
Glancing at Kaia, Bowen raised an eyebrow. "He's Bebe's boyfriend, isn't he?"
Her eyes sparkled as she looked around, her face full of color once more and the stiffness gone from her spine. "It's been a long time since I was on this island. I'd forgotten how beautiful it is."
"Oh?" From what Armand had said at the start of the journey, BlackSea visitors and residents powered the island's entire economy. The only reason the roads were potholed was that repairs hadn't yet been completed after a storm a week earlier.
Lifting her face to the sky just kissed by the edge of dawn, Kaia said, "I tend to stay in the black." She took a long breath of the island air. "But I think I'll come up more often now. Sit at the bar my cousins talk about, have a cocktail or five." A kind of taut desperation in her.
And Bo wondered if she was thinking about the hours racing past.
"I'll buy you those cocktails." He kept his tone deliberately light. "And when you're drunk, I'll carry you home and tuck you in."
"Deal," she said huskily, her eyes no longer human brown but an inky black.
"I see you," he murmured.
Convulsively squeezing the hand she once more held, she nodded to the runway. "Is that our ride?"
Bowen crushed his own desperation under the weight of grim determination and took in the sleek black jet that looked as out of place on the two-lane runway as a tuxedo would in a village where everyone else dressed in shorts and Hawaiian shirts. "Fits Armand's description," he said as they entered the administration building.
A man and a woman Bo immediately tagged as pilots were hanging out inside, shooting the breeze. Another woman, this one round-faced and matronly, stood behind the counter. "Kaia!" Her hands flew to her mouth. "Girl, you could've warned me!"
Grinning in delight, Kaia dropped his hand to run over and hug the other woman.
A scruffy-jawed male leaning up against the counter a few feet from the pilots grinned along with the two of them. Dressed in grease-stained blue coveralls, he might as well have had "mechanic" painted on his forehead.
The final occupant was a good-looking young male who stood in a large doorway that had to lead to the hangar. For some reason, he made the back of Bo's neck prickle, agitated his instincts.
Dressed in blue coveralls identical to the mechanic's, he was currently frowning at a piece of metal in his hand. "Hey, Rick," he called out, his rich auburn hair streaked with grease. "I can see a crack in this. On the underside, hidden by the charring."
"Well, thank bloody Poseidon I finally have a competent apprentice. You're the first one who's passed the bloomin' test!"
Smile sharp and brilliant, the young man turned to walk back into the hangar. There was something about the way he moved that told Bo he was a changeling--but not BlackSea. No one in BlackSea moved with such distinctly feline grace.
His eyes narrowed. But the unknown male wasn't his concern right now. "We ready to go?" he asked the pilots.
"Just waiting for an update on the winds," the older of the two replied. "They can be a touch unpredictable here."
Kaia's friend handed over a thin organizer a bare two seconds later. "You're good to go. Clear skies."
Twenty-seven hours and twenty-eight minutes until it was too late.
Chapter 55
She won't talk to me, just shuts down no matter how I approach the topic. We should consider alternative methods of reaching her.
--Note from Counselor Mei Shi to Natia and Eijiro Kahananui regarding Kaia Luna (9)
SHIVERS RIPPLED INSIDE Kaia's skin as the jet came in to land a long eight hours from takeoff, the response driven by her visceral and irrational fear that this landscape was inimical to her survival.
The second dose of the medication was wearing off.
She glanced at her watch. Another hour until she could safely take the next dose.
Her heart skipped a beat, two. Her skin flushed.
Falling back on the breathing exercise her counselor had taught her as a child, she somehow managed to hold herself together as they left the jet. Bo had taken her hand inside the plane and she clung to his warmth, his strength.
"You should've told me you were afraid of flying." It was a scowling statement.
"I'm not." An honest answer that only made his scowl deepen.
