Murder Game

CHAPTER NINE

Kyland Miller wasn't at all what Tansy had expected. He was definitely a force to be reckoned with, tough and scarred and built like a fighter. His steel gray eyes seemed to look right through her, his dark hair spilled in unruly waves over his forehead, but his smile was kind. She had emerged from a shower, dressed, little makeup, hair still damp, to find Ryland sitting comfortably with Kadan.

Kadan glanced up, and something in his energy chilled her at first, but then he smiled and got to his feet, and she immediately felt a shift inside of her, a melting. Kadan took her hand and tugged until she was beneath his shoulder, one hand sliding possessively around the nape of her neck while he performed introductions. Ryland's expression went from speculative to knowing, and she had to fight to keep from blushing.

"Ryland is married to Lily Whitney. They just had their first child," Kadan said.

Tansy struggled to keep her face from showing anything but polite interest. She still found it difficult to believe that a friend of Kadan's could be married to Whitney's daughter.

She glanced at Kadan, but as always, his expression gave little away.

You can trust him.

Kadan's expression might be remote, but his warmth poured into her mind. She managed to keep smiling and nod at the introductions, keeping her gloved hands behind her back. She detested wearing the gloves now that she'd had months in the mountains and her brief time with Kadan without them. It was as if she'd gone from freedom back to prison, although even to her that seemed a melodramatic analogy. She couldn't help it. Her fingers felt tight and confined, itching to get out of the cramped quarters.

Three men waited in the living room, all coming to their feet when she entered. Ryland Miller might not look like a man who could be trusted; in fact, he looked a man of few words but long on action, yet there was a steadiness in him that appealed to her. She could feel respect and even a certain friendship in Kadan's mind for the man. It would take a strong man to marry Whitney's daughter. Kadan was blocking a good deal of the energy, but he was allowing enough to slip through, and she recognized that Ryland was a psychic talent as well.

"This disreputable scoundrel is Raoul 'Gator' Fontenot. He's going to try to steal you away from me with his charm."

Gator grinned boyishly. "Ma'am, I got me a mean little hellcat at home and she'd have my head if she thought I was flirtin" he drawled in his Cajun accent and winked at her, declaring her safe even though his smile could and probably did melt hearts.

"Is Gator some kind of nickname?"

"Yes, ma'am. In the Special Forces we often give each other appropriate handles. Kadan is 'Bishop.' Rye there is 'King,' and Sam, one of our team members, is 'Knight.'" Gator grinned at her, his drawling voice like molasses on a Sunday. "I don' play boring chess, honey, but I wrestle alligators."

Kadan pinned his friend with a steely-eyed stare. "You keep flirting with her and you'll be wrestling with Flame. That woman is the only person who may be meaner than me."

Tansy sent Kadan a sharp glance. As a rule he could read people's minds. It was fairly clear that Gator might flirt, but he was definitely a one-woman man.

Yes he is, Kadan agreed, but it's good for them to know the score.

His hand slid from the nape of her neck to her shoulder, his fingers brushing her neck, small, caressing strokes that were featherlight, but she felt them all the way to her toes.

Tough guy. She did the equivalent of mind eye rolling, not wanting to show that even that light touch could affect her the way it did. Shivers of awareness raised goose bumps on her skin and down her spine.

Kadan merely shrugged, his hard expression and cold eyes saying it all to his friends.

Gator's unrepentant grin widened, flashing white teeth. "Flame's the better half of me and she sure keeps my life interestin."

Tansy's mind was racing with the idea of themes and nicknames in the Special Forces. Each ivory game piece had been carved obviously for a specific killer. If they were military and GhostWalkers, it couldn't be that difficult to track down their handles. There just weren't that many GhostWalkers, if what Kadan said was the truth. Wouldn't it be a matter of just going through the teams and finding out what they call one another?

She glanced toward the dining room. She could just glimpse the long table from the arched doorway leading to it. There were no figurines left out. All evidence was back in the war room, and she would bet her last dollar that the door was securely locked.

There is no way my teams are in any way responsible, and I would have recognized the names. I've worked with all the members of both teams. No, this is an outside team, run by Whitney or someone else. They're connected to Whitney; there was no doubt in my mind before you ever found the puppet master with Whitney's taint on him.

