Selena carried her bag downstairs. It was late, past midnight. Owen, Jax, and Nick were waiting for her. She nodded at Owen, afraid to get close enough to shake hands for fear of what Bastion would do to him.

She felt numb. The effort of blocking Bastion from her mind meant she had to block everything—all emotions, memories, hopes, and fears. She could not think, could not remember, and could not feel anything without giving all of that away to the man who was stalking her.

It would be so much easier to do if she didn’t have to fight herself as well—she wanted to share everything she was with him. She yearned to see him and talk to him. He laughed easily, and it was fun teasing him.

But he was a danger to the team, and she would lay down her life before causing any of them harm. Leaving here was a good plan. If he were only seducing her to get to them, then he’d soon give up on her.

But if he was serious about her, then all bets were off. The team was risking everything on this chance.

She was surprised to see the rest of the team waiting for her on the patio. They separated into two groups that she had to walk between. Ace looked furious; Selena knew she’d argued her case to come with her and had been denied. She didn’t hug Ace—or anyone. She didn’t want to lose her composure—again. The numbness she was forcing on herself could only be held in place with extreme effort. She nodded at everyone, then crossed the lawn to the helicopter. Jax and Nick followed her onboard.

Nick handed her a blindfold. “Just a precaution. Don’t want anyone to find your location based on your observations of your surroundings.”

Selena connected a pair of sound-cancelling headphones to a playlist on her phone, then wrapped the blindfold around her eyes and tied it tight. She covered her ears with the headphones, then leaned back in her seat, trying not to focus on the turns she felt or the amount of time that passed. No doubt the pilot was taking turns that weren’t needed for a straight trip to their destination, and so the time and direction they took wouldn’t be indicative of their destination.

She could feel Bastion with her, pushing in at the edges of her mind, trying to get inside. He was desperate to get to her—she could feel that in him, almost to the point of pain. But was that because of her, or because she’d just shut off his access to the team? The harder he pushed, the harder she forced her mind to focus only on her own breathing and the mind-numbing rhythms of her music.

As if any of that mattered. They were practically different species. She had no future with a man like him. He had to know that.

She realized that was her answer. He wanted what he was after—and that wasn’t her. She’d just been his tool.

Fuck it all. She was tired of being used by men.

Hours later, they reached their destination. She removed her headphones and was about to remove the blindfold, but Jax stopped her.

“Leave it on, Sel,” Jax said as he leaned close to speak over the roar of the helicopter. “The less Bastion can see of where we are, the better.”

“I’m not staying blindfolded here.”

“No, of course not. But for a few days, let’s limit your exposure to the property. Maybe he’ll give up and abandon using you. One week max.”

They disembarked, stepping out into brutally cold weather and wind that raked exposed skin. Someone handed her bag to her. She tossed the strap over her head. Nick and Jax took an arm each and led her quickly down a hill. They crossed a long, flat stretch of snow-covered ground.

“Some steps now,” Jax said as they climbed about a dozen stairs. Selena heard a heavy door creak as it opened.

“Good evening, sir,” a man said.

The door closed behind them, making a heavy echo. Selena reached up for her blindfold and removed it.

A man she didn’t know greeted her with a slight bow and a warm smile. “I’m Spencer Hudson, butler here and part of Mr. Jacobs’ security staff. I’ll show you to your room, if you’re ready.”

Selena nodded at Jax and Nick, refusing to let them see how unsettled she was. She forced that—and all—emotion from her mind as she strived for full-on neutral and followed the butler up a wide set of marble stairs.

“Greer—a word, please,” Owen said as the sound of the helicopter faded away. They walked to the den, where Owen closed the door behind them. What he was about to ask sounded crazy as hell. “I need you to do something.”

“Name it.” Greer didn’t even flinch.

“Ask Blade if he has some old bear traps. They aren’t uncommon on ranches like this. If he doesn’t, I need you to source some. Two or three.”

“Okay. We hunting bears now?”

“I want two set up outside the tunnel entrance to the bunker. The other I want placed in the path this thing most frequently takes on his way to the house.”

Greer was silent.

“You got a problem with that directive?”

“No.”

“It’s non-lethal and non-digital. I don’t want you to discuss this with anyone other than Blade, and then only where no one else can hear you. Selena is not to know about it. Don’t put in an online order if he doesn’t have traps here.”

