“We’re on the same side, witch!” Then he lifted his hands as if in surrender, and suddenly a stone wall appeared in front of him.

“Shit!”

Wes ran to it, pressed his hand against it, but it was solid rock. How the fuck had the guy done this? It couldn’t have been witchcraft, because for certain, the stranger was no witch. Yet he’d recognized Wesley as a witch. He was preternatural. That much was certain.

But what was he?

Wes dropped his head, when something caught his attention. He stared at the stone in front of him and concentrated on the grooves in its surface. Then he saw it: somebody had carved a dagger into the boulder. A perfect, beautiful ancient dagger. Wes traced the outline with his fingers and felt the stone heat under his touch. Simultaneously, it started to shimmer.

“Fuck!”

He pressed against it, but the heat subsided, as did the glow. The stone was cold again. But the dagger was still there. And he knew he’d seen this dagger somewhere before. Somewhere in a book.

34

Lilo listened anxiously while Quinn spoke to somebody on his cell phone.

Several hours ago, Blake had left, leaving her behind at his house, even though she’d wanted to go with him. But he’d used his sexual prowess to make her submit to his wishes. And she was still fuming about that. This was exactly what she didn’t like about men: their dominance—and her own weakness of giving in so quickly.

And to top it all off, Blake had asked Quinn and Rose to babysit her. Not that she didn’t like the couple—in fact she liked them very much—but she didn’t like being manhandled like that. Without her wishes being taken into account. And she’d tell Blake exactly that—just as soon as he was back.

Quinn disconnected the call, slipped his phone into his pocket and walked back into the living room. “That was Oliver.”

Impatient, Lilo asked, “And? What happened?”

“They’ve got Ronny.”

Her heartbeat accelerated. “And Hannah? Is she alright?”

She suddenly felt Rose’s hand on her forearm. Lilo shot her a look, then stared back at Quinn.

A regretful expression crossed his face. “I’m sorry. They didn’t find her. She wasn’t there.”

A sob tore from her chest. “Oh no! He killed her, didn’t he?” It was too late.

“Oh, no, luvvie,” Rose cooed and stroked her arm.

“She’s alive,” Quinn said, approaching.

Lilo met his gaze. But she couldn’t utter a single word.

“But we don’t know where she’s being kept. Not yet anyway.”

“But then how do they know that she’s alive?” Lilo choked out.

Quinn sighed. “She’s alive because they need her.” He exchanged a look with his wife. “I think we should go to headquarters. They’re bringing Ronny in for interrogation. We’ll get more details then.”

Lilo nodded. She couldn’t wait to be face-to-face with Ronny, and tell him what she thought of him.

By the time they reached Scanguards’ office building in the Mission district, a bustling working class neighborhood with predominantly Latino influences, Quinn had already gotten word that Blake and his team had arrived with their captive in tow.

“They’re just starting the interrogation,” Quinn said, and led her and Rose down a long corridor, before opening a door with his ID card. “We can watch everything from up here.”

He motioned for her to enter, and Lilo walked into the room. It looked like a control booth from which a sound engineer monitored a recording studio. Only, the recording studio was a two-story room with nothing but a chair and a table in it. A large window allowed the occupants of the control booth to watch the goings-on in the room below, where several men were milling about. Microphones and loudspeakers ensured that the sound was transmitted into the booth.

Lilo heard the door close behind her.

Quinn now addressed the man sitting at the controls. “Thomas, you know Lilo, don’t you?”

The blond man in leather pants and a black T-shirt nodded and smiled at her. She remembered him now as Eddie’s blood-bonded mate. “I saw you at the meeting last night. Take a seat. They’re just starting.” He turned up the volume.

Lilo took the seat next to Thomas, while Quinn and Rose remained standing behind her.

She looked down into the room. Ronny was sitting in the only chair, while John hovered over him together with another man she’d seen at the meeting, but hadn’t been introduced to.

“Who’s that?”

Rose bent to her. “That’s Oliver. Our son.”

Quinn squeezed Rose’s hand, giving her a ravishing smile. “Well, he’s actually my protégé. I turned him, which makes me his sire, his father, whatever you want to call it. And Rose has graciously accepted him as her son. He and Ursula, his wife, and their son live with us.”

“Oh, I’ve met Ursula and Sebastian.”

“Aren’t they wonderful? You know, they were talking about getting their own house. Oliver sure can afford it, but I would miss Sebastian so much if they moved out. He’s such a sweet kid. And our house is too big for just the two of us anyway,” Rose said.

Lilo suppressed a laugh. A sweet kid who got into trouble the moment he was hanging out with his pals. “He is.”

The door to the interrogation room suddenly opened and Blake, followed by Samson, marched in, joining their colleagues. She couldn’t help but let her eyes roam over Blake. He was all male, all power, all confidence. He appeared almost unapproachable the way he now strode into the room and approached Ronny. Superior was the word that came to mind.

John and Oliver stepped aside to make space for Blake. He now faced Ronny, turning his back to the window from which Lilo was watching with the others.

“Let’s talk, Ronny, man to man.”

Ronny glared at him. “If she dies because you’re holding me here, I’ll rip your heart out!”

“Then you’d better answer all our questions truthfully, and maybe—”

Ronny scoffed. “Maybe what? We’ve already wasted too much time. If I don’t have the next batch ready by the time they call me, Hannah is as good as dead.”

“Then why don’t you start talking? From the beginning.” Blake leaned in. “I want to know every fucking detail, do you hear me? Or I’ll be the one ripping your heart out.” As if to underscore his threat, Blake lifted his hand.