Succubus Unchained - Heather Long Page 0,21

wanted. She wanted to kill Isaac, and like Fin, she would have to start where she knew the territory. Unfortunately…

“What?” Alfred demanded, and Fin raised his brows.

“You seem most disturbed for someone who did not care one whit for her feelings when you finished her transition.”

“Don’t start,” Alfred said with a slice of his hand. “She’s mated to Maddox, and he’s not going to be able to think of anything else. If Rogue didn’t care for her, he’d never have stood against all of us to help her escape. You can’t stop thinking about her right now. One of us has to keep our head.”

It wasn’t him. The anger in his voice, the tension around his mouth…

Fin almost wanted to smile.

Alfred’s emotional distance had done them no favors. His age had proven more of a handicap than a help.

Perhaps Fiona’s flight would serve two purposes—allow her to regather herself and understand she needed them as much as they needed her, and to wake Alfred and Rogue up to the fact that they would have to change. This could work out well.

“Now you’re smiling,” Maddox stated, almost in accusation. “What do you know, druid?”

“Oh, big guy, I know so many things. We’ve had this discussion.” He spread his hands. “But I will go and find our lady, since you’ve all so carelessly misplaced her.” Slanting a look at Rogue, he considered him. “How much money did you give her?”

“Why do you presume I gave her any funds?”

“Because you call her your beloved and you would not let her flee with nothing but her skin when all she had in the world has already been taken from her. So how much?”

“If I did give her anything,” Rogue conceded, “it would be enough so she would never have to worry about her finances again.”

So an account. Rogue had given her an account.

All Fin had to do was figure out which one.

Alfred rubbed a hand over his face. “Just find her.”

“I’ll go with you,” Maddox announced, but Fin shook his head.

“Big guy…”

Eyes narrowed, Maddox just glared. “I can find anyone. If any of us finds her, it will be me.”

“Maddox,” Alfred began. “I need you here.”

The dragon’s glare promised acid at Alfred. “You broke this. You tried to break her. You kept me from her throughout the transition. This is your fault.”

And that is part of why I helped her. The thought from Rogue pulled Fin’s attention from the fresh battle brewing between Maddox and Alfred. She is not our possession. It was not our decision to make.

Yet you didn’t argue against it either.

No, Rogue admitted. I am just as guilty. I didn’t want her to die.

Well, that was something. I’ll find her. Fin flicked a look to where Maddox had slammed Alfred against the wall. Should we do anything about that?

Rogue walked over to pour himself a drink. He moved stiffly, probably hiding more injuries. No. Alfred is angrier than he’s been in a long time, and Maddox is a wounded animal. Let them take it out on each other.

That seemed reasonable. I’ll check in.

Fin?

Yes?

Be kind to her. For all her bravado and strength, she is very much alone now.

We have all been that alone.

The only ones of their kind.

Rogue nodded. Exactly.

She’s ours.

It was the only answer Fin had to that. He would protect her with everything he had.

Even from ourselves? Rogue’s last question lingered as Fin reached for the paths and twisted away. He’d already been around the world once. Now he would return to Dallas and wait for her.

And plan.

He’d already wanted to win her back. He’d just have to be creative about it.

Chapter 5

“For Aphrodite engenders more mischief in the clever.” - Euripides.

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since my evening escape from the keep. When I straddled the back of the snowmobile behind Rogue, I half-expected him to turn us around and bring me back. To trick me in some way. Loyalty, it seemed, existed only between the four of them, with all three deferring to Alfred. To my surprise, though, Rogue had taken me down the mountain and then across the wildly unfamiliar terrain to the edge of a small village before pointing me toward the train depot.

“The minute they realize, they will look at the airlines. You need to make your way to Germany from here.” He handed me a card. “Speak to this man, and only if he is alone. Hand him this card, then tell him the name you wish to be known by.