Chapter 28
An hour after she left Adam hacking computer systems, Tori was cataloging different species of trees and birds. She’d spent much of her life outdoors, away from electronics, and she could name most of them.
She strode away from the cabin, her tennis shoes leaving imprints in the damp earth. Her nerves felt flayed open and exposed. Oh, she didn’t care at the moment about her father being free, mainly because he couldn’t get to Lexi or their mom. That is, if the witches had their mom.
The witches had to have Jennie.
While the idea didn’t thrill Tori, at least the witches wouldn’t harm her mother for the next two days. At that point, when it became clear that she and Adam hadn’t mated, then all bets were probably off. So they had two days to rescue her mom.
There was no way somebody like Adam wanted somebody like Tori as a mate, even if she wanted to mate him. He was strong and sexy and somehow sweet, and he’d barreled into her life and heart like he belonged there. Her self-esteem was just fine, but the differences between them were pretty huge, even without the whole immortal issue.
Plus, and she felt this in her bones, he’d been very cautious with her. There was a side to Adam, a deep and rumbling side, that he’d kept carefully banked. She’d pushed him the previous night, and she’d gotten a glimpse. But he’d held control to himself, of himself, as usual.
The woman who earned his love, who claimed all of him, would take that part of him as well.
That part didn’t belong to Tori. Her chest hurt like she’d been kicked, and her body felt heavy. Okay. So she had a little crush. Like always, she’d get over it. Yet he hadn’t left her psyche alone, now had he? He’d stripped her bare, had taken all of her, holding tight and forcing her trust. Worse yet, she’d wanted to give him her trust. In that moment, on the kitchen table, she’d wanted to give all of herself to him.
Damn it.
She aimed at a tree, and the green laser shot out, putting a hole in the pine. It wobbled but didn’t fall down. Man, the immortal guns were cool. Who knew? Shooting at things made her feel better. She took aim and destroyed a rock in the center of the stream. Then she squinted, kept her aim true, and tried to hold back the laser as she squeezed the trigger.
Another rock exploded.
She sighed.
A branch cracked behind her. She stilled and then warmed. Was Adam coming out to play? As she started to turn, a tension on the breeze caught her attention. She whirled around to see Adam, his gaze inscrutable. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He reached out and took her hand, his fingers warm and safe around hers. “I need you to come inside.” Without waiting for an answer, he led her around several bushes and trees, right up into the cabin. It was a testament to how off balance she was from the previous night that she quietly allowed it.
She paused by the door, wanting to stay away from his computer equipment. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m sorry.” He scrubbed both hands down his face. “I was wrong about your mother.”
Tori’s knees wobbled. “What do you mean?” she breathed.
He started to pull her toward the computers and then paused. “Wait here.” Moving forward, he turned a screen that was all fuzz toward her. After he clacked a couple of keys, Parker Monzelle came up on the screen.
Tori’s head snapped back at seeing her father.
“It’s a recording,” Adam said. “He can’t see you.”
She allowed herself to sag against the door frame. “Play it,” she croaked.
Adam pushed a button.
Prison had aged Parker Monzelle. His once-thick black hair had turned a dull gray, and his smooth skin was heavily lined with a map of wrinkles. His chest was still barrel wide, but his gut had gone to fat. His green eyes held the same calculating intelligence, but their vibrant color had faded through the years. He cleared his throat, looking triumphant. “I’m sending this to the last number I had for you, Alexandra, and I hope you share it with your sister.”
At the sound of his voice, pricks of pain danced down Tori’s back. She tried to breathe from her nose and not get hysterical.
Parker paused. “I enjoyed our meeting last month so much, I’d like a repeat.”
Tori made a sound deep in her throat. She swallowed it down. Parker had shot Alexandra, and there was no doubt he wanted to do it again.
Parker’s smile revealed a cracked bottom tooth. “As you both probably already know, I’m on the outside again. For good this time.” He leaned closer to the camera. Even his nostril hairs had turned gray. “I’m done dealing with the justice system, and I’m never going back.”
Adam cut Tori a concerned look, and she kept her gaze centered on the screen. The microwave started to smoke again over on the counter. She looked at it. “You plugged it back in?”
He frowned. “No. It’s unplugged.” Pressing pause on the video, he strode to the microwave, grabbed it, and chucked it out the front door.
Tori couldn’t look away from her father. “Finish it, please.”
Adam pressed play again.