Tansy let her breath out slowly. Whitney hadn't been content with working on a few men; he'd given enhancements to others, and obviously their psychological profiles hadn't shown they were dangerous, or maybe it was because they were that he had chosen them. And that was very, very scary. She turned her head and looked at Kadan.

You knew. All along, you knew.

He didn't look at hen but his mind brushed against hers. I suspected. I know these men and the others on my team. They are capable of killing, but not murder for pleasure. These killers are doing it for fun. It's literally a game to them.

"Kadan," the third man spoke. His voice was quiet, but it drew attention immediately. "If you have something to share about all this, do it. I've been traveling nonstop and I want to get home and see Dahlia. I don't like being away from her for too long."

It was obvious the man was aware that Kadan and Tansy were speaking telepathically. She looked him over. He had that same stillness in him that Kadan did. He was tall, with longer midnight black hair, bronze skin, and truly black eyes. Where Kadan's eyes were so blue they could appear black, this man had eyes the color of obsidian.

"Nicolas Trevane," Kadan introduced. "Sorry, Nico, we're still sorting things out. Tansy's parents have been taken hostage. I think Whitney is involved, and that he has a Ghost-Walker present at the house with the captives. They want Tansy to turn herself over to them or they plan on killing her parents. She had twenty-four hours. Eight of those are gone."

The three men looked from Tansy's face to Kadan's. Gator grinned again, this time his drawl teasing. "I take it that's not an option."

Kadan slid his hand down the curve of Tansy's back and then slipped his arm around her waist. "No."

Simple. Direct. That was Kadan.

Tansy sighed. "I drew a diagram of the house. We do have an escape tunnel, but Fredrickson knows about it."

With his arm tight around her, Kadan led the way into the dining room, where he spread several papers on the table. "The estate is quite large and probably well guarded. Fortunately, Tansy knows all the camera positions and has pinpointed them for us."

Kadan stepped back to allow the men to study the diagram of the house and estate, complete with as much information as Tansy could remember on where the guards were usually stationed, cameras and dogs were located. He ran his hand up and down the curve of her spine, savoring the feel of her feminine outline.

Tansy glanced at him sharply. He wasn't looking at her, nor did he appear to be paying attention to her at all, several times bending close to the table to point out details to Ryland and Gator, discussing an entry and extraction plan. She tried to listen, finding the way their minds worked intriguing, but his hand was distracting. Several times he slid his palm over her denim-clad bottom, shaping her buttocks, his thumb brushing strokes of fire while his hand caressed her.

Don't. The other men were too sharp-eyed not to notice. It wasn't so much that she objected to them seeing him caress her, it was her reaction that was embarrassing. The elevated breathing she couldn't quite stop. Her nipples hardening. His touch affected her, no matter how featherlight it was.

Don't ever tell me I can't touch you. Anytime. Anyplace. It sounded like a command. Low. Firm. A husky, velvet promise of retaliation, sexual in nature, that sent a wave of heat crashing through her body and dampening her panties.

But Tansy was in his mind and his lack of emotion concerned her. He was disconnected. Remote. Ice water once again flowed in his veins. He frightened her that way, so distant he didn't seem aware of any of the emotions a normal person would have. It was only his hand on her, the shape and texture of her, the scent of her, that kept a trace of feeling running through him. He clung to that small connection, but didn't seem aware that that was what he was doing.

As if to make certain she understood, his hand moved over her hips and up her rib cage, sliding along the side of her breast, back up to the nape of her neck. His fingers tightened until she turned her head. He leaned over. Casually. In charge. Taking his time. Daring her to defy him and pull away. If she hadn't felt that small flicker of need in him, she might have kicked him in the shins and told him to go to hell, but instead, she stood there quietly and waited for the touch and taste of him. There was an aura of sexual intensity surrounding him, and the moment they were close, his sheer magnetism overwhelmed her self-preservation and she seemed to just give herself to him, drawn like a moth to flame.

He took her mouth gently, not at all like the threat in his mind. She tasted his hunger and knew his need of her was elemental and deep and beyond even his understanding.

Kiss me back.

