Rurik’s face hurt like the devil. Jason’s one punch had left Rurik feeling agony he normally felt only in battle with another dragon. He spat, the bloody mess landing on the hotel carpet floor. Damien was staring at him, a contemplative look in his eyes, and Jason looked ready to go for round two with him.

“There’s really no way to sever the mating bond?” Damien asked, his tone dangerously quiet.

This time Rurik didn’t feel like trying to hide his answers. Nothing he would say would change whatever it was they intended to do with him.

“Only death can break the bond.” He looked Damien in the eyes. He saw only one option left open to him, even though it would shatter his heart. “Our intention, our hope, was to convince you there was another way between our peoples. But if you are so blind that you can’t see this, then I have another option.”

Damien frowned. “What’s that?”

“I will leave her alone. You take her home, and we are done here. You do nothing to my brothers or their mates in retaliation. They had no part in our mating and have caused you no harm, nor do they pose a threat to your kind. You know this. It’s the Drakors you have to fear.”

“I’m aware of the Drakors, and I know you and your brothers have kept on good terms with humans over the centuries.” Damien watched him intently. “What did you mean when you said you’d leave my sister alone?”

“I won’t try to keep her. I will stay here in Moscow. You can take her home without fear that I will come after her. It will hurt her to be apart from me, but it’s better that she suffer missing me than watching us fight.”

Damien and Jason held another whispered conference. Before they could finish, the hotel room door rattled as someone pounded on it. Damien opened the door, letting the one they called Nicholas inside.

“Damien,” he panted. “Tamara just called. Charlotte’s been abducted. They were leaving Moscow when a car hit them. She and Meg were knocked out, and when they woke up, Charlotte was gone. There’s no trace of who or what hit them or where they went.”

Panic hit Rurik like a train, but he remained frozen to the chair. His mind worked frantically, absorbing what he’d just heard.

Damien turned to Rurik, his tone now icy. “Was this your brothers’ work?”

Rurik glared at Damien. “That’s not our way, and you’re a fool to think it. We wouldn’t put Charlotte’s life in danger, nor would we harm your hunters unless they attacked first.”

Jason scoffed, but Damien raised a finger. “I believe him. At least the first part. Ramming the car could have killed her, and that would have killed Rurik. It’s too risky a play.”

Rurik tried to think clearly, but knowing that someone had taken his mate was choking him. He’d never felt so powerless before. There was only one person he knew who would dare to get at him by harming his mate. A growl escaped his lips.

“But I know who took her.” He glared at them. “And when I find him, I’m going to tear him to pieces.” He jerked his bound hands. “Release me. Now.” Even though his dragon was gone, he was still fueled by his desire to destroy all those who threatened his mate.

“That’s not going to happen,” Damien said. “You can tell us where she is, or I will make you tell us.”

Rurik was silent for a long moment, studying Charlotte’s big, bad brother, the man who could snap his fingers and raise hell for dragons everywhere, especially with the new weapon they possessed. He raised a brow in challenge, his tone deadly calm. “Listen to me, hunter. Dimitri Drakor has taken Charlotte to get to me. And they know she’s your sister, so they intend to use her against you as well. This is not the time to cling to past grudges. We can join forces, like Charlotte wanted, or we can stay here and bicker until they kill her.”

Jason turned away from him, but he could still hear him say to his brother, “I don’t trust him.”

Damien, however, was more thoughtful. He closed his eyes a moment, fingers pressed at the bridge of his nose. “The Barinovs wouldn’t risk Charlotte’s life crashing into her that way. A Russian warned us when we arrived about the Barinovs torturing Charlotte, but that never happened. He also said the Barinovs were a threat to everyone. He wanted us to take the Barinovs out.”

He opened his eyes and raised his head, meeting Rurik’s eyes. “We’re being played.”

Rurik’s heart skipped a beat.

“Jason, uncuff him.”

“You can’t believe—”

Damien looked to his brother. “Did I stutter?”

Jason’s lip curled, but he reluctantly obeyed. Soon Rurik was rubbing his sore wrists.

“What do you need from us?” asked Damien.

