Blood Lust - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,38
the back of his neck.
Less than a half a heartbeat later he’d been tumbling onto his face, his body shutting down just before his mind had gone blank.
“I’ve been drugged,” he abruptly growled.
Lana nodded, clearly already having suspected what’d happened to him.
“Do you have the magic to burn it out of your system?”
“We’re about to find out,” he muttered, concentrating his energy on one powerful blast that seared through his veins, cleansing it of any lingering toxin.
A gasp was wrenched from his lips as the heat nearly boiled his blood. Damn. It was rare that he had to use his magic on himself. He’d forgotten how much it could hurt.
The last of the heat reached his toes, and slowly Bas battled his way through the clinging darkness.
He was lying face down on a nasty carpet that reeked of stale tobacco and thick dust. Unfortunately, his body wasn’t yet on board with actually moving, so he was forced to try and use his senses to ensure there was nothing near that was about to attack.
“Bas?” Lana sharply broke into his focused search. She no longer looked as if she was standing directly in front of him, but instead he could see she was seated at her desk in Valhalla. Lana was the only telepath he had ever met who could implant her image in another’s mind. It was as unnerving as hell. “Are you awake?”
“I’m conscious,” he muttered, concentrating on regaining command of his limbs.
“Where are you?” she demanded.
“The farmhouse where we were supposed to meet Boggs.”
“Were you attacked?”
“Yeah.” He managed to move his arms far enough to plant his palms on the carpet. “It must have been a tranq gun.”
Lana frowned, her slender fingers tapping on the glossy top of her desk.
“You didn’t sense them?”
“Only an overall feeling of . . .” Bas searched for the words to explain what he’d felt the minute they’d arrived at the farmhouse. “I don’t know . . . wrongness.”
The Mave gave a slow nod. “It could be some sort of human technology. I’ve heard the Brotherhood has been seeking weapons that can disrupt our powers.”
“Great,” he muttered.
That’s all he needed. Humans who could cloak their presence.
Lana grimaced. “Is Myst with you?”
“No.” Desperation clawed at him, even as he tried to straighten his arms. “I made her wait in the vehicle.” He managed to shove himself onto his knees before he swayed to the side and crashed into the nearby banister. “God dammit.”
“Easy, Bas,” Lana tried to soothe.
He reached to grasp the heavy wooden balustrade that edged the upper foyer, ignoring the sweat that beaded his upper lip as he ruthlessly pulled himself to his feet.
“I have to get to her,” he growled between clenched teeth.
“You’re not going to do her any good if you collapse,” Lana warned.
Bas muttered a curse, clinging to the smooth wood as his knees refused to hold his weight.
“Does Wolfe know how annoying you can be?” he snarled.
Lana arched a brow. “You only think I’m annoying when I’m right.”
True. In the past they’d usually gotten along well.
It was only a silver-haired, dark-eyed minx who set off his temper.
“Why did you contact me?” he demanded, relieved when he managed to regain his balance.
He glanced around the empty house, taking in the peeling plaster and dust that covered the forgotten furnishings like a funeral shroud.
He couldn’t detect anyone nearby, but he no longer trusted his senses.
“Your enforcer was worried when he couldn’t get ahold of you,” Lana explained.
Bas felt a stab of surprise. The younger male hated anything connected to Valhalla. Bas had never asked why.
A man’s secrets were his own.
“Kaede called you?”
“Yes.” A hint of amusement flickered over Lana’s face. As if she was aware of Kaede’s revulsion toward her authority. “He managed to infiltrate the Brotherhood in Wyoming.”
Bas smiled wryly, inching his way toward the stairs. At least something had gone right.
“Did he discover anything?”
She nodded. “That the new leader claims to have some way of knowing where Myst is going to be.”
Bas came to an abrupt halt, shock reverberating through his body.
They’d walked into a trap?
“How?” He asked the obvious question.
“The female says she’s talking with God, but Kaede is convinced she’s getting her intel from a less holy source,” Lana said in dry tones. “He’s working to figure it out.”
Bas might have been astounded by the news that the idiotic group had a female leader if he hadn’t been so infuriated that someone had passed along information that’d put Myst in danger.
“The Brotherhood has to have a