Call of the Siren(29)
Yeah, she was tired, and he should probably let her sleep. But he knew from months of experience that once he woke her, she’d be rearing to go. That was just one of the ways in which they completed each other.
Hell, I’m such a fucking sap. And he couldn’t even find it in himself to be sorry about that.
Taeg shifted closer to her, about to slip the sheet off her entirely, when his cell phone rang.
“Damn.”
Rolling onto his back, he contemplated letting it go to voicemail. But since the only ones who’d be calling were his brothers or the Council liaison, he didn’t have that luxury. Ever since Mammon’s escape right after he and Maya had first arrived in Europe, things had been tense. If one of them was calling now, there was probably a good reason.
He slipped from the bed with a groan, arching his back until it gave a satisfying crack. When he glanced behind him, Maya was still dead asleep, so he bent and rummaged through his leather jacket until he found his phone and then read the screen. It was Keegan, and by Taeg’s calculations, it was around three in the morning back in New York City.
Shit. Not good.
He slipped out of the bedroom into the living area of the suite they’d rented before answering. “Yo bro, what’s up?”
“I got a home visit from Tenos a few hours ago,” Keegan said without preamble.
Taeg’s gut twisted. The Council liaison had visited his apartment? That couldn’t be good. He paced the burgundy carpeting of the living area. “What’d he have to say?”
“He was giving us a heads-up on a Council order that’s set to go down in a few days.”
By the grim sound of Keegan’s voice, Taeg knew it wasn’t going to be a good one. “What is it?”
“We’re getting deported back to Infernum.”
“What?” Taeg’s throat clenched tight, constricting his air. “Why?”
“Apparently there’s been some rumblings among the Council members. Some of them think we might’ve had something to do with Mammon’s escape.”
“That’s fucking insane.”
“Tell me about it,” was Keegan’s low reply. “But since we killed Asmodeus before he could tell us anything about the dark fae, and the fae seems to be the very person who broke Mammon out—”
“They think we were involved.” Taeg took a deep breath and stopped in front of the window, peeling back the curtain to blankly stare outside. “Shit, bro. We really stepped in it this time.”
“I know.” Keegan let out a ragged sigh. “And I don’t know how we could persuade them of our innocence.”
“We can’t,” Taeg said flatly. He knew enough about their employers to realize they weren’t going to change their minds, not unless something drastic happened, like they caught Mammon or the fae the Council sought.
Shit, if only they knew something about this dark fae, but the man was like a ghost. Taeg had even tried visiting the Vivi sisters, a trio of crazy-ass dark faeries who lived in Faelan and who’d once been Merlin’s lovers, to ask about him. The only thing he’d managed to learn from their demented ramblings was that they had no clue who he might be. According to them, the last remaining clan with powers of his level had died off from plague decades ago.
“What about our families?” Taeg asked. “Brynn, Aegin, Maya?”
“According to Tenos, they’ll have the choice of joining us in Infernum or staying on Earth.”
Taeg’s hand clenched into a fist. That was no choice at all. They couldn’t remain alone on Earth, where they’d no doubt be hunted by his evil father, yet neither he nor his brothers would subject their loved ones to a life on hellish Infernum.
“Fuck,” he breathed.
“Yeah,” Keegan said. “You know what this means.”
It meant they were up against a wall, big time. At least they’d planned for the possibility when Mammon had first escaped months ago. But damn, he really didn’t want to do what they had to do next.
“I know,” Taeg said. “We’ll get on the next plane over there.”
“Meet me directly at the hideout.”
Taeg let out a reluctant chuckle. “Well, if I’m gonna be forced into being a fugitive, at least I get to do it with my family.”
“Yeah, I guess it could be worse,” Keegan said with a grim laugh.
“What about Ronin and Dagan? Did you tell them about the hideout yet?”
Keegan let out a ragged sigh.
“Uh-oh.” Taeg pushed away from the window and started pacing the room once again. “What’s up with them?”
“Amara told me earlier that they got into a big fight and Dagan stormed out.”