She wasn't certain why he needed her so much. Reassurance? He seemed so completely confident, she could barely believe that he felt in any way threatened by the presence of the other men. That seemed out of character. Her arms slid around his neck and she opened her mouth to his, feeling him inside her, stroking and tasting with that same gentleness that was so disarming.

Are you all right? She touched his cheek.

He lifted his head and smiled at her. No problems.

She wasn't sure she believed him, but he was already bending over the drawings. To the others he pointed out the gate with the cameras and guards.

"This booth is manned at all times. Cliffs back up to the house and they'd be difficult to climb, but not impossible from the ocean side. Fredrickson is bound to be looking at an entry from that side so he'll most likely step up the guards there."

"You don't think he'll believe I'll walk right in and give myself up?" Tansy asked hopefully.

"We have to assume he knows I went looking for you and that you're with me. You didn't use the radio to call your parents, you called from an untraceable, secure line. Fredrickson will know that. He'll be prepared for an assault team."

"So entry up the cliffs isn't going to be a good plan."

"We can wait for Tucker and Ian to report in, but let's assume not," Kadan said. His gaze shifted for a brief second to Ryland.

The dark-haired man eased his shoulders a little. "I could use some coffee, Kadan. Do you have any around here?"

"In the kitchen," Kadan said.

"I'll get it," Tansy said, glad for something to do. Planning assaults wasn't her forte. "Anyone else want some?"

Kadan waited until Tansy had taken their orders and left the room. He kept his voice low. "The package is expected to be hostile. There's a tie to Whitney. I want to bring them out quietly to a house only we know about and keep them under guard. If they don't tell us what we need, I'll have a private talk with them."

Ryland stirred, his gaze flicking toward the kitchen. "Kadan. Not if she's your choice. I'll take care of it."

Kadan shook his had. "My woman. My responsibility. I can live with it."

"She won't be able to."

"I have no problems doing whatever it takes to keep her safe, and she'll never know."

Nico shrugged his shoulders. "Your call, Kadan, but women have a way of finding out things you don't want them to know, and any one of us would do the job for you. Just give us the word."

"Appreciate it," he said gruffly, but he wouldn't shirk his responsibility. Not when it came to Tansy's safety, and especially because they were her parents and she loved them. If it came down to it, he'd take them out as quickly, painlessly, and humanely as possible.

Tansy returned with a collection of mugs, sugar, and cream. Kadan took the tray from her and placed it on the table.

"How's it coming?" She glanced at her watch. "And how soon do we leave?"

"I think we've about got this, baby. You'll stay in the safe house we're setting up for your parents. I'll have a couple of my men there with you."

She scowled at him, shaking her head quickly. "No way. That was never part of the plan. I'm going with you. If something goes wrong, I have to be there to-"

"No." Kadan said the word quietly, his voice so low it was barely audible, yet it cut like a razor, demanding immediate compliance.

Tansy jerked away from the fingers that had settled gently around her wrist like a bracelet-except instead of getting away, she felt the fingers tightened into shackles, preventing her from moving anywhere.

"You won't be sacrificing your life for theirs. That's never been an option." His voice whispered like velvet, but cracked like a whip, lashing across her mind, burning his decree into her brain. He made a small effort to soften the order with an explanation. "We can't take you into combat, you'd be a liability:"

This was the other side of Kadan. Immovable. His blue eyes were nearly black now, unfathomable, impossible to read. His expression remote.

The three other men drifted from the room, leaving her feeling more vulnerable than ever. She couldn't be alone with him, not when his mind held hers, determined to force his will on her.

Tansy went very still, refusing to struggle against his grip. Kadan was enormously strong, and there would be no getting away from him until he wanted to let her go. If he wanted cool and remote, well, she could do that as well. She locked her gaze with his. refusing to be intimidated by the dangerous edge to him. He wore the image of a warrior like skin, the fit natural and impressive. Perhaps this was more the true Kadan then the one in her bed, but she couldn't let him see that her stomach had bunched into knots and her heart beat too fast.

"Fortunately, I am not in the military and not under anyone's command."

He didn't change expression, but she swore a shadow moved across his face. Her heart skipped a beat. She would have finger marks on her inner wrist.

"Really?"

