You know that. Who am I going to be kidnapping with this stomach? I can barely fit through doors as it is."
"You didn't try to stop him. You didn't do anything to get my child back to me."
"We thought you were dead!" Charlee said.
"Well, what about Cole? You knew Cole wasn't dead!"
"And how was I going to find him without Anthony finding out? You might think my mate is evil, but he's just doing what he has to do. Not everybody is on board with him having me for a mate, and now I'm pregnant. Do you know what they do to babies born from a human mated to a vampire?"
Jane shrugged, not sure she cared, seeing as they hadn't cared what happened to her kid.
Charlee's hand went over her stomach in a protective gesture. Jane knew that gesture, and she softened.
"They kill them. Babies born to a claimed human mother from a vampire are weak. They have all the weaknesses of a vampire but none of the strengths. They're considered an abomination. Anthony is doing what he's doing to protect our daughter. He has to be ruthless enough that no one will try to cross him and kill our child. All we want to know is where the hive is."
"No."
"Anthony can't look weak," Charlee said, pleading in her eyes.
Jane put her hands on her hips, feeling odd with the two of them together in this building again. "Look, some of my pack could be dying right now. They're fighting, and it has to stop. Anthony won't look weak if I have a hostage."
Charlee's eyes widened. "You'd do that to me?"
Jane growled. "Jesus, Charlee, no. Do you not know how to act? Just look pathetic, and I'll sell the rest of it. I've worn one mask or another so long I can be anything or anyone. Anthony doesn't know who I am. He's never known."
Charlee nodded. "Okay."
"Um, guys?" Fiona said. "I think we should move me and the pup to a safe location. If we go with you, the tables could turn on us again."
Jane nodded. She'd assumed Fiona would be dead weight in all of this, and was surprised when she wasn't. "That was my plan, yes." She pulled out the talisman Cain had given her and turned the shiny, golden stone over the runic markings to the correct combination. The shimmery film appeared.
"When you go through with the pup, ask for directions to the werewolf camp. Tell them Cain said you're off limits. Actually, you might want to lead with that part."
The internal struggle was clear on Fiona's face as she looked at the film and the potential danger beyond.
"Hey, you've got this. Trust me. You're stronger than you think," Jane said.
The witch bit her lip and nodded. She turned and hugged Charlee. "Thanks for keeping me sane in here."
"No problem. Good luck."
Then Fiona took the pup and disappeared into the safety of the demon dimension.
When Jane and Charlee reached the lobby, the guardian at the front desk didn't look shocked to see them, his suspicions of something amiss confirmed. But he went right back to his paper.
Chapter Fourteen
Outside the warehouse, Jane glanced at Charlee. "Are you ready for this?" She could tell her friend was still weirded out about her dying then coming back as a demon. And given the tense situation ahead of them, there hadn't been much small talk about it on the trip over.
Charlee nodded.
"Alrighty then." Jane busted through the door, dragging her pregnant friend along with her, doing a perfect impersonation of a crazy gunman with a hostage. Only, instead of a gun, she had a stake poised at Charlee's throat.
Anthony or somebody in his camp had called in reinforcements while she'd been gone, so the odds were stacked on the vampire side now from sheer numbers alone. Anna and Tam continued to chant, but they looked like they were getting tired.
The sorcerers on Anthony's team were throwing energy balls trying to put a dent in Tam and Anna's protection shield and waiting for the moment when the two witches on the demon and therian side collapsed so they could start cursing demons. The demons were throwing fireballs, occasionally lighting a vampire on fire. The magic users on Anthony's side were too busy with offense to shield against it.
She scanned the ground to find several wolves down. How bad, she didn't know. Cole was injured, but he was fighting through it. And he'd survive anything now, so at least she didn't have to