Parker smiled. “Here’s the deal. I want a nice little family reunion. Both of you girls will meet me at a time and place I’ve set up, and you’ll do it at five tonight in Seattle. You will text me your phone numbers, so I can text you the location with just enough time for you to get there.”
Tori glanced toward the bucket that held the phones near the sink. They were down to one phone only.
Parker reached to the side of the camera and yanked Jennie in front of him.
Tori moved toward the computer screen and stopped herself just in time. “Mom,” she whispered.
Her mom’s eyes were wide with fright, and her pretty hair was mussed around her face. A bruise already showed on her neck. “I’m fine, girls,” she whispered.
Parker threw her out of camera range, and something crashed.
Tori bit back a cry of alarm. Tears pricked her eyes. Her fingers clenched, and her nails bit into her palms.
Parker smiled. “I don’t need to tell you both to come alone, do I? If I don’t see both of you, you’ll regret it. Alone. No cops, no boyfriends, no other drug dealers. You two get your asses where I tell you, or I’m going to kill your worthless bitch of a mother.” His smile widened. “And I’m going to take my time.”
The screen went black.
* * *
Adam clicked off the computer and went to Victoria, enveloping her in his arms. She trembled, head to toe, but didn’t make a sound. The silence of terror was one of the worst he’d ever felt. “We’ll get her back.” He tried to keep his voice level, to be reassuring, but the words came out in a thick growl.
Victoria rested her face against his chest.
Fury nearly choked him, so he took several deep breaths. “I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
She lifted her head, and the tears on her lashes nearly snapped his control into pieces. “There was nothing you could do.”
No, but he’d still been wrong. Nothing in him could even imagine a man wanting to harm his wife and daughters. Nothing. “We’ll make sure he pays.”
Victoria’s shoulders shook. “I don’t care about him. He doesn’t exist. But my mom. We have to get her to safety.” Panic lit her deep eyes. “Mom has relapsing multiple sclerosis. She has been in remission, but stress like this . . .”
He nodded, trying to provide comfort, but his mind ran through facts too quickly. “I need to know. Your father seems like a methodical man. He’d have to be fairly cold and controlled to be so successful in the drug trade.”
She blinked, and a tear slid down her face. “Yeah. Cold as a snake.”
So this whole revenge bit didn’t make sense. For Parker to put himself out there just to harm his ex-wife or daughters spoke of heat and revenge, not sharp business. There was more going on than Adam could see.
The air shimmered with the hint of a lightning strike. He pivoted, putting Victoria in the corner and covering her with his body.
“What is going on?” she asked, her voice muffled.
The air crackled. Adam leaned back and turned her around to see Dage, Kellach, and Alexandra standing near the fireplace.
“Lexi,” Victoria yelped, leaping for her sister.
Alexandra reached her for a hug. Several inches taller than Victoria, she held her tight, her lighter blue eyes closed. “Are you okay?” she asked, leaning back and studying her younger sister with a cop’s eyes.
Tears fell down Victoria’s smooth cheeks. “I saw the video. He has Mom.” She frowned and stepped back, her arms dropping. “And you didn’t tell me that he’d shot you. He tried to kill you, Lexi.” Now a thread of anger wound through her tearful tone. She took another step back.
Alexandra’s shoulders drooped. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.” She shrugged a delicate shoulder beneath a black leather jacket. “I was just so confused. And ashamed.”
Victoria’s head jerked. “Ashamed?”
“Yeah,” Alexandra said quietly, twisting her lip. “It doesn’t make sense, but I just felt so bad that my own dad tried to kill me. Like there was something wrong with me. It’s stupid. I know.”
Victoria’s anger melted right before Adam’s eyes. She moved in again to hug her sister. “That is stupid,” she said quietly. “The problems are his. He’s a bastard, and there’s no way around that.”
Alexandra nodded. She looked over her sister’s shoulder, her cop eyes back in place. “Adam.”
He barely bit back a grin. “Alexandra.” Wasn’t sure about him violating her baby sister, now was she? Oh, he had no doubt his gossipy brother had given her the full scoop, even though Adam hadn’t told Kellach shit. The drawback of having a brother who’d known you for centuries. Adam studiously avoided looking at the table. “’Tis good to see you again.”
Dage cleared his throat. “I have a matter that requires my attendance but will be in touch. Weapons, vehicles, and tactical gear are being delivered within the hour.” He nodded at Victoria in a quick hello. “If you need more troops, I can have them in place within minutes.”
