just teleported in? Wait a minute. They had to know the space, the point on a graph to land. How had they known where to find her? Promise slapped at the Cyst soldier who reached for her first. “Drake, the kid. He managed to explore this area a little bit.” Add in Mark’s view from the laptop, and the Cyst had been led right to them.
An alarm blared through the rainy day.
“Finally,” Mercy breathed, kicking up at the other Cyst solder with both feet. He grabbed her, lifting high and turning. The second Cyst solder manacled Promise, lifting her against his chest. With a furious bellow, Niall charged them all, hitting midcenter, and then the earth dropped away.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ivar landed in Brookville, barely. The vortex or wormhole or whatever it was tried to rip off his legs and keep him. He lay face-down on the sweet grass, panting heavily, his blood running red to the brooks. What was left of it, anyway. He’d given Quade as much as he could. The pain engulfed his entire body so completely that he couldn’t concentrate on one area.
Did he have to sit up to teleport? Probably not.
Turning his face to the side, blowing grass out of his nose, he closed his eyes and tried to pull on the energy from the brooks around him. He imagined demon headquarters, and the air fizzled around him. Then he pictured Promise’s face, alight with intelligence and excited to talk about equations. That did it.
He shot through time and space, almost in slow motion, and landed flat on his stomach and squarely on Adare.
Adare coughed and fell on his butt, wrapping his arms around Ivar’s waist. “Holy fuck. You’re bleeding out.” His eyes a glittering black, he shoved Ivar to sit up and then ripped open his own wrist, holding it to Ivar’s mouth.
There wasn’t time to argue or talk tough. Ivar took enough blood to launch his healing cells into motion and then shoved Adare’s arm back. “Thanks, brother.” Man, he hurt. Everywhere. Then he caught the commotion around him. Soldiers dressed in black, fully armed and loaded. In the research room, shoving the whiteboards out of the way. “What happened?” His heart kicked hard, and he stood, looking for Promise. If there had been a breach, she’d be locked down safely. “Where’s Promise?”
Adare stood and planted a hand on his shoulder. “She and Mercy were taken about an hour ago. Video shows two Cyst soldiers and that Fae ex-king Mercy got fired. Teleported right in here and took them. We need defenses against that—better than we have.”
Rage catapulted through Ivar so quickly, his wounds started bleeding faster. “Where are they?” He threw the two devices he’d brought back for Promise on a table. Then he pulled open the door and ripped the damn thing off the hinges.
Ronan and Logan came running from the far hallway, already dressed in combat gear. Fury darkened Logan’s face until his eyes glowed. “It’s my fault. I thought the Fae king was a harmless douchebag, and I let him live. Never thought the coward would work with the Kurjans.” The dark growl in the demon’s voice was as hoarse as Ivar’s. “I’ll rip off his head this time.”
“Oh, that bastard is mine,” Ivar said, his nerves firing with the need to kill. Niall had been the one to throw him into the hell loop, and Ivar had planned to hunt him down after getting Quade home safely. If the bastard hurt Promise in any way, he’d suffer before dying. Horribly.
Ivar could barely think. Oh, God. They had Promise. Helplessness mixed with rage inside him, and he had to banish all emotion to think. “What do we know?” His gut hurt worse than his wounds.
Logan pulled out an odd black scanner. “They jumped to a place outside of Seattle.” A little green blip showed on a map.
Ivar passed. “What the hell is that?”
Logan looked up, his eyebrows rising. “A plastic scanner. My mate is a smart-ass fairy who can teleport anywhere on this planet or world she wants. You’re crazy if you think I didn’t tag her first chance I got.” He frowned. “You haven’t tagged yours yet? Highly recommend it, brother.” Even though the words were light, the fear in Logan’s eyes promised death.
Ivar started for the outside doors, going into battle mode even while bleeding. He sent as many healing cells to his legs as he could. “You’re the only one who can teleport with metal because you mated