Provoked

CHAPTER 21

Amber relaxed in the queen’s quarters, her shoulders settling down as she sank into the plush sofa. The plush, cotton blend of a sofa.

Emma smiled. “Okay. Now I’m going to try to read your mind, so you think of something fun.”

“Can you really read minds?”

“I don’t know. Dage can read minds, and I’m supposed to get his gifts at some point, so maybe I can read your mind. Maybe not. But Kane wants to test your gifts against everyone else’s, so let’s give it a try.”

Amber nodded and thought of an old Star Trek movie.

Emma took a deep breath. “You’re thinking about cows.”

“No.”

“Chickens?”

“No.”

“Ice cream sandwiches?”

“No. I don’t think you can read minds.” Amber bit back a smile at the queen’s disappointed look. “What else you got?”

“I’m psychic.” Emma sounded downright sad about that fact. “And I can only see the future once in a while. My sister, Cara, is an empath, and we’ll have you work with her as soon as she gets home from feline territory. Both Talen and Dage have cleared time on their schedules to work with you later today.”

A knock on the door drew their attention to the exit. Hilde swept inside, her face a pretty pink.

Amber shook her head. How odd to see her grandmother so young.

Emma stood and gestured Hilde to an oversized chair. “Have a seat, Mrs. Freebird.”

“Hilde, sweetheart.” Hilde sat. “I want to have sex.”

Amber jerked her head and started coughing so hard her lungs hurt.

Emma’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Hilde rolled her eyes. “For goodness’ sake, girls. I haven’t had sex in twenty-five years. I want sex.” She smacked Amber’s back several times to stem the coughing.

Emma shook her head. “Um, Mrs. . . . Hilde, you’re, ah, mated. There’s no, um, sex.”

“I know.” Hilde waited until Amber stopped sputtering before sitting back. “Janie was telling me about this new Virus-27 that actually takes away the mating aspect. I want that virus.”

“Oh.” Thoughts scattered across Emma’s face. “Well, the virus does take away the mating aspect, and you, ah, could have sex then. But the virus is still dangerous, and while it’s slow in progression, it still progresses. We don’t know at what point it will lose potency, if at any point.”

“So it could eventually kill anyone who is infected?” Hilde pursed her lips together.

“Yes.” The queen clasped her hands in her lap. “We’ve cured shifters from the virus, but vampire mates and witches are still susceptible. It might take a hundred years for the virus to either kill them or run its course, but we don’t know what will happen. Of course, we plan to find a cure long before then.”

“The risk might be worth it,” Hilde said grimly.

Emma leaned forward and patted Hilde’s hand. “You’re immortal. I know it’s difficult to wait, but let us figure the virus out, and then we can apply the benefits to you.”

Hilde’s jaw set. “Twenty. Five. Years.”

Amber sucked in air. What else could possibly go wrong?

Kane spread the stack of papers over the sofa table, his eyes beginning to ache. He’d turned down the lights in his underground haven as well as engaging the soothing wall waterfall, but sitting on the sofa and hunching over to read was probably stupid. He frowned. There had to be a pattern that showed when the shifter inoculation was doctored. Thick boots sounded in the hallway and caught his attention.

The door opened and Dage moved inside. The rug muffled his heavy steps as he crossed the room and dropped into the oversized chair. “Did you find anything?”

“Not yet. Well, that’s not true.” Kane grabbed two sheets from the far corner of the table. “All infected vials, even those that ended up in feline territory, were held at wolf territory in Montana.”

“So the traitor is a wolf.”

Kane shrugged. “That’s my best guess right now.”

The king leaned over to scan the papers. “I’ll let Talen know. He was going to make Cara and Garrett come home, but if the problem is in wolf territory, they should be fine with Jordan at his ranch.”

Jordan was the leader of the feline nation as well as being a good friend. Kane nodded. “I’d leave them with the felines—somebody needs to keep any eye on those monstrous Pride twins.” He didn’t care that adoration coated his voice. He’d adored Sam and Sid since the two little cubs had been born. “They’re turning four years old soon.” Which reminded him, he needed to go shopping.

“I absolutely can’t figure out why you’re their favorite,” the king grumbled. “You’re no fun.”

“The twins think I’m fun.” Kane smiled. He had every intention of getting them involved in science, so maybe a new microscope set would be a good gift. “Who should I alert about the wolf problem? The Bane’s Council or individual Alpha wolves?”

“Neither.” Dage closed his eyes and settled his head on the chair with a deep sigh. “I studied the data earlier. Does anything stand out?”

Kane had been trying to figure out a way to broach the subject and should’ve known Dage already caught the problem. Every once in a while Kane forgot the rest of his brothers were as smart as he. Almost, anyway. “The Bane’s Council visits coincide with when the vials were probably infected. All seven times—from what I could see.”

“Yeah.” Dage didn’t open his eyes. “And I have what is probably a terrible idea.”

Kane studied the king.

Dage had tied his thick hair at the nape and wore sparring clothes absent any blood, so he hadn’t sparred yet. Dark circles spread under his eyes, and frown lines cut on either side of his mouth. His eyes flipped open, a deep silver lighting his face. “What?”

Kane frowned. “When was the last time you slept?”

“When was the last time you slept?” Dage asked wearily.

“The night before Jase was taken.”

“Me, too.” Dage ran both hands down his dark sweats. “Don’t you want to hear my terrible plan?”

