Fractured (Deep In Your Veins, #5)(66)

That still left dozens of possible locations. “That’s as much as you’re willing to tell me?”

“I don’t want you to die, Imani. It really is as simple as that. They have weapons that could wipe out entire towns. These people would sooner die in a blast than die at the hands of the things they loathe. I don’t want you near them.”

“And you still want to seem useful to us so that you get to live.”

“Of course.”

Jared sidled up to me, eyes on Marco. “I’ll make you a deal. I have a vampire who can sweep minds. If he finds that you didn’t inject Imani with the serum, we will free you and allow you to live.”

“If…?” prompted Marco.

“If you tell us where The Order is based.”

Marco’s gaze briefly slid to me. “She’ll die if she goes there.”

“What makes you think any of us intend to go there?” asked Jared. “If it’s true and that place is rigged, it wouldn’t be smart of us to invade it. Where is it based?”

“You’re not taking me seriously enough,” snapped Marco.

“Wrong. If you think I’d be reckless with the life of Imani or any other member of my legion, you’re very much mistaken. So, do we have a deal?”

After long moments, Marco told Jared, “If you agree to free me once your vampire verifies my innocence, I’ll give you the name of someone who knows where The Order is based; someone who will make you see why the last place Imani should be is there. He’ll make you understand.”

Jared’s lips pursed. “Deal.”

“Joel Sanders.”

I frowned. “Who is Joel Sanders?”

“One of my sources. He knows plenty about The Order. Find Joel, and then follow the rabbit trail.” Marco’s gaze moved to Butch. “You keep her safe.” Then Marco returned to the mattress. He was done.




The instant Sam took a seat, she slapped a file on the conference table. “All right, this is what we know about Joel Sanders. He’s a Keja who’s part of a very small nest in Colorado. He’s committed pretty much every computer crime there is; earns his money by hacking into company computers and selling the information to rival businesses.” She took a photo from the file and handed it to Max, who took a look before passing it on.

“Could he be the blogger we’re looking for?” asked David. “I mean, if he’s so good with technology—”

Sam gave a quick shake of the head. “Joel’s gift is simple yet very substantial: he cannot be held captive. The bloke literally can’t be kept any place he does not want to be.”

That was pretty substantial.

A pacing Luther halted. “Would that extend to any kind of restraint? Could he escape from the grip of your whip?”

Sam shrugged. “I’m hoping he won’t try to escape. I have no issue with him; I just have some questions. But I won’t leave until I have my answers.”

The photo of Joel Sanders reached me just as Jared said, “In the meantime, Mona and Cedric will find out just how many preternatural-free zones there are in the world. By the time we’re back from paying Joel a visit, we should have that information. But I’m hoping that Joel will have already given us an exact location.”

Marco had seemed sure that Joel knew—

Stumbling, Luther breathed, “Jared.”

Sam was at his side in a blink. “Luther, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer; just stood there, eyes closed. Having watched my squad have a vision through him, I knew exactly what it looked like when someone experienced one. It would seem that Luther was having one now.

Finally, he blinked. He gripped Jared’s arm, his gaze desperate. “We do not have long before they come.”

“Dragons?” asked Sam.

Luther’s eyes moved to her. “Yes. At least forty of them. They will come from the south.”

“Do you know when?”

“A few nights, at most.”

“They’ll come at night?” Jared asked. At Luther’s nod, he added, “I figured they’d come in the day in the hope of taking us off-guard.”

That would have made more sense.

“Your only hope of preventing this is to destroy The Order before they have a chance to hire the mercenaries,” said Luther.

Sam told us, “Go top yourselves up with NSTs and then meet me and Jared outside the mansion in ten minutes. Then we’ll pay Joel a little visit.”

When Butch and I entered the apartment, he went straight to the fridge and pulled out two NSTs. As he drank them, I said, “Luther’s vision wasn’t great, but I noticed he seemed relieved to have finally had one. Maybe now he’ll stop blaming himself for not helping us prevent all the shit that’s happened so far. He’s forgetting how much he’s helped The Hollow over the years. Even allowing people to have their own visions has helped.”

Something suddenly occurred to me. “You never told me about the vision you had through Luther.”

Butch’s eyes were wary. “No, I didn’t.” And he didn’t seem inclined to share it.

“You know about mine.”

His lips pressed together. “You don’t need to hear about it, baby.”