Moon Sworn

“Then you need to keep playing the game. Report on time, and don’t give anything away.”

West didn’t look happy, but I was betting he was smart enough to know he had little choice in the matter. “And if I do?”

“Then maybe you get to keep your job.”

As I spoke, a sliver of energy spun through the air. West blinked and his eyes went briefly lifeless—although if you weren’t watching him carefully, you wouldn’t even have noticed it.

What did you do? I asked, without looking at Qui

Just applied a little insurance. He won’t be able to warn Tyson even if he wanted to.

Good. I glanced at Harris. “I need to use your computer.”

He nodded and rose, walking across to a desk in the far corner of the room. I followed him across, watching as he typed in his ID and had his iris sca

“Okay,” he said, stepping back. “You’re ready to go.”

“Thanks.” I sat in the chair and scooted forward. A few key taps, several passwords, and an iris scan later, I was into the Directorate’s database. “What was that number again, Evin?”

He repeated it. I typed it in then hit SEARCH. As I waited for the results, I glanced up at Qui

“Turnaround is usually an hour.” He glanced at his watch. “We could be gone in twenty-five minutes, if need be.”

“Want to warn them, then?”

He smiled. “Already have. The pilot is telepathic.”

“Handy.” I glanced down as the search results flickered up on the screen. The number was listed as belonging to a house in Mickleham, which was an outlying area of Melbourne rather than one of the recognized suburbs, and made up of small farming subdivisions rather than high-density housing estates. It also wasn’t that far away from Essendon Airport, where Qui

I rose. “Evin, you’ll need to stay here—”

“No.” He thrust to his feet, his expression belligerent. “I’m coming with you. I need to help—”

“The best way you can help,” Qui

“This is what we do,” I added softly. “And we’re damn good at it. We will get her back safely.”

Which was a stupid thing to promise, given we had no idea what her situation was, but I couldn’t help it. I liked Evin—stepbrother or not—and I didn’t want to see him face the pain of losing a soul mate like I had.

One loss in the family was more than enough.

Evin glanced from Qui

“We will.” I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “And now to tell Jack.”

Qui

I held up a hand. “No. This is my battle.”

I spun around and walked into the cell area. The vamp’s door was open and Rhoan leaned casually against the door frame. He glanced at me. “Find out anything interesting?”

“His contact was Tyson.” I stopped and peered into the cell. Jack was sitting on a chair, and the vamp was upright on the concrete bed. They looked for all the world like they were in the middle of a staring contest, but the sweat beading the younger vamp’s forehead was evidence enough that something else was happening.

And that he was losing the battle.

“Meaning Blake definitely is behind it. Tyson wouldn’t spit without his big brother’s approval.”

“Tyson’s usurped the London pack in Cona Creek and made it his own.”

Rhoan’s expression was contemptuous. “He always was a lazy bastard. Should have guessed he’d steal a pack rather than make one of his own. We going after him?”

“‘We’ are not going anywhere,” Jack said, without taking his gaze from the other vamp. “Not until we finish here, anyway.”

I glanced at him. “Boss, I tracked down the number Evin phoned his reports into, and it’s a Melbourne number. We need to hit the address and rescue Evin’s mate as soon as possible.”

“Riley, the murders we’re investigating occur during the day, which means we’re limited in our guardian usage.”

Specifically, it meant there was Iktar, Rhoan, and myself. But there wasn’t anything I could do that Iktar and Rhoan couldn’t—other than talk to souls, and the reality was, we weren’t really getting that much information from said souls. These people were far too clever.

“What about a deal, then? Let Qui

“And Blake?” Rhoan asked.

I glanced at him. “Can wait until we have the time to work up a really good revenge.”

“The minute you free Evin’s mate, he’ll know the game is up.”

“Not if the guards are forced to believe she’s still there.”

He grimaced. “I don’t know—”

I touched his shoulder, squeezing gently. “We’ll deal with him. Just not yet.” I glanced at Jack. “Can we go?”

He glanced at me then, and his eyes held a hint of regret. It was the sort of look I imagined a parent got when their kids finally left the nest.

Maybe he realized that’s exactly what I was trying to do.

“Contact me the minute you free her. We’ll probably have more information about the murders by then.”

“Thanks, boss.” I squeezed my brother’s shoulder and turned to head back out into the main room, then hesitated and looked back at Jack. “Boss, you might want to talk to Harris before you leave.”

His concentration was back on the vamp, so his reply was almost absent. “What about?”

“About his ability to bring down helicopters with kinetic force. He’s also mind-blind. He could make a perfect replacement for Kade.”

Or better yet, for me.

He merely grunted. The vamp was sweating even more profusely, so Jack’s constant telepathic barrage was having an effect.

I winked at Rhoan then continued outside.

“Well?” Evin said, almost anxiously.

“We’re a go. We just need you two to keep relaying information and pretend everything is as it should be.”

Evin scrubbed a hand across his face. “He’ll expect me to be overwrought and anxious, and that certainly won’t be hard to fake.”

West didn’t say anything and he looked no happier than before, but even with Qui

“I’ll phone the minute we have news. And Harris?” I smiled his way. “Thanks.”

A hint of amusement crinkled the corners of his bright eyes. “You’re welcome. And anytime you feel the need to find trouble, please try not to find it in my town.”

“Deal. But your life will quickly become boring without me.”

The amusement crinkling his eyes broke out across the rest of his face. “That I can deal with.”

I snorted in amusement and walked across to Qui

“S o,” I said, unbuckling the lap belt and walking over to the plane’s plush, well-appointed bar. “Given we can’t exactly plan our method of attack until we see what we’re up against, and we have a five-hour flight ahead of us, what do you suggest we do?”

He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I can think of one or two things,” he said, kissing the side of my neck.

His lips were so cool against my skin that I shivered. I hadn’t noticed it before—probably because I’d been so overjoyed to see him—but his body heat was decidedly down. He’d obviously been worrying more about me than feeding himself.

At least that was something easily remedied.

“Only one or two?” I said archly. “My dear vampire, I thought you had a better imagination than that.”