Night bled into the last seconds of daylight as Kate watched the four members of the Impure Resistance try once again to break into Cruen's mental communication link. Gray, Piper, Rio, and Vincent had managed this feat with the Order not long ago, using their combined mental gifts to hack into the ten vampires' telepathic mainframe to gain information. But for some reason, Cruen was proving a difficult subject.
They'd been at it for hours, first inside their compound, then on the beach near the water. The newly constructed Impure credenti was situated near the Atlantic Ocean and housed not just the Resistance members, but Impures who wanted to gain leadership roles within the new vampire ruling structure.
Kate hadn't come looking for a new home, but to find and bring her fostered balas back home, where he belonged.
"I'm sorry." Gray glanced over his shoulder, his eyes pale steel under the light of the moon. The leader of the Resistance, and Sara's brother, stood shoulder to shoulder in a tight circle with his allies. "We can't locate him. We hear rumblings, static, like someone talking on a cell phone, but locking on isn't possible."
Vincent, the dark-skinned Impure who was all broad shoulders and masculine swagger, gave her a grim smile. "We'll try again, veana."
"Absolutely," Gray confirmed. "This continued and dangerous break with sanity will not go unchallenged."
"To take a balas," said Piper caustically. The third member of the Resistance opened her eyes and sighed. "He is a true monster."
"We shouldn't be surprised. He has committed atrocities for ages," Riordan James added, his dark, narrowed gaze hitting each of them in turn. He moved out of the circle with the natural grace of a military killer. "Another sin to add to the list. Another sin we will be sure to remind him of when we strip him of skin and make him scream."
A wave of grief moved over Kate, and she turned away from the group and walked down to the water's edge. She understood Rio's violent words. She felt them herself. But the idea of making Cruen pay didn't soothe her. It only made her fearful, made her miss Ladd more. Made her desperate to have the balas safely back in her arms.
The gentle waves licked at her bare feet, the cold water making her shiver.
"I met a very insistent Nicholas Roman at the gate."
She turned to see Dillon, Gray's Pureblood mate and the first mutore she had ever met, come to stand beside her. The newest member of the Order shrugged with feline grace. "I wasn't in a position to stop him. You know pavens and their mates. Even with my jaguar out and growling, your true mate would not be denied access."
"Damn right." Nicholas moved to the other side of Kate and took her hand.
Though his palm felt good against her own, safe and warm, Kate pushed back against the feeling of being cared for.
"If you've come to take me home . . ." she began coolly. She wasn't ready to leave. She'd already met with two of her acquaintances from Mondrar, paid them well to dig, find out anything they could from within their circle. Now she would remain here, watch as the Resistance attempted once again to find Cruen. And again. However long it took.
"We're not going home, veana." Nicholas lifted her hand and kissed it, his eyes locking on to hers. "We're going to see Erion."
Kate gasped, hope surging as she rounded on her mate. "Did he find Ladd? Does he have him?"
The light in Nicholas's eyes dimmed as he took her other hand. "Not yet. But I think he knows something he's not telling us. I want to find out what that is." He lifted one dark eyebrow. "You in?"
Kate tried not to feel the heaviness of disappointment, the unending scratches of fear on her unbeating heart. Nicholas was trying so hard to help her, to help Ladd-they all were. And maybe Erion did know something. He'd been so secretive.
But leaving the Resistance. Would they continue? Would they push as hard to get through Cruen's impressive mental bindings if she wasn't there standing over them?
"We'll keep trying, Kate," Gray said behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder to find Gray once again shoulder to shoulder in a tight circle with the members of the Resistance. She'd forgotten the brave Impure male could hear the thoughts of all but his true mate.
"Promise?" she said, looking at each one of them in turn.
Rio clipped a nod; Vincent and Piper too.
"Every hour," Gray said, then turned to Dillon and smiled gently. "And my kitty cat here will return to the Order and dig deep while we do."
Dillon growled and flashed her jaguar. "They all fear my beast. I will put it to good use."
Though she felt less than confident about leaving, Kate nodded, then wrapped her arms around Nicholas and whispered, "Let's go."