But they had no more time for private conversation; waiting at the bottom of the disembarkation steps was a red-haired woman with brown eyes and creamy skin kissed with sun-gold. Her hair scraped back in a high ponytail and her body clad in blue jeans, work boots, and a zipped-up black leather jacket, she fairly pulsed with dominance.
Kaia didn't have to be told she was facing one of the DarkRiver sentinels.
Shooting Bowen a deadly glance, the redhead said, "Fair warning--I'm fighting the urge to shoot you."
Kaia bristled. "That's rude in any language and for any clan, I don't care how dominant you are."
The redhead narrowed her eyes at Kaia . . . before groaning and throwing up her hands. "Sweet insanity, you brought a maternal with you?" The words were directed at Bowen. "I just got away from a whole cabal of them."
Maternal.
What an odd thing to hear herself described as; BlackSea had no such position in the hierarchy--and Kaia didn't have children.
Bowen blew out a breath, his expression drawn. "Mercy has reason to want to shoot me." Open regret in his tone. "I did something unforgivable the first time I entered this territory." He shifted his attention back to the sentinel. "How are they?"
"Fine. Now." Calm words but her eyes had gone the dangerous gold of a large hunting cat. "The family and the pack appreciated your personal apology--but the rest will take time." Turning her attention back to Kaia, the sentinel held out her hand. "Mercy, and I'm scared of maternals."
Kaia's lips twitched; the other woman might be holding a serious grudge against Bowen, but she had a lethal charm it was difficult to ignore. "Kaia, and I'm protective when it comes to my people."
"What did I say? Maternal." Her handshake was firm without being a display in aggression. "We have your man in our sights."
Kaia's heart twisted at the thought of George alone and emotionally lost in unfamiliar territory. "How is he?"
"Appears stable enough, though obviously you'd be a better judge of that." Shifting on her heel, Mercy began to lead them to a heavy-duty all-terrain vehicle. "He's working his way toward SnowDancer territory--way inland for a sea creature. Hitchhiking."
"No plan, movements that can't be predicted." Bowen nodded slowly. "Smart if he doesn't want to make it easy for anyone to find him."
"Except that he's in DarkRiver territory and sticks out like a fish out of water--pun intended." Mercy got into the driver's seat, with Bowen jumping in the back and nodding at Kaia to take the passenger seat.
Though her stomach wasn't exactly settled, Kaia took a deep breath and accepted the offer.
"This have anything to do with the Consortium?" Mercy asked once they were away. "Or is it just a clanmate gone AWOL?"
"We're not sure yet," Bowen said. "I heard you had triplets. Congratulations."
Kaia momentarily
forgot her nausea. She couldn't imagine this sleek and deadly woman having given birth--it was like trying to imagine Miane doing the same. "Do you have photos?" she asked, and when Mercy shot her a cat-curious look, felt compelled to explain. "I have triplet cousins. They once booby-trapped my room with extremely realistic rubber spiders."
Laughing with a deep warmth that made Kaia certain she could come to like this lethal woman very much, Mercy slid out her phone and passed it over. On the home screen was a shot of three naked babies against the wide chest of a heavily muscled brown-eyed man. His smile made it obvious he was hopelessly besotted with both the photographer and their babies.
Kaia sighed, her anxiety not proof against such gorgeous sweetness. "Your mate is wonderful."
"No argument." Tapping her finger on the steering wheel after putting away her phone, Mercy began to go through George's movements to date. "He's not very good at being stealthy, but he mostly seems to be trying to avoid DarkRiver. One of our people got close enough to sniff out his pack and caught chemical scents she couldn't identify, but she was able to confirm no trace of explosives."
Though the DarkRiver sentinel kept her eyes on the road, her attention was a scythe against Kaia's senses. "You two know anything about those scents? Your commander assured us this guy isn't carrying a deadly pathogen or disease."
"He isn't," Bowen confirmed before pausing. "Kaia?"
Realizing what he needed to know, she said, "Atalina's been in touch with Ashaya Aleine. DarkRiver knows about the project."
