wrist, grabbing Quade and shoving it in his mouth. “Drink. I don’t need it.”
Quade fought him for two seconds and then groaned, clamping on with his mouth and drinking deeply. He took enough to suffuse his face with color and then jerked his head free, panting.
Ivar gave him a second to compose himself and then yanked Quade back for a hug. He couldn’t just throw Quade into the void, because he had no idea what to do to keep this world safe for the time being. “I’ll be back, brother.”
“Don’t forget your promise about the woman. Keep her away from all of this.” With that, Quade stood back.
Ivar drew on the power of the wind, turned, and jumped, hoping he reached Brookville.
Darkness swallowed him with a heavy anticipation.
* * * *
Promise paced the physics room, muttering at her equations. How the heck had she allowed Ivar to go alone?
Mercy popped her head into the doorway, sucking on a popsicle. “You still busy?”
“It’s all math all the time,” Promise murmured. “I take it Logan returned safely?”
“Yep. We’re going for a boat ride and wanted to see if you’d like to join us. It could get your mind off Ivar.” Mercy finished the orange treat.
Promise couldn’t leave her boards. “No, but thank you.” She paused and stretched her neck. “I can feel Ivar. Somehow, I feel him close.” It didn’t make sense.
“It’s the mating,” Mercy said. “So long as there’s a way to connect, you’ll feel it. The connection should help you to relax.”
Promise tried to calculate her new reality and hit pause on it. “I’ll figure that out later. Tonight, I’m going to keep working.”
“Suit yourself.” Mercy stepped inside to read the boards. “Logan is getting the boat. Wow. You’ve done a bunch more work already.”
Promise turned back to her boards just as her laptop dinged. She moved to it and found Mark on the screen. “Hi. Any progress?” she asked.
He angled closer to the camera. “What’s up with all the boards?”
“Working hard,” she said, drawing out a chair to sit.
“Where are you, anyway?” He pushed his glasses up his nose.
She grinned. “A very nice research room.”
“At demon headquarters?” he asked, his gaze serious.
Mercy gasped and moved closer to the computer. “You told somebody? A human?” she whispered tersely.
“No.” Promise sat back. Her head spun. “How in the world do you know about—”
He shook his head. “You get too caught up in the equations and ignore the reality. I’ve enjoyed your innocence and dedication to saving the planet, but come on. This research, this discovery, is too much to sit on. The equations you’ve computed will win a Nobel Prize.”
Her math? She gasped. The laptop from the university that she’d brought with her. She hadn’t thought for one second that he’d try to gain access to her files. He’d always been trustworthy. Even so, she had nothing about other species in there. “Mark? Who are you working for?”
“That would be us,” responded a male voice from behind her—in her room. In demon headquarters. Her mind went through a million thoughts before her body caught up. She jumped up to see a blond-haired male and two huge Cyst soldiers right inside the research room. How in the world had they teleported? All her research indicated that the Cyst didn’t have the ability.
“Niall,” Mercy snapped, pressing her hands to her hips and staring at the blond-haired guy. He was much smaller than the two Cyst soldiers. “You total dick.” She jumped for Promise.
Niall drew a gun from his hip and fired it, hitting Mercy midair. She cried out and crashed into Promise, smashing them both into the desk.
Pain rocketed up Promise’s arm to her neck. “Teleport,” she hissed.
“Can’t.” Mercy rolled to her feet, her body vibrating. “Dickwad hit me with a blaster gun. Shit. This is bad. Scream.”
The Cyst solder in the lead lifted a green gun. “One sound, and I’ll end you.”
Mercy angled herself in front of Promise. “Niall. You want me. Not the human.”
“Oh, bitch.” Niall’s teeth gleamed in the computer lights. “You’re right I want you, but the Kurjans want the physicist. Badly. Your buddy Mark has shared your research with us, and we need your help. We’re going to demand it, actually.”
Mercy’s body still shook from the laser stream that had hit her. “I should’ve let Logan kill you.”
“Oh, we’ll get to him again soon,” Niall said. He motioned them forward. “Bring them over here.”
How could there not be some sort of alarm to warn that the enemy had