Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers #3)(90)

“You like reason,” Zane said calmly.

Right now it felt like reason had fled, and he needed to hit something very hard. “Where is she, Zane?” Something was wrong. He just knew it.

“We’ll find her.” Zane moved over to the computer console and started to type. “I have people ripping through Vivienne’s financials right now for records of any safe houses or other property.”

The far right computer dinged.

Nick’s breath caught. He hustled over and brought up his secured email. Within seconds, Moira Kayrs-Dunne appeared.

“Moira,” Nick said. “News?”

Her pale skin was almost translucent across the screen. “We have Vivienne and are getting her to a safe location. Simone was taken by Phillipe Sadler and a bunch of soldiers.” Concern sizzled in her green eyes. “I’m tracking down everything I can find out about him, and we’ll be ready to go in the second we find her.”

Nick eyed the woman Simone loved like a sister. “You have two babes at home, Moira. Send me the location the second you have it. Zane and I will bring her back.”

Moira lowered her chin. “She’s family, Nicholai. When we find her, we all go in.” The screen went black.

“I’ve always liked that witch,” Zane said, his fingers tapping quickly over a keyboard. “I’ll know everything there is to know about Sadler within a few moments.”

Nick tried to keep his anger in check. “Why did Phillipe take her? I mean, if he wants revenge, he could’ve just killed her.”

Zane nodded. “My guess? He wants intel on the Nine for the last few decades since his mother was removed. That means we have time to find her.”

“Right. So you, the three Enforcers, four if Adam makes it back, and me.” Nick rapidly calculated the odds. “This is going to be bloody.”

“She’ll be all right,” Zane said. “We’ll get her back.”

They had to get her back. Nick rubbed his chest, which suddenly felt hollow. “When I find Phillipe, I’m ripping out his heart.”





Simone sat on the folding chair with metal cuffs securing her hands behind her back. They’d confiscated the gun from her boot, so she was currently without weapons or the ability to throw fire. Oh, she could create fire, but setting the small shack aflame would just end with her burned to a crisp. There had been a hood over her head for most of the drive, so she had no idea where they’d taken her. All she knew was that the place smelled like fuel, and the outside was silent.

Phillipe had carried her into the empty shack before yanking off the hood.

The walls, ceiling, and floors were made up of exposed beams of wood. It was some type of storage area, but everything except her one chair had been removed. If she had to guess, they were at one of the small airports outside of Dublin that catered only to private planes or helicopters.

Whistling eerily, the wind competed with the sound of pounding rain. In the distance, thunder clashed across the sky. Night had fallen, and the air had cooled with the storm.

She calmed herself, trying to send reassuring feelings through her body to the baby. Fear couldn’t be good for the little guy or girl, so she took several deep breaths and kept her thoughts gentle. For now.

The door burst open, and Phillipe dodged inside, dripping from rain. He had to fight the wind to get the door closed, and once he had, he turned to face her. “The pilot is late, but we’ll be in the air very soon.”

“Where are we going?” Simone asked as if discussing the weather.

His lip twisted. “You’re a mellow one, now, aren’t you?”

“For the moment.” She allowed power to glow in her eyes. “The second I decide not to be mellow, believe me, you’ll know.”

He smiled then. “Oh, I can’t wait to see you try. I’m going to burn you in ways you can’t even imagine.”

“Shouldn’t you be rubbing your hands together or twirling an imaginary mustache?” she asked.

“Funny. You won’t be so smart after a couple of hours with me.”

“I doubt anybody would be,” Simone said sweetly.

His nostrils flared. “My mother would like a turn with you first.”

Now Simone smiled full-on. “I would truly enjoy that, as well, but since Moira took her powers, it might be a short match.” She pretended to think about the situation. For now, she needed more information. “Will your twin brother be there, as well?”

Sorrow and anger darkened his eyes. “My brother was killed by a business partner.”

She frowned. That was intel she hadn’t had. “Maybe you should get out of such a dangerous business.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Is this just about revenge for your mother?” Simone asked. “The manufacture and distribution of Apollo is a deadly game.”

He tucked the gun at the back of his waist. “Deadly for humans and enemy witches, you mean. There’s a lot of money to be made from the humans, and once we control the Coven Nine, we’ll continue to rake that money into the family coffers.”

Money and power. “Your motivations bore me.” Simone listened to the storm pummeling the world outside. “Are you the one who sent witch soldiers to attack us at the cemetery?”