He said one word. Only one. A soft inquiry that sent fear skittering down her spine whether she wanted to be in control or not. Why? After all, what was he going to do?

She found she couldn't look away from him. His eyes darkened even more. Something hot flickered in the depths so that through the black, his eyes burned with blue flames.

She caught her breath as he pulled her hand to the front of his jeans and rubbed her palm over the thickened bulge there.

You're taking a big chance, baby, arguing with me when you can't win, but the result is one hell of a wicked hard-on.

He leaned close, his tongue flicking over her ear. I'll bring them home to you safe. That's a promise, Tansy.

He wouldn't guarantee beyond that, but if she looked into his mind, she could see his word was gold. Unless her parents were already dead, he'd find a way.

He'd disarmed her completely with one breath. That small promise. Maybe if she hadn't been able to touch his mind, feel his assurance, his total commitment to returning her parents to her, she would have snatched her hand away. Instead, she stayed still, her heart beating too fast, her body and mind belonging to him whether she wanted it or not.

A part of her hated the way he made her weak, but defiance and argument seemed stupid. What would it get her? In the end, she would be a liability to them if she went along. They were a team and they were used to working with one another. She knew teamwork, and an outsider could easily ruin their rhythm and throw them all off. And that might get her parents-or the team-killed.

She just wished everything he said didn't sound like an order. Worse, she hated that there was a part of her that went soft and slick and hot at the sound of his voice when he talked that way. She was crazy to be in any way attracted to a man who wasn't in the least civilized.

His teeth bit down on her earlobe. You can't fault me for protecting you.

She closed her eyes as he rubbed against her hand, unsure how to reach him when he felt so distant from her. Is this all there is between us? Explosive chemistry.

She ached with wanting him, but it wasn't enough. Not now. Not when she'd been in his mind. Not when she could remove the hated gloves and touch his skin.

Not for me, he assured her.

She couldn't imagine being with another man, wanting to touch him, or have his hands all over her. The things he wanted with her seemed wrong with anyone else and so intensely right with him. She had no idea why, only that she wasn't ready to walk away from him yet.

Not ever. Deliberately he removed her palm from the front of his jeans and sank his teeth into the center, scraping back and forth, his eyes never leaving her face.

She swallowed hard. "You can't talk to me like that. I'm not one of your soldiers."

"I don't talk to my soldiers like that. Only you. I stand in front of you."

"I want to be beside you."

He kept her gaze captive while his tongue swirled over the center of her palm, teasing, reminding, driving her temperature up when she needed to be cool. "I can't give you that right now, Tansy. I can only give you what and who I am, right now this minute. I have to shield you, because that's who I am. You have to decide whether or not you can live with that. Whether you can love me, and not just a sliver of me, because the biggest part of who I am is the man standing in front of you." He kissed her palm and closed her ringers around it. "Even if I could wrap myself up in pretty lies, I'd never be able to pull it off. I don't know how to be anything else."

His voice was the same. Absolute confidence. Velvet-soft. Skimming over her body and teasing her inner thighs with excitement. But in his mind, where he didn't know, where he never looked, there was an edge of despair, a belief that it was impossible for her to love him. She caught a glimpse of his commitment to her, of his intention to hold her to him with any means he had for as long as he could.

He would make every moment together memorable, the sex incomparable, and he would do everything within his power to make her happy while keeping her safe. It was all there for her to see. But that part of his mind was the only part she could feel warm in. And that warm, compassionate side of her, the need to soothe and help others, instantly gave herself to him, even though she recognized he could be every bit as dangerous-or more-then those she hunted.

She took a breath, let it out, and then leaned in to brush a kiss over his stubborn jaw. "Just try a little harder not to order me around so much."

He didn't respond. The others were returning, one by one, looking disinterested when she knew they had to be very engrossed. Instinctively she knew Kadan had never shown a fascination with another woman to them. They had to be somewhat concerned, but they were polite, getting back to business as though nothing had transpired.

"When you put out the call and told us what you needed, Lily found a house near Tansy's parents' estate," Ryland said. "If we get through the wooded area and use the canyon to make a run through the heavier terrain, we'd be less likely to be spotted."

