Sensing the merit in Thorne’s words, Dagan gritted his teeth. This Belpheg character must feel pretty confident in his ability to defend himself if he would so easily give up the coordinates to where he was.
“How could you do this?” Ronin rumbled, his voice hoarse. “If you were bonded, if you truly had a child together, how could you give her up as bait for some sick maniac?”
Thorne chuckled and blew a ring of smoke. “What makes you think she wasn’t in on it from the beginning?”
Ronin’s hands curled into fists, but Dagan touched his shoulder in an effort to calm him. “Bullshit. We’ll never believe that.”
Thorne gave him a long look before shrugging. “What can I say? The guy pays very well.”
When Dagan let out a growl at those words, Thorne reached into his pocket and withdrew an object shaped like a golf ball but electric blue in color.
“No,” Dagan yelled, lunging for him. But before Dagan could reach Thorne, he squeezed the ball in his fist. A shock of blinding blue filled the room, sending a stream of static electricity throughout the space.
When Dagan blinked to clear his suddenly blurry vision, the spot where Thorne had just been was empty. Nothing but a curling ribbon of noxious cigarette smoke indicated he’d ever been there at all.
Chapter Fifteen
Keegan paced the length of his living room, trying desperately to ignore how empty and uninviting it seemed now that Brynn and Aegin were gone. “He just wants the four of us? That’s all he asked for?”
“Yes,” Dagan replied grimly, his free hand fisted at his side. He lifted the whiskey bottle in his other hand to his lips and took a long swallow.
“I don’t get it,” Keegan whispered. “Why us? What is he planning?”
“Maybe he plans to hand us over to dear old dad so he can get his revenge on us.”
“But why? What purpose would it serve for him?” Keegan didn’t think for one minute that the dark fae would be doing something if it didn’t directly benefit him somehow.
Dagan shook his head. “Got me.”
“What if he wants to use us somehow?” Keegan wondered aloud. Belpheg had used his abilities to morph the essences of others into powers for Asmodeus. Maybe he wanted to use them.
“I don’t know…fuck.” Dagan plunked the bottle down onto the bar, which now was empty. Thank the gods Keegan had had the foresight not to pack that last bottle of whiskey. “I wish Ronin hadn’t run off by himself.”
Keegan shook his head. He wasn’t surprised that Ronin had. He thought of Lina as his responsibility, so as soon as Lina’s ex-husband had disappeared, the fool had flown off to scout out the hidden portal. Keegan didn’t dare give voice to his true fear: that Ronin had actually taken the portal to the coordinates Belpheg had provided. He didn’t want to consider what sort of trap Ronin might have walked into.
“I can’t believe Lina was married and had a kid.”
“I can’t believe her psycho ex handed her over to the dark fae like some piece of meat,” Dagan muttered.
True. How sick was that?
When the lock on the front door rattled, Dagan came to immediate attention.
“Relax,” Keegan said. “It’s Taeg and Maya.”
Dagan’s brow furrowed. “I thought they were going straight to the hideout?”
“They called while you and Ronin were gone to let me know their plane had arrived and they were going to rent a car for the drive north. When I explained I was waiting for you and Ronin to come back from Lina’s, they decided to swing by here first.”
Risky, considering the official order from the Council was due to come down at any moment now. But Keegan knew Taeg better than anyone, except perhaps Maya. Taeg might be a smartass and an asshole to boot, but he was loyal to the core; he would stick by his brothers no matter what.
“Lucy, I’m home,” Taeg called from the foyer. A moment later, he and Maya strode into the room, clad in matching dark jeans and black shirts. While her top was sleeveless and fitted, his was a T-shirt emblazoned with the words NO MERCY.
Taeg hit Keegan with his somber gaze. “Yo, bro. Where’s the rest of the gang?”
“I sent Brynn, Aegin, and Amara ahead with Bram and Reiver,” Keegan said.
Taeg gave a sympathetic wince. “Let me guess—Brynn is pissed as hell about that.”
“Yup.” They’d fought long and hard, in fact. She’d wanted to remain by his side, no matter what. But in the end, he’d talked her into going after pointing out how much easier it would be for just him to get away from anyone the Council might deem to send. The last thing he wanted was to be separated from his family, but he would do anything to protect them. Anything.