She’d gripped his hand tightly the whole time, face ashen, but never commented. After they’d been dropped off, they had hiked the rest of the day, slept that night. Got up and hiked again. While hot, sweaty, and itchy, the trip was uneventful. Scarily so. That should have been his clue that things were about to go tits up.
Getting onto the estate was nerve-racking but surprisingly simple. Daria knew the secret places to hide, the guards’ routine. She knew the best route inside, and that the best time to breach the premises was around two in the morning, when the men on watch were sleepy and complacent from guarding such a remote place where nothing ever happened.
Positioning himself in the shadows beside the French doors of the bedroom where she had stayed as a child, he used a claw to cut the glass. Reached inside and unlocked the bolt. Then he gave her a kiss.
“Be careful,” he mouthed.
“I will.”
And then she was gone. The wait stretched out, interminable.
Daria hunched over, intent on the computer screen, fingers tapping a staccato rhythm on the keys. If her uncle or one of his minions caught them here, in his private study, they would make certain she and Ryon disappeared without a trace. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d gotten away with murder—but these days August didn’t have Gene Bowman to plot with, and the Pack was on to him.
August was going to pay for his part in what he’d done to Ben.
On the heels of that thought, a pair of sad blue eyes haunted her, steeling her resolve. She had resisted Ryon, denied their mating in the beginning, causing them so much grief before she understood—hurting her mate was the same as hurting herself.
She hadn’t believed she had a place in his world. Hadn’t wanted to accept that she had no say in her own life and he had taken that as rejection.
But she would make it up to Ryon now by helping him and his team see this through. And then August, the bastard, would hang. Beaten at his own despicable game.
Even better than a bullet to his brain.
Right. She’d keep telling herself that, and one day the lie might wash.
“Come on, come on . . .”
The annoying security box popped up again, demanding the correct password. Obviously her dad had been wrong about which one would get her inside. They needed her uncle’s medical research notes, his “black book” with the names of his contacts, quantities and dates of massive drug shipments. Drugs that were harmful to shifters, caused addictions of all sorts—and some that created mutant horrors like what Ben had become.
Enough evidence to put August away for good, at her fingertips. And she couldn’t get at it.
Ryon’s urgent voice pushed into her head.
She glanced out the window at the lightening sky and had to resist pounding her fist on the desk in frustration. She needed more time, and they had none left.
Any moment the estate and surrounding compound would stir to life. Disheartened, she removed her thumb drive from the computer.
Voices and heavy footsteps drifted from the far end around the corner, heading her way at a brisk pace. As fast as she dared without making noise, Daria spun in the opposite direction. Thank goodness they weren’t between her and the escape route. Still, she wasn’t out of danger.
She wound her way through the maze of corridors, listening as the estate began to awaken. Tonight they would finish the job if it was the last thing they did. Twenty-four hours from now, the information they needed would be in the hands of the Institute’s lab people, and a cure could be found for Ben and any other humans and shifters who were out there suffering. God, what she wouldn’t give to see the shock on August’s despicable face when he realized what she’d done.
Perhaps she would leave her uncle a taunting note guaranteed to give him an even nastier surprise. With this gratifying thought, she let herself back into the guest room and closed the door, leaning against it to calm her jumping nerves. Shoving back a strand of long black hair that had escaped the confines of her ponytail, she blew out a deep breath.
Then she headed for the French doors. She got halfway across the floor before it hit her.
Something was different.
She froze and listened. Nothing moved. The bedroom appeared empty and yet the atmosphere had thickened like the gathering of a storm, morphing into a very real sense of presence. Menacing. Precise as a laser beam, the feeling centered between her shoulder blades.
The closet?
Too late, Daria planted her feet and tensed, ready to confront the unseen threat. A disturbance in the air fanned against her back and before she could turn, a muscular arm snaked around her middle just under her breasts, jerking her back hard. Her breath left in a rush as she slammed against the unyielding form of a massive body. A familiar body, along with the masculine scent of earth and sweat that made her wolf howl with delight.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Came to get my mate out of here.” Kissing her temple, he grabbed her hand and yanked her toward the French doors. “Let’s go.”
Daria hurried to match his stride as he hauled her out into the morning. He skirted the back of the house, making his way to the most secluded area of the compound, then stopped. Standing still, he listened for a long moment, his eyes narrowed. The morning had lightened enough that she could make out his profile and the concerned frown pulling down the corners of his mouth.
“What’s wrong?”
He held up a hand to shush her. One minute crept by. Two. Daria began to grow impatient and started to tell him so, but he interrupted in the barest whisper.
“What do you see? Hear?”
“Nothing. Why—”
“Shh.”
Complete silence. Even the forest ahead, which should have been coming to noisy life with the chatter of birds, stood mute as if someone had flipped an off switch.
“Ambush,” he breathed, palming his pistol. “
The import of his words hardly had time to register when all hell broke loose. Ryon yanked her around the corner of the house, setting off at a dead run with her in tow as dozens of men with rifles materialized from behind the wall they would’ve scaled. Shouting and cursing, August’s security force opened fire.
Long legs pumping, he ran full out, never letting go of her wrist. Daria stumbled, heart in her throat, as more of August’s goons rounded the opposite side of the house to intercept them. He veered off and cut through the gardens, using the lush greenery as a cover of sorts from the bullets pelting around them.
Panic washed over her. She and her mate possessed special abilities, but even they would stand little chance against dozens of bullets. How had August learned they were here? For now they were forced to abort their mission. But if they survived this crazy scenario, she’d find a way for them to double back and finish what they’d come for.
Ryon hesitated, scanning the wide expanse of cultivated lawn in front of the estate. Surely he didn’t mean to do what it appeared.
He did. The man sprinted across the yard, heading straight for the imposing iron gates at the end of the lawn. Beyond that was nothing but forest. They couldn’t have been more exposed if they’d posted targets on their backs, and there was no time to liberate a copter from her uncle.
They skidded to a halt at the gates next to the keypad, and he thrust her toward the panel.
“Do you know the code?”