Cruen stood on the balcony overlooking the desert and attempted to access his balance, his power, but he had nothing in reserve. The male who stood beside him, who had entered the compound in a flurry of green robes and overt condescension, was in his most human form, but that didn't fool Cruen into thinking the male was weak. Cruen knew what this male was, what he was capable of when he was angry or felt betrayed, thwarted, or threatened.
Or when his daughter was missing.
"She never arrived, Abbadon." He despised the curl of fear in his own voice.
"Unfortunate." The Demon King spoke with deadly calm.
"This is not my doing," Cruen said, turning his head but not looking directly into Abbadon's eyes. He knew what lurked there, knew it could make even the bravest of males lose their bowel functions.
"And what have you done to recover her, Cruen?"
"I have searched, both in my mind and on foot." He spoke too quickly.
Abbadon glanced around himself with an expression of false confusion. "Yet she is not here."
"I will get her back," Cruen ground out.
The Demon King made a soft grunt, like someone who was applying little effort in cutting off the airway of an enemy. "You know where she is?"
Sudden exhaustion blanketed Cruen and he gripped the railing. "I know who has her." What an unfortunate turn of events. Not at all what Cruen had planned, had hoped for. Erion had better come through, or it was going to be a bloodbath for all.
Abbadon's inhuman snarl slapped him out of his reverie. "You know where my daughter is, and yet you are still standing here." The male ran his forked tongue over his dry lips. "Perhaps I have chosen foolishly. Perhaps you are not the one who will bring about my heir, my foothold on this Earth."
"I am the one," Cruen said with as much aplomb as he could manage.
Abbadon's nostrils flared. "I wish to all that is evil that I could create this child myself, that my bitch of a mate hadn't tricked me with her pleasing tongue and rendered me vacant of seed."
"Truly, there is no one more fit for this task than I. But . . ."
That last word had Abbadon changing, growing, morphing into his most demonic state.
There was nothing Cruen could do about it, nowhere he could go. He couldn't flash, which meant he couldn't get to Erion. His gaze traveled the length of the scaly, red-faced, and terrifying Demon King.
"I regret to say I need your assistance. Again."
Nervous energy rolled through Hellen as she stepped inside the furnishings shop that would soon contain her fiance. She wasn't afraid of Cruen, of seeing him and binding herself to him-no, that she counted on, that she was glad for, because it would bring her the draft and it would save her sisters from a future of handpicked males and hell-born children. What made her nervous was her appearance. She was bathed, combed and presentable, but dressed in new, modern clothing that Erion had procured for her. They were similar to his own jeans and sweater though tighter fitting.
Will Cruen accept me this way? she wondered. Question why I no longer wear my wedding gown? She couldn't afford to have him reject her.
Erion stalked forward, leaving her near a mustard-colored chaise. The male had barely glanced her way since the bathtub incident. Not to give her the clothes, not even when he'd escorted her here. His eyes refused to connect. It was clear he hated her for deceiving him, for making a fool out of him. And she didn't blame him.
She watched him move to the counter, inspect a few items, then slam his hand down on a small brass bell. He'd thought she'd used him just to ease the continual heat that raged inside her. She reached out and touched the top of the chaise, so cool under her hand. Maybe she had, but not in the way he was thinking. Not as a power play, not to shame him for wanting her. She'd manipulated him slightly because she'd wanted his touch-believed that he wouldn't give in to what they both desired without that ruse regarding the water. The truth was that she was inexplicably attracted to him, had been from the first moment he'd touched her. She couldn't help herself, her mind, from wondering what it would feel like to belong to such a male as this one. Brutally handsome, savagely loyal, with a touch that burned and cooled and soothed and possessed.
But she would never know. Beyond one moment of sexual bliss. She was destined for Cruen. She was destined for a life without love, without true passion, heat, fire, or lust. Erion was appalled and offended by what she had done, but, truly, could she be faulted for constructing a moment where she got to experience all those glorious feelings at once?
"You're late."
Hellen heard the voice before she saw the male it belonged to. The curtain behind Erion rustled, and a strange man appeared. He was short and meek, but he didn't seem human. Although he certainly didn't come across as vampire either.
"Where is he, Raine?" Erion said, his tone thick with impatience. "I'm more than ready to return this package to its rightful owner."
