outside that window has five guns pointed right at it ready to shoot.” He glanced toward Niall, who still lay on the floor in the corner. “Hey, Fae King? You dead?”
It appeared that all immortals gained a somewhat macabre sense of humor through the centuries.
Niall groaned and rolled to sit up, his face pale and his body shaking. “I told you the Cyst soldiers were too heavy to transport at once.”
Mercy stepped toward him, menace in every line of her small body. “I am so going to kick your balls through your ears.”
“Mercy,” Promise admonished. They had to keep clear heads to gain their freedom, and first she needed to discover exactly what was happening and why they’d been taken. Her legs trembled, and she locked her knees. She focused on Dayne. “You said you wished us no harm, but didn’t you kill Dr. Rashad and Dr. Fissure?”
“Well.” He spread his large hands. “I didn’t kill them. My general did, and that’s because they didn’t give me what I wanted. You’re going to give it to me, aren’t you, Promise?”
The way he said it was mildly creepy and monumentally terrifying. Those people had been torn apart, piece by piece. What kind of a monster would do such a thing? As if reading her mind, the nearest Cyst soldier licked his lips.
Her stomach revolted. “What do you want?” she asked.
Dayne ticked his head toward the boards. “Your brilliant mind. Help my physicists discover how to reach Ulric and bring him home. I know you’re close to understanding the way teleportation works.”
Her breath heated, and she threw out her hands. This was crazy. They truly didn’t comprehend the mysteries of the universe. “I’m nowhere near close.” She shook her head. “The math you’re talking about, the advances in theoretical physics will take centuries. Maybe longer.”
He lifted his head and...sniffed? His eyes swirled purple through the red. “You’ve mated a demon.” His lips curved. “Make that a hybrid.” Then he laughed, long and hard.
“H-how did you know?” she asked.
“I can sense it,” he said. “So can any immortal. Your mate’s scent is all over you. What is it with you Enhanced females getting yourselves bitten and tied down for an eternity? It just makes this so easy.”
“How so?” Promise asked.
He sobered, his gaze piercing. “Their weakness is you. Always has been and always will be. What do you think is happening at demon headquarters right this second?”
Hopefully they were trying to bring Ivar back from the hell world. Had he returned? Was he safe? Promise cleared her throat. “I don’t know.”
“I do,” Dayne said. “They’re gearing up to find you, which will take some time since we teleported you out of there. No satellite, no cameras, no witnesses to see you go. They don’t know where you are.” He smiled, flashing sharp canines. “And on the off chance they find this place, we’ll be long gone. Never to be found again.”
“Why?” Promise asked, her voice shaking.
Dayne studied her as if truly surprised. “We’re at war. It never really ended, you see.”
“We took good care of your son,” she protested as Mercy edged even closer to Niall.
“That was kind of you,” Dayne said.
She looked him over and found several weapons—guns and knives. “How did you let him get so far away from you, anyway?” The child was only eight. It couldn’t have been by design, could it? Who would use their own child in such a manner?
Dayne didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder and then moved to the side.
Mark Brookes walked into the classroom, his gaze earnest. “I’m so sorry about this, but we needed you here. I’m struggling with some of your equations.”
Her hand shot out and slapped him right across the face. The sound echoed loudly in the room, bouncing off the chalkboards. She gasped, her shock mirrored in his expression. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Mark stepped away from her, a red handprint on his right cheek. “You have turned into such a bitch. Now help me get the math right, we’ll give the information to these nice people, and then return to the university to enjoy the grant and work our way to a Nobel.”
Dayne straightened. “As far as I can see, she doesn’t need you, Brookes.”
Promise’s skin pricked. “That is incorrect. I do require his assistance.”
“That’s too bad.” Faster than a blur, Dayne broke Mark’s neck. The snap was deafening, and Mark fell to the ground with his eyes still open. “You have three hours to