Attor pulled his black T-shirt over his head as he rounded the corner into the common area for him and his brothers to meet. Sitting on the sofa was Taryn, positioned perfectly in the corner, so the first thing he saw was her. Taryn had tucked her legs under her butt, and she was lost in reading some papers. They were scattered around her on the sofa and the coffee table. A sheet of paper in her hands was shaking like a leaf caught in a strong Autumn breeze. As Attor walked silently forward, he could see tears running down her cheeks.

What’s she reading? he half asked himself when the answer popped through. Fuuuck, he yelled at himself. They were the research papers Wyvern had left from last night, and she was presently reading all the research they had gathered on her. Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fucker… fuck. Seeing tears roll over the curve of Taryn’s cheekbone and fall on to a heart that was obviously in pain, caused him a physical agony of which he had never experienced before. His brain had shut down to limited vocabulary as it repeated the same f-word over and over.

Taryn’s eyes lifted to his, the wetness glistening like acid burning scars into his heart, sapphire colored eyes wept as her chest throbbed with a surge of fresh torment.

Attor fell heavily to his knees, his body crumbling in defeat. Coal colored fingers of a torturous betrayal, seizing his heart, squeezing until it felt like at any moment it would rupture with irreparable damage.

Taryn’s body hitched with a partial laugh. “You almost had me, Attor, you and your sexy as fuck eyes almost had me convinced that you were one of the good guys.”

“I have never lied to you.” His words were low, his head still tilted toward the floor at her feet.

Taryn’s silence sliced through him like a red-hot sword of judgment, having gone straight past the arrest, trial, and headed directly to the annihilation of his soul.

“That’s funny…” When she finally spoke her voice was so calm. Attor normally liked calm, but right now? It made him increasingly nervous. “These?” She lifted the paper in her hand. “Would tell a different story.”

“I can explain…” Attor started to say as he lifted his head to meet her eyes, instantly wishing he hadn’t. He thought he’d seen her look of disgust and hate already, but this look? Pain. A haunted look of a breaking heart threatened to crush him. The way her eyes locked on to him, it sent ice-cold shards up, shooting like daggers into his already aching chest. He could feel the chill traveling around his body as the self-destruction button was punched with such force it nearly pushed him back into the wall.

“I want to go…” she interrupted him. “Now.”

“I can’t let you—” Attor started to say when she exploded.

Jumping to her feet, she screamed. “I want to go home. Now.” Stalking over to him, she looked down, towering over this huge man as he sat bent and broken on the stone floor. Through gritted teeth, she said, “You will get off your spineless, weak, ass, Attor. You will give me one of those bubble things, and swim me to the bay. At which point, you will let me go, and never speak to me again.”

“Taryn,” Attor said. “I can’t do—”

Taryn lowered her face to align her lips to his ear, as she whispered, “Don’t back me into a corner, Attor.” Her breathing increased as she struggled to keep control. “I have killed bigger than you before, don’t make me prove it.”

Twelve words were all it took for Attor’s chest to implode. He was trying his hardest to protect his mate, and she would kill him for doing so. The fracture in Attor’s psyche was so great, he had barely registered V walking into the room.

“There’s no need for a life to be taken, Taryn.” Volos walked over, he had been standing in the shadows. Giving them a chance to work through it, but with her clear threat against his brother’s life, well, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. V could see Attor was emotionally spent. So he stepped forward and did what a good leader is required to do. Protect his clan.

Taryn’s head flicked up to Volos. “I just want to go,” she said as she straightened up. “I am not asking.” She added, “I want to go.”

V nodded. “I understand.” He thought for a few seconds. “Can I ask a favor of you?”

“You’re fucking kidding, right?” Taryn said, dumbfounded by the fact this man who had aided in her kidnapping would have the audacity to ask a favor of her.

“I don’t kid,” V retorted calmly. “Thing is, I need some help with Payton.” V’s head was making this up as fast as he could manage. A bazillion ideas rushing through his brain as he attempted to pull out the one that seemed most viable.

“Payton?” Taryn’s body language completely changed at the mention of her friend. When they had spoken last night, Payton had told of how she ended up here. A similar story of kidnapping, holding against her will, in a cell no less. The two of them formed a sisterhood of sorts, a shared trauma will do that.

“Payton,” V said as he looked at Attor. He had managed to get himself off the floor and was now standing silently against the wall. His face void of any emotional connection to the world right now. So V continued with his plan, “Yes, Pay, okay…” He nodded. Come on brain, catch up. Don’t let me down now, he cheered himself on. Walking over to the desk where Vern usually worked, he pulled out a gold credit card, he tapped it on the wood of the desk as he cemented his thoughts.

Money was a human commodity, one that humans prized more than their own lives at times. To the clan, it was nothing, because the clan lived together as one. What one had, they all had. No one went hungry, cold, or without shelter. Thing was, as with most clans, they had human jobs in order to exist in a world without being seen for who they truly were. So, money was accumulated in mammoth amounts and stored for when it was needed. Their clan alone had forty-nine different bank accounts around the world. Specialized clan members balanced and worked out the finer details. V just knew that if they needed expenses, then they would use a gold card and it was sorted.

“I am being called away on urgent business, and with the latest…” he shrugged, “… goings on in her apartment.” V didn’t want to say it was Taryn’s fault, but well… it was. Walking back toward her, his head turned to his mate walking in as if right on cue. “Payton,” he exhaled with relief.

“Volos.” She laughed as she repeated his name to him. Looking at the wall where Attor still stood, frozen in time, she rubbed her eyebrow as she turned back to V and Taryn who stood on opposite sides of the sofa. A quick glance at the scattered papers of research over the table and floor filled her in on the fact that shit had hit the fan, and Attor had come off second best in the battle.

