Reaching over, I threaded my fingers through hers and brought our joined hands to my thigh.
“You’re still nothing like him, because in the end, you wouldn’t hurt someone who was innocent. You’d make the right call.”
She didn’t respond to that. Several moments passed. “About Will? What…what do you think will happen with him?”
I growled. “God, I do want to hunt him down, but here’s the deal. Worst-case scenario, he’s pissed when the mutation fades, and he comes back after us. If so, I’ll take care of him.”
Her brows arched. “And you think there was no way the mutation stuck?”
“Not if Matthew is right. I mean, I wanted to do it to get you out of there, but it wasn’t this true and deep want. He nicked an artery, but he wasn’t dying.” I sent her a look. “I know what you’re thinking. That if it did, we’re connected to him.”
“Yeah,” she replied.
“There’s nothing we can do about that now but wait and see.”
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat, but it did nothing to make her voice sound stronger. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”
I squeezed her hand. We were near Street of Hopes, the address provided. “Are you okay?”
She smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’m okay. Don’t worry about me right now. Everything…”
“Everything is about to change.” Shit. I couldn’t even wrap my head around what was about to happen. My brother. God, he was alive and we were about to be reunited. I pulled along the back of the plaza, hitting the brakes. Pulling my hand free, I killed the engine and took a deep breath as I glanced at the clock in the dashboard. We had five minutes.
Kat unclicked the seat belt. “Let’s do this.”
I blinked. “You don’t have to come in with me. I know…you’re tired.”
A steely look of determination filled her heather-gray eyes as she opened the door and stepped out of the SUV, standing in the damn cold parking lot with her bare feet. I was beside her in a second, taking her hand. She didn’t need to do this. She could stay in the SUV where it was warm and she could rest, but she was doing this for me.
“Thank you,” I said.
Kat smiled, and then we started into the building, and I couldn’t help but notice the onyx embedded in the bricks. The door was unlocked, and once inside, the alarm system shone green.
Hell, how many people did Will Michaels have to pay off to make this happen? How did he get that kind of money?
The lobby looked like any office building lobby. Half-circle desk, fake plants, and cheap tile floors. There was a door leading to a stairwell that had been conveniently left open. Kat squeezed my hand, and I felt sort of nauseous as I stared at the door.
Squaring my shoulders, we went for it, climbing the steps as fast as we could. At the top landing, there was a closed door. Above it, there was more onyx. I let go of her hand and wrapped my fingers around the handle, a slight tremor running up my arm.
I pushed open the door.
The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight streaming in through one window. There were a couple of folding chairs propped against the wall, a TV in the corner, and a large kennel-like cage in the middle of the room, outfitted with the same kind of manacles that had hung from Kat’s.
I stepped into the room slowly, my hands falling to my sides. Heat rolled off my body as I stared at the cage.
The empty cage.
Opening my mouth, I shook my head wordlessly as all the hope and excitement swan-dived out of an airplane.
“Daemon,” Kat croaked.
I stalked toward the cage, stood there a moment, and then knelt, pressing my forehead against my hand. A shudder racked my body. Had Dawson ever been here? Was it all a fucking lie? I didn’t know. All that mattered was my brother was still…missing.
Kat’s hand landed on my back, and my muscles tensed. “He…he lied to me,” I said, voice ragged. “He lied to us.”
Pain ripped into me, tearing up old wounds that had never healed. This was never going to be over. That’s how it felt. I was going to go on for the rest of my life chasing a ghost.
Kneeling beside me, Kat pressed against my back. Her arms wrapped around my waist. I placed my hands on her arms and closed my eyes, letting her presence warm me. If she hadn’t been here…
I rose swiftly, catching Kat off guard. She started to fall backward, but I spun around, catching her before she hit the floor. My name was a rough rasp when she spoke. “Sorry,” I said. “We…we need to get out of here.”
She nodded, stepping back. “I…I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You had nothing to do with this. He tricked us. He lied.”