As soon as Chantal left, Lucien excused himself to go to bed. Ryenne’s heart sank. How could they get through this if he wouldn’t talk to her? She’d never been much of a talker but even she knew you could only solve so much through action.

Dany gave her a reassuring smile as she moved to the chair next to Ryenne, vacated by Chantal. “Don’t worry. He’ll come around. He just needs some time to get over his annoyance.”

“But what if he doesn’t ever forgive me?” she asked.

Dany put her good arm around Ryenne’s shoulders. “He will. I know my brother. He loves you, which is why he’s so angry. We scared him. And now he’s focused on the next step: saving Gavin.”

Ryenne should be more focused on saving Gavin, too. She’d never before cared as much about what any other man thought. Gavin had been the only man in her life since she lost her father fifteen years ago.

She smiled at Dany. “Thank you.”

“Go to bed. In the morning, everything will look brighter, and we will find Gavin and figure out how to get him out of the Fangs’ clutches.”

Ryenne listened to Dany and went up to the room she shared with Lucien. He was already asleep, or at least pretending to be, facing the wall and away from her side of the bed.

She slept poorly, always expecting his arms to come around her at some point in the night. But they never did.

When she woke up, he was gone, and she could hear voices from downstairs. She quickly showered and dressed and joined the family in the kitchen.

Françoise smiled and handed her a cup of coffee.

A smile from Françoise was new. Ryenne didn’t know what to make of it. On the other side of the spectrum, Lucien ignored her and remained deep in conversation with Guy and Emma while poring over a map.

Dany came in, her arm free of the sling. “Okay, the only listings for either Grieux are in Paris. Any other ideas?”

Françoise and Mathieu shared a look.

“What?” Dany asked.

“Well, we grew up with Jean in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Maybe he still has a house there,” Françoise said.

“I’ll go check.” Dany spun on her heel and went to the office, and Ryenne followed. No point in standing around being ignored.

When Ryenne entered the office, Dany glanced up from the computer on her mother’s wooden desk and gave her a wry smile. “We’ll find them.”

Ryenne nodded and dropped into one of the delicate antique chairs. “Anything?”

Dany focused on the screen in front of her and frowned. “No current listings for any Grieux.” She thought for a moment. “Maman!”

“J’arrive,” Françoise called out from the kitchen, followed by the clacking of her low heels on the parquet floor of the hall.

As soon as she stepped across the threshold of the office, Dany was already talking. “Do you remember the address of Grieux’s house when you were kids?”

Françoise stared at her daughter for several minutes, eyes narrowed, then told her an address. “He lived behind me.”

Dany typed in the address. “Looks like it belongs to someone else now. And looking at the map, there’s no longer enough open space around it to make it practical for a shifter.”

“Probably why he didn’t hold onto it,” Françoise muttered.

Mathieu joined them then. “I have a... friend... in the town records office. I’ll give her a call and see if she can find anything.”

“Maybe Grieux isn’t using his real name,” Ryenne suggested.

“I’ll have my friend check public records.” Pacing the tiny office, Mathieu tapped his chin. “Patrick must have a mother. Maybe there’s property in her name.”

Things were coming together. She just hoped Gavin could hold on until she reached him. Hopefully, they weren’t torturing him and hadn’t turned or killed him. Such thoughts churned her stomach. Gavin deserved so much better than any treatment the Fangs might put him through. He deserved better than to be stuck with those monsters for even a minute.

She looked around the kitchen. Lucien continued to ignore her, still deep in contemplation of a map with Guy. Emma and Pascal were outside with the girls, so Ryenne exited the kitchen and joined them.

At Emma’s questioning look, Ryenne filled her in on what they’d learned so far and what was happening.

“So Mathieu has a lady friend,” Emma said with a grin. “Good for him. It’s about time. He lost his wife years ago and he deserves to be happy.” Emma glanced through the kitchen window. “So do you and Lucien.”

Ryenne was surprised. She didn’t think Emma liked her, and Emma blamed Ryenne for some of the things that had happened in the past week. “He’s angry and hurt and scared right now, but he’ll get over it. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him.”

Ryenne’s mouth dropped open and Emma laughed.

“You get him,” Emma continued. “You accept him. And you make him happy.”

Ryenne hoped Lucien would come to realize all the things his sisters had told her. She didn’t want to lose him, after everything else she’d lost in her life. All the things Emma had said about her applied to Lucien, too. He got her. He accepted her.

Or he used to.

Ryenne excused herself and asked to speak to Pascal.

“Only if you play with us later,” Sophie said.

