Wicked Edge (Realm Enforcers, #2)(63)

His gaze softened again. “A grandmother.”

Well, geez. “Only because I had you incredibly young, and then you had Hope very young. I’m not ready to retire from life, Zane Kyllwood.”

“I’m not asking you to retire. I am asking you not to get shot at.” His shoulders seemed to vibrate as he tried to control himself. “Who are you working for, Mom?”

“Can’t tell you,” she retorted.

“Is it the Coven Nine?” he asked.

She smiled. “Nope.”

“Then why is Daire Dunne apparently accompanying you on every insane mission?”

Footsteps sounded around the corner. “Because she’s my mate,” Daire said evenly, a jacket in his hands. “Now stop bugging her.”

Zane tensed and his hands fisted.

“There will be no fighting,” Felicity ordered. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Thank goodness. She needed an update on what deeds had been discovered in the other two bank robberies. “Excuse me for a minute. You two play nice.” Without another word, she opened her phone and sloshed through water to a few feet away. “Hello?”

“Felicity. I can’t believe how soon we’re going to meet. Finally,” rumbled a hoarse voice.

She squinted. Adrenaline zinged through her blood. “Ivan?”

“Ah, how nice you remember my voice.” He chuckled.

She pressed the phone closer to her ear, a chill clawing through her. “How did you get this number?”

“Oh, it was in a phone I borrowed,” Ivan said.

Her breath whooshed out, and her head lifted. Oh God. “Whose phone?”

“That opens up our next issue. I have something of yours.”

No. She swallowed. “Is that a fact?”

“Yes. Here.”

A small scuffle sounded, and then the crunch of bone being cracked. “Fucker,” hissed a low voice.

Her heart stopped. “Logan?”

Ivan chuckled. “Your youngest has a head stronger than rock. I’ll enjoy chiseling through it. I’ll be in touch.”

Tears burned her eyes. She turned, her mouth agape, her heart shattering. Daire and Zane stared at her, both frowning.

She coughed, fear piercing right through her breastbone. “They have Logan,” she whispered.





Daire caught her before she fell and lifted her up. “Bychkov?” he asked.

She nodded, tears streaming down her face. “I didn’t think. I just didn’t even consider he’d go after Logan. Why didn’t I think?”

Daire hadn’t considered Logan being in danger, either. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” He turned and headed for the SUV waiting quietly for him by the doorway.

Zane grabbed his arm. “Who is Bychkov, and where is Logan?”

Felicity wiped tears off her face. “Bychkov is an enemy, and I don’t know where Logan is. Yet.”

Zane opened his mouth and Daire held up a hand.

“Meet at my penthouse in thirty minutes to figure out a plan. For now, reach out to every ally you have and prepare them for war. Once we find Logan, we’ll need to go in and fast,” Daire said. He didn’t wait for a response but jogged through the rain to place Felicity in the front seat. She trembled, and her face had gone so pale that light blue veins could be seen under the skin. “We’ll find him, baby. I promise.”

She lifted tear-filled eyes and basically sliced his heart in two. “What was I thinking?” she asked, dazed.

He lightly shook her arm, struck by how fragile she appeared. “On the ride to the penthouse, you need to concentrate. I want you to tell me absolutely everything there is to know about Bychkov by the time we get home.” He shut the door, wanting nothing more than to gather her close and soothe her fears. If he was going to find Logan, the cuddling would have to wait.

Running around the car, he barely took note of Zane moving his soldiers out. He twisted the ignition, already barking orders into his phone for reports on Bychkov and his consortia. He also put on ready all Coven Nine forces before making a call to Garrett Kayrs.

“Yo,” Garrett answered.

Daire swerved to avoid an idiot in a minivan. “Garrett? We’ve had reports that Logan has been taken by Ivan Bychkov. Do you know anything?”

Garrett sucked in air. “No. We hit the bars last night, scouting for Apollo distributors, and Logan went home with a redhead. Sexy woman.” Rustling came through the line and then running footsteps. “He’s not in his room.”

“Where are you?” Daire used one hand to steer around a kid on a scooter.

“Simone’s penthouse. She’s the only one with food in the cupboards.” A door slammed shut. “Who is Bychkov, and why would he have Logan?”

Daire rolled his shoulders and tried to keep his mind calm. Terror flowed from his mate, and he had to block some of the emotion to keep his brain engaged. “We’ll have a full debriefing in thirty minutes in my penthouse. For now, you try to trace where Logan went last night.”

“You got it.” Determination and irritation filled the vampire’s young voice. No fear. That was good.

“And Garrett? Be careful.”

“Copy that.” The kid hung up.

Daire glanced at Felicity, who huddled with her arms around her legs. “Garrett will call all their friends and then trace Logan’s movements last night. The kid is a bloodhound.”