Felicity kept her face stoic. Her only chance was to somehow get word to Zane as to where they were, so he could teleport in and get Logan out of there. But first she had to find Logan.
The elevator door opened, and bright light cut inside. She blinked several times and followed Ivan into an opulent dining room with full floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over a cliff. The world outside was blue and white. Blue sky, blue condensed ice, and white ground with white covering the trees. Sunshine sparkled off particles in the ice, glittering and cold.
“This is so weird,” she muttered, stomping forward to take one of the two seats at the table decorated with fine red linens and sterling silver accents.
Ivan reached for a bottle of 1973 Richebourg and poured them each a glass. “A nice Pinot Noir for lunch,” he said as the red wine filled their glasses. Then he sat across from her.
A waiter, impeccably dressed in a white uniform, entered from a side room and quickly deposited soup in front of them. The fragrant scent wafted up, and Felicity’s stomach growled. There was only a soup spoon on the table, but the candlesticks appeared to be pure silver. While they were elegantly shaped with no sharp points, she could still use them. Blunt force trauma to the temple might take down Ivan.
He sipped his wine. “Eat up so we can get you healthy.”
She frowned, the spoon halfway to her mouth. “Why do you care so much about my health?”
He swirled the wine in the glass and watched the play of light. “My doctors have informed me that we can’t inject you with the mutated Virus-Twenty-Seven until all of the current drug is out of your system.”
She dropped her spoon. “You have vials of the mutated virus?”
“Yes. The queen doesn’t believe in proprietary information and made the concoction available to the world at large.” He smiled. “It didn’t take much of an effort to find a clinic and buy samples. Of course, the queen also sent very strong directions that the samples were for research purposes only.”
Nausea swirled down Felicity’s throat to thud in her stomach. “The mutation is still experimental.”
“Right, but as I can see, the drug already worked on you, or you wouldn’t have been able to mate Daire Dunne.” Ivan smiled.
She shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, it worked. But the queen made a few tweaks before we experimented, and you probably don’t have the newest samples. In addition, nobody has ever tried to negate a mating bond twice in the same body.” God only knew what the mutated sample would do once inside Felicity.
“I’m willing to take the chance.”
Felicity sat back in the velvet chair. “Why?” she breathed. “I really don’t understand. Why is this so important to you?”
He blew on soup before shoving the spoon in his mouth. “Your brother and I had an agreement.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Why else?”
His dark eyes darkened further. “You’ve been in my dreams for a century. Perfect golden hair and black eyes. A purebred female demon.”
“I’m not some trophy.”
“Sure you are.” He smiled again. “Do you have any idea how rare you are?”
She leaned back. “Yes.” The guy was a narcissistic asshole who’d rather see her dead than living away from him. “Have you tried seeking professional help for your narcissistic, sociopathic tendencies?” Steeling her shoulders, she dug into the soup to banish the dizziness.
He chuckled. “I like your spirit. You’ve caused me so much trouble, I now have my own people wanting to spill my blood. Mating you, the mother to Zane Kyllwood and a purebred demon, will put me back in control. Especially when I combine your fortune with mine and start investing again.”
“I’m broke.” She finished the bowl and sat back. As if by magic, the waiter appeared with her next course, a big steak. She winced.
“We both know you have plenty of money.” Ivan handed over his soup bowl. “You still don’t like meat?” He shrugged. “For now, I’d eat it anyway. Protein is the key to flushing your system of the current drug and preparing you for the next one.”
Yes. The queen had had Felicity eat a high-protein diet for a month before trying out the mutated drug. But Felicity had taken time to find protein she liked and didn’t have to eat meat. She had no objection to anybody else eating meat . . . she just didn’t like the taste or texture. Even so, she immediately reached for the fork and steak knife left by the waiter. The knife would come in handy.
She cleared her throat and tried to use reason when all she wanted to do was shove the blade through Ivan’s jugular. “Listen, Ivan. I hate you. With a white hot, raw need to see you decapitated.” Her voice shook, and she forced air into her lungs. “I want you dead. That is not going to change ever. So if we stay in the same vicinity, I will kill you. Dead.”
He sighed. “I know.”
“So what the hell?”
He wiped his pale mouth and set his napkin back on his lap. “Since you’re being so honest, so will I.” His dark eyes burned with an odd light. “You’ll take the drug and negate the mating bond with the lowlife witch. You and I will mate, or I’ll kill Logan.” Ivan sat back and eyed his steak. “Mating you will get me back on track professionally and personally? I want two kids. Purebred demons.”
She shook her head, her chest aching. “You’re crazy. No way will I have children with you.”
He lifted a shoulder. “My doctors tell me all I need is to mate you and then harvest your eggs.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Yes. Using the technology created by humans, I can just harvest your genetic material and use a surrogate.” His face lacked any sense of humor. “But we have to mate first, or the pregnancy won’t take, as you probably already know.”
He was over the moon crazy, but what if a crazy plan like that actually worked? She couldn’t leave any of her kids alone, and no way could she have a kid with the bastard. “Under no circumstances am I giving you genetic material.”
He smiled. “After we’re mated, I don’t see that you’ll have a choice. You’re stuck on this mountain, Felicity. And if you want Logan to live to see his next birthday, you’ll mate with me.”
She coughed out and tried to keep from puking. While the plan was absolutely insane, Ivan did have the resources to make it happen. “Then what?”
He smiled, his canines glinting. “Then I’m going to cut off your beautiful head.”
Chapter 29
Daire took the stairs two at a time, rushing up the stairwell and bursting into the hallway. A still smoking hole gaped where the wall to his apartment had been. Somebody, probably Kellach, had created a shield in the air that would keep humans from seeing or smelling the smoke and fire. At least for a while. Quantum physics and magic at its finest. He gingerly stepped through, his heart thundering.
Rain and wind billowed inside from a hole in the outside wall. Sam and Kellach sat with their backs to the couch, bruises covering their faces and blood flowing from various injuries. Both were typing furiously on their phones and grunting something at each other. Simone sat over on a burned ottoman, an icepack against her face, her lip fat and bleeding.
Zane paced near the smoldering kitchen, barking orders into a cell phone.
Daire took a deep breath.
Simone saw him first. “We’re trying to find her, but so far, no luck.”
His knees wobbled and he growled.
Zane ended a call. “Six-man team, smoke grenade, and some kind of drug that knocked us on our asses. Well trained and prepared for both demons and witches.” He rubbed a hand over a series of bruises on his forehead. “Mom fought hard, but the drug took her out.”
Sam looked up, anger and concern in his green eyes. “We’ll find her. Garrett is hitting the pavement up and down the block, trying to talk to anybody who might have seen them. Kell and I are working on traffic cams, store surveillance, and hopefully satellite pictures.”