Into the Lair fmg-2

by Maya Banks

  * * *

  Ian pulled his way sluggishly from the heavy blanket of sleep. Someone was yelling his name and shaking him. His limbs were lead-filled, and none of them were cooperating with his command to move.

  “That’s it, man, open your eyes. Look at me, damn it.”

  “What the hell?” he slurred out then licked his dry, cracked lips.

  A palm slapped sharply at his face, and Ian snarled in irritation.

  “Get mad all you want. I’m not going away.”

  “Tits?”

  Ian opened his eyes to see Tits staring down at him, pain etched in his face and blood smeared over his shoulder and chest.

  Remembrance slammed into him. He bolted upright, Katie’s name on his lips. He stared over to see Braden still unconscious on the bed.

  “Where is she?” he growled.

  Tits glanced warily at him. “Don’t try any of that shifting shit on me, man. I’ll knock your ass out again, and I’ll make sure you sleep for three days straight.”

  “Where. Is. She.”

  “She’s gone,” Tits said softly. “Now help me get your brother awake. We’re up shit creek without a paddle here. I’ll explain the best I can as soon as we figure out how the hell to get out of here.”

  Ian looked around the darkened cabin in confusion. There was light from a flashlight standing upright on the nightstand, and another smaller light sat on the dresser. It was just enough that he could make out Tits and the area immediately surrounding him, but beyond that, there was nothing.

  He saw the glass lying in a puddle of water on the floor, and then he saw the bulge of snow against the shattered window.

  “What the ever-loving fuck?”

  “Avalanche,” Tits said grimly. “We’re snowed in until Falcon gets here to pull our asses out. Eli’s on the horn with them now.”

  Tits turned his attention to Braden, shaking him like a rag doll as he shouted at him to wake up. Ian shook the cobwebs from his own head and put the pieces back together in his mind. Katie had drugged them. She thought… She’d obviously overheard some of their conversation with Tits and Eli. It was the only explanation for why she thought they were using her to get to Esteban, or at least why she’d assumed the worst.

  Hell.

  “Does Esteban have Katie?” Ian asked hoarsely.

  Tits shot him a grim look. Braden stirred and muttered as Tits continued to harass him.

  Frustrated, Ian reached over and hauled Braden up by his shirt collar. He shook him then slapped him repeatedly on the cheek with his open palm. Braden’s eyes shot open belligerently, and he shoved at Ian.

  “What the fuck is your problem, man?”

  “Wake up. We’ve got problems,” Ian said brusquely.

  Braden rubbed his eyes wearily and shook his head a few times. Then he bolted to awareness, grabbing Ian by the collar.

  “Katie. Where is she?”

  “Tits is just about to tell us.” He glanced over at Tits, not liking the uneasy look on the other man’s face.

  “What the hell happened to you, Tits?” Braden demanded as he took in the blood all over his shirt.

  “Took a bullet from Esteban’s men,” Tits said shortly.

  “Katie?” Braden asked hesitantly.

  Tits looked up in relief when Eli strode into the room. “You get Jonah?”

  “Yeah, they’re on the move. ETA six hours. An extrication team will reach us first. No idea on the Falcon secondary who were with us on the mountain. Jonah’s afraid they were all buried by the avalanche.”

  “Katie?” Ian asked again. He was beginning to sound like a damn parrot.

  Eli shot Tits a scowl. “You haven’t told them yet?”

  “I was getting to it,” Tits mumbled.

  “Why don’t you tell us since Tits is having a hard time with the English language all of a sudden,” Braden said, his voice hard.

  Eli ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair and shot the brothers a look of sympathy. “We don’t think she made it.”

  A fist slammed into Ian’s gut, knocking the breath right out of him. Braden didn’t look any better. He paled, and his fingers curled into tight balls.

  “What do you mean she didn’t make it?” Braden asked in a deadly quiet voice.

  “When we rode up, she was on the porch with an assault rifle and her bag. She was about to bolt,” Eli began. “I shifted so I could gain position on her. Then Tits took a bullet. They obviously had staked out the cabin. Katie told me to let her go so she could lead Esteban away from you and Braden. She said you were unconscious and helpless. She asked for a chance to live. For all of you to live.”