When the strange male glanced her way, Hellen tried not to show her melancholy at Erion's words and frigid tone. Frankly, it was better that he treated her like the ashes of the Underworld. If he didn't, if he showed her his care again, his demon side, or his untamed desire in those rare diamond eyes, it would be harder to walk away and do what must be done.
"I don't know," the male told Erion. "He should be here by now."
"That paven can never be trusted." Erion turned those diamond eyes on Hellen, and they were hard as stone. "You two will make a perfect mating."
Hellen nodded and forced out the words, "I think so."
The strange male was looking her over as if he were assessing Cruen's choice, his words overpowering Erion's low growl. "So, you are his intended."
"Yes."
"If he shows," Erion said with a grunt.
"He must." Hellen said the words quietly, almost to herself.
"If he doesn't, he will pay dearly," Erion said, his eyes narrowing on her. "He will wish himself dead."
Hellen shivered, both from fear that Cruen would not come and from the look of the demon male before her. How would she forget such a face, such intensity, such power? Her own demon cried to get at him.
Gods, she needed her draft.
A flash outside the door to the shop drew everyone's attention. Hellen's chest constricted and painful pinpricks of nervous energy rushed through her. Erion practically flew past her for the door, his hand wrapping around the handle with unmasked aggression.
Hellen wet her lips.
This was it.
Her gaze searched the space for the one thing-the one person-she was looking for. But it wasn't Cruen who walked inside the shop.
"Hellen!"
"Levia!"
Hellen ran to her sister, but Erion stopped her seconds before they could embrace.
"Who are you?" Erion demanded of Levia, his grip tight on Hellen's ribcage. "Where is Cruen?"
Hellen growled at him, beat at his arm with her fists. "Leave her alone. She's my sister. Can't you see she's scared? Damn it. Let me go, demon!"
At that, Levia, who was all beauty and innocence, looked up at Erion with wide eyes. "Demon?" she repeated before turning her curious gaze back on her sister.
With a frustrated grunt, Erion loosened his grip on Hellen and she pushed past him, diving into her sister's arms.
"What's wrong?" she demanded, looking the female over, every inch of her lovely face. "Why are you here?"
It was with this question that the mood inside the dusty shop turned from relief and quick happiness to deep unease.
"I was sent," Levia told her, releasing Hellen and regarding her with fearful eyes. "Oh, Hellen. It's awful. Father came. He was very angry when he found you gone. Cruen told him everything. He had no choice."
A deadly growl echoed through the shop.
Everyone turned to stare at Erion. He looked ready to attack anything that moved his way. His eyes were a soulless black, and his fangs dropped below his bottom lip.
"Where. Is. The. Balas?"
Levia's eyes filled with tears and her voice trembled as she spoke. "Our father took him-him and Cruen."
The sound that ripped from Erion's throat was something that could come only from a demon-and a very dangerous demon at that.
Hellen watched in horror as he whirled inward, flexing his hands. Long, sharp nails shot out of the tips, and in under a breath, he ripped apart the ancient couch to his right.
Levia gasped, and Hellen pushed her away, back toward the door. "What is it?" Hellen whispered to her sister. "What is a balas?"
Before Levia could answer, Erion rounded on them, his demon fully emerged. "Where did he take them?"
Levia shook uncontrollably, and Hellen hated him for scaring her like this. It wasn't Levia's doing. It was Abbadon's. The male was cruel and vile and deserved to know what true torture and pain felt like.
But now wasn't the time to wish it upon him. If she didn't help Erion, who was acting terrifyingly unreachable and irrational, she would be risking her sister's safety.
"Where are they, Levia?" she asked her sister gently.
The young demon licked her lips, looking as though she wanted to cry. "Our father has taken them home."
"My balas is in the Underworld?" Erion raged, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
"Yes," Levia uttered on a cry.
Hellen faced him, blocked her sister from his snarl. "What is this thing you deem so valuable?" she demanded. "This . . . balas?"
"A child," Levia answered.
Hellen gasped. No. Gods, no. It wasn't possible. Why would Cruen take a-? Her eyes snapped up to lock with Erion's.
"The balas is . . ." she began.
"My child," he told her.
Wave upon wave of despair rushed at her from his gaze, and for the first time since they'd met, Hellen saw what he had been masking all along under the guise of anger, lust, fear, and frustration.
The crippling pain of a missing child.