“Last night you spoke of your nervousness to return to your apartment.” V widened his eyes slightly, a minuscule plead for her to blindly follow his lead.

“Well…” Payton ran her hand through her messy morning hair. “I did expect my fear to be kept between just us, but now you want to openly declare your mate’s weaknesses… sure, I am worried about it. Yes.” Payton would follow her mate to the ends of the earth, sighted or blind. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be overly dramatic about it if she wanted to.

“Yes…” V stuttered. “Sorry…” He swallowed. “I have a solution. And Taryn has offered to help me.”

“She has?” Payton looked at her friend in surprise.

“I have?” Taryn’s bewilderment clearly written on her face.

“Yes, she has. You have.” V grinned as his plan formulated in a devilishly brilliant way. Thanks to Jo’s advice last night, he knew exactly how to get these two to do what he needed them to, without detriment to the clan or themselves.

“I have booked a hotel room for you both. A few nights of luxury are exactly what the dragon ordered,” V said proudly.

“Ohhh…” Payton smiled brightly. “Luxury you say? Like, how luxurious are we talking?” If Payton was going to play along, it was going to cost her mate.

V chuckled at his mate’s cheekiness. He made a mental note to punish her later with a thousand orgasms. “Complete and total luxury, like you’ve never seen before. Thing is, Payton, I wouldn’t want you to go by yourself. I am, as you know, busy with business right now. So, I asked Taryn to go with you. She has reluctantly agreed to join you in a few days of complete and thorough pampering from head to toe.”

Taryn was silent as she watched Payton ask, “Where is this ‘so-called’ pampering getaway?” Her head tilted slightly. “You know I’ll try every pampering service they offer, right?”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, my love.” V smiled lovingly.

“What’s happening, V?” Wyvern walked in, his eyes flickered over his statuesque brother and the females.

“Vern, perfect,” V said. “What is the best hotel in Tokyo?”

“Oh, um…” He thought briefly. “Ritz Carlton. One of the top ten rated hotels in the world.”

“Excellent. Can you call them and see if they have the Presidential Suite vacant?” V said with a smile. He saw Vern pause and added, “Now, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.” Wyvern grabbed his cell and used Google to locate and call the desired hotel.

“Ohhh…” Payton’s eyes went wide with excitement. “The Ritz.” Turning to Taryn, she giggled with the glee of a small child at Christmas. “Have you ever been?” Taryn shook her head. “Me either.” She giggled again. “We’re going to have the most amazing time, ever.” She stopped in her thoughts. “V…” She turned to him, his eyes meeting hers with expectation as she continued with her question, “This getaway includes Kylee, correct?”

Volos thought before answering, “That would depend on Taryn’s ability to keep our secret.”

Both Volos and Payton turned in unison to look at Taryn.

“I guess…” Taryn agreed. She was reluctant to further any contact with these people at all. However, this appeared to be the only way out of this underwater dungeon. She needed some time to work out where she was going to go anyway. A few days of pampering at an expensive hotel didn’t sound entirely horrible. Kylee being included gave her a sense of comfort. There would be no wings when she was around.

Payton clapped her hands with euphoria as she bounced eagerly on the spot.

“Presidential Suite is booked, V,” Wyvern said as he placed his hand over the speaker to his phone. “They have the Ritz-Carlton Deluxe Suite available, though. It's on the same floor. The fifty-third, and according to this overtly chipper receptionist, is bigger and better than the Presidential anyway.”

Payton giggled with glee as Volos laughed at how much joy this was bringing her. If he had known this simple act would make her this happy, he would have done it earlier. “Book it,” he said to Vern. “For three adults. Book for three nights, but with the understanding, if we need it extended it will be done.”

Vern went back to discussions with the woman at the other end of the phone when he stopped and covered the phone again. “Three adults is extra… like, a lot extra.”

“What is the cost?” V asked.

“Base rate is over twenty-five K per night,” Wyvern said. “More for the extra adult, but this gives access to all the hotel amenities and services.”

V exhaled at the cost, then looked at his mate’s hopeful look and smiled. “It had better include everything. Sheesh. Book it.”

Payton squealed and leaped into his arms, smothering him with kisses as she said thank you a million times over and over. Another squeal escaped her mouth, as she bounced back out of her laughing mate’s arms and ran over to Taryn. “Come help me pack. We will get your stuff, and then we can go.”

“I don’t have anything. My suitcase didn’t take the journey,” Taryn’s voice dropped low, as did her head.

“Oh, well…” Payton thought for a minute, then nodded. “Guess we will have to go on a shopping trip as well.” She grinned as she looked at V. “After all, it's not your fault you have no clothes.”

Volos rolled his eyes and just held out the gold card. “Let me know when you’re both ready to leave.”

“All booked,” Vern said as he put down the phone.

Payton grabbed Taryn’s hand. “I’ll pack, you call Kylee and tell her to meet us there.” Dragging the reluctant guest off was the single happiest woman in the world. V vowed to continue to make her smile like that more often.

When they had left Vern said, “That’s going to cost a fortune.”

“The cost of the safety of two clan mates is priceless, Vern,” he spoke as he walked over to Attor. “Brother, you can move now. She’s gone.”

“She was going to kill me,” Attor spoke with a numbness coating his words.

“So I heard. She’s a feisty one, that’s for sure.” V laughed as he patted his brother’s back. “It will work out. Trust in fate.”

Attor scoffed, walking over to grab the strongest cup of coffee he could muster. “Fate, she is one cold-hearted bitch.”

Volos’ laugh echoed as he left to help the ladies with their journey.