“We need to kill that demon, Joseph.”
“The lives of a woman and child are at stake. I’m not asking you. Find Connal and stop him. That’s an order.”
Chapter 27
Something was wrong. Rory could feel it.
Cain’s body had gone still. Not even his chest moved with his breath. He hadn’t tried to put up another wall between them, and even though it was a raging invasion of privacy, Rory couldn’t help herself. She tentatively poked at their connection, looking for what had upset him.
Fury hit her in a hard slap that made her bare her teeth. Fear wove around his fury, along with a heaping mass of guilt. Rory had no idea what it meant, but the emotions were so strong, she knew that something terrible had happened.
“Of course I want to help,” he nearly screamed, “but Rory has to come first. You know that.”
“No, Rory doesn’t,” said Rory.
Cain ignored her, making her want to punch him in the stomach. She hated being left out of the conversation, as if her opinion on whatever was going on didn’t matter.
“I understand perfectly. And you need to understand that I’ll do what I have to do. You and your orders can go fuck themselves.” Cain hung up, his face mottled with anger.
She’d never seen him look like this before. He was beyond furious and well into homicidal rage.
“What happened?” she asked, unsure if she really wanted to know.
“One of the Sanguinar has kidnapped a human woman and her son.”
“Well? What are you waiting on? Let’s go find them.”
“You can’t go anywhere until I kill the demon—not with your degrading condition. And Ronan’s.”
“Are you kidding me?” she demanded. Touching his anger had sparked her own, making it burn bright. “Who the hell cares about my condition, degrading or otherwise, when there’s a terrified woman and child who need us to save them? I’m sure Ronan will feel the same way. He nearly killed himself helping me. What do you think he’d do for an innocent child?”
“Others will be on the Sanguinar’s trail soon. We need to get you somewhere safe.”
“Safe? Really? Are you that stupid? Where the hell can you take me that I don’t tote my brain along for the ride? Because as long as I’m wearing my head, and as long as there’s a demon inside it, I’m pretty much fucked. I might as well be fucked while saving that poor woman and her kid.”
“Once the demon is dead, then we can go after Connal.”
“You really think that I’m going to worry about myself while there’s a missing child at stake?”
“It’s not safe for us to wait—not now that I’ve given the demon reason to fight even harder to free itself by implanting that knowledge in your head. Ronan can’t help you again. He’s too weak.”
“Screw safe, Cain. I saw what your life was all about. You never once thought about your own safety when there were others in danger. Don’t you dare try to feed me any bullshit now, because I know better.” She sucked in a long breath, trying to find enough calm to sound reasonable. “Now, you and I are going after the asshole who abducted those people. We’re going to find them and make sure that they’re safe. And then we’re going to find the demon in my brain and kill it. And then we’re going to find the person who blocks my visions and take their magic ring or whatever so that I don’t have to walk around blind half the time. Got it?”
She felt a heavy throb of frustrated anger pulse out of him, but when he spoke, there wasn’t a single hint of it tinting his calm tone. “Is that what you really want?”
Rory didn’t bother with words. Instead she gathered up her determination to do the right thing and shoved it at him. She let him see how he wasn’t going to stop her, even if that meant she ditched him. Whatever it took, she would not let that woman and child end up trapped in a flooded basement filled with monsters the way she’d been.
Cain shuddered and gripped his phone until his knuckles popped. “This is the worst timing possible. You realize that, don’t you?”
“Don’t fucking care. It’s the timing we’ve got.”
“And if the demon emerges and takes control of your body again?”
“Knock me out. Kill me. Whatever you have to do. Until then, I’m going to fight.”
She felt his grudging acceptance stomp through their link. “Get in the car. We don’t have much time.”
Cain said nothing as they drove back to the nearest highway. It was well past midnight, and there wasn’t much traffic.
The car accelerated until they were pushing ninety. Regardless of what he said, Cain wanted to find that kid as much as she did.
His voice was hard, leaving no room for argument. “We keep the link open. That way I can monitor your thoughts. If the demon breaks free or starts whispering things to you, I’ll know.”
“Agreed. Though I would guess the first thing the demon would do would be to shut you out.”
“Likely. Which is why if you try to block me, I will render you unconscious.”
She still wasn’t used to the idea of having Cain in her mind, touching her in such an intimate way, but so far, he’d been the one who’d been putting himself out there, exposing his entire life. He hadn’t asked for much in return, and his request now was completely logical.
“You have my permission,” she said. “Don’t you dare let me hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it.”
He nodded, his face grim. He handed her his phone. “Call Nicholas. Ask him where Connal is. He may be able to track his vehicle.”
Rory didn’t waste time asking questions. She didn’t know these people, but she was willing to do anything that might help save that kid.
Nicholas answered fast. “Tell me you changed your mind, Cain.”
“Hi, Nicholas. My name is Rory Rainey. I’m with Cain and he asked me to call you and have you tell us where Connal is.”
“Thank God. Is Cain okay?”