Malcolm, the Sent One, he realized with a bead of annoyance. He’d stepped from the spirit realm into the natural, clearly. “You should have called for me.” The moment his snippy tone registered, he cringed. Dial back the anger. She was in a fragile state where he was concerned, and he had to tread carefully.
Her eyes narrowed. “There wasn’t time.”
At least she hadn’t yelled. Very gently he said, “Next time, if someone appears, no matter who or what they are, no matter how fast they appear and disappear, or if you think they’re my best friend, call for me. Okay? Please. Just in case I need to intervene.”
She nodded stiffly.
“Thank you.” He dug through the bag and found a plain T-shirt and pants, dropped his towel and dressed.
Tink turned away, and he had to brush flickers of sadness aside. Things wouldn’t always be this strained.
“Let’s take off,” he said. “We’ve got a long journey ahead.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ve always wanted to spend time with the Lords of the Underworld, and I want to—”
“Drop me off?” she interjected tersely.
“No. I’m staying with you.”
He got her outside, in the heat and light of the day, and scanned the crowds and buildings, searching for anything suspicious. This close to Times Square, there were flashing lights and stores everywhere, both offering great cover.
He dialed Lucien, but it went to voice mail. Next, he tried Torin. The warrior answered on the third ring with a curt, “What?”
O-kay. A very un-Torin-like greeting. As Kane led Tink around a corner and up to a coffee cart, he said, “I’m in Manhattan. I need Lucien to pick me up.” Lucien could flash from one location to another with only a thought, even between realms. “Me and my wife.”
At the counter, he held up two fingers.
Torin sputtered out a very undignified, “Wife?”
“Didn’t the boys tell you? Lucien, Reyes, Strider and Sabin were at the wedding.”
“They’ve been a little busy thinking up ways to find Viola and Cameo.”
“Cameo?” He tensed. “What happened to her?”
“The same thing that happened to Viola. She touched the Paring Rod and vanished.”
An instant flood of worry threatened to drown him. “What’s being done?”
“Anya talked to some guy she met while in prison,” Torin said. “He helped create the Rod, and he assured her the females were still alive. Just trapped.”
He pushed out a relieved breath.
“Give me the deets about your girl.”
“Her name’s Tink—”
“Josephina,” she interjected loudly.
“—and she’s half Fae. A royal, a daughter of their king. Wait till you see her. She’s the most beautiful woman ever created. But she has as many enemies as us.”
“Hey,” she said. “I don’t have that many, and only one is my fault. Actually, no. The Phoenix is your fault, too. But thank you for saying I’m beautiful.”
Two steaming cups were set before him. He stepped aside to doctor both with cream and sugar, then gave one to Tink. He remembered the longing looks she’d given the coffeepot during his breakfast with the royal family.
He watched as she sipped, closing her eyes to savor, and his chest constricted with a longing of his own.
“—time and place,” Torin was saying.
“Wait. Sorry. What was that?”
“Stop lusting after the ball and chain and pick a time and place to meet,” the warrior repeated. “I’ll make sure Lucien is there.”
“Two hours. Sabin’s old apartment.”
“Consider it done.”
He severed the connection. Then, seizing any excuse to touch his woman, he slipped the phone into a pocket of her skirt. “Guard this for me,” he said.
“Will your friends like me, do you think?” she asked, and nibbled on her bottom lip. “The few I’ve actually met have only seen me at my worst.”
He heard the uncertainty in her tone. “The wedding was your worst? Honey, your worst is most people’s best. My friends will love you.” If not, Kane would hand out some serious beatings. “They’ll guard you with their lives.”
“Yeah, but what if they think I’m all wrong for you?”
“Impossible. You’re perfect for me. Besides, wait till you meet their wives. Or have you already heard stories?”
She shook her head. “New reports of your most recent exploits haven’t yet come in to the masses.”
It was humiliating to know they’d never realized they were being spied on. “Well, Sabin and Strider are consorts to bloodthirsty Harpies. Lucien is engaged to Anarchy. All three females are annoying, always stealing weapons out of my room, but as they would say, they’re simply amazeballs—and so are you.”
A smile—small, but there. “Thank you.”
He soared. “Is there anything you’d like to purchase before I take you out of the city? Anything at all. I plan to get you some clothes, but we can also get shoes, purses, jewelry, whatever you’d like.” If he had to buy her affections, he would. He didn’t care how pathetic that made him. He just wanted her happy.
“No. Really, I’m good.”
The vibrations in his wedding ring intensified significantly, startling him. Frowning, he held the metal band to the light. In the center, as if the band were a movie screen, he watched Red shove his way through a crowd.
Kane glanced up—and spotted Red, shoving his way through the crowd, closing in on him. The ring had known, had...warned him?
“Is something wrong?” Tink asked.
“Yeah. We’ve picked up a tail.” He trashed his coffee, did the same to Tink’s.
“Hey,” she grouched. “I wasn’t done with that.”
“Sorry. Don’t want you to burn yourself.” He launched forward, barreling past oncoming humans, dragging Tink with him. With his free hand, he withdrew a dagger.
“Who’s the tail?”
“One of William’s kids.” No. Scratch that. All of William’s kids were probably here. Those four were like ants: never alone.
“What are they, anyway?”
“Trouble.” And they weren’t coming near Tink. He would kill them first.
Yeah. It was time to kill, he decided. He’d warned the Rainbow Rejects about what would happen if they came after Tink. The warning had been a courtesy to William. His last courtesy. The boys hadn’t listened. Now, Kane would follow through.
“I’m going to hide you in one of the shops, okay? I need to have a chat with the boys, and I don’t want you to—”
“Kane!” Tink vanished.
No, not Tink. Kane. No longer was he racing down the sidewalk with his woman behind him. He was standing in a narrow hallway, white fog wafting all around him. A shout of denial split his lips as he turned left, right, searching for Tink.
He clawed through the mist, only to discover—more mist. He checked his ring, but there was no longer a reflection. Panic set in. Where was he? What had happened? Not many beings had the power to flash another without contact. Only Greek and Titan royalty, and—
The Moirai, he realized with sickening dread. They’d used their powers to transport him from New York to their home in the lower level of the skies.
He sped down the hall. He’d been here before, knew the way, and didn’t need to look to know the walls were comprised of thousands upon thousands of braided threads. Those threads vibrated, coming alive, playing scenes from his life—past, present, and maybe even future—but he didn’t allow himself to stop and study.
He was careful to breathe as little as possible. The air was laced with some kind of drug, something to keep him pliant, and maybe even susceptible to suggestion. Tink thought the Moirai operated that way, that they weren’t really controllers of fate, but rather massagers of it, pushing and kneading, tricking, until their victims were putty in their hands, blindly following wherever they led.