Blood Assassin (The Sentinels #2)(67)

“I realize that being without electricity is a nuisance—”

“It’s not a nuisance,” she interrupted, her expression grim. “It’s life or death. This isn’t just a transformer blowing. As long as the high-blood is in the area there’s no electricity, period.” She made a slashing motion with her hand. “None. That means the backup generators at the police stations and hospitals are worthless. Nothing will keep vital technology working. Even airplanes flying in the area will be affected.”

Wolfe grimaced, beginning to realize the difference between a typical blackout and an electrical dead zone.

“Shit.”

“Banks are left vulnerable, computers are wiped of memory,” she continued to hammer home the point. “Not even cars will run.”

He lifted his hand to halt her list of troubles. “I got it.” And he did. “Armageddon.”

“Yes.”

He pulled out his phone, contacting the Valhalla chapel to have a guardian Sentinel waiting for him at the portal.

“Are you packed?”

Bas was standing in front of the window seat, absently running his fingers over a cushy, zebra print pillow that still held Molly’s sweet scent.

How many hours had she sat on this narrow seat, blissfully lost in her own world as Bas had worked at his desk?

So tiny and vulnerable and yet filled with such incandescent joy.

An aching emptiness exploded through his chest, crashing over the barriers he’d built around his emotions.

Like a flood bursting through a dam.

Oh . . . Molly.

Pain, cruel and ruthless, surged through him, threatening to send him to his knees.

He wasn’t sure how long he had stood there before the door to the office was pushed open and Kaede entered.

There was the sound of approaching footsteps that halted in the center of the room. The warrior was well trained not to interrupt. Even if Bas was doing nothing more than staring at his daughter’s favorite pillow.

Taking a beat to wipe the grief from his face, Bas slowly turned to confront his companion.

He wouldn’t show weakness. Not even in front of Kaede.

“A change of plans,” he abruptly announced.

Kaede stilled, on full alert as he took note of Bas’s grim expression.

“What do you mean?”

“I want Anna prepared to continue her journey.”

“What about the psychic?” The younger man held up the file folder in his hand. “I thought you wanted to give her time to search for Molly?”

“I intend to keep searching, but in the meantime, I want Anna taken to the location we were given.”

Shock rippled over Kaede’s face. “Give in to the kidnapper?”

“Yes, dammit,” Bas snapped. “If that’s what it takes to get my daughter home.”

Kaede lowered the file, his gaze searching Bas’s stark expression.

“Did something happen?”

Bas clenched his teeth. He didn’t want to share his precious moments with his daughter. Not when his emotions were still so raw.

But he understood that if he was going to depend on Kaede to have his back, the warrior needed to know exactly what was happening.

“I spoke with Molly.”

Kaede sucked in a startled breath. “How?”

Bas nodded toward the computer. “The kidnapper allowed me a short conversation.”

“She’s okay?”

The image of Molly kneeling in the middle of the pink bed seared through his brain, his heart squeezing with merciless regret.

“She’s scared, but putting on a brave face so I don’t worry about her.”

“That’s our little trooper,” Kaede murmured, a hint of pride in his voice.

“I don’t want her to have to be brave, I want her home,” Bas snarled, pointing toward the window seat. “I want her in here sitting behind me while I work, giggling because she’s snacking on peanut butter cookies she stole from my private stash.”

Kaede flinched. The younger man was as devoted as Bas to the little girl. Hell, who hadn’t tumbled in love with the charming minx?

She had that kind of effect on people.

“She’ll be here,” the warrior swore in fierce tones. “Even if we have to tear apart the world.”

Bas slowly shook his head. They were the exact words he would have used just days ago. Before he realized that he wasn’t nearly as invulnerable as he once believed.

“It’s that attitude that got Molly kidnapped in the first place.”

Kaede scowled in confusion. “What?”

“I’ve spent the past century making enemies.” Bas paced toward his desk, his gaze lingering on the stack of potential clients. He’d spent over a hundred years crafting a power base built on money, intimidation, and blackmail. He thought it made him strong. Too late he realized he’d instead created a seething volcano that was destined to explode in his face. “Sooner or later one of them was bound to seek revenge. I just never thought that Molly would pay the price for my sins.”

“Since when did you become a believer in karma?” Kaede demanded.

“Since it bit me in the ass.”

The warrior shrugged. He was still young enough to believe he could control his future.