“Our online traffic is secure.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“I do. Max and I built our infrastructure.”

“We have no idea what this thing is capable of, and until we do, nothing is secure.”

“This thing has a name.”

Owen narrowed his eyes. “I want Bastion caught.”

“Copy that. I will need to let Max know about the traps because he stores his and Hope’s bikes in the tunnel.”

Owen gave a curt nod. “Only him and Blade, though.”

Selena made the mistake of sleeping deeply—a luxury she’d resisted for the weeks she’d been here. She dreamt about a wedding. Hers. But for some reason, she was late to the ceremony. When she tried to get into the venue, all the doors were locked. She knocked and knocked, but no one came to let her in. She went around the side of the building and looked in a window. There was Bastion, dancing with another woman.

She woke abruptly, angry and sad and shaking.

The thing she feared the most had come to pass—she was alone, because of him.

Where are you? Bastion’s voice whispered through her mind. He sounded angry.

She’d been working on blocking him from her mind ever since she’d gotten there. I don’t know, she answered.

Talk to me. I will find you.

I don’t want you to. But she did want that. Terribly. In part so that she could stop fighting herself. And in part because she’d missed having him just a thought away.

Yes, you do. I can feel your pain.

Can you feel everyone’s pain?

Only yours…and my brothers’.

Do you have a lot of them?

Yes. Please, let me come to you.

You can’t use me anymore, Selena said.

I never did use you.

You asked me to get info on the Ratcliffs.

A favor. For a friend. They have information we desperately need, but I don’t care about any of that. Tell me where you are.

I don’t know. It hurts, Bastion, keeping you out.

It’s because we are carved from the same soul, and having found our other half, we cannot exist apart.

I don’t believe in souls.

I do.

Selena tried to block a sob, but it broke free. She covered her face with a pillow, but it was no match for Bastion, since he was already in her head…and maybe in her heart. I wish you were here.

Don’t block me. I will find you.

An alert sounded in the ops room. Greer checked it then looked at Max. It had been weeks since Owen had ordered him to set out the traps. “He’s coming.”

“From where?” Max asked.

“The side of the house leading to the tunnel entrance.”

Max gave Greer a ruthless grin, then stood and checked his pistol. “Let’s go greet him.”

They went into the tunnel. Motion lights turned on as they progressed through it. Instead of placing the traps at the tunnel entrance, they’d put them in the tunnel itself. Harder to avoid that way.

They stopped just in front of the traps and waited. Lights switched on at the other end of the tunnel and continued switching on as something moved forward, coming toward them.

Greer was surprised that Bastion didn’t try to hide himself. He could have blown the lights, but he didn’t. At first, Greer could only see Bastion’s silhouette. It grew larger as he approached. He was a tall man, broad-shouldered, and moved in a fluid, athletic way.

Bastion came within feet of Greer and Max before stopping. “Where is she?” he asked.

He spoke with a heavy French accent. Up close, he did look like the Captain Hook that Troy had seen.

“She’s gone,” Greer said.

“Where?”

“She’s not your concern,” Max said.

Bastion’s head slowly turned his way. His eyes went from dark brown to a glowing gold. “I will end you and everyone in this house, soul by soul, until I learn where she’s gone.”

“Not true.” Greer waved that off. “You’re a soldier, like us. You follow orders. If you’d been ordered to kill us, we’d already be dead, given your abilities. So what’s your interest in her?”

Bastion’s burning eyes turned to him. A dull ache began in Greer’s head. He winced and checked to see if Max was feeling the same thing. The ache became a sound, a deep, terrible sound, like something just at the edges of a sonic boom.

Max hit his knees.

“Enough!” Greer shouted as he bent over. The pain was so intense, it took everything he had not to vomit. “Enough!”

The pain ended.

Greer gasped at the relief, still holding his knees. He looked up at Bastion. “If there’s something you want, meet with us. Let’s talk about it.”

“You took my woman,” Bastion said through clenched teeth.

Max shook his head and slowly straightened. “She’s ours not yours.” He and Greer moved back a step.

Bastion stepped forward, right into the bear trap. He screamed and stumbled forward, into the teeth of the second trap.

An explosion of some sort broke free, blowing Greer and Max back several yards. It seemed they’d just hit the dirt when the rest of the team spilled into the tunnel around them. Greer shook his head and pushed to his feet, searching for Bastion.

The traps were there, but he was gone.