Yep, it was just her luck. She should have expected it.
Rising from the bed, Mica moved to the attached bathroom, took another shower, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and left the bedroom with a sense of resignation.
The anger was there, but she had spent so many years hiding her emotions that she barely felt it as she descended the curved staircase to the wide marble foyer.
Night was easing over the mountains, the cold rush of the evening air moaning outside the wide double front doors as it heralded a storm.
Rain or snow? At this time of the year, it could be either or a mix of both.
She shivered at the thought of any of those options. The thought of rain only reminded her of that mad dash through the dark streets of New York City, while the thought of snow in the mountains made her wish she had simply stayed at her parents’ ranch in Colorado rather than returning to her job at the paper after she finished at Haven.
“There you are.” As Mica stepped from the stairs, Merinus stepped from the kitchen entrance farther along the foyer.
Still slender despite the two children she’d had, and the fact that she had passed her fortieth birthday, Merinus still looked the same as she had the day she stood in front of those journalists by Callan’s side while he told the world what he was, and what he was created to be.
“Yep, here I am.” Mica pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “It’s quiet here today.”
“There’s a storm moving in.” Merinus’s smile was quiet, confident.
She was the pride leader’s wife and mate, the prima they called her, and she carried her title well.
Moving toward her, Mica suddenly felt self-conscious, wondering if Navarro had spoken to this woman after he left, if she knew what had happened in the bedroom Mica had slept in whenever she visited, since she was a child.
“Come on into the kitchen. There’s coffee and chocolate cake. I’ve been indulging today.”
Turning, Merinus led the way back into the spacious, cheery kitchen, the jeans and sweatshirt she wore looking incredibly comfortable when paired with the thick, white socks on her feet.
Stepping into the kitchen, Mica almost breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that Merinus was the only one there.
“Cassie called earlier,” Merinus stated as she poured coffee and slid a cup across the wide center island, as Mica took a seat on one of the high bar stools in front of it.
“I lost my cell phone,” Mica sighed. “I’ll have to see if Jonas will get me another.”
The Breed-secured sat phone she carried had been in her purse along with her ID, cash and credit cards.
“Cassie told me to assure you she was taking care of things in regards to cards and so forth,” Merinus stated as she pushed the cake across the counter. “She assumed that since the sat phone was disconnected that something had happened.”
Mica gave a short nod. It was an agreement they had. If the other even suspected that somehow one of them had been hurt, robbed or taken, then they’d take the precaution of canceling all credit cards.
The last thing they wanted, or needed, was some bastards cashing in after they’d possibly been killed by one of them.
“Callan, Jonas, Kane and Navarro are at communications headquarters going over mission stats,”
Merinus told her. As though she needed to know, Mica thought resentfully as she dug into the cake.
“I just need to know when the heli-jet will be here to take me home, Prima.” Mica stared back at the other woman questioningly. “As much as I enjoy Sanctuary, I think I’d feel better if I were at my parents’
ranch.”
“Your parents are at Haven, Mica,” Merinus revealed gently. “The ranch was hit at the same time you were targeted in the city. Your father and mother were, thankfully, not at home at the time.”
Mica inhaled slowly, carefully. “Does Jonas know why they were targeted? Does he know why I was targeted?”
Merinus gave a quick shake of her head. “I know he’s working on it. I promise, we’re doing everything we can to figure this out and to get you safely home. But the key word is safely. We’re not certain that even the heli-jet would be a secured means of transportation at the moment. Until we know for certain, it’s not a chance we want to take.”
Mica took another bite of the chocolate cake, sipped at her coffee and simply allowed the information to settle inside her.
She couldn’t leave yet. She was stuck here, which meant the support system she would have counted on at any other time wasn’t available.