Zane pointed to the satellite picture. “I’m thinking the planekite mine is on this side of the mountain, with offices and such here. See the entrance?” he tapped the screen. “So try Mom again, and ask her for a visual of where she might be.”

Daire leaned against the desk for support and closed his eyes. Felicity? Don’t answer for a moment. We’re getting ready to come in and get you, but all we have is satellite pictures to go on. Give me a picture, a mental image, of what you’ve seen so far. Hopefully her pictures wouldn’t burn his brain as badly as her words and emotions had.

Terror rippled into his head along with a hot blade of pain. He gasped and slapped a hand to his eye. What’s going on?

Nothing. Sorry. I’ll try pictures.

Boiling pins pricked his eyeballs. Slowly pictures began to form in his mind. A dining room. Bedroom. War room. Now a long hallway. Even though her sending pictures didn’t hurt as much as her thoughts, an underlying fear hovered around the message. Whatever was happening had her frightened.

The walls sparkled an odd green glow. Planekite.

His eyelids snapped open, and he strode over to the screen to study the picture. “Based on the hallway, I’d say she’s somewhere here.” He pointed along an area. “But it’s hard to tell, and she hasn’t seen Logan yet.” He dug deep and tried to calm his heart. “She’s scared right now, so the sooner we go, the better.”

“Scared or angry?” Zane asked, a muscle visibly ticking in his jaw.

Daire blew out air. “Scared. Definitely scared.” The primal being at his core sprang awake, ready to wage war. “We need to go. Now.”

“Okay. Go with your gut. Where do we land?” Zane asked as Sam rose to stand next to him.

Daire pointed to the entrance to what he believed was the business side of the mine. “As much as I’d like to go in center mass, I’d hate to land in the middle of a rock.”

Zane nodded. “Keep in mind, one second we’re not there, and the next second we are. If there are guards or anybody with a weapon, they’ll shoot us before we regain our equilibrium.”

Fucking fantastic.

The demon leader leaned in, gaze serious. “Take a deep breath, go as calm as you can, and don’t fight the universe.”

Daire nodded. He’d never really been one with the universe. “We don’t have to hug, do we?”

Zane rolled his eyes. “No.” With a hard lunge, he tackled Daire, and they both went down.

Through nothing. They fell through earth and reality, transporting between dimensions of time and space.

Darkness and an odd whistle echoed around Daire. His body flew away and then reassembled. For the briefest of seconds, true peace surrounded him.

Then he hit a freezing floor and rolled, coming up to face a slack-jawed guard. The guy lifted a weapon and fired.

Felicity entered the medical room and stopped short. Sterile white examination table, white counters, even white tile. Talk about a nightmarish room.

The doctor bustled around, flipping on different monitors. “We’ll keep track of your heartbeat and oxygen levels after injecting the mutated virus,” he mumbled, reading a chart and then scurrying over to the counter.

She shook her head. “Why? If I have a bad reaction, what exactly do you plan to do to counter the drug?”

He turned around and scratched his chin. “I don’t have a plan. This mutation is so new, there isn’t a lot of information about it.” His light-colored eyebrows rose. “To be honest, you’re the first person I’ve met who has already taken the mutation to negate the mating bond. Perhaps if you tell me about the experience, I’ll know what to do.” Curiosity glowed bright in his eyes.

What an asshole. “I’m not a research experiment, and we both know there’s nothing you can do if I have a bad reaction,” she countered, chills clawing down her back.

Ivan prodded her in the kidneys with the gun. “Hop up.”

She stormed away from him, noting the tray of surgical instruments on the counter. “Planning on operating?” she hissed, turning around and jumping onto the table. The smooth sheet bunched under her butt.

The doctor shook his head. “No.” He grasped a small clasp and shoved it on her index finger, and one of the monitors began to beep. “Those are just in case. Your oxygen levels look good.”

“What a relief,” she snapped out.

Ivan shut the door and leaned back against it, gun hanging casually in his hand. “How long does the process take?”

The doctor glanced at Felicity. “Based on my contacts, it takes about two days to fully negate the mating bond.”

Three days, actually, and then about a week of regaining energy and strength. The process was like a human experiencing a very bad flu bug. Felicity shoved hair away from her face. Was it really like the flu? If so, would this one take her down, or would she have created antibodies against the mutation? She swallowed and glanced at the syringe already filled on the tray. “This is such a terrible idea.”

Ivan laughed. “Let’s hope it works.”

She’d known him forever. “Ivan, this might kill me. At least let me see my son once before we take the risk.” She tried to force the hatred from her voice, and it came out quivery.

He shook his head, not concealing the hatred from his eyes at all. “Perhaps this will give you incentive to survive.”

Fear and anger flushed through her. “You are such a prick.”

The doctor cleared his throat and moved to attach a couple of nodules to her upper chest. Her heartbeat blipped on the screen, way too fast. Then he reached for the syringe and glanced at Ivan.

The demon nodded.

“Just take a deep breath and relax,” the doctor said, grasping her arm with chilled hands.

Shots fired in the distance.

Felicity’s head jerked up. Daire was there.

In one smooth motion, she grabbed the syringe, twisted her wrist, and plunged the syringe into the doctor’s palm. He cried out and backed away, windmilling his arms. His ass hit the counter, and the tray of supplies tumbled to the floor. Sharp knives and hooks clattered across the hard tile.

“I’m mated,” he cried out, yanking the syringe free.

“Not anymore,” Felicity hissed, throwing the oxygen counter at his head.

Ivan darted forward, and she kicked, nailing him in the balls. He doubled over with a pained oof.

She grabbed onto the bed, swung around, and hit the doctor under the chin with a hard kick. His head snapped back, his eyes fluttered shut, and his body pummeled down onto the tray.

He’d only be out a few minutes.

Felicity slid to her feet just as Ivan stood up to his full height.

“I’m going to fucking kill you,” he said, turning the gun on her.

Cold purpose flowed through her like bubbling rage. She stood and held out her hands. “You really need the gun for that?” Her lip twisted.

His chin lifted. “No.” Slowly, he shoved the gun in the back of his waistband. “I rarely like to get my hands dirty, but I’m going to bathe in your blood.”

She smiled. “I’ve been waiting for this way too long.” Bunching her knees, she jumped into the air, clapped her thighs on his head, and twisted. Gravity did its job, and she dropped, taking his head with her and forcing his body to follow.

He bellowed and punched her in the hip.

Agony spread along her lower back.

Her hands slapped the floor, and pain ricocheted up her arms to her shoulders. She released his head, rolled, and came up swinging. A jab to the throat threw her back against the counter.

She wheezed in air and sent healing cells to the broken trachea, her eyes wide.

Ivan stood to his full height, blood streaming from a cut on his forehead.

She scrambled down and grasped a scalpel to hold up in front of her.

He chuckled, the sound low and evil, before drawing a jagged knife from his boot. “Mine is bigger.”