Provoked

CHAPTER 26

Kane kicked the punching bag and sent it flying through the air. Panting in a deep breath, he glared at the empty gym. Now he was acting more like Talen than himself. He didn’t need to punch things to calm down. He was Kane Kayrs, for Christ’s sake.

In fact, he’d only gone to the gym to find Talen. His older brother didn’t have the decency to be where he was supposed to be.

Heavy footsteps sounded outside, and Talen stomped into the room.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Kane growled.

Talen lifted one dark eyebrow. “On the phone with my mate trying to get her to hurry the hell up and come home. Why are you in the gym wearing silk pants?”

“They’re a silk-cotton blend, and my normal pants.” Kane crossed his arms. “I’m here looking for you.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been thinking strategy and demon strongholds.” Hopefully they’d find Jase and it’d be soon.

“Interesting. So far, the best strategy is shock and awe so we can distract them and cut their heads off before they attack us with their brains.” Talen rolled his shoulders. “What are you thinking?”

Kane frowned. “Something about using Amber’s shielding abilities with modern witchcraft. I mean, the witches manipulate matter with quantum physics, so why not manipulate brain waves? Brain waves are as real as sound or light waves, so I want to figure out how to bend them.”

“Great plan.” Talen reached for a knife from his boot. “Something tells me learning to bend brain waves may take some time.”

Sad but true. But the war with the demons wasn’t ending anytime soon. So Kane had better get started.

Talen twirled the knife, his movements fast, his gaze hard. The glint of swirling steel seemed to catch his attention. “We probably don’t have time for a new strategy before we get Jase.”

“Probably not, but we should still keep building our resources.”

Talen threw the knife up and caught it before slamming the blade back into his boot. Then he frowned and sniffed the air. He straightened, gaze serious on Kane. “You smell like Amber.”

Kane stilled. “I do not.”

“Yes, you do. While you haven’t marked her, her scent is all over you. Mating takes more than just marking, you know.”

Irritation pricked the back of Kane’s neck. “We had sex, that’s all. I’m not mating her. Well, I mean, I asked her, but she said no.”

Talen settled his stance. “Did you tell her you loved her?”

“Of course not, asshole.”

“Calling names seems beneath you. I can tell you have feelings for her.” Talen jerked his head in a tough-guy nod toward Kane’s hand. “The marking appeared, so fate has spoken. She’s your mate, Kane.”

Kane blew out a breath. He opened his mouth to debate his brother’s ridiculous claim when the speaker in the far corner crackled.

“Kane, Talen, get to control room one. Now,” Dage ordered.

Kane’s breath caught. There was only one reason they’d be meeting in Dage’s private control room—they’d found Jase. He broke into a run behind Talen, hurrying down stairs and through passageways to the concealed room.

Dage and Max were already in place, facing the huge screen. A smaller screen to the right held Conn Kayrs, who was in Ireland with his mate. His face was pale, his jaw set hard.

Kane’s stomach dropped. “What’s going on?”

Dage flipped a switch and a dingy cell filled the main screen.

Narrowing his eyes, Kane spotted a thin figure in the corner. “Jase,” he breathed.

The figure slowly crawled toward the far wall, picking up shards of rock. Pausing, he seemed to say something to the walls. Then he plunged the makeshift weapon into his jugular.

Kane took a step back. Nobody even breathed in the control room underground as Jase Kayrs slowly bled out. Finally, he slumped to the ground, copper eyes open, chest not moving with breath.

The screen went black.

Pain and rage ripped through Kane so quickly his mind spun.

“The video is a fake,” Talen growled.

“The techs looked at it—nothing has been altered.” Conn stepped closer to the camera, fury lighting his eyes. “We intercepted the transmission an hour ago and have narrowed the sender to somewhere in Scotland. The witches are trying to pinpoint the location but aren’t having much luck.”

Dage took a deep breath. “Talen, call the pilots and tell them to stand by—and get ready to activate Hilde’s tracker. You and Conn figure out an attack plan once we find a location. Max, you’re in lockdown here at headquarters. . . keep everyone safe.”

Talen and Max both nodded, hurrying from the room.

Conn eyed Dage and Kane. “I’ll see you both soon.” His screen went dark.

Dage continued looking at the dark screen, his broad back to Kane. “Do you think Jase is dead?”

Pain settled so hard in Kane’s gut that he groaned. “No,” he whispered. Giving the king false hope wouldn’t help, but he couldn’t take away all hope.

Dage whirled around, his eyes a stark blue. “Fucking tell me the truth—don’t handle me.”

The vampire in Kane wanted to strike right back, but the brother just felt sorrow. “It’s possible for a vampire to die by bleeding out completely . . . but it’s more likely he’d just go brain dead. Keep in mind how long it’d really take to bleed out. My concern is that he tried to start the process.” Kane’s voice broke on the end.

Dage lifted his chin. “We proceed as if he’s alive and needs to be rescued.” His movements jerky, he yanked his hair into a band to secure at the nape of his neck. “When we get to Ireland, we’ll engage Hilde’s tracking device. Chances are, she’s at headquarters.”

Kane stayed silent, his gaze on his oldest brother.

Dage ground a fist into his eye. “Will Amber be coming?”

“Yes. We need her,” Kane said softly.

“Kane, I know this isn’t the time, but if we attack the demons, some of us might not make it back.”

“I know.” Kane would cover Dage’s back if it was the last thing he ever did.

“My point is, if you love the woman, at least tell her before we go.” Wisdom lurked in the king’s eyes. “You’ll be surprised how much stronger the admission makes you.”

Kane nodded. “Okay.”

“Don’t appease me.” Dage shook his head and stalked toward the door. “Just once you might consider that other people know more than you do about something.”

“I do.” But he’d been so up front with Amber about his feelings, or rather, lack of feelings. Sure, he wanted her. And, man, he liked her. Could it be something deeper?

His gut told him it was something a lot deeper.

“Is she still mad about her granny?” Dage pressed a button to open the door.

“Wouldn’t you be?” Kane turned to follow his brother into the hallway.

“Hell, yes,” Dage said. “Whenever Emma gets really irritated at me, I throw her in the pool. Then we make out. Always works.”

Something told Kane that throwing Amber in the pool was a bad idea. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He needed something far more drastic than a good dunking to appease Amber’s anger. “Though I think that our saving her grandmother is the only thing that’ll make Amber not mad at me anymore.”

“That’s probably true.” Dage paused and put his hand on Kane’s shoulder. “I need to go see Emma before we take off for Scotland.” The king sighed. “She’s not going to like it.” He hurried off for the elevator.

“Well, the pool is probably free,” Kane called after him. Then he fell against the wall. Raw claws of poisoned pain ripped through his entire body. Tears sprang to his eyes, and he allowed them to fall without a care.

Was Jase really done fighting? All logic and Kane’s own eyes said Jase wanted to be finished.

His younger brother was chasing death. Hopefully he hadn’t caught it.