“What happened?”

Carl swallowed and accepted Samson’s help to sit up. “Miss Delilah was in the living room when I heard the front door open. By the time I ran into the hallway, they’d already stormed in and grabbed her.”

“Where was Nina? Was she fighting them? Is that how she got injured?” Amaury interrupted.

There was a pissed-off look on Carl’s face when he answered. “Oh, she was fighting alright, but not against them.”

“What?” Samson looked from Carl to Amaury.

“No, you’re lying!” The implication buried in Carl’s words conjured up images that twisted a knife in Amaury’s gut.

Carl scrambled to his feet. “I never lie. I was fighting one of them, and she was talking to Luther. And then the one I fought saw her. They knew each other. When he was distracted I tried to stake him, but she threw herself in between and saved him.”

Amaury gasped. “No. You must be wrong.” Nina wouldn’t betray them. He would have felt her treachery, sensed her deceit if there had been any in the heart.

“I’m not wrong,” Carl barked. “She took my stake in her arm to save him. She was all worried about him, screamed ‘Oh, no, Eddie’—”

“Eddie?” Amaury’s heart knotted.

“Her brother?” Samson asked.

Amaury nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. His mate had betrayed them and taken her brother’s side. “She wouldn’t do that to me. She wouldn’t.” But she had. There could be no doubt now. Why had he not seen it?

“Was that why they didn’t kill you, so you could tell me what she’d done?” Was that her last cruel deed toward him?

Carl shook his head. “Luther left me alive to give you and Samson a message.”

Samson faced Carl. “What’s the message?”

“His words were: Vivian needs company.”

Amaury felt as if his guts had just been ripped out. For the first time he could see a physical manifestation of Samson’s pain. His friend’s knees buckled, and he had to grip Gabriel’s arm to stay upright.

Zane’s and Quinn’s inquisitive stares landed on Amaury. They knew Samson wasn’t in any condition to answer. “Vivian is dead.” Luther was planning to kill their mates. But then, if he wanted to kill Nina, wouldn’t that mean she wasn’t on Luther’s side after all? Or had his plan changed after he’d realized that Nina was now Amaury’s mate? Had she in fact been on Luther’s side in the beginning, but by bonding with him signed her own death sentence?

“I know where they are,” Samson suddenly said. “Let’s go.” He stepped toward the door, only to be blocked by Gabriel and his New York crew.

“No.”

Amaury instantly took Samson’s flank, getting into battle position. Why would their colleagues stop them from rescuing their women?

“Get out of my way, Gabriel.” Samson’s voice was a snarl.

“Can’t do that. It’s too close to sunrise. Whatever you’re planning, we won’t have enough time tonight. And besides, we’re not going in without a plan.”

“He’s right, Sir,” Carl’s voice came from behind. Samson and Amaury turned to him.

“If he wanted to kill Delilah right away, he would have done it here. There’s a reason he left me alive to tell you.” Carl paused. “He’s going to wait until you get there, so you’ll have to watch when he kills her.”

Samson nodded slowly.

And Nina—was nobody thinking of Amaury’s mate? Were they all convinced that she was a traitor? Amaury wasn’t. He couldn’t allow that thought to take residence in his mind. If Luther wanted to kill her, it could only mean one thing: she wasn’t on his side after all. Or was it all a big deception? Had Carl misunderstood? Was he planning to kill only Delilah and not Nina?

Nina, where are you? Talk to me.

He reached out to her with his mind, but there was no reply. She should hear him. There were only two reasons why she wouldn’t reply: she either refused because she was with Luther, or she was dead. Amaury couldn’t accept either reason.

Thirty-four

A familiar voice broke through the fog.

Nina, where are you? Talk to me.

Then another voice, this one closer. “Nina, can you hear me?”

Nina opened her eyes. The light around her was dim. She found herself lying on a cold stone floor.

“Thank God, you’re okay,” Delilah said. Nina took her helping arm to sit up. Her side hurt. She looked down at her arm. There were traces of encrusted blood on the spot where Carl had caught her with the stake, but the wound had closed and healed.