Nobody had an answer.
Garrett shook his head. “We’ve been trying to figure that out for years. The Realm is doing a deep dive on each of the victims, but so far, nothing connects them except the fact that they’re Enhanced and were ultimately kidnapped. The techs are also looking back the last ten years at missing women reports, in addition to the females we’ve saved and given new identities.”
“We need to find where the Kurjans are taking and keeping these women,” Sam said. He shook his head. “Something feels off about this, but I don’t know what.”
“I agree.” Garrett said. “Also, as soon as we have a location on the missing women kidnapped yesterday, we’re going in as the Seven. I have to warn you, the rest of the Seven are pulling away from the Realm again. They’re too accustomed to working alone, and they’re not happy we told Dage and Zane everything.”
Sam shrugged. “Dage and Zane knew most everything, already. The bottom line is that if this ritual comes to pass, that is, if Ulric gets free, we’re all going to need to work together. If only to save Hope.”
Nessa looked up from a computer console. “We have another kidnapping happening right now in Seattle. A woman taken out of her apartment, and the roommate called the local authorities.” Then she tapped her earbud and typed on the keyboard. “We might have another one out of Tacoma. Hold on.”
They all stood. Sam needed to do something. Anything. “How about Bear and I take a squad to Seattle right now? Garrett, you and Lake take the Tacoma one. We have to stop them. Extra points if we get a Kurjan or Cyst back here for interviewing. We need answers.”
“Good plan,” Garrett said, shoving his phone in his pocket. “Flynn is creating another protective web around the territory for Nessa, by the way. He can make a new one every twelve hours, but it seems to tire him. For now, I’ll grab a team and be ready as soon as we have information on Tacoma. Good luck.”
“You, too.” Sam turned and led the way up the stairs as Bear spent a moment with Nessa. At the top, he nearly collided with a nice lady everyone called Miss Lalla. Miss Lalla was an older bear with deep black eyes, long chestnut-colored hair, and twin dimples.
She stepped back. “Oh, good. Sam, I was wondering if you wanted to go to town with me tomorrow for my acupuncture appointment.”
He smiled at her but kept moving toward the armory. “Do you need an escort?”
“No. Acupuncture is supposed to help with all sorts of conditions,” she said, jogging alongside him. “The practitioner is human because we don’t have one on the campus here, but he’s very good. What do you say? I could make an appointment with him for you. You’ll be in tip-top shape in no time.”
Behind him, Garrett laughed loud enough he nearly got his head taken off.
Sam forced a smile as he yanked open the door to arm himself. “Thank you, but no. I’ve got this.” Man, the Kurjans had better put up a good fight.
Sam needed it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Honor waited for her next patient to arrive, her mind on Sam. He’d been gone for several hours, and darkness was starting to fall. The door opened, and Garrett Kayrs walked inside, with two milkshakes in his hands. The wind blew in after him, scattering hail and more rain. It had stormed all day and didn’t seem to be slowing.
“Hi,” Garrett said.
“Hi.” Honor accepted the milkshake. “This is nice of you.”
He licked the top of his before it could melt down the side. “I figured you could use dinner.”
She grinned and sucked gooey heaven through the straw. Honey and strawberries. Delicious. “Have you heard from Sam?”
“Not yet.” Garrett frowned. “I would’ve gone with him, but we thought we had another kidnapping in Tacoma. That one ended up being a false alarm, and then it was too late to join in.”
The guy sounded sorry he hadn’t gotten to hit anybody. “So you came here?”
“Yes.” He sat in the adjoining chair. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have you tickle my brain.” He blanched. “I didn’t mean for that to sound sexy. At all.”
“It didn’t,” she said.
He grinned. “Fair enough.”
She sipped contentedly. “All right. What’s up in that immortal brain of yours?” She’d learned quickly that humor and a direct approach worked best with immortals. No need to ease into it.
He drank more of his milkshake, which looked like chocolate chip. “I have these dreams, and they might be driving me crazy. They could be from Fate, they could be caused by an enemy somehow, or they could be my wishful thinking. I don’t know. Dig into my brain and figure it out, would you?”
“I can try.” She closed her eyes and searched for Garrett’s essence. Strong and solid, slightly explosive. Yep. There it was. She delved deep, not going slow with him. There was no reason. He was wide open, which was impressive, really. An image came to her—him on a motorcycle, fulfilled. A weight on his back, slight and bright, all but surrounding him. Then it winked out of sight. Honor’s eyelids opened. “Wow.”
He stiffened. “Is it real?”
This was so far beyond her experience. “The vision appeared real, but that doesn’t mean it is.” She tried to think through the situation. “I feel like there’s a ticking clock in your head. Has it always been that way?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “It’s just life and destiny and all of that. What I need is for you to connect to her essence. Can you do that?”
“I have no idea,” Honor admitted. “I’m not even sure how I’m connecting with yours right now, but I’m willing to try anything if you think it’ll help. Close your eyes and think about her. Feel her. With everything you have.” Never in a million years would Honor have imagined using her psychology degree and sixth sense about people like this. It was amazing and more than she could’ve ever hoped to do, and she didn’t even understand it all yet. This kind of mental challenge excited her more than any other business opportunity she’d been offered. “You there?”
“Yes.” His eyes were closed and his body relaxed. “I’m there. All thoughts and feelings. Dive right in, Doc.”
She closed her eyelids and put her head back on the sofa, still holding her milkshake. Then she gingerly poked her way into Garrett’s head. Though he was open to her, there was danger in what she was attempting. She’d had minds snap shut on her earlier that day, all by accident, and there was no doubt Garrett could inflict serious damage if he wanted. The thought occurred to her that she could, as well. Not that she wanted to hurt anybody.