Ronin, who sat on the couch with his elbows on his knees, took a huge sip from the glass in his hand before quietly admitting, “I don’t blame him. We’ve never fought like that before.”
“Shit.” Keegan impatiently paced the length of his living room. “We need to find him and let him know what’s going on.”
“Calm down, we’ll find him,” Brynn said from her spot on the couch next to Ronin. She was acting strong for Keegan’s sake, but her eyes were bloodshot from the tears she must have cried while she was alone in the bathroom.
A sick feeling knotted Keegan’s gut. How the hell had he gotten them into this mess? What was going to happen to his family?
Amara, who sat on Ronin’s other side rubbing her hand over his back in comfort, leaned forward. “Don’t you guys have a GPS tracking device installed on your cell phones?”
“Yeah.” Ronin finished his drink in one smooth gulp and rose to get a refill from the bar. “We got them in case of emergency.”
“If this doesn’t classify as an emergency, I don’t know what does,” Keegan said.
Ronin nodded. “I’ll pull his address and go get him. We need to figure out what the hell we’re going to do, ASAP.”
“Did you call Taeg?” Brynn asked.
Keegan cracked his back, suddenly feeling much older than his years. “Yes. He and Maya are on their way back from Europe. They’re going to meet us there.”
“Where?” Ronin asked.
Keegan took a deep breath and confessed the secret that until this point only he and Taeg had shared. “Right about the time we decided to go after Asmodeus, I had Bram and Reiver start working on a secret hideaway for us. Just in case things ever went south.”
Brynn’s eyes widened. “What? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want to worry you.” Which was true, but it sounded so lame when he said it aloud.
When his wife’s eyes narrowed in on him, he knew he hadn’t heard the last of it. No doubt she’d ream him in private later on.
“Where is it?” Ronin asked.
Although he didn’t come out and accuse Keegan, somehow his quiet tone made him feel all the more guilty for keeping this secret. But even though Keegan had taken the precaution of building a safe space, he’d honestly never thought they’d have to use it. “Upstate. Several hours north, close to the Canadian border.”
Amara stood and crossed to Ronin. He enfolded her in his arms. She turned to Keegan. “Is there enough space in the house for all of us?”
Keegan winced. He wasn’t really sure how this was going to go over. “Yes, but it’s not a house… exactly.”
Arching a brow, Brynn rose to her feet. “Then what exactly is it?”
He took a deep breath and forced himself to meet her eyes. “It’s a cave.”
Chapter Ten
The rising sun brought with it a thick, gray mist that swelled through the entire grounds, making it appear as if the castle floated on air. Belpheg found he liked the imagery. It held an aura of romance about it that he found particularly fitting in this situation. Soon he would triumph over the evil organization that had massacred his people. And he would rejoice in his victory.
When his hand trembled, he let go of the ancient tapestry with an inward curse, letting it fall once more to conceal the square window in his reception chamber. Forcing a careless grin to his lips, he turned to face the man he’d summoned.
Mammon sat several feet away in one of his burgundy-velvet, high-backed chairs, and he appeared remarkably in control of himself. Arrogant even. That was something Belpheg hadn’t taken into account when he’d first decided to save him. The man’s haughtiness could fill the entire castle and surrounding grounds.
He’d grown too cocky lately. Had dared to intimate on several occasions that he would be a co-ruler of this world once the Council was defeated. Oh, how wrong he was.
After all his planning, Belpheg was ready to put the remainder of his plan into motion. Ready to draw Mammon’s sons to him, so he could absorb their power. But first, Mammon needed a lesson, a reminder about who was really in charge.
And the fact that it would be fun to catch him off guard?
Well, that was just a bonus.
“Can you believe how much has happened since the night I first saved your life?” Mammon asked, resting one elbow on the armchair and stroking his chin in contemplation.
“Indeed, no.” Belpheg had morphed from a frightened child in need of rescuing to the master of the man who’d once saved him. Not that Mammon had quite figured that out yet. The fool hadn’t realized that a simple agreement and a handshake with a dark fae of Belpheg’s stature would bind Mammon’s soul in servitude.