Wild and Free (The Three #3)(149)

“No f*cking clue,” Callum replied.

Jian-Li turned her head and looked over the couch at Abel. He forced a smile her way. She forced one back.

While that was happening, Regan looked over the couch at her son. When Abel caught her smile, he figured they were doing the same thing.

“Want my mate,” he muttered, pushing away from the wall.

“Same. I’ll go with you,” Callum said.

Abel moved to Jian-Li first, reached out a hand, and touched his finger to her chin.

“I’m gonna call it a night, tian xin,” he told her as he heard Callum murmuring to Regan.

“All right, my Abel,” she replied.

“You okay?” he asked.

“It has not been a good day.”

He shook his head. “No.”

He said it, it was more than true, but he hated looking into her face, seeing her worried eyes, unable to do shit about it.

“We’ll have good luck soon,” she said softly.

He hoped like f*ck she was right.

“Sleep well,” he said.

“And you,” she replied.

He moved away, waited briefly at the door for Callum to follow him, and they walked silently together to Lucien and Leah’s room.

Callum glanced at him before rapping his knuckles on the door once.

In moments, it was opened and Delilah was poking out her head.

“Time for bed, bao bei,” he told her quietly.

She nodded to him and looked to Callum. “You want Sonia?”

“Yes, unless Leah needs her.”

“I think Leah needs a sleeping pill chased by bourbon,” she mumbled, her expression turning unfocused. She shook her head as if to clear it and refocused. “I’ll get her.” She looked to Abel and said, “Hang on.”

The door closed, but it wasn’t long before it was again opened and both Sonia and Delilah appeared.

They gave the king and queen their good-nights and headed to their room, Delilah leaning heavily on Abel as they walked.

“She’s not good,” he pointed out the obvious.

“None of the other ones killed were her family, but she’s terrified,” Delilah said. “She and Myrna weren’t real close, but Myrna was still her cousin. The other members of Leah’s family that they have, she’s close to.”

“Extractions are probably happening while we speak, baby,” he told her. “Maybe some of the ones rescued will be Leah’s kin.”

“I hope so.”

He tightened the arm he had around her shoulders to give her a squeeze.

They entered their room and mutely got ready for bed, brushing their teeth side-by-side, taking off their clothes standing close, Abel waiting for Delilah to pull on a nightgown. Then they slid into bed together.

He turned out the lights. She snuggled into him, and the way she did, he knew it would be the first night since their relationship became intimate that they didn’t make love.

He was down with that. If she needed to cuddle her man, he’d give that to her.

Abel stared at the dark ceiling and waited, holding her, stroking her, letting her call it. Either she’d talk, he’d listen and do what he could to soothe, or she’d go to sleep.

She talked.

“If they’ll do that, what else will they do?”

“I don’t know, baby. Try not to think about it, okay?”

He felt her nod against his chest.

“Leah said Myrna was a good concubine. The best. She adored her vampire—”

“Stop,” he ordered gently.

She stopped.

Then she started again. “I guess her vamp is out of his mind.”

He would be. Vampires took protecting their concubines seriously. Gregor had told him that every one of the hundreds who’d had concubines taken, even inactive ones, were out of their minds. Some had to be restrained so they’d do the cause, and themselves, no harm in their need to rescue.

And their thirst for vengeance.

“He would be. Of course he would be, *cat.”

She pressed her face into his skin and whispered, “I want this to end.”

He tightened his hold, bent his head, and said into the top of her hair, “I do too.”

He kept her close and waited for her to lose it, either yelling or crying, however she needed to do that, or get a lock on it.

He felt the tension build in her body before it released and she took her face out of his skin and rested her cheek on it.

She got a lock on it.

“Sleep,” he urged.

“Okay, baby. ’Night.”

“’Night, bao bei.”

It took her time, but she found it.

Abel didn’t.

Then again, she hadn’t seen the videos.

He had.

They played in his head and he let them. Used them as kindle to feed the flame in his gut. A flame that had been burning hot with desire to see to it that Delilah was safe, to make certain they had a life together. But now that flame also burned to wreak vengeance for Leah’s people.

He was no nearer to falling asleep when he heard the muffled tone of his phone ringing in his jeans’ pocket.

Carefully extricating himself from Delilah, he left their bed, grabbed his phone, and, when he saw who was calling, engaged it and put it to his ear.