“Are you okay?” Concern filled her voice as she looked at me.
“Do you have to be so damn gorgeous?” I asked before I could censor myself, the words rolling out of my mouth with a growl.
Her eyes flared wide, her cheeks pinking as she bit her lip.
“Sorry,” she apologized sweetly, shrugging. “I was going to call you when I was done getting ready. Nikolai wanted to show me around before we leave, so we’re meeting earlier than usual.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re just way too fucking tempting for my self control.”
“Oh, really?” She grinned at me. “I’ll be home soon.”
“I’m counting the hours, babe,” I assured her.
“How are things there? Everyone doing okay?”
“Dad woke up. He’s going to be okay,” I informed her.
Happy tears immediately filled her eyes, the phone wobbling as her hand shook. She released a hard breath. “Thank God. Does that mean he’s taking over the pack?”
I swallowed and shook my head. “No. He won’t be at full strength for a few more weeks. Maybe months.”
“Okay,” she said, taking the news in stride. “It’s fine, Rem. You’ve got this.”
“You know when you say it, I actually believe it,” I confessed softly. “God, I fucking miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” she whispered sadly. “But I’m getting on a plane in a few hours to come home to you.”
Sighing, I nodded.
“Anything else I need to know?” she asked gently. “You know I’m here. You can unload on me if you need to.”
“I know,” I replied. “Damien called me earlier. Tried to get me to join his pack peacefully.”
“What the hell?” she exploded. “He’s out of his damn mind.”
“Yeah. Well, he even tried making a deal. Said he would let me keep you and give Maren back to Katy.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “He has Maren.”
I nodded. “He all but openly admitted he kidnapped the girls from school a few months ago.”
“That asshole,” she hissed, seething.
“Exactly.”
“I hope you told him where he could shove his offer,” she said coldly.
I smiled at her. I loved her spirit and her fight.
“Pretty much,” I admitted. “But now we know where Maren and the other girls are. When we stop Damien, we’ll get them back.”
“Damn right we will,” Skye said firmly, eyes blazing. “I can’t wait to watch him lose everything.”
I grinned. “Me, too, babe. Me, too.”
30
Skye
If I thought last night was cold, the Russian morning was even more frigid. The air practically crystalized into icicles as I puffed out a breath. Montana snow had nothing on the layers of snow and ice coating the mountains of Russia.
Nikolai and Dimitri waited ahead of me, standing next to a snowmobile on steroids that looked like it comfortably sat four people. Light affixed to the top cast sharp slats of illumination across the snow.
Nikolai smiled as I approached, but his smile dimmed when he realized I wasn’t smiling back.
Remy’s news of Damien’s call had soured the good mood I had woken up with.
“What’s wrong?” Nikolai asked softly as I joined them.
I grit my teeth and shook my head. “I just talked to Remy. Damien is causing trouble.”
Dimitri rolled his eyes. “Now what?”
“He wants Remy to give up,” I said flatly. “Even offered to let him keep me and return Maren to Katy, so he definitely has her. Asshole.”
Nikolai and Dimitri looked at each other, their expressions unreadable to me, but whatever they communicated in that glance clearly meant something to them.
Sighing, Dimitri looked back at me. “When we were on the plane, you mentioned her. I told you that we thought Damien and Elias were behind the missing women in your country.”
I nodded slowly. “You said that you weren’t sure, though.”
“One of the things we did when we suspected Elias was doing shady shit was have someone join the Norwood pack. He’s been there for a few months, mostly on the outside, but Damien has gotten cocky. He’s been going into detail with his pack.” Dimitri grimaced and again looked at his father.
“Can you both stop with the looks and tell me what the hell is going on?” I tossed up my hands in exasperation, my patience quickly dwindling.
“Damien is planning to host an auction,” Nikolai said quietly.
“An auction?” I echoed, dread filling my stomach like slippery swamp sludge.
“There’s a facility in upstate New York, close to the Canadian border,” he went on seriously. “He’s been keeping women and young girls there. As he’s taken packs, he’s also taken all of the women who haven’t had a child or are still a child themselves.”
My jaw dropped open in horror. “Why?”
I knew the answer even as I asked the question.
“He plans to auction them off as mates to the highest bidders.” Nikolai’s jaw clenched in fury, his eyes flashing.
“But some of them are kids,” I whispered, my hand pressing against my chest where my heart hammered wildly. “Kit and Jayla aren’t even sixteen!”
“We know,” Dimitri said gently. “Lulu and I tried getting more information out of Elias last night. Before the Summit, he was staying in the facility, overseeing things. He wasn’t super forthcoming with details, though.”
This wasn’t happening.
I staggered back a step under the weight of their revelation.
Nikolai surged forward, cupping my face in his warm hands, forcing my eyes to meet his.
“We’re going to help you stop him,” he vowed fiercely. “What they’re doing is against everything we stand for. We will help you free them, Skye. Trust me.”
Trust me.
His words rang in my ears, cutting through the fog of confusion and fear. His expression was gentle, his eyes pleading with me to do just what he was asking.
Asking, not demanding.
I licked my dry lips. “I trust you.”
Approval flared in his eyes, and then his face softened even more. He pulled me into him, kissing my forehead before wrapping his arms around me. It only took a second for me to return his embrace.
My father’s embrace.
The skidoo (which I now knew was what the vehicle was called) pulled to a stop just before the treeline broke. Other vehicles were parked in the area as well. Men congregated in a loose circle off to the side. They all stopped, dipping their heads at Nikolai when they realized it was him. I recognized a few from the dinner the night before.
I peered around as Nikolai killed the engine. The moon was just barely visible as light started to break across the land.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, my eyes drifting from him to the men and back.
“Getting out,” Dimitri said from behind me, nudging my shoulder playfully as he jumped out of the side of the vehicle.
“Let’s go, little wolf,” Nikolai added, already standing beside the skidoo.