Ryenne smiled. “Okay, it’s a deal.”

Pascal translated and Sophie and Aurélie gave Ryenne huge smiles. They ran toward their mother.

“They’re beautiful,” she said on a sigh.

“Yes,” Pascal agreed. “Do you want kids?”

Ryenne whipped her head away from the girls, toward him, and stammered. Pascal laughed. “No rush.”

“I’ve just never thought about it before. My life and career aren’t conducive to raising children.” Her own childhood had been mostly happy. Until it wasn’t. Until she’d lost half of her family. She’d fought to create a productive life for herself after the tragedies and never thought there was room for anyone else. But she’d made room for Lucien. Maybe there would be room someday for children, too.

They sat on a bench on the far side of the garden and Ryenne pulled a dart from the pouch she always wore at her hip. “Can you recreate the tranquilizer on this dart?” she asked him. “I’m running low and they’re a useful weapon against rogues.”

Pascal took the dart and smelled it. “Yes, I think so.”

“I can have my mom email you her formula.”

“That would make the process quicker.”

“Good. We’ll need as many darts and other delivery methods as possible before the rescue mission.”

Pascal nodded. “Can I take this with me?”

“Of course.” Ryenne pulled out her phone and messaged her mother. “You should get her formula by tonight. How long will you need?”

He shrugged. “Depends on the formula. I’ll do the best I can.”

Before he stood, she put a hand on his arm. “There was more to Lucien’s knife wound than you and he said, wasn’t there? It took longer to heal than it should have.”

Pascal nodded and looked around to make sure no one was listening to them. “Yeah, I found something on his shirt other than blood. There were silver filings and some other things I’m still trying to isolate. Wish I could have your mother’s help on it.”

“Silver? I thought it no longer affected shifters after centuries of exposure.”

“Exactly, so why are they there? Was it a silver knife? I don’t know.” H shrugged again. “I’ll keep working on it and maybe we can send a sample to your mother. We won’t have an answer soon but if the Fangs are working on something to slow shifter healing, we need to know and learn how to overcome it.”

She thought about Pascal’s abilities as she watched him explain to Emma, kiss her and the girls, and leave the garden. Mom’s darts were one of Ryenne’s secret weapons, one of the things that had allowed her to succeed in her business despite being an average-sized woman with slightly above average fighting skills. Tranq darts, a telescoping cattle prod, and Mom’s special vaccine.

Now, she’d need everything she could muster to get Gavin back alive. Anything it took.

“We’ve found it!” Mathieu exclaimed from the doorway to the kitchen.

Ryenne and Emma rushed into the kitchen, Ryenne’s heart pounding in anticipation.

“Valérie found out that there’s an estate in the name of Hélène Roch,” Mathieu said.

“And who’s Hélène Roch?” Guy asked.

Mathieu smiled. “Grieux’s late wife. Mother of Patrick.”

There was a collective sigh of excitement.

“Valérie also found out that Hélène Roch Grieux died five years ago.”

“Oh, Valérie. So the lady friend now has a name,” Emma said under her breath to Ryenne. “You’ll have to invite her to dinner as a thank-you,” she said for all to hear.

Dany snickered and Françoise shot her a stern look.

Mathieu, the big bear of a man—despite being a wolf shifter and not a bear—turned red. “Well, um, yes, euh, maybe when this is over.”

Even Ryenne, who couldn’t get past a huge lump of sadness in her belly, smiled at Mathieu’s discomfort. She hoped he would be happy with Valérie and that the rest of the Malraux clan would accept her.

“So, where’s this estate?” Lucien asked.

Ryenne switched her gaze to him but he was looking at his uncle. Tension had tightened the skin around his eyes and mouth and Ryenne wished he’d let her kiss it away. She sighed. She’d lost him. She’d never forgive herself for managing to push away the best thing that had happened to her in her adult life.

But now she had to concentrate on Mathieu’s words and the plan they would all create to get her best friend out of Grieux’s secret estate. Gavin had been the best thing to happen to her for a long time and would always have a huge piece of her heart.

Lucien was looking at the map again. “So, here? Near the Forêt Domaniale toward Le-Mesnil-le-Roi?”

Mathieu nodded. “It’s not very far from my place. Maybe a thirty-minute walk.”

“Faster if we run,” Guy said.

The others nodded and made noises of agreement.

Lucien rose from the table. “We should go check it out.”

“It might be guarded,” his mother warned, worry etched into her face.

“If so, it’s likely where they’re keeping Gavin and Axel. If not, we may need to call Valérie again.” Lucien smirked. “Let’s go, Guy.”