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“Rhoan’s still alive?”
“For now. I’m just waiting for his location to be sent to me.”
“Good.” There was relief in his gravelly tones. “We need to get you here—”
“No,” I interrupted again. “He wants a showdown on the astral plane—just him and me. And if you or anyone else gets involved, he’s going to blow our bodies to kingdom come.”
“He won’t even fucking see us coming, let alone get the chance to blow you both up.”
“Bright is an IT specialist. They’ll be watching from a distance, and they’ll detonate the same way.”
Jack was silent for a moment, then said, “Fine. We’ll play it his way, at least for the moment. The minute you get a location, you contact me. We’ll start scanning the area for rogue frequencies and start blocking. Once we have the place locked down, we can storm his location and kill the bastard.” He paused. “You’ll be all right until then, won’t you?”
“Yes.” I had to be. There was no other choice except death, and I wasn’t going there willingly. “But I very much doubt Taylor is going to be in the same location as me and Rhoan. He’s not that stupid.”
“Oh, I know that. But I doubt he’ll be far away from either the location or his lieutenant. He’d want the pleasure of watching Rhoan burn after the fight he undoubtedly thinks he’ll win.”
And Taylor wasn’t the only one who thought that the odds were on his side. As another bout of foreboding shivered down my spine, the phone indicated an incoming text. “Hang on, Jack—I think he just contacted me.”
I switched screens. It was the address from Taylor. “Okay,” I said, switching back to Jack. “His address is Twenty Keeshan Court, Altona.”
“We’ll begin the scanning process immediately. Take your time getting there, because the more time we have, the better it will be for you.” He paused, then added, “And be careful.”
“I will be.” Whether it would be enough was another matter entirely. “What about Aunt Riley? Shouldn’t she be involved? Or at least informed?”
“Riley contacted me a few minutes ago. I’ve told her the situation is in hand.”
I snorted softly. “I can imagine what she said to that.”
“Yeah, she may be older, but she certainly hasn’t mellowed.” His tone was wry. “Avoid contact with her. I can’t stop her from searching for her brother, but we need to get this done before she finds him. There’s already been enough people hurt today. I do not want her on the list as well.”
God, I hadn’t even given a thought to the men and women who would have been with Rhoan in that house. “I hope there weren’t any deaths.”
“Two, I’m afraid. We didn’t get them to the hospital in time. It’s only thanks to the comlinks that we knew they were in trouble.”
The comlinks were small disks inserted into the earlobes of all guardians, and they worked in a similar fashion to the earrings I wore—only the comlinks had a “panic” button that sent out a distress signal when things went bad. “Have an ambulance waiting nearby. If I can get Rhoan out before I step onto the astral plane, I will.”
“Do not jeopardize your life to save his,” Jack warned. “Rhoan would not appreciate it.”
No, he wouldn’t, even though he’d do exactly the same for me. I hung up, only to have the phone ring yet again. I glanced at it, but the number was blocked. Trepidation surged anew, but I hit the ANSWER button and said, “Hello?”
“Risa, it’s Markel. I overheard your conversation with Taylor from the astral field and have returned to flesh. I will be able to meet you at the location Taylor gave you.”
“You’ve cleared it with Hunter?”
“Yes. Neither she nor the council currently has any desire to lose your services, so I am to do whatever needs to be done.”
Considering he was a Cazador and could basically do anything he liked to get the job done, that was a pretty chilling statement. “The only thing I need you to do is to get Rhoan out of there.”
“I’m sure that is not what Hunter—”
“In this case, I don’t care what Hunter wants.”
He hesitated, then said, in a distinctly cooler voice, “If that is your wish.”
“It is.”
“I shall be there in fifteen minutes.”