  “And you let her go?” Ian shouted.

  “I had three men down,” Eli said calmly. “She was right.”

  “What happened?” Braden snarled.

  “She took off on the snowmobile, and Esteban’s men took off after her. Several minutes later as I was getting Tits into the cabin, we got hit by the avalanche. She couldn’t have been far enough away to have avoided it,” he finished quietly.

  “Mother of God,” Ian said hoarsely.

  No. She couldn’t be dead.

  “What are you so worked up about, man? She screwed you over. Drugged your asses and was all set to ditch you.”

  “Because she thought we’d fucked her over first,” Ian bit out. “She had to have overheard our conversation outside the other day and misunderstood.”

  “What was to misunderstand?” Eli asked. “You were using her. Or did I miss something here?”

  “We were protecting her.” Grief was thick in Braden’s voice. “We would have never let Esteban get to her. That wasn’t the plan. That was never the plan.”

  “How long?” Ian demanded. “How long since the avalanche? How long has she been out there in the cold?”

  Eli flashed him a look of sympathy. “Three hours. She couldn’t survive that long.”

  Braden shot up from the bed. “Where’s the locator?”

  Ian looked up, his brow creased.

  “The tracking device,” Braden said impatiently. “I had Marcus put one back in when he stitched her up. It should show up on the locator.”

  “Braden, man, it’s been three hours,” Tits said.

  “I don’t care,” he roared. “Even if she’s dead, I’m not leaving her out there to rot. She deserves better than that. She’s always been left behind. This time she won’t be.”

  Ian stood, his mind numb. He moved jerkily, like an automaton with no clear direction. His gaze scoured the room in search of the locator. He staggered to the two bags by the window and ripped into them. Everything was soggy from the melted snow. God, let the locator still work.

  He yanked it out and hit the power button. Nothing happened.

  “Goddamn it!” He hit the button again.

  “Let me have it,” Braden demanded as he strode over. “I can take it apart and dry it out. It might work again.”

  “Jonah will have another,” Eli said.

  “We don’t have six hours to wait for them to come rescue us,” Ian seethed. “If we can get a bead on her location, you can shift and get out of here.”

  Eli and Tits exchanged uneasy glances which only enraged Ian further. They’d already given her up for dead.

  He tossed the unit up to Braden. Braden snatched one of the lights from the dresser and went back over to the bed.

  While he worked feverishly, Ian paced, his gaze going to the blocked window.

  “Have you tried digging out? Have you shifted and gone above to see what we’re facing here? Have you tried digging down from the outside?”

  Eli put a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “The cabin is covered, Ian. We need more than one man with a shovel. Jonah’s on his way with back-up. We’ll get out, I swear.”

  “Yeah, but will we be in time?”

  Eli shook his head. “You have to know, Ian. The chances of her surviving…they aren’t good.”

  Ian closed his eyes. “Why did you give h
er up for me?”

  “You know the answer to that,” Eli said patiently. “If you think about it, you’ll know I didn’t have any other choice. I had a wounded man and two more out of commission. There was no way I could stave off all of Esteban’s men alone. Katie led them away. Don’t take away from her sacrifice.”

  “I just don’t understand why she did it.” Ian dropped his head as grief and anger surged over him. “She told me…one of the last things she said was that she wasn’t expendable. That her life mattered. So why then did she suddenly decide she gave a damn about the fact that Braden and I were sitting ducks here?”

  “I can’t answer that,” Eli said quietly. “But I bet you can if you look deep enough. It was probably for the same reason you’re considering digging out of here with your bare hands. She’s more to you than a job, Ian. And I’d say you were more to her than just someone her brother sent to save her ass.”

  Anguish, harsh, so heavy that his knees buckled, hit him. He turned, his hands flying to his face in an attempt to make the reality go away.

