“Crazy woman,” Noah murmured before kissing her. “Inside. It’s turned winter out here.”
“I was waiting and waiting,” she complained, shaking like a kitten and spinning to stare at them both. “Well? What happened?” She looked him over, searching for any signs that he had been hurt.
Noah couldn’t remember the last time he felt not only speechless but helpless. He didn’t know how she’d react. He could guess, but their mate wasn’t exactly predictable.
“You’re stalling,” she said quietly. “That means it’s not a good thing.”
“I’m not stalling. This isn’t…” he shrugged out of his jacket and used the distraction to hang it in the closet.
“Sullivan Moore was there,” Wade said quietly, grabbing up one of Danea’s hands and tugging until she was near the sofa. “Sit down. You’re wearing me out.”
“Brea’s grand-father?” She looked from one to the other, her gaze remaining on Noah as she scrunched into the corner of the sofa. She brought her knees up, put her feet to the edge and wrapped her arms around her knees. She rested her chin on the tops. “Because the guy was a demon. And the guy in the trunk?”
“Dead,” Noah responded without thinking. He sighed and walked to the chair across from them, sitting on the edge and leaning his elbows out on his thighs. “Some…group…some people…are abducting women. No one knows the why reason yet,” he added quickly when her mouth opened. “All we were able to find out is that there is a group offering a reward for females with new mates.”
“I spoke to Seth on the drive home,” Wade said into the silence. “He’s sent communique’s out to every law enforcement agency in the country and internationally. Any missing person’s case is to be revisited if the female is less than forty.”
Danea looked from one to the other, blinking and watching them.
“They’re looking for breeders,” she said quietly.
“No one said a damn thing about…” Noah slammed his mouth closed when she laughed.
“You think I don’t know how to connect dots? I’m not stupid, Noah. You might not know why, and I believe you…but the logic is there. So that explains the sedative in the arrow. I was supposed to go to sleep and wake up somewhere else.” She nodded slowly. “The best thing is alerting people…so making everyone aware is a good start.”
Noah and Wade exchanged looks when she pushed herself to her feet and went into the kitchen.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” she called out, the sounds of cabinets opening, silver clanging and plates being stacked reaching into the living area. Since neither of you put anything on the paper telling me what you didn’t like, I’m cooking for me and you’ll just have to suck it up or make a sandwich,” she announced, beaming a bright smile at them as she laid out the table. “Did Wade tell you I’ve adjusted my hours so I can get home about three-thirty. I’ve decided I really love cooking in this kitchen and even dusted off some cook books I’d bought a while back. It’s much nicer cooking for more than yourself.”
Noah wasn’t sure where the next few hours went. At one point, he was stretched out on the sofa with his paperback and Wade was at the computer, making notes on a sheet of paper.
“I can’t get back into the book,” he finally said, slamming it down on his stomach and rubbing both palms over his face.
“I know the feeling,” Wade shut down the windows he’d been staring at. “I spent the last hour reading and can’t remember a thing. How do we get her back in the moment? We have to talk about this.”
“Wait here,” Noah said flatly, heading down the first floor hall to the empty bedroom where she’d been leaving her things that she wanted to sort through to find places for inside the house. His boots hammered on the hardwood flooring seconds later. “I’ll look upstairs. You check the back rooms,” he ordered, taking off at a run and climbing the stairs two at a time.
“How did she get out without us knowing?” Wade came from the northern side of the house shaking his head. He went and pulled a coat from the closet, tossing Noah’s jacket to him. He snatched his keys from the counter. “Do we have a clue where to look? Is anything missing up there?”
Noah stopped at the door, stepping onto the porch and glaring into the rain. Her car was gone.
“Nothing missing. Her pack and all are still there,” he pulled his phone out and tapping in a number as they ran to the SUV. “Where the hell are you?”
Wade sighed and started the SUV.
“Noah…I left a note on the fridge for you both.”
“Where are you, Danea?”
“I have to talk to my father. I’ll be home in a little while, I promise you,” she said quickly.
“She fucking hung up on me,” Noah slammed his phone onto the dash. “Head to the casino. She’s going to talk to her father…and she didn’t say why.”
“Her father has seven other daughters, Noah,” Wade said after a lengthy pause.
“She’s worried about her sisters?” Noah’s face lost a little of the glare. “She said she left a note on the fridge. Why the hell didn’t she just ask us to take her there?”
“Because she’s accustomed to handling her problems on her own,” Wade guessed with a half shrug. “Until we ask, we won’t know. I’m more interested in how she got out without us knowing.”
“Fuck. We can’t keep her a prisoner,” he pushed a long shaky breath between his lips. “But we do need some understanding. No more notes.”
“If this is our reaction, can you blame her for not talking to us?”
“This learning curve is crap,” Noah said flatly, finally chuckling when Wade laughed. “It seems she has us figured out…”
“Now we just have to work our end,” Wade eased the SUV into the line of Thursday night traffic around the casino. It was the largest on this end of the coast and always busy with shows of all types along with three different restaurants and the huge floors of gambling. “Do you think you’ll be able to find her?”