Mercy's gaze connected with hers for a heartbeat, a powerful understanding in them. "Brain chip?"
And at that second, Kaia realized Mercy wasn't as hardhearted toward Bowen as she appeared. "Yes." That was all she could say before her throat dried up, the fear this time having nothing to do with being on land and everything to do with the clock that continued to count down in her head.
Nineteen hours.
"How long to get to George after you leave us?" Bowen asked from the back, his tone as pragmatic as always.
Bowen Adrian Knight would never surrender, Kaia thought. He'd never slide silently into the forever black. He'd fight to the end. And yet, in an effort to save those he loved, he'd agreed to be part of an experiment that wrenched control from him.
Clenching her hand against the side of her thigh, Kaia spoke to the gods she'd broken with the same day her parents' bodies were consigned to the ocean that had been their home through all cycles of life: You do not take his life. You do not punish his courage and honor by consigning him to an existence where he's a mindless ghost of himself. You don't do that!
"I'll get an update as we go"--Mercy's voice, breaking into her furious thoughts--"but currently, he's three hours from our present location."
That wasn't so bad. Until you factored in that Atalina was in the deep, far, far from here and she was the only one Kaia would trust to inject the compound into Bowen's brain. Others might attempt to follow her notes, but only Attie knew exactly where to inject and how to do it. And no one would want Atalina putting her body through the strain of surfacing to Lantia, not with her due date so close.
Don't panic, another part of her brain said, reminding her that Mal could pull down the submersible, increasing its speed to the level of madness. That was true, but they had no margin for error. A single lost hour could end Bowen's life.
Kaia's heart thumped double time. Her skin flushed. And her hands began to tremble, her anxiety about being on land colliding with her anxiety about Bowen to create a toxic stew that threatened to overwhelm her.
She'd slipped a preloaded injector into her pocket, knew she had to use it before she curled up and began to whimper like a trapped animal. Clearing her throat, she said, "Could we stop for a quick bathroom break?"
"Oh yeah, sure. I should have asked earlier." Nothing in Mercy's tone betrayed whether she'd picked up the scent of Kaia's fear.
She must have, was simply being polite in the changeling way in not drawing attention to it.
Not long afterward, the sentinel pulled to a stop in front of a small cafe on the road out of the city. Backed up against tall green firs and painted pink and white, then decorated with strings of tiny white lights that glinted against the fading light, it looked like a fairy-tale cottage.
"Belongs to a packmate." Mercy opened her door to the icily crisp air. "Restroom's through the back."
Avoiding Bowen's incisive gaze, Kaia slipped inside the cafe. She knew she had to tell him, but every time she thought about it, she couldn't make her mouth work; all she could think was that she should've gotten over this fear long ago. It was childish and stupid and oh God, it hurt.
A sob caught in her throat.
Her hands began to tremble.
She barely made it inside a private stall before shudders racked her body so hard that her bones rattled.
Chapter 56
I've had a financial ping from Heenali's ex. He's crossed over from Ireland to France. She can't be far behind.
--Message from Lily to Cassius
BO KNEW THERE was something seriously wrong with Kaia, wrong enough that he had to find a way to break through her reticence. He couldn't let her keep on suffering this torment in silence.
But no matter his need to go after her, hold her, he didn't move. Kaia wouldn't thank him for confronting her now. This was a private thing. Gut tight, he pasted a casual expression on his face as he glanced at Mercy. "Buy you a coffee?"
The DarkRiver sentinel's responding look--all golden leopard eyes--made it clear he remained on probation. "No, but I'll take a lime milkshake."
Bo followed her inside the cafe without making any attempt to defend himself. Two and a half years ago, he'd made a decision driven by desperation--his motives had been pure, his intent never to harm, but that didn't change that he had done harm. He'd traumatized an innocent little girl and he'd never forgive himself for it; he didn't expect Mercy or the rest of her pack to forgive him, either.
