Part 27 (2/2)

She glanced at Madoc, and he knew from that mischievous look in her eyes that he was not going to like what happened next. ”Catch me?” she asked before she did that thing where she collapsed to the ground like someone had yanked the life from her body.

Madoc scooped her up before she hit the ground. She was limp, lifeless. Only the trickle of power being tugged out of him let him know she was safe and sound. That trickle grew, making him wonder whether Tori was fighting Nika's connection again.

”I really hate it when she does this,” he muttered as he settled into a chair, cradling her in his lap.

”Does what?” asked Joseph. Then he went still. His face went blank. His eyes flared wide. Small, almost strangled sounds came out of his throat.

Angus stepped forward.

”Don't,” said Madoc. ”She's not going to hurt him.”

”He looks like she is doing just that.”

”If you'd seen Tori, you'd look like that, too. She's completely f.u.c.ked-up.”

Suddenly, Joseph sucked in a long breath and bent double, as if trying not to throw up.

Nika's eyes opened, tears clinging at the corners.

The room was utterly silent. They looked at Nika with a newfound respecta”one bordering on fear. If it was that easy for her to slide inside Joseph's mind, he guessed they were each wondering who was next, and what Nika might see if she went poking around.

Madoc was certain that he was not the only man here with secrets to hide.

Which meant he was going to have to keep a close eye on her here, too. If one of the other men was hiding a barren lifemarka”or worsea”he was not going to want Nika to find out. Not only would she be in danger outside Dabyr, but she would be in danger here, too. And there was no way Iain was going to give up the names of the men in the Band. He was the only one who knew who they were. Madoc wasn't going to be able to trust any of the unbound men.

Madoc's grip on her tightened. What the h.e.l.l was he going to do with her? He had no business guarding such a precious gift. He was going to f.u.c.k up and get her killed. And the damage he would wreak once she was gone was not something he liked to think about.

Everyone was still too quiet. The silence was growing eerier by the second.

Madoc had to clear his throat before he could speak. ”Do you believe her now, or do you need another display?”

”One was plenty.” Joseph pushed himself upright, but he was still a little paler than normal. ”What you showed me was real, right? Not some mind trick?”

”It was real,” said Nika. ”If I wasn't so tired, I could have kept us there long enough for you to talk to her. She doesn't want me near her anymore.”

”We're going in after Tori. It's just a question of how we're going to get her out alive. How far away is she?”

”We're not sure. Nika and I are working on finding her. She put some pictures in my head that might show us where she is, but they're scrambled.”

”We'll have them unscrambled today,” said Nika, completely confident.

He loved that about hera”her absolute faith that he would come through. It never failed to awe him.

”Do you know anything else?” asked Joseph. ”Any other clues that might tell us where she is, how many other humans there are with her, or how many of the Synestryn we'll need to take down to reach her?”

”All I know for sure is that some f.u.c.khead named Zillah has her.”

Gilda's black eyes landed on Madoc, making him squirm.

She pushed herself to her feet. ”Did you say Zillah?”

”Yeah. Know him?”

Gilda and Angus shared a look. He reached for her as if wanting to give or receive comfort, but Gilda ignored his outstretched hand.

”He's the one who convinced Maura to switch sides and work for him. He's a powerful Synestryn. All I really know is that he commands thousands.”

”Tori has seen Maura. She might still be with him. Tori included him in that jumble of images she gave me. He looks almost human. When the f.u.c.k did they start looking like us?” asked Madoc.

Angus pulled in a deep breath. ”We thought he was an anomaly.”

”Angus, don't,” said Gilda.

”No. It's time. They need to know,” he told his wife.

”Know what?” demanded Joseph.

Angus turned back to the group. ”We didn't tell anyone that the Synestryn were starting to look more human because we worried what the men close to the end of their time might do. How many humans would die because of mistaken ident.i.ty?”

Joseph stood, pressing his hands flat on the desk as he leaned toward Angus, his face red with barely controlled rage. ”You told me their attempt to look more human had failed the night you killed that abominationa”that demon with a child's face. You should have told me about Zillah. As your leader, I should have known.”

”We chose not to tell you what we learned. There was nothing you could have done with the knowledge,” said Angus.

”How do you know? You never let me try.”

Gilda's face twisted with rage. ”We almost died trying to get Maura away from him. If he's strong enough to nearly kill a bonded pair of Theronai, there was no way you or any of the unbound men here could have stopped him with swords alone. You would have tried and you would have died. I couldn't let that happen.”

Joseph's hands bunched into fists. ”It was my decision to make. Not yours. Who knows what I might have been able to do. Maybe Tori would never have been taken at all. We'll never know now.”

”It was my decision,” said Gilda. ”Don't punish Angus for something I did.”

”He went along with it,” stated Joseph, his voice as cold and final as a grave.

”And I'd do it again, too. We were upholding our vow to protect humans, Joseph. If that means keeping secrets, so be it.”

This was going to get out of hand fast. Madoc couldn't let that happen. Too much was at stake. ”Tori doesn't have time for us to argue about this right now. She's due any day and says that a lot of the girls there don't make it through labor.”

”There's more than one girl there?” asked Helen, horrified.

Drake laid a hand on her knee.

Angus shook his head in regret. ”Last year we found a demon that looked like a human child. It wasn't. It was venomous, fanged. It attacked us and tried to kill us, but I think it's clear now where it came from.”

Joseph nodded. ”That's why Andra has been so busy. Why so many blooded children have gone missing. They've been stealing them, using them for more than just food.”

”How is that even possible?” asked Gilda. ”Human and Synestryn can't interbreeda”they're too different.”

<script>