  He sagged, and Eli caught him. They both fell and their knees hit the floor with a jolt. Eli caught the back of Ian’s neck as Ian’s forehead hit Eli’s shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, man,” Eli said. “I know how I’d feel if someone told me Tyana was out there. I wouldn’t accept it either. But it wouldn’t change a damn thing.”

  Ian’s breaths roared from his lungs like fire. Each inhalation hurt, hit him with such savagery. He hadn’t kept her safe. He’d failed her just like everyone else in her life. And too late, he realized he wanted to be different. He wanted to be the one she could trust. Love. Rely on.

  “Don’t you fucking give up,” Braden snarled.

  Ian’s head came up, and he saw Braden staring at him, answering grief simmering in his eyes. They glittered with moisture, and his entire mouth twitched. His jaw jumped and spasmed, and Ian realized how hard he was hanging on to his control.

  Slowly, he stood, using Eli for leverage. He walked over to the bed where his brother was piecing together the locator.

  “I won’t give up,” he vowed as he locked gazes with Braden. “I won’t give up until we find her. Even if it’s just to recover her body and bring her home. She deserves that much.”

  Braden nodded and held out his hand. Ian grasped it. A current of power passed between the two men. In that moment, Ian knew that Braden had fallen as hard and fast for Katie as he had. And now neither of them would have a chance to take care of her—to love her—the way they both wanted.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Braden stared at the array of waterlogged parts to the receiver with a tenuous grip on his fury. He wanted to hurl them against the wall and then he wanted to hit someone. Several times the beast inside had risen, snarling to be set free. The edgy, sharp sensation prickled along his skin, raising his hairs. The signal of an impending shift. He’d never fought so hard in his life to remain calm, to ward off the panther. Never before had he been successful.

  Too much was riding on his ability to remain human. Katie was depending on him.

  For the umpteenth time, he carefully wiped down each individual wire, each piece and then put it all back together in an effort to make it come to life.

  When he finished, he hit the power button and held his breath.

  Nothing.

  With a snarl of fury, he hurled it across the room, and it shattered on impact. He thrust himself up from the bed, crossed to the wall and punched it for all he was worth.

  The wall caved and dust from the sheetrock slid down and skittered onto the floor.

  “Hey, lighten up,” Eli said as he put his hand on Braden’s shoulder.

  Braden held up his hand, a clear warning for Eli to back off. He did.

  “Don’t tell me to lighten up. Would you lighten up if it was Tyana out there? Cold. Alone.”

  “No, man, I wouldn’t,” Eli said quietly.

  “How’s Tits?” Braden asked as he turned around. He sucked in his breaths, trying to soothe the fury that singed his veins and thundered in his ears.

  “A little weak, but we stopped the blood. Looks like a flesh wound. He’ll bitch and moan, but he’ll be fine.”

  “I can’t stand it, Eli. I can’t stand to stay here any longer. I’ve got to get out of here.”

  “It won’t be much longer,” Eli soothed. “Jonah and Mad Dog and the rest of the Falcon secondary are getting here as fast as they can. The extrication team he already had on the ground should be here anytime.”

  Braden stared across the room to where Ian sat slumped in a chair, his head down, palm covering is forehead. What a fucking mess.

  “I’ll go out and have a look around again,” Eli said. “It should be getting light soon.”

  Braden nodded, and Eli faded from view. Only a slight shadow streaking across the room signaled his departure. Ian looked up at Braden.

  “We lost her, man.”

  Braden swallowed and willed himself to remain calm, not to let the anger—and the grief—tear out of his chest. He was pissed. If only they’d been upfront with Katie from the beginning or even later on, after they’d arrived in Austria. Hell, even after they’d started sleeping with her.

  They’d had countless chances, but they’d been arrogant, too confident in their ability to control the situation. And neither had realized what they stood to lose until it was too damn late.

  Braden turned away from his brother, no longer able to stand the pain in Ian’s eyes. They mirrored his own agony too much.

  A few minutes later, Eli strode back into the bedroom, his expression tight. “There are rescue crews further down the mountain. Nothing up here yet, but then we’re pretty far out of the way. Chances are no one knew anyone was in this cabin.”