"There's a Humvee in the garage. The keys are in all the cars," Tansy offered. "Of course there's also a tracking device in it. It's the real deal. Dad's taken it in the canyon lots of times."

Gator shrugged his shoulders when they looked at him. "Piece of cake. It's ours."

"So we'll bring them out with that and take them to the safe house," Ryland said. "Gator, check the best route through. Nico will cover our back trail."

Kadan tangled his fingers with hers. "Ian and Tucker are reconning the estate right now. They'll give us the most up-to-date intel as soon as possible. When they get back to the safe house, they'll wait for us to bring them Tansy." He brought her knuckles up to his mouth, distracting her from panic with a scrape of his teeth. "You'll have to stay out of sight. My gut feeling is Whitney was watching your parents, and when his cover was blown, Fredrickson had standing orders to pick you up and bring you in. The men who came at me in the mountains were trying to kill me. If Whitney sent them, they wanted me out of the way so they could acquire you."

"If that's true, Kadan," Ryland said, "it doesn't fit with Whitney's breeding program. He would want both of you, not just Tansy."

Kadan shrugged. "Maybe my genes are just not as upscale as Tansy's."

"He's had all these years to come after me," Tansy pointed out. "Why now?"

"That's an excellent question. Let's find out if anyone has the answer to that," Kadan said, his voice changing from light to grim, as if the very idea of anyone trying to take her from him put a murderous edge to his mood.

"I don't need two men to babysit me, Kadan. Over the years my father kept adding security to the estate, and I don't think four men are going to be enough. We used to have rent-a-cops, but in the last couple of years, Watson, our head of security has made a few changes."

"Watson?" Kadan turned his head sharply. "You've never mentioned him before. Who is Watson?"

"Benny Watson. He took over security for Dad about two years ago, when Dad decided to beef things up."

"Why did your father replace his security detail?"

"Dad and my mother do a lot of work out of their home. Most of their research is classified. He got very nervous after a story came out about them in Newsweek. He wanted to just make certain that no one could get to them or any of the plans they were working on."

"Did Fredrickson recommend Watson to your father?" Ryland asked. "Ordinarily two GhostWalkers will work an assignment together, and one of them is an anchor. I'd be surprised if Whitney assigned Fredrickson to infiltrate your household alone."

Tansy frowned. "I don't honestly know that much about him. Fredrickson is part of the family. He lived at the house, ate with us, even sat around with us some evenings and watched movies. Watson was always in the background. He didn't ever talk to me. I always thought he regarded me as a pain in the neck."

"Did you ever get vibes off of either him or Fredrickson that they could have psychic abilities?" Kadan asked.

Tansy shook her head. Kadan's gaze met Ryland's over her head, just for a brief moment.

"Watson increased the security at the house?"

She nodded. "For several years we just had a local security company, but Watson fired them all and brought in a different group. They didn't ever interact with us, but they were courteous at all times. I'd say hello and ask how they were doing. They'd answer briefly and go about their job. That's about the same time they brought in the dogs."

"Did you ask your father why?" Kadan asked.

She shook her head, her gaze shifting away from his. She withdrew her hand and even stepped back from him. "I was in the middle of some pressing problems of my own, and whether my father decided we needed added security or not didn't really matter to me." She sounded defensive to her own ears and moved farther away from him, out of reach, not wanting questions-or sympathy.

She had known she was losing her mind. She hadn't slept in weeks, afraid to close her eyes, terrified she would drown in blood. The whispers never stopped. The voices spoke night and day, and ugly, haunting images crowded into her mind. She felt covered with oil, unable to draw a clean breath. There had been no reprieve, no Kadan to kiss and stroke her until her vision focused solely on him, until her body became his, until her mind was so full of warmth and caring and desperate need that there was no room for anything unclean.

"My mom is very fragile, Kadan. We've always sort of protected her. She's a brilliant woman, and too caring. Things can crush her very easily. Fredrickson's betrayal will have devastated her." She took a breath. "She might not be able to walk out of there." She made herself look at him over her shoulder. "And you'll frighten her."

She really hated admitting that to him, but his expressionless mask and cold eyes would terrify her mother. She didn't want to hurt him, or to present her mother in a bad light, but she shouldn't have worried. Kadan didn't even blink, shrugging his powerful shoulders as if whatever her mother thought of him mattered very little.