“I don’t know. With this many people, it sure as hell doesn’t make it easy,” he stepped from the SUV and began the walk with Wade toward the several wide open doors. They hurried through the rain that had finally lightened up and Noah found a place off to the side and tried to focus his wolf on Danea.
“Registration in the hotel,” Wade suggested. “You’re the sheriff,” he pointed out with a shrug.
“Something about our mate sends logical thought out of my head,” Noah admitted with a shake of his head.
Wade kept the smile on his face as they changed direction and went to the main desk. “The only name I have is Daqonet. No idea if it’s first or last.”
“No…but I bet he knows,” Noah took a slight swerve at the sight of the well-dressed man striding across the lobby. “He looks like he’s headed someplace in a hurry.”
“If Danea is involved…I get the impression that she doesn’t like her father attempting to control her actions,” Wade followed along, his palm up on Noah’s arm. “And I’ll be damned if her father doesn’t look just a little pale.”
“She’s pacing…not a good sign,” Noah chuckled, relieved that she was within their sight.
“Are you in need of rescuing, Daqonet?” Matthew had his hands raised, about to grip Danea’s shoulders when his wrists were gripped on either side of him. His head jerked from side to side, his muscles tensing beneath the fine cut of his suit.
Noah watched their presence register, Danea’s eyes wider than he’d ever seen them before. “We’re going to have a nice long talk, mate,” he said simply, his fingers tightening around Matthew’s wrist. He nodded at Wade and both of them lowered the man’s arms to his side. “She belongs to us now and if you touch her, it won’t be pleasant.”
“No fighting,” Danea said after clearing her throat a few times. “Please. My father and I were just discussing…circumstances…”
“I am collecting my children and returning home,” the older man looked at Noah and Wade with a shake of his head
. “You have no idea what you’ve involved yourself with, gentlemen. She’s worse than a shark once she gets a notion in her head. Goodbye, daughter,” he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Be kind to your mates.”
Danea rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure they don’t need your pity.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a nice long discussion on your disappearing out of the house,” Noah commented dryly, releasing Matthew and watching him stiffly stride after her father.
“How’d you get out without us knowing, Danea?” Wade asked calmly, taking one of her hands and walking toward the main entrance.
“And what the hell was so vital that you couldn’t ask us to bring you out here?”
Danea winced and slipped her fingers free of Wade’s palm, shoving both her hands into the pockets of her jacket.
“I have sisters…”
“We realize that, but you could have asked and we would have understood,” Wade told her.
“I’m not used to having to ask for permission to do things,” she said with the tiniest hint of defiance.
“And you’re used to sneaking out? That seems more normal to you?” Noah shook his head.
“I left you a note,” she said firmly. “Alright, sneaking is…it’s not quite right…but I wanted to handle this on my own. I wanted to make sure he took me seriously,” she looked over her shoulder at the corridor they’d left. “And there was another…small problem…”
A small problem?” Noah wasn’t sure why, but he really didn’t like the sound of that.
“My sister called me…well, one of them called me…” she cleared her throat a couple more times. “I’m not sure she’s returning with him.”
“And you had to choose a side…” Wade said very cautiously.
Three sets of feet came to an abrupt stop when the burst of obviously feminine Russian filled the air. Danea looked over her shoulder and closed her eyes. Her sister was the third from the eldest. She was tall and curved, with long deep brown hair and full tempting lips.
And the mouth of a sailor too long aboard ship.
Danea turned all the way and took a couple steps forward, her hands up and stopping the younger woman in her tracks.
“Stop or they’ll arrest you,” she met the dark eyes with a firmly set mouth. When silence prevailed, she nodded. “Okay. Father didn’t take it well?”
“He is fine. My things are in the car outside and I have a room in a motel in the town where you live,” she smiled and looked from one man to the other. “You have handsome mates. How do you tolerate them?”
“Kiska!” Danea hissed with a tiny hint of heat striking her cheeks.
“Yes, yes, I know…manners…” She blew a puff of breath between her lips upward, sending the rampant strands of chocolate from her eyes. “I have been exploring your town and have decided what I am going to do here. Do not worry, big sister, I will behave, I promise you. I shall call you when I have settled. We will have lunch,” she promised and walked off toward one of the exits.
“Oh, lord…” Danea closed her eyes.
“She certainly makes an impression,” Wade remarked once the air around them stilled.
“She isn’t a hybrid,” Danea said with a little shrug. She sighed and looked a hand in each of their arms. “Her mother is Russian. There’s a little island off the northern coast of Russia in the Barents Sea and that’s where she’s from.”
“I thought your father raised them?”
“It’s a little complicated,” she murmured. “A bit like custody is shared and my father is very easy to get around. Only lately, he’s finally decided to relax and not worry about his territory and my other sisters are very good at managing him.”
“Let’s go back to how you managed to leave the house without us knowing,” Noah came to a stop beside her car.
“A girl’s gotta have a few secrets…never know when I might need an escape hatch,” she grinned up at them, quickly going to her toes and kissing each one. “I’ll go straight home, I promise.”