“No,” Adam said quickly. “Thank you for the supplies, but extra boots on the ground will create more danger. We have to go in light and quiet.” Which might be the whole damn point. This was a setup. No question.
“Thanks for the ride,” Kellach said.
“Understood. Call me.” Dage zipped out of the room.
Alexandra’s mouth pursed. “That is so weird.”
“Right?” Victoria asked, stepping away. “I would’ve thought moving through dimensions would feel heavy. Or light. Or like something.”
“Just air and nothing,” Alexandra agreed.
Adam nodded at his brother. “Do we have any information on who took Jennie? It’s somebody immortal, and they’re working with Parker Monzelle.” Could it actually be the manufacturer of the Apollo poison? “I see why he was sprung—or why we’re supposed to think he’s out, anyway—but I don’t want to be right about who did it.”
Alexandra spoke up before Kell. “You see why he was helped? Why? I don’t get it.”
Adam rubbed his chin, his arm itching to drag Victoria back to his side. So he put his hands in his pockets. “We took out Titans of Fire, and they were the main distributor of Apollo.”
“Oh.” Realization smoothed out Alexandra’s features. “I get it. Our father has drug connections like no other, even after all this time in prison. The manufacturer of Apollo will need to get a new pipeline working, and fast. They’ll need good old Dad for that.”
Adam nodded. “Yeah. That’s a simple guess.”
“Fuck,” Kellach said, catching his meaning.
Adam nodded. “Parker Monzelle is just another pawn.”
“You donna really think the Council of the Coven Nine released a drug dealer and kidnapped an innocent woman just to flush us out?” Kellach asked.
Victoria gasped.
Alexandra frowned, her gaze hard.
“Maybe,” Adam said, feeling the chess pieces move into place. “Getting you three under Parker’s control again was probably just a bonus.” Of course, Parker didn’t just want to see them. He wanted to hurt them, and somebody powerful was helping him. “I’m sorry I didn’t foresee this.”
“It’s okay.” Victoria flashed him a smile, her shoulders going back. “Lexi can text him and say we’re together. Then we go.”
Adam stiffened, but Alexandra beat him to the words. “You’re not going anywhere,” Alexandra said.
Victoria turned on her sister, her wild hair flowing. “The hell I’m not. You heard what he said. He sees us both or he hurts Mom.”
Alexandra’s lips firmed into one long pink line. “I don’t care. You’re not trained, Tor. Period.”
Anger swelled in Victoria so quickly Adam could feel the fury against his skin. “Too fucking bad, sister.” Victoria put both hands on her hips. “That asshole has my mother, too. I’m going, and I’m helping. I’ve been practicing with guns, anyway.”
Alexandra’s eyes burned a much lighter hue than Victoria’s sapphire ones. “I’m a cop, and the Dunnes are trained Enforcers. You will remain safe here, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
Adam stretched his neck against the uncomfortable feeling smacking into him. He didn’t want Victoria anywhere near her psychotic father, but he really didn’t like the hurt pouring off her. And he didn’t appreciate her sister, cop or not, telling her what she could or could not do. “I’ll cover her,” he said mildly.
Alexandra jerked her attention toward him. “Excuse me?”
Man, she really did sound like a cop. Kellach watched the interchange, no expression on his hard face.
Adam moved his hands out of his pockets. “Victoria has been practicing with weapons, as she said. I’ve been training her. It’s not fair to leave her here alone when her mother is in danger.” Plus, the plan would work better if Parker saw both of them.
“You know it’s a trap, right?” Alexandra snapped.
“Of course it’s a trap,” Adam agreed. “But if Victoria wants to go, she’s going.”
The look of gratitude Victoria shot him smashed right into his heart and spread out.
Alexandra pivoted toward her mate. “Do something.”
Kell lifted an eyebrow. “Such as?”
“Stop him. Stop them both,” she burst out, fear in her eyes.
Kellach sighed. “Sweetheart, I know you’re scared for your mother and your sister. I get that. But she has a right to go, and if Adam is willing to cover her, there’s nobody better.”
Victoria reached for her sister’s hand and took it. “I love you. Thank you for worrying.”
Alexandra blinked twice. She frowned. “You know how to shoot?”
“Of course,” Victoria said, cutting her eyes to Adam. “I get a green gun. They’re the best.”