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“We find him,” Alexei answered. “Did anyone tail him?”
“No, Your Highness.” Roman looked as bitter about the answer as his prince felt.
“Tell me everything you know.” The more information they had, the better their chance of locating one lost demon hybrid in this city’s sea of ten million humans.
“We found the package that the Order sent Kyle. The ‘proof of life’ for his mother, they called it.” Roman shook his head. “More likely than not the woman’s dead by now. His guards searched the safe house where we’d stashed him, but he had already left. He’d locked his room door so we don’t know the exact time he ran, but a few minutes ago a letter showed up with a photo of him strapped to a medical table. He has been…tortured, maimed, I don’t know the right word for it, Your Highness. It’s as if they took him apart to look for something.” The horror in the guard’s voice spoke volumes more than what he said, but the dread in his expression meant there was still horror to come.
“And the letter? What did it say? What else did they send?”Please don’t let it be a body part of one of his young subjects, the one he’d tried to hide, the one he hadn’t protected despite his efforts.
Roman stood straighter, the stiff lines in his shoulders forming a wall that couldn’t hold back whatever bad news might be coming. “The Order demands you meet with them, that you trade places with Kyle.”
He weighed the possibilities. They would need a plan, and he would have to make sure Eddie and his team ran surveillance and security each step of the way. If he could trick the Order and its leader Noxx into a meeting, perhaps he could knock out two problems at once—recover Kyle and eliminate anyone who had hurt Joelle. “If I can arrange a meeting to discuss an exchange, trading myself for Kyle—”
“Not going to happen.” His sister hurried into the room.
“Alys, we need to discuss—”
“No,” she interrupted again. “You,” she said to Roman. “Anything else to add to your bad news report?”
“No.” Roman backed toward the door.
“Then please leave us,” she told him. “Eddie, get out, and for gods’ sake, put some clothes on.”
Both men rushed to do as she ordered. Tiny beloved dictator indeed. Joelle had seen through his sister’s scariness to the loyal ambition inside.
He looked down at her to find her glaring back at him so viciously that he had to remind himself he outranked her in the family dynasty. Her scowl was chilling. Which meant he needed to distract her before she began commanding him. “You don’t get to decide whether or not I go to rescue Kyle.” He kept his tone light but firm, not opening the discussion to any crazy Alys-brained arguments.
“Neither do you, brother dearest. That’s for your king to decide, or did you forget about him since he lets you do what you want as long as it doesn’t threaten to kill you, which meeting with the Order would qualify under his ‘gross endangerment to the heir’ clause.”
“You would rat me out to our father?”
“In a mother-fricking heartbeat. I will love telling Daddy Dearest how you decided to offer yourself up as a present to the supernatural-hating humans who’ve been killing people like my beloved’s cousin. They slaughtered her for being born with a few drops of demon blood. What do you think they’d do to you, a crown prince?” She glanced around the room. “Where’s Joelle?”
“She didn’t like me fighting with Eddie. I already know it was a mistake so—”
“I don’t give a shit how you two guys work out your problems. You’ve been beating on each other since we were kids, and thisisa sparring room. Where is she? Tai said he would bring her the gift he made for her in the lab, and now he and Yulia have gone.”
“Yulia would’ve left mad that I rejected her proposal.”
“Of a partnership?”
“Of a marriage.” Just saying the possibility tasted sour on his tongue.
“For fuck’s sake, Alexei, did you not tell the woman that you have a mate?”
He didn’t want to discuss this with her. After he found Joelle and made her accept him, earned her love the way he loved her, any conversations he had or hadn’t had with Yulia wouldn’t be a problem. “First, we find Joelle. Then, we rescue Kyle. We can deal with politics later.”
Alys held up a finger. “No,firstyou’re going to put away the wings and the black-washed eyes.”
“You think Joelle would be scared to see me like this?” It made sense even though his mate had seemed comfortable with Eddie in his demon form. The memory made him growl, made him want to guarantee she got real cozy with the way her mate looked. After all, she’d asked to see his wings.
“If the fact that you’re a control freak and an asshole hasn’t made your mate run, I doubt seeing you in demon form will.”
He had no clue how to answer that accurate but unflattering assessment. Letting the change take over, he welcomed the tingling magic that spread across his skin while the wings disappeared. True, it didn’t compare to the buzz he got when Joelle touched him, but nothing did.
Alys headed for the door. “You go look for a shirt that isn’t ripped and bloody, and I’ll take care of finding Kyle. Joelle,” she yelled down the hallway.
He replayed her last words in his head. “You have a way to track Kyle?”
