Jared
“What the hell is this?” Madison asked as he knocked on the door again.
“They took her,” he said, not making a move to come inside.
“What? How?”
“They were tracking her the entire time. A bug in her clothing. They knew where we were all along. Which means that you’re compromised.”
Madison frowned. “Shit. We need to move,” she said to Connor, who was standing in the doorway with her.
“Okay,” the other shifter said, looking at his mate, and then back at Jared. “But why isn’t anyone asking what they’re doing here?”
Jared looked over his shoulder. Standing in the hallway were other members of the Underground.
Josh and his mate Hannah, her brother Chad, along with Justin and Shay.
“We’re going with Jared,” Hannah said simply.
“Going where?” Madison asked, though he could tell by the look on her face that she knew.
“I’m going after her,” he said bluntly. “They took her. I’m going to get her back.”
Connor eyed him speculatively. “Is she the—”
“Yes,” Jared said without hesitating, unflinching at the directness of the question.
He couldn’t have answered that question before. Possibly not even yesterday. But with her gone, his life seemed ripped in half. He needed her back.
“I’m in,” Connor said before Madison could even speak.
“Where did they take her?” Madison asked, trying to be the voice of calm.
“I’m making an educated guess,” he said. “Besides, it’s time that ugly building got a renovation.”
The leader of the underground sighed. “You’re going to assault their HQ?”
“I’m going to rip it to pieces until I find her,” he said flatly.
Madison looked him up and down.
“Very well, I’m coming too.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. Jared had asked the others to come, but he hadn’t been willing to convince them. They had had to come to that decision on their own. It had taken him several hours to crisscross the city to get to their safe houses, but he’d done it, and then they had all gone back to Madison’s together. Thankfully some of the others had managed to keep their trucks, which had made things easier for him.
But Madison was different. He needed her to come along. Her unique genetics meant that, besides him, she was the best bet they had of stopping Mr. J. It was likely that it would require both of them to stop him, if bear shifters could even stop him. Jared wasn’t sure what he was, but it couldn’t be good, that was for sure.
“Where are Milos and Andre?” Madison asked as she and Connor grabbed their things.
“Meeting us there,” he said. “Just like I wish Ajax and Arianna were as well.”
“I’d take them, the rest of his crew, and the Jade crew as well, while we’re at it,” Justin quipped. “Hell, maybe Ferro wants to come play as well.”
Ferro was an ancient dragon shifter who resided in Genesis Valley, extending his protection to it and the surrounding areas. Having him along would have certainly made things easier, Jared thought.
But Ajax and his mate had departed to head back to Genesis Valley several days before things had blown up, and to his knowledge, Ferro was once again trying not to involve himself in the world at large. No, it was up to Jared and his team, his crew, to get the job done.
“Let’s go then,” he said aloud as the door was closed and locked behind them. “It’s time we stopped reacting, and started calling the shots.”
The hallway filled with agreement and growls of approval.
I’m coming for you, Nadia. Just hold on a little longer. Please.
I forgive you.
He did, he thought as they rapidly descended the stairwell. It hurt to know what had happened, but she hadn’t known any better. Jared knew if he was in her place, he would have done the same thing without thinking twice about it. There had been nothing in her life to wake her up to the reality of what she was doing.
That was done now though, and she knew the truth, and she abhorred what she had done. In time, he would come to not care. Even now, he was more concerned with getting her safe, and back in his arms.
He had told everyone what had happened as he rounded them up, and they had all gone through the same stages. There had been shock at first. Then anger. But as they all thought about it and followed in her footsteps, their emotions changed. They felt pity for her that she had been caught up in such a thing.
The only good to come from it, it seemed, was that she had met Jared. In his eyes, it was a damn good thing.
The shifters piled into two trucks, and the speedy sports car that Shay had somehow managed to dig up. The convoy moved out of the parking garage for the condo building and into city traffic, with Shay’s car sandwiched between the two trucks, to help them perhaps blend in just a little more as they neared their target.
They crossed the first major intersection and turned left.
“Uh, guys,” Josh said from his spot behind the driver. “Anyone else see that convoy of SUVs turning right, and heading back the direction we came?”
Jared’s head snapped around. True to Josh’s word, four big Agency SUVs moved in a line, heading down the street toward the condo building they had just vacated.
“Step on it,” he commanded without hesitation.
“Why?” Chad asked from the driver’s seat, though he did as Jared said.
“Because if those are Agents, it means that their base just got a whole lot less crowded. We were given a window. They have to search the building, realize we’re not there, and then come on back before they can confront us in force. We need to take advantage of that.”
The others nodded. Because they were the first truck in line, the others followed without hesitation as their speed increased, moving skillfully through city traffic.
Jared stared ahead, his face becoming carved from steel as he stoked the rage in his bear.
I am coming for you.