The only light came from two dim lamps on two tables at opposite ends of the room. The modern furnishings were chic and hightech, not to mention the walls were made of dark gray steel.
This was a boat.
Fang had barely realized that before Aimee turned in his arms and hugged him close.
Vane cursed. "Have you two lost your friggin' minds? Between you and the tiger, we're so screwed."
"No, you're not." Wren tried to flash himself back to Sanctuary. "What the hell?"
"I've got you locked down," Vane said.
Wren knew better than to go after Vane-the wolf was too powerful to take down-but by the look on his face, it was obvious the tigard wanted to try. "Lift it."
Vane shook his head. "No. I didn't just jeopardize my entire clan to see you commit suicide."
"This isn't your fight."
"Yes, it is. I'm not going to sit by and watch an innocent die because some asshole got greedy."
Wren scoffed at Vane's heroism. "Well, thank you, Mr. Altruist, but the tiger doesn't want your help. So sod off."
Someone started clapping.
Fang, still holding Aimee to his side, saw the Dark-Hunter Jean-Luc entering the room from a door on his right. A pirate in his human life, the immortal vampire slayer still retained much of his old look.
With a small gold hoop flashing in his left earlobe, he was dressed all in black in a pair of leather pants, a silk button-down shirt, and biker boots. His long, straight black hair was pulled back into a sleek queue that emphasized the sharp angles of his face. His eyes were so dark that not even the pupils were discernable and those eyes were dancing with amusement. "Nicely put, tiger."
"Shut up, lapdog, this isn't your fight either."
Jean-Luc sucked his breath in sharply at the insult. "Boy, you better counsel that tongue before you find yourself without it."
Wren took a step toward him, then froze as the human he'd been making time with came through the door behind the pirate. The relief on her face was more than obvious.
The human rushed to Wren's side and threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad they got to you before it was too late. You weren't really going to do something stupid, were you?"
"Oh, no, hon, we were too late," Fury said snidely. "Tiger boy done pissed down the wrong honey tree and got all the bees, or in this case bears, going wild."
Fury glanced to Fang then to Aimee. "Then again, knowing the bears, they'll be gunning for wolf before tiger. Good move, Fang. Making off with their only daughter. Real swift. You know chocolate is lethal to our kind. I'm thinking if you want to commit suicide, that's the much less painful way to go about it."
"Knock it off, Fury," Vane said, moving over to where Fang and Aimee were standing. "We have to send her back. Now."
Fang contemplated the death and burial of Fury. Brother or not, that wolf still got on his nerves, but Vane was right. "I know."
Tears glistened in Aimee's eyes and they tore him apart as he ached to kiss them away. "I don't want to leave."
Those words shredded his resolve.
Vane looked as sick as Fang felt. "And I thought my relationship with Bride was doomed. Damn it, people and animals, this shit sucks."
Fang couldn't agree more.
Fury snorted. "You're the leader, Vane. Lead."
Vane looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "If I had any brains at all, which obviously I don't, I would never have gotten involved in this. I would hand my brother and Wren over to the bears and just take my wife and go find a nice, quiet place to raise our children."
He swept them all with an irritated glare. "But obviously, I am truly the dumbest man on the planet."
Jean-Luc pulled a long, thin stiletto out of his boot and offered it to Vane. "Here, mon ami. Either for you or for them. One cut and all your problems are solved, eh?"