A flush of red painted her cheeks. “Where are they now?”
“Gone on a mission.”
“What mission?”
I smiled. “To hunt you down, of course. We know what you’ve been up to, Selene,” I bluffed.
“Is that so?” Her icy tone promised pain.
I ignored it. “Yup.”
“Are you having fun?”
Not at all. I gripped the armrests to keep my distress from showing on my face. “Yup.”
“Not for long. You have no powers, Yelena. You’re not even wearing a null shield. There is nothing to stop me from taking the information from your mind.”
Except the baby. But I wasn’t going to tell her that. “So why bother with all these questions?”
“I thought I’d give you the option to cooperate.”
“How nice, but would you believe anything I told you?” I paused long enough to see her doubtful expression. “No. So why go through all this? Unless...”
Selene arched a nearly invisible eyebrow.
When she failed to take the bait, I continued. “Unless you’re still terrified of me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re no longer the Soulfinder.”
Had she done something to ensure my fate? We’d thought it was the baby blocking my magic, but it was just a theory. I could have been targeted around the time of conception. Swallowing my alarm, I bluffed, “How do you know my powers haven’t returned?”
“In my experience, once they’re gone, they are gone.” She smiled, showing a row of straight white teeth. “But just in case, I’ll make sure you’re never the Soulfinder again.”
I lunged, grabbing her wrist. “Too late.”
Her goons rushed to her aid, and multiple hands seized me. When I spotted the terror in her eyes, I knew she’d tried to use her magic against me and failed. They broke my grip and shoved me down into the chair.
She rubbed her wrist and stepped back, but then stopped. A cold calculation slid into her gaze. Oh, no.
“That was...interesting. But if you truly had your powers, you wouldn’t need to touch me.” Selene dropped her hands. “Something else is going on. Care to tell me?”
“No.”
“That’s okay. We’ll find out soon enough. Let’s go.” She gestured to the goons bookending me.
They seized my upper arms and hauled me to my feet. I struggled and managed to break free for a second before goon number three stepped in. Pinned between all three of them, I gasped for breath from my exertions.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Yelena. That baby in your belly won’t prevent me from hurting you.”
“That’s because I will prevent you,” Valek said from behind her as his knife appeared at her throat.
Everyone jerked with surprise. I silently cheered. My delay tactics had worked.
“Tell your thugs to unhand my wife,” Valek ordered.
“Do it,” Selene hissed as blood welled under the blade’s sharp edge.
They released me. I smoothed my garments, making a show of it as I scanned the room for Teegan. No sign of him. Good.
“Now tell them to return to the garrison.”
An odd command. The goons looked at each other in confusion. I met Valek’s gaze. He winked at me. Ah.
“Go.” Selene waved them off. “Bring reinforcements.”
“Please do,” Valek said.
Now I was confused, but I trusted my husband.
After the goons left, Valek pushed Selene away. “Let’s talk.”
She touched the cut on her neck, then glanced at her hand. Blood coated her fingertips. “Big mistake.”
“Oh?”
“Owen isn’t the only one who knows how to build a null shield.”
Valek froze with his hands and knife pressed to his side, acting as if trapped. Not sure of my role in this, I dove for my switchblade. Sweeping it up from the floor, I triggered the weapon. The blade shot out with a distinctive snick. Selene faced me.
“I can squeeze the life from him,” she said.
“Not before I stab you.” I advanced.
Fury and frustration creased her beautiful face. She bolted for the door. I moved to give chase, but Valek caught my arm.
“No. Let her go.”
“Why?”
“Because if she and her men went missing, there would be a manhunt.”
“But there’s still going to be a manhunt once they all return to the garrison and report they’ve seen us.”
“Yes, but the Cartel won’t think we’ve gotten information from Selene and change their plans.”
Oh. That was a good point. “It still would have been nice to discover what she knows.”
“Who said we didn’t?” Teegan asked. He stepped from the back room with a huge grin on his face.
“What if she sensed you in her mind?” I asked in alarm.
“Uncle Valek had her quite distracted. Besides, I’m smooth.” He swiped his hand through the air.
Teegan has been spending too much time in Janco’s company. Before I could move, Valek wrapped me in his arms. “Thanks,” I said into his neck. He smelled of the forest.
“Anytime.” He released me and we shared a smile.
“Enough with the kissy face,” Teegan said. “They’ll be back soon.”
Right. “Okay, Mr. Smooth, time to pack up.”
We rushed around and grabbed our belongings and the food. Dashing through the streets of Longleaf, we made quite the sight. Eyewitnesses would report that we’d fled town and disappeared into the forest, heading northwest. In reality, we looped around to the south side of the garrison, but far enough away from the reach of their magicians. We hoped.