It was enough that DarkRiver didn't blame the entire Alliance for his mistake.
Bo kept an eye out for Kaia as he and Mercy walked up to the counter. The young teen who came over to take their order had a nametag that identified him as Charlie; he smiled at Mercy with unexpected sweetness--until you caught the nefarious glint in eyes the color of sea glass. "Hi, Merce. Can I come play with the pupcubs tonight?"
"Talk to Riley. He's on triplet duty today." Mercy reached over to ruffle the boy's dark curls. "You were over only the other day. My packmates will get jealous if wolves get more turns than leopards."
"I'll just sneak up later," the boy said, totally unrepentant. "After the cats have slinked away."
Bo placed the order for Mercy's milkshake to the accompaniment of her laughter. He also ordered a latte with two caramel shots for Kaia, and a lemonade for himself. His head had begun to ache a little, but he was trying not to think about what that might mean. "Your pupcubs are popular," he said to Mercy after Charlie moved away to make their drinks.
"Are you kidding me? We've got two packs' worth of nosy parkers swinging by every five seconds--it'll be even worse with today being Saturday." She shook her head. "The wolves are categorically worse than cats. Yesterday, six of them sat on our lawn in wolf form and howled out a lullaby." Her lips twitched. "The babies loved it."
Bo couldn't see any sign of Kaia; his skin stretched taut over his body as his muscles bunched. "Talking of DarkRiver young," he said with a conscious effort at keeping things on a normal footing. "Do you have an auburn-haired male off roaming the world?" It was something the cats did in their youth. "Maybe twenty, twenty-one? Gives off an oddly dangerous vibe?" The boy was a power, but one who hadn't quite matured.
"You've seen Kit?" Mercy's face lit up. "Where?"
Tense with worry inside, Bo nonetheless managed to spin a tale about the tiny island airport and the mechanic's apprentice and the driver who drove like a maniac.
Kaia appeared at last, her hair--which she wore in a
single braid down her back--wet around the edges of her face, and her smile so ferociously bright that it hurt. "Sorry I took so long," she said. "Decided to freshen up."
Charlie returned with their drinks before Bo could reply. Picking up Kaia's, he handed it over. "Latte, two shots of caramel."
Wide eyes. "How did you know?"
"Security chief."
It twisted him up deep inside to see her determined smile soften into reality, the mask slipping to reveal the lines at the corners of her eyes, the lack of color in her skin. An unnamed intruder was stealing the life out of his Kaia.
* * *
*
MERCY hopped out of the car soon after they began to hit patches of snow. "Keep heading up," she said, pointing along the road lined with fir trees on either side. "You're still in DarkRiver territory and our sentries will make sure you turn where you're meant to turn. If your boy keeps going, however, he's going to end up in wolf lands."
Normally, that would've meant a quick and bloody end for George--the SnowDancer wolves were not renowned for their hospitality toward strangers who breached their boundaries. Shoot first and ask questions of the corpses was their motto.
"The wolves know?" Bo asked.
"Yep. But they'll take him down if he makes any attempt to go places he shouldn't." Mercy pushed back from the door. "Good luck."
Kaia arched her neck to watch as Mercy disappeared into the snow-dusted woods. "Where's she going? I don't see any houses."
"I'm guessing she's planning to shift." Bowen began to drive.
"I wish I could see her. I've never seen a changeling leopard before."
But Bo had other things on his mind. "Kaia, what's wrong?" It came out more than a little rough. "Whatever it is, it's hurting you."
"I'll tell you." A husky but firm promise. "But we have to find George first."
"Kaia." Stopping the vehicle on the otherwise deserted road, he turned to face her.
Huge eyes, the irises pure black with the slightest reflective glow against the falling night. "Let me finish this, then I'll tell you. I have to do this. I have to go all the way."
The pain in her, it fucking broke his heart. "Then we finish it." If that was the only way to ease her suffering, he'd hunt George to the ends of the Earth.
