was almost to the top of the rock. "When Elijah and I were tracking Cardiff, Alice was there. We were in the middle of the high desert," he said. "No one was around for a hundred miles...except Alice. The only footprints we saw there were the hoofprints of Cardiff's horse. Why else would she be there?"
If Alice could help him find Warwick, there was no way he was letting her go, no matter how dangerous she was.
Ry stared at him. "Hoofprints," he echoed. "Your wizard rides a horse?"
"Yeah, a black stallion that can fly. Deathbringer." Ian's adrenaline suddenly went on alert at Ry's stunned expression. "What is it?"
"Nothing." Ryland turned quickly away, but not before Ian saw the evasive flick of his eyes.
Ian knew then. Without Ryland even saying a word, he knew. The man trying to destroy the Order had been riding a black horse. Warwick? The bastard wasn't satisfied with taking out the Fitzgerald clan? "You need me," Ian said softly as he looked toward the rock. "If it's Warwick, you can't do it without me." Ian had spent thousands of hours researching demon magic to try to find a way to break the curse. He hadn't succeeded, but he understood a lot more about magic than the rest of the team did.
"Alice is the one we need," Ryland said, quickly, softly, but there was no mistaking the determination in his tone. Alice was not getting away from the Order. Not today. "She's one of our angels. Without her, we are nothing."
Ian looked toward the rock, and anticipation pulsed through him as he watched her pull herself up onto the top. Her body was lithe and strong, her hips curved and appealing. The turquoise moon cast a vibrant tint across her skin, making hot desire surge far too powerfully.
Dangerous didn't even begin to describe her, but at the same time...was she his chance? The opening he'd been searching for?
She looked back over her shoulder at him, as if she'd felt his stare. She tensed when she saw he was closer to her now. This time, there wasn't heat emanating from her gaze. Her eyes narrowed, her muscles tightened, and she shook her head once. Rejecting him without caring what he wanted. Telling him to back off.
If she could lead him to Warwick, there was no chance of that happening. No matter how badly they both wanted to go their separate ways.
"Stay here," he ordered Ryland, without taking his gaze off Alice. "I'll handle this."
Without waiting for an answer, Ian shoved past him, but Ryland grabbed his arm. "Fitz."
Ian looked at him. "What?"
"The future of the Order is at stake. If Alice is involved, if your wizard is involved, you need to step aside. You aren't capable of handling either of them."
Ian's eyes blazed at the insult. "You've fought beside me for six hundred years. You're questioning my ability to be a warrior?"
Ryland didn't look away. "Yeah, I am. Now that Dante is dead, we still have no one who has stepped into the role of our leader. I will not let the Order die. It's more important to me than your ego."
Fury began to simmer through him. "I am descended from—"
"A line of males too weak to keep themselves alive," Ryland said.
Ian stiffened. "That's all you see when you look at the legendary men who were the best Order of the Blade members ever to exist? That's all you fucking see?"
Something flickered in Ry's eyes. "No, it's not all I see," he admitted. He met Ian's gaze and gave a slight nod. "Okay, Fitz, you have one chance. Get the girl, bring her back here, and we'll return to the mansion. If you snap, if you fail, you're done, and I will lead the team sent to strip you of your title. Got it?"
Ian's lip curled in disgust, but he said nothing. He was worthy of being in the Order. It was all he lived for. He would not let them cut him out. If Warwick Cardiff was indeed the one trying to take down the Order, they needed him...and they might need Alice, depending on what her true story was.
He gave no response to Ryland. He simply pushed past him, heading right toward the woman who was more than he could handle, toward the woman who could die any second, toward the woman who was supposed to be his sheva, and yet inexplicably didn't want a damn thing to do with him.
Too bad for her.
They were about