They’d lied.
The fucking bastards had lied. What else had they misrepresented? Had he been at fault for the death of the New Orleans official, or was that a lie too? I stood and started to pace. And the worst part was I couldn’t even blame Halston. She hadn’t been the director then. The revelation that my employer had been less than truthful shouldn’t have been a surprise. I was under no illusions when it came to what the Void was capable of doing. The higher-ups could be just as shady as Allcot and his Cryrique minions.
But to lie and disparage Seth’s reputation while keeping such vital information from me, their number one tracker, it was unforgiveable. Of course, I hadn’t actually been a tracker then. Seth’s disappearance had been the main catalyst for me even joining the Void. I’d wanted to clear the Kilsen name. Prove we were decent witches.
Still, someone in that building knew there was more than what they’d told me, and no one had bothered to fill me in. Something had happened to Seth when he infiltrated the group eight years ago. If the reports were true and the group only popped up every four years, then had I known about the sacrificial rituals four years ago, I’d have stopped at nothing to find the secret society, spare the fae sacrifices, and discover exactly what happened to my brother. With any luck, I’d have taken the society down in the process. Willow and Talisen would’ve never been targeted, never been abducted, and no one would be in danger of being ripped to shreds by some crazy cult of paranormals looking to have their souls saved.
Darkness filled me as anger took over, creeping into all the empty places of my heart, pushing out the sadness and the small thread of hope that I might still find Seth someday despite the years since his disappearance.
“Phoebe?” Dax’s deep voice filled the small office. I jerked my head up, startled to find my partner and Link in wolf form standing next to him. When had Link shifted?
“Where’d you come from?” I snapped and then grimaced when I heard my sharp tone. “Sorry, you just surprised me. I didn’t hear you or the alarm indicators.”
The safe house was a fortress, outfitted with cameras, audio, security alarms. There was even a small warning bell that was supposed to go off anytime someone made their way up the walk.
“They went off. I’m surprised you didn’t hear them,” Dax said, his eyebrows pinched together as he studied me. “What’s got you so wound up?”
I opened my mouth to explain, then closed it and shook my head. I wasn’t even sure where to start. Link moved across the room and nudged my leg, letting me know he was there if I needed him. How many times had I seen him do that with Willow? More than I could count.
Dax stood in the doorway of my office, so strong and solid and real. Something inside me broke, letting loose long-buried pain and fear. After the stress of the past twenty-four hours, I could no longer control my emotions. Shaking, I stood and walked over to him, placing my hands on his broad chest. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you right now.”
Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in close. “What happened?”
I let out a choked laugh. “My best friend has been kidnapped. What else is there to say?” My words were a cop-out, but I didn’t know how to talk about Seth. Not yet. Not until I knew more.
He tightened his hold on me and pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head. “Why do I have the feeling there’s something more going on?”
Dax knew me far too well. Certainly the disappearance of a best friend was enough to rattle anyone. But I was a tracker, an agent of the Void. I didn’t rattle easily. “There is, but I…” I didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m here,” he said, tightening his hold on me. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it. Just like we’re going to find Willow and Talisen. One way or another, we’re going to find them.”
I pressed my face into his chest and prayed he was right. “Dax,” I said, pulling back to look him in the eye, determined to try to explain myself. But the tenderness I saw there took my breath away, and my words got clogged in my throat.
“What is it?” He brushed a lock of my dark hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear. The gesture was so simple, so sweet, and so fucking normal it almost brought me to my knees.
“I… Shit.” All reason fled. I reached up, buried my hand in his thick dark hair, and pulled him down as I pressed up on my toes. Our lips met, and all the stress, worry, and fear swirling inside me numbed. All I knew was Dax and his hot lips on my mine, giving me this one moment of reprieve, a place to lose myself among the chaos.
“Jesus, Phoebe,” Dax said with a growl as he backed me up against the wall. “You taste so dammed good.”
I hooked one leg around his hips and ground into him, craving every inch of his long lean body. I’d been starving for him over the past two months and I hadn’t even known it.
He responded by slipping his hand down to my hip, then my thigh, before moving it up to cup my ass. I let out a soft sigh of pleasure and deepened the kiss, completely lost in his woodsy scent. He smelled faintly of cypress and earth and what could only be described as sunshine. Intoxicating.
Dax tore his mouth away from mine and moved his lips to my neck, nipping and scraping his teeth over my skin while his thumb teased one of my nipples though my thin T-shirt. “Christ, I want you so bad right now.”
I let my head fall to the side, giving him easier access to my neck and said, “Yes, now.”
Without hesitation, he picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he started to head toward the bedroom in the back. He’d just kicked open the bedroom door when I finally heard the low buzz of the security alert followed by the crash of the front door as it flew open and banged into the hallway wall. Link’s sharp bark filled the tiny house, adding to the chaos.
Before I could even untangle myself from Dax, Allcot was there right behind Dax, Link standing calmly beside him as if Allcot were some sort of wolf whisperer.
Traitor, I thought.
Allcot’s deep green eyes glinted at me. “Interesting. I guess this is what you meant when you said you needed to ‘talk to Marrok.’”
Dax and I sprang apart. He stepped in front of me, shielding me from the vampire as if he’d already torn my clothes off. “How the fuck did you find this place?”
Allcot gave Dax an impatient smile. “I know everything that goes on in this town. Did you two really think I didn’t know where your hideouts are? Or how to penetrate them?”
“Dammit, Allcot!” I straightened my T-shirt and stepped out from behind Dax, my body suddenly cold from the loss of his heat. “What the hell do you think you’re doing just barging in here? I said I’d meet you back at your mansion.”
“Meet him?” Dax asked, his eyebrows pinched in confusion. “I thought he was locked up at the Void.”
“I let him out,” I said, pressing two fingers to my temple. “We’re combining forces to find Willow, Tal, and Pandora.”
“What?” Dax said, his voice almost a growl. “Did you forget the part about vampires abducting your best friend?”
Allcot took a step forward and bared his fangs at my partner. “Are you saying my people took the fae couple?”
“Didn’t they?” Dax shot back, his muscles bulging as if he was on the verge of turning into a wolf. “It’s the perfect crime. Stage a fake abduction of your consort, take the fae, and pretend you know nothing about it. Then you have the fairy under your thumb and you can run tests on her, turn all your crew into daywalkers, and never have to worry about a rival getting ahold of her.”
“Nice story, wolf. But if I wanted Rhoswen under my thumb, it would’ve happened a long time ago. You should try looking a little closer to home for answers.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Dax demanded.