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"Neither did I. Normally, this is exactly where I'd want to be. But right now, I should be sitting at Karl's bedside."
"Benicio made you come?"
She snorted. "Benicio doesn't make me do anything. Sadly, I can't say the same for a certain conniving bastard who happens to be a member of my Pack. I'm not at Karl's bedside because Karl is not in his bed."
She turned to the jet door. As if on cue, Karl appeared, leaning heavily on a cane. A young man hovered anxiously behind him with a wheelchair.
"Sit in the damned chair!" Elena said. "Jasper already knows you're in no shape to fight him, so the macho act is only going to ensure you don't live long enough to meet your daughter."
I expected him to snap something back. Or at least glower and ignore her. But he lowered himself into the chair and let the nurse roll him down the ramp.
"Too weak to argue, I see," I said.
"Oh, he argues just fine. He's playing along now because he already got his way."
"Someone told him about Jaz, I take it."
"Damned nurse. I could have wrung her neck. Or his. Manipulative bastard. He knew something was up. When I slipped out to talk to Benicio, Karl charmed her into telling him what was going on. I come back? He's out of bed and getting dressed. I tried to get them to sedate him, but he's on too many other drugs to risk another dose. They worried about an adverse reaction. So I was screwed."
Clayton came back to meet us, Jaz now secured in the van. "I'd have done the same if you'd been taken."
She grumbled something uncomplimentary under her breath.
"So you're saying you'd have stayed in the bed if it was me?"
She sighed and uncrossed her arms. "It's not that I don't understand. It's that I couldn't stop him. He's putting his life in danger by coming here. As Alpha-elect, it's my duty to protect him. As a Pack wolf, he should have obeyed me. When I was kidnapped and taken to that compound, Jeremy made you stay behind. He was able to make you stay behind."
"Different circumstances. I stayed while we planned. Once the attack was launched, Jeremy wouldn't have tried keeping me back. You tried with Karl because he could kill himself. You could have tried harder, I bet, but you knew that the stress of being stuck in that bed could have killed him just as easily."
She sighed again. He put his arm around her waist and steered her toward the car. They murmured together, too low for Adam and me to hear, and we hung back so we wouldn't.
When they caught up to Karl in his wheelchair, we picked up speed to join them.
"I do appreciate this, Elena," Karl said, his voice quiet. "I know it's not what you wanted, but I'm grateful--"
"Stuff it, Karl. You're here because you didn't leave me a choice. Remember all those years of fence-sitting? Trying to decide whether you wanted to be in the Pack? You never really got over that, did you? Well, I'll make it easy for you. If you survive this, you're out."
Karl didn't respond. He just looked from the van to the SUV. "Where do you want me?" he asked Elena. "And yes, right now I think I know the general answer, but more specifically . . ."
"Up front in the van. Where you will not speak to Jasper. That's the condition you agreed to. Don't forget it. You are here for Hope when we get her out. You will not interfere with the mission. You will have no contact with Jasper Haig. You agreed to all that."
"I did."
Elena pointed at the van and the nurse rolled him off.
"Bastard," Elena muttered as we climbed into the SUV.
"Punish him later," Clay said. "Or really kick his ass out. Your choice. For now, he owes you. Use that to keep him in line."
"That's what I plan to do. Now fill me in. How exactly are we getting inside?"
Elena was not getting inside. A very limited number of people could be smuggled in with Jaz. I was going in--I knew the players and I'd been in this compound before. For backup, I needed a non-spellcaster, in case the wards extended farther than we thought. Lucas debated sending Clay or Elena with me, then decided, as useful as brute strength was, the ability to disintegrate a door might come in more handy. So, too, might the ability to pick a lock and disarm an alarm. So Adam would be my wingman.
Lucas took us aside after that had been decided.
"Will this still work?" he said. "With the change in your relationship, I'm not altogether comfortable putting you together on this."
"Right," I said. "Because couples shouldn't be trusted on dangerous missions. You should tell that to Elena and Clay. Or to yourself and Paige."
