Born of Fire

“Did you hear me?” Caillen demanded.

“I heard you.”

“So who do you pick, Trisa? Tessa or a filch?”

Syn put his hand on her shoulder, offering her what comfort he could. He reached over and cut the transmission. “Call Merjack.”

She looked up at him and he saw fury glaring back at him. “I’m going to kill that lying bastard.” Her tone was low and deadly serious.

“I’m going to help you. But first we have to get your sister back. Make the call.”

Shahara nodded even though she could barely see for the raw, unmitigated rage that made her hands shake. How could the bastard have done this? Was he out of his mind?

When I get my hands on you . . .

He would know pain as his primary mistress. But first she had to get control of herself. Passion without control was wasted. She had to funnel it to get him back within her grasp so that she could carve his skin from his body. And by his actions, she knew he was guilty of everything Syn had accused him of.

There was no longer any doubt. Any man who could take her sick and innocent sister hostage when they already had a bargain made . . .

He was going to go down. But first she had to get Tessa back.

Syn took the link from her so that he could talk to Merjack and she could listen. One glance and he could tell she was too mad to be rational right now—not that he blamed her in the least. She was actually doing a lot better than he’d expected. But they needed a negotiator who wasn’t as emotionally involved.

She dialed Merjack’s extension.

The pathetic worm answered on the third ring. “Well, well, the rat has finally crawled back out of his sewer.”

Syn ignored his insults. “Where’s Tessa Dagan?”

“She’s safe . . . for now.”

Like that meant anything. If Syn knew the animal he was talking to, he knew better than to put any trust in Merjack. “I want proof.”

“Fine. After we finish, call Warden Traysen at the prison and he’ll show her to you.”

His fury blinded him as he heard Shahara’s sharp intake of breath. Her face blanched.

“You effing bastard,” Syn snarled. “You can’t keep her there. She’s innocent in all this.”

What the hell was he thinking? He’d been a lot more innocent and younger when they’d thrown him in jail, and those memories were what tore through him. He knew exactly what they’d do to her if they didn’t rescue her immediately.

Merjack laughed. “You forget who my son is. As the father of the president, I can do anything I want to.”

And you can die pretty, too, you bastard.

Syn gripped the link, wishing it was Merjack’s fat hairy neck he was squeezing.

“You know what I want, rat. Give me the chip, without making a copy, and she’s free.”

“I don’t have it.”

“Well, then, I know a few guards and inmates who’ve been eyeing our new guest . . .”

Syn narrowed his eyes. “If they touch her, I’ll rip out your throat.”

“The chip, rat, or I’ll toss her in with the rape felons. You have thirty hours.” Merjack cut the transmission.

He looked at Shahara. Raw panic burned in her golden eyes, and it made him that more determined to kill Merjack. “I won’t let them hurt her.”

“What if we don’t find it?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“We will.”

“Oh God, Syn, I’m so afraid.”

He drew her into his arms and held her tightly. “It’ll be all right. I promise.” But he didn’t really believe those words any more than she did. He’d given up any hope that karma or justice was fair when his sister had killed herself. Life was nothing but pain, and no matter how much you fought or ran, it always threw you to the ground and beat you to a pulp.

Today would be no different.

Pulling away from her, he reached for the link and called the prison. The warden showed him Tessa in one of the better cells. Though she sat crying on her cot, she didn’t look any the worse for her incarceration. They’d left her fully clothed, and a tray of fresh food and drink was set on the table by her cot.

He could sense Shahara’s need to speak with her, but he knew they’d never allow it.

“As you can see,” Traysen said, “we’ve taken good care of her. I have a doctor looking in on her and she’s been kept isolated from the others. It’s the best I can do for now.”

Shahara nodded. “Thank you, Warden. But know that if anything happens to her at all, if she even gets a hangnail, I’ll be coming for you and I won’t stop. Ever.”

A chill went down Syn’s spine as he saw the ruthless woman who’d broken into his apartment and shot him. After all they’d been through, he’d forgotten this side of her.

The side of her that made grown men piss their pants at the mere mention of her name.