  “Have they recovered any survivors?” Ian asked, hope edging into his voice.

  “Just bodies,” Eli said grimly. “Esteban’s men and a few of the Falcon secondary. No sign of Katie. There’s a team of men heading in our direction. Most likely Falcon, but we can’t be too careful. Stay on your toes and have your guns at the ready.”

  The men walked back into the living room where Tits was propped up against the wall, his gun leaned against his uninjured shoulder. He stared at them with slitted eyes, monitoring their progress across the floor.

  “How you holding up?” Eli asked.

  “I’m good. Ready to go. No wimpy ass bullet’s gonna take me down.”

  “We got a team moving in,” Eli said as he squatted beside Tits.

  Tits nodded and grasped the stock of his rifle, sliding the barrel down his body and then tilting it forward. “Well, let’s do it, then.”

  Eli grasped his good arm, and Ian leaned in to help pull Tits to a standing position. Tits stared at Ian eye to eye, his expression serious.

  “I’m sorry about Katie.”

  Ian swallowed and nodded shortly.

  Thirty minutes later, they heard the sounds of equipment hitting the roof. Then light shone in the broken window on the left. A hand appeared as it scooped out snow, widening the beam of light.

  “Guess it’s time to greet our guests,” Eli muttered as he strode to the window.

  Ian moved in behind Eli and pointed his rifle toward the opening. Eli disappeared in a thin vapor trail and filtered up through the window. Braden joined Ian with Tits close behind.

  “That shit makes me nervous,” Tits muttered. “What if I inhaled the man?”

  Braden shook with laughter despite the raw grief carved on his face.

  A few seconds later, the hole got bigger, and a hand thrust a small receiver through the opening. Ian lunged for it, his hands shaking as he powered it up.

  “We’ll get you out shortly,” one of the men hollered down.

  Ian ignored him, turning away as he punched in the code for Katie’s tracking device.

  “Come on, come on,” he murmured impatiently as he waited for the map to load.

  The graphic flashed on the scre
en and the lines spread out, signaling the layout of the area. A hundred-mile radius. He frowned and keyed the code in again.

  “What the fuck?” Braden demanded as he looked over Ian’s shoulder.

  “That’s impossible.” Ian keyed it in for the third time. “Something’s wrong.”

  “What is it?” Tits asked as he too came over to look.

  “She’s not showing up,” Braden said.

  “Maybe all the snow interfered,” Tits offered cautiously.

  Ian shook his head. “That thing would work on the bottom of the ocean.”

  “Could it have fallen off?” Braden asked.

  “It would still show up on the receiver,” Ian said. “Marcus sewed it into her damn stitches. It didn’t just fall out. The only explanation…”

  He turned to Braden, afraid to hope, afraid to let Braden see his hope.

  “What?” Braden demanded.

  “The only explanation is that she’s beyond the search radius,” he said slowly.

  Light sparked in Braden’s eyes. “Widen it.”

  Ian rapidly keyed in the coordinates for the world map and held his breath. And then a small dot on the display screen started to blink.

  Excitement exploded in his chest. Relief so profound he felt lightheaded. He yanked his gaze to Braden to see the same excitement burgeoning in his eyes.

  “Where is she?” Braden asked hoarsely.

  Ian frowned as he crosschecked the latitude and longitude. Then he looked back up at Braden and Tits.

  “If my coordinates are correct, she’s somewhere over the Atlantic.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  It really pissed Katie off that she had to be grateful to this creepy jerk for saving her life. She stared over at the worm who’d introduced himself as the notorious Esteban and curled her lips in disgust.

  At least she’d stopped shaking. Finally. And the interior of the plane was nice and toasty. Which was good because she was convinced her skin had turned permanently blue.

  Still, she hitched the blanket higher around her chin, more of a protective measure than one of true discomfort over the temperature.

  Esteban’s stare raked over her, and he locked gazes with her. She stared boldly back, refusing to let him cow her. She’d faced down enough bastards to recognize that he wasn’t anything special in the sleaze department. Just a typical man full of himself and assured of his own importance.