“Aside from a bottle of aspirin?” Rurik said. “A phone.”

Damien nodded to the one called Nicholas, who tossed him his phone.

“Thank you,” Rurik said. Calling Grigori’s cell, Rurik knew he would have to speak English and on speakerphone so his new potential allies would understand and trust him.

“Rurik, is it done? Did you acquire that third vial?” Grigori spoke in Russian, but Rurik answered in clear English.

“Grigori, we have a problem. I ran into Charlotte’s brothers, and while we were having a polite and civil conversation, Charlotte was kidnapped.”

There was a short pause. “Drakor.”

“That is my guess as well,” Rurik said. “We don’t have much time. He’s not a fool. He won’t make the mistake of waiting to kill her in front of us like he tried to do with Madelyn. He will kill her immediately because he knows it will kill me.”

“But he hasn’t already?”

“No…” It was true, he’d have known instantly if Charlotte died, and though it might take hours or days for him to pass on, that part would be inevitable.

“But why not?”

Damien cut in. “I believe he’s going to arrange things to make it look like you did it.”

“Who is this?” Grigori asked.

“Damien MacQueen of the Brotherhood.”

“Why would Drakor fake Charlotte’s death as if we killed her?”

Damien exchanged glances with Rurik. “I think he expects us to exterminate your family in retaliation.”

“Which you would do without question,” Grigori said, a sting in his voice.

“If it’s any consolation, I’d bet money he’d have men in position to take us out afterward,” said Jason, edging closer to the phone. “It’s what I’d do.”

Grigori began cursing, and Rurik heard Madelyn’s sleepy voice in the background as she asked what was going on. “What do you propose, MacQueen?” he said at last.

“If…” Damien paused. “If we work together, we need a few agreements in place for what happens after Charlotte is rescued.” He met Rurik’s stare, then looked down, as if slightly ashamed. “Look. There’s a lot we could argue about right now, I know. Tons of blame to throw at each other. Centuries of bad blood. But that has to wait for another day. Rurik and Charlotte both said that they wanted to be a first step toward us working together, and I believe that. So here’s what I propose. We work together, rescue Charlotte, and part in peace. Then, when you’re ready, we talk, on neutral ground.”

Grigori said nothing for a moment, and when he did speak, his tone had softened. “You’re different from your ancestors. You have a dragon’s wisdom in you. Agreed.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Great, now that the hug fest is out of the way, would someone explain to me how we find Charlotte?”

“That is up to my brother,” said Grigori. “He’s the only one who could tell us where she is.”

“What? How?” Jason asked.

Rurik stared at the brothers. “The bond between us is already strong. I could sense her wherever she was…until you injected me with that serum.”

“MacQueen drugged you?” Grigori’s shout made the phone’s speakers whine.

“This was before we came to an understanding,” Damien said diplomatically. “Let’s stay focused on the objective here.” Rurik couldn’t help but snort at this oversimplification. But for Charlotte’s sake, he let it go.

Grigori’s voice lost some of its vigor. “Until the drug wears off in Rurik’s system, we won’t know where she is.”

No one moved. Even Damien felt frozen.

“So what do we do?” Jason asked.

Grigori spoke up again. “MacQueen. I need you to listen to me. Drakor will rain fire down on this city. He has nothing left to lose, and once he learns he’ll be fighting you as well as us, he won’t care about casualties, and the first person to die will be your sister. We know his lairs and his allies better than you. If there is any chance to save her, it lies in trusting us.”

There was a tense silence as Damien glanced at the faces of his team, then looked to Rurik and the phone he held.

“What’s your plan?”

“Follow my brother to the roof of the hotel. Mikhail and I will pick you up. Five minutes.” Grigori hung up, and Rurik gave the cell phone back to Nicholas. He slapped Damien on the shoulder, a serious expression shared between them.

“Don’t take it personally, but we’re in charge now, hunter boy.” Rurik grabbed his leather motorcycle jacket, slinging it on as he strode to the door. “You guys coming?”

The others collected their gear and followed Rurik to the elevators. They had no time to waste, not when Charlotte’s life hung in the balance.