“Why do I get the feeling we’re losing control?” Noah shook his head and continued on to the SUV.
“Why do you believe we ever had control?” Wade asked with a laugh, the immense relief flowing through him wiping any other concerns from his mind.
“I’ll find out how she’s getting out of the house without the alarms being tripped,” Noah said with a low growl. “I’m not about to be beat by a mermaid.”
“I’ll leave the detecting to you. I’m sure we’ll figure it out eventually. In the meantime,” Wade shrugged and started the SUV. “She’s happy. The idiots that hurt her have been handled and we can settle into a nice relatively peaceful life.”
“You worry me,” Noah taunted, snapping his belt into place.
“Yeah, well, I’m not quite as primal as you are.”
“You might have our mate fooled with the professor thing, but I know what the Fae are capable of…especially if their mate is threatened.”
Wade only smiled and drove them home, the house was lighted up and the front door open to them when they arrived. The smile faded when he saw the outline just inside the door. His hand came up on Noah’s arm, anger mingled with fear. He could feel Danea’s terror.
“She’s not alone,” Wade nodded to the windows and the silhouettes shadowed there.
“Female,” Noah said softly, catching the look on Wade’s face. “Your student?” He took a long, slow breath. “Danea’s in there and she’s afraid.”
“I believe so…and we can both feel that now that she’s ours,” Wade moved quietly from the car, the pair of them walking to the porch and stopping. “It would make sense, given the intelligence of the one you took to your jail. Can you sense what she is?”
“I get nothing but human…but we know how accurate that is,” Noah climbed the stairs and came to a stop when he had a direct line of sight to the woman holding Danea against her. One arm was wrapped tightly around her throat while the other held a very wicked looking blade beneath Danea’s breast.
“Come inside, gentlemen, and please don’t try anything. She’s no good to me dead,” Jessica Bently urged with exaggerated politeness. “Behave and she doesn’t get harmed. We’re going to leave and you’re going to stay here. It’s that simple.”
“You honestly don’t think we’ll let you take her,” Noah said calmly, his gaze on the bright, dark eyes swimming with tears. “It’ll be alright, babe.”
“How touching,” Jessica sneered with a taunting laugh.
“I’m sorry…” Danea whispered. “I didn’t see her outside.”
“So you were running the demons…” Wade commented.
“If you had ever spoken to them, you’d know the answer to that one,” the blonde said flatly. “But they were so gullible and ever so malleable. Most men can be easily manipulated with the right incentive,” she looked Wade up and down. “You disappointed me, Professor. I was positive you’d take the bait.”
“Even without Danea in the picture, Miss Bently, there is nothing about you that appeals to me,” Wade said, his words dry and caustic.
“Aww...now you’re hurting my feelings,” she taunted with a biting laugh, her gaze flitting from one male to the other. She looked at Danea’s profile. “You know it had nothing to do with them. The ego involved always makes males believe it’s about them, but I knew you were viable long before they entered the picture.”
“Why?” Danea whispered. “How could you…”
“All I needed was a little of your DNA. Their researchers have a serum that I drop a bit of it over your skin or hair and it tells me if you’re what they’re looking for,” she boasted with a chuckle.
“You broke into my apartment! When I first bought the building.”
“And your hairbrush gave me just what I needed,” Jessica Bently shrugged. “Step around to the kitchen, please. We’re going to leave.”
“Who wants her?” Noah pressed.
“It really doesn’t mat
ter if it’s her or the girl down the street. If they show signs of being capable of mating with one of the nature creatures, she’s a valuable commodity. Most of them are easy to find and easier to take,” she boasted, sidling with Danea toward the door.
“And you trust this person to pay you?” Noah continued, racking his brain for more questions to stall her. He could feel the power floating around Wade and knew it would only be a few seconds. If that.
“How do you think I support myself? College to college…easiest hunting I’ve ever done,” she kept her gaze flitting between the two men. “Once she took up with you, sheriff, I knew it would be easy pickings. I just never thought the professor had it in him…a ménage…who knew…and the mousy little daycare teacher…”
Noah shifted his gaze to Danea, wiling her to trust them. Holding his wolf inside was one of the hardest things he’d ever been forced to do. He could feel the edge of Wade’s power just touching the blonde holding her captive. Her face contorted, twisted with pain and the blade fell to the floor at the same time Danea stumbled forward and into his arms.
Jessica gripped the sides of her head and fell to her knees, holding the position for a long minute before she slipped unconscious to the floor.
Noah caught Danea against him, his hands wrapped around her body while Wade stepped forward, one palm up and stroking gently over her head, reassuring themselves that she was alright.
“Okay?” Wade asked softly, accepting her nod before stepping over to pick up the blade and throw it tip first so it landed in one of the beams across the ceiling.
“What’d you do to her?” Noah asked, walking Danea to sit on the sofa.
“She’ll confess to the attack on Danea,” Wade said quietly, striding to his desk and writing across a pad before throwing the pen down. “I picked the names of the three other women she kidnapped. And an address in Montreal where she took them. I’ll get that information to Seth and let the Institute handle it.”
Newport/Aftport #2: Danea Page 23