He didn’t need to hear the plan. “You’re going to send in a spy—a wolf shifter—to sniff out the traitor. Maybe somebody the Bane’s Council has requested to appear anyway, and somebody champing at the bit to have a job and help the Realm.” Kane pressed his fingers to his temples, mimicking a psychic. “Let’s see . . . maybe someone named Maggie.”

“You’re hilarious.” Dage stood and paced over to the wall waterfall. “She wants to go. What do you think?”

That every plan they had would backfire as usual. “I think she wants to go, but not because she wants to help the Realm or meet wolves.”

“She wants to help the Realm.”

“Not as badly as she wants to pull one over on Terrent.” Kane shook his head. The little wolf shifter had been waiting for Terrent to retaliate for her kidnapping him years ago, and apparently she was done waiting. Though, Maggie was a sweetheart and probably did want to help the Realm. “I say you let her go.” While the job might be dangerous, Maggie was smart, and wolves protected their own. She’d be protected. Well, from everyone but Terrent.

“She’s never been on a mission, at least that I know of.” Dage stuck a finger in the water of the tinkling fountain.

“Don’t touch that.” Kane rolled his eyes. He mulled over the situation in his mind. Maggie had been kidnapped and experimented on by the Kurjans, resulting in her having no memory of her life before the vampires rescued her. Nobody had come forward to say they knew her anyway. Dage, as usual, felt responsible for everyone. But the king would do what was necessary to protect the Realm, and sending Maggie was necessary. What he needed from Kane was something else. Support. “The right decision is to send her.”

“Thanks.” Dage touched the water again. “Ah, we should probably discuss our other issue.”

“There’s nothing to discuss.”

“Right. I’m going to ask you one more time. Are you sure about Hilde? I mean, about using her for bait?”

Kane shook his head. “No, I’m not sure. But she is sure, and she’s a tough woman—she volunteered.”

“You should tell Amber.”

He’d given Hilde his word that he’d keep Amber safe and in the dark about their plan. What the hell had he been thinking? “I can’t.”

Dage sighed, shaking his head. “Believe me, learn now not to keep important matters from your mate. They get really angry when you do that, and they make your life a living hell. Trust me.”

Kane shook his head. “Amber isn’t my mate.” The stubborn little demon destroyer refused to consider his offer.

“Maybe you didn’t use the right words.”

The right words didn’t really exist as far as Kane was concerned. But he’d started thinking about just seducing her until she wore his mark for eternity. Although, then she’d really make his life a living hell. He sighed.

A speaker crackled in the far corner. Kane concentrated on the device, waiting until Talen’s voice came through. “We have a problem. Meet me in Dage’s private control room.”

Dage sighed. “I’m here—we’ll be there in a minute.” He eyed Kane. “This can’t be good.”

Kane stood, a rock of dread slamming into his gut. “No.”

He followed Dage through the underground labyrinth to a partially hidden door that opened easily. Stalking inside, he found Talen and Max standing near the control chair. A conference table took space over to the right, but nobody sat. Instead, they all stared at a blank screen.

Talen’s face had paled, and his hands shook. He leaned over and punched in a series of codes. “We received this ten minutes ago, and I watched it before calling you.”

“What is it?” Max asked. He settled his stance near the door, always protecting the king’s back. Nobody would ever sneak up on Dage when Max was around.

“You’re about to watch a video showing two things. The first thing is that Jase is alive, and the second is that he won’t be for long.” Talen’s voice cracked on the last. “We intercepted the video on the Web, and the guys upstairs should have a location soon—after you watch, be prepared to go the second we can.”

Kane took a deep breath and opened all his senses, laying himself vulnerable.

Dage turned quickly, his eyes narrowing. “You sure?”

“Yes.” Only the king knew how much opening his senses hurt Kane—not merely emotionally, but every time he tried, his brain waves faltered. The intelligence always returned, but at what cost? Most geniuses turned mad at some point, a fact Kane had long understood. “We need to find Jase.”

The king nodded and turned back to the screen. “Press PLAY.”

Talen hit a button and the image of Jase took shape. Blood cascaded from his nose, eyes, and ears, while shards of bone shone where his skin had flayed open. As someone struck his body with a metal pole, the youngest Kayrs brother smiled. The smile was one Kane had never seen on Jase. Dark and insane.

Kane searched for feelings and thoughts, catching evil from the demons and stubbornness from Jase. While the king no doubt needed reason, as did Talen and Max, Kane had to forgo their needs in an effort to find clues as to Jase’s whereabouts. He got images and thoughts, but nothing concrete, and nothing that made any sense.

The tape played for nearly an hour.

Each hit to Jase’s body had Kane’s body reacting with pain. Each piercing pain to the mind along with every devastating image thrown into Jase’s head had Kane gasping for breath. Yet Kane held on, allowing his mind to be bruised, to be beaten.

When the screen finally went dark, nobody moved.

Talen vibrated in place, raw fury on his face. Dage continued staring at the screen, his expression blank. Max wiped blood off his lip where he’d bitten it.

Kane took in the expressions and emotions around him, adding those to the ones from the torture scene.

He tried to go deeper into his memories, into what he’d felt as his brother was nearly killed. There was so much mental as well as physical pain, it was difficult to sort out.

But one thing remained abundantly clear. Jase had released his hold on reality and seemed pleased to let it go. He was ready to die.

At the final thought, Kane’s mind finally blanked.

Darkness swam across his vision. A neon star exploded behind his eyes. With a low growl, he dropped to the ground, unconscious.