Dage shook his head, gaze moving to Kane. “She’s your woman—this is your call.”
Emma’s instant sputtering at the archaic language failed to drown out Amber’s outraged hiss. Amber yanked the vest over her head, her eyes spitting anger. “I’m no one’s woman, jackass.”
Emma nodded in agreement, a high flush staining her cheeks. “Yeah. What she said.”
“I’d like a moment alone with Amber.” Kane reached for the nearest gun to tuck in his waist.
Dage grabbed Emma’s arm and tugged her from the room. The queen protested, digging in her heels, but the king wasn’t going to be deterred this time.
Talen smiled, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Yeah, this was funny. Kane barely kept from slugging him as he went by. For so long, Kane had been the one laughing on the sidelines as his brothers’ mates ran them in circles. Not for one second was Amber going to alter his life, and the sooner she figured that out, the easier she’d find her life as his mate.
He nearly swallowed his tongue when she grabbed a gun and pointed the weapon at him. Keeping her eyes pinned, he stalked forward until the barrel rested against his chest.
She gulped in air, her hand shaking. “I, ah, was trying to make a point.”
His chest warmed. The woman had the sweetest heart. “Which was?”
“That I’m, ah, not afraid of guns anymore.”
The pallor of her skin proclaimed that statement a lie. Kane gently removed the gun from her grasp. “Guns aren’t scary. Having to use a gun, well now, that’s frightening.”
She nodded. “I know. To save my grandma, I’d use a gun.”
Her voice wavered just enough to fill him with doubt. “You don’t need to use a gun, Amber. Stay here and I’ll bring her home to you. I promise.” How the hell he’d keep that promise, he didn’t know. But damn it, he would.
She sighed, pressing her hands against his vest and meeting his gaze. “I’m here for a reason. For now, I’m the only person you know who can shield against the demon mind games and maybe even mess with them enough that they leave you alone. I have to try, and I know you understand what I’m saying.”
He did. She loved her granny as much as he loved his brothers. Nothing on earth would keep him from going after Jase if Kane had an inkling of where he was being kept.
Amber stepped closer. “Sometimes I can get a sense of what’s ticking in a brain—I’ve been practicing secretly since you told me about my gifts. Maybe I can get a sense of where Jase is.”
Clever little female. “You’re not ready.”
She shrugged. “That doesn’t matter—I’m all you’ve got. Deal with it.”
Throwing his words back in his face wasn’t nice. He frowned. “I don’t think I can.”
“I can shield.” Her eyes implored him to trust her. “Please give me a chance.”
His brain bellowed in refusal even while he spoke, “Okay. But the second you’re in distress, we’re leaving, whether we have Hilde or not.” He blinked twice. What the hell? He’d just agreed to take her into a demon foothold.
She shot out of the room, leaving him frozen in place. While her argument made a logical sense, one he’d responded to naturally, doubt clouded his brain. What kind of a mate was he going to be if he allowed her to seek danger?
“I took Cara raiding a Kurjan hospital where we saved several allies,” Talen said quietly from the doorway.
Kane whirled around. He’d forgotten Talen had taken his mate on that raid so long ago. “We used her empathic abilities.”
“Yes.” Talen’s eyes swirled a dangerous green through the gold. He shuffled his feet, his frown deep enough to flash his dimples. “We needed to do so at the time—I don’t think I’m strong enough to put her in danger again.”
Kane stared at his big brother. Talen was the strongest man he’d ever met. “You would. If you had to.” Or maybe not. From the second Cara had given birth to their son fourteen years ago, the man had protected her even more so.
“No.” Talen gave a rueful smile. He grabbed several knives from the wall to tuck along his boots and vest. Three more guns found safe purchase where he could grab them quickly. “But for now, in this time and place, there’s a reason you’re falling in love with Amber Freebird.” Quick strides and he was out the door.
Quiet reigned for the smallest of moments. “I’m not falling in love,” Kane said to the empty room.
The words echoed off the weapon-filled walls.
Mocking him.
Taking a deep breath, Amber tried to still the trembling in her knees. She sat between Kane and Talen in the backseat of a Black Hawk helicopter gliding silently through the night. Heat cascaded off the vampires, keeping her snug and warm. They all wore ear communicators. Talen’s legs twitched, and he drummed his fingers on his legs to some tune only he heard.
Kane sat perfectly still. No movement, no agitation, just pure calmness. Pure, cold, calm.
Amber tugged the vest tighter around her waist, her mind spinning. Her heart beat rapidly against her ribs. Was Grandma Hilde all right? What if she wasn’t? Hilde had said she lacked power. How much? Could she shield a little from the mind attacks?
Two similar helicopters followed silently behind them, also filled with dangerous soldiers.
She shivered.
Dage turned the beast into the setting sun, nodding his head toward the massive vampire in the copilot seat. “Oscar, tell the rest of the crew about the last time you dealt with demons.”
Amber had met Oscar right before takeoff. The ancient soldier had more experience fighting demon mind games than anybody else in the Realm. His metallic aqua eyes were bright with intelligence, and laugh lines cut into the sides of his mouth. She’d liked him immediately.
Oscar pressed his ear to engage the comm line. “Demons don’t incapacitate us completely, but you’ll be at about fifty percent of your usual fighting skill. It takes that much energy to combat the brain attack of an experienced demon soldier. Of course, with younger soldiers, vampires might retain about seventy percent of concentration and skill.”
Dage nodded. “We’re getting close. I’ll drop quickly and we’ll go. Kane, what’s our best move?”
“We go in fast and hard.” Kane’s voice remained so calm he could’ve been talking about his favorite beer. “We need their minds occupied as much as possible . . . go either for the instant kill or the most painful injury.” He kept his gaze straight ahead. “Amber and I will try to sense her grandmother. Amber, you concentrate on shielding and not on injuring. The injuries will come from weapons drawing blood.”
She nodded, even knowing he couldn’t see her. Or maybe with his vampire sight, his peripheral vision was good enough.
Dage banked a hard right. “Did the satellite shots give us an idea of numbers?”
“No.” Talen’s drumming increased in speed. “But the area is rather small—probably something thrown together as they prepare to move Hilde.”
How small? Amber turned to view Kane. How was he so calm?
Finally, he glanced at her with those odd violet eyes. No emotion showed in their depths. “Do you want a gun?”
Slowly, she nodded. He reached in his back pocket and handed her a small weapon. “If you point a weapon, you use it. No hesitating, no thinking, no feeling. When the gun is in your hand, you’re all soldier. Nothing else exists.”
Cold metal weighed heavy in her palm. Death had a sensation. Before the night was over, she might turn against everything she believed in to save the one person she’d always counted on. “I understand.”
“Good. There are no pacifists or second chances in battle,” Kane said, turning his gaze back to the front.
Dage swung left again and shot toward the ground. “Two seconds and we hit.”
The helicopter slammed down and the soldiers leaped out. Amber didn’t have time to worry about keeping up as Kane grabbed her around the waist and all but carried her toward a sprawling brick building set against a small outcropping of rock.