"I'll get her out."

"I'm saying she might get hysterical," Tansy confessed.

"I got that, baby. You don't have to worry." His voice soothed her, that same warm velvet that made her ache with need. Now she felt caressed and touched, although he was across the room.

The phone rang. Kadan snatched it up and listened, scribbling notes as whoever was on the other end talked. Curious, Tansy moved back to Kadan's side, very conscious of the other men huddled around the table. She wore the gloves, but even so, she avoided touching their coffee mugs or anything else she'd seen them handle. These were men of violence and each of them had killed. She would have picked up some impressions whether she wanted to intrude on them on not.

They were silent for the most part, no unnecessary talking. Once in a while, Gator broke out in a grin and nudged one of the others with a teasing comment, but they stayed intent on their plans, committing the diagram and layout of the house and security to memory.

"Tucker and Ian are back at the safe house. We have a go. The security near the cliff has more than doubled, and Ian says it looks like they may have brought in some mercs. They aren't rent-a-cop, for certain. All of them handle themselves as military or ex-military." Kadan pulled the estate diagram to him and began marking X's at various points.

Tansy looked over his shoulder, watching the growing number of red X's with dismay. There were too many of them. Four men against so many trained guards. Not just trained, men probably trained in Special Forces. Her breath hitched in her lungs.

Kadan. She breathed his name in fear, not meaning to, but terror gripped hard.

He was going to save her parents when he didn't even trust them, risk his life because of her. She didn't want that from him. She didn't want to use him that way, use the cold, driven part of him that always demanded justice or revenge.

She felt the flicker of warmth in her mind grow and blossom until he filled her with… him.

Kadan, you can't. Well do this another way.

Kadan turned from the map of the estate, away from the other men who were talking over various plans, and looked down at her, into her enormous, frightened eyes. She was afraid for him. That struck him as amazing-that anyone could worry about him. And it was genuine. He searched her mind, because even with the stark look of fear for him on her face and in her eyes, he couldn't quite believe it.

Damn it, Tansy. You're turning me inside out.

He knew his voice was too gruff. He was growling at her to keep from pulling her into his arms and burying himself in the haven of her body. To keep from giving it away that she had consumed him and he was nothing without her. He didn't know any other way to show her, didn't know how to say it; there were only his hands and his mouth and his cock. There were no words inside of him, and if his body couldn't win her, couldn't let her see he was loving her with every touch, every stroke, he was damned. Truly damned.

He stepped in to her, crowding her even though he knew he shouldn't, needing her warmth when inside he was as cold as ice. His veins were ice, rivers of it, small chips floating like small shavings on the surface. He could feel the cold deep inside, the stone that was his heart, the space that was never filled, never warm, unless her heat surrounded him. He put his hands on her hips, that sweet curve that could only be Tansy. Deliberately he ran his palms up under the hem of her tank top to that small strip of bare skin. He rested his hands there, letting her heat soak into him, feeling it pour into his heart and soul and melt the ice in his veins.

Thankfully, she didn't pull away from him, sharing her body even in a room full of strangers. He loved her all the more for that sacrifice, her shoving aside her embarrassment for him. Her gaze clung to his.

"What am I going to do with you, Kadan?" she murmured softly.

He knew her question had nothing to do with sex, but he filled her mind with a graphic answer, complete with graphic images-her sprawled naked on his bed, his mouth and hands all over her, his cock buried deep inside her-and yet really, truthfully, for him his answer had nothing and everything to do with sex.

She blushed, glanced at the other men, who were staring at the drawings, not paying any attention, and shook her head.

"I don't want you to go."

He took her hand, tugging until she followed him out of the room. "I don't think they'd kill your parents after the twenty-four-hour deadline, Tansy, but they might wound one of them. And if they move them, it will make a rescue much more difficult. Once they moved them, they could do anything to them. We have to go now."

"Then use the other two men. I'll be fine. I know they're part of your team. They've seen the layout of the estate. Let them go with you."

One hand cupped the nape of her neck, his thumb sliding over her jaw in a little caress. "If something happened to you, Tansy, there wouldn't be much point in any of this. I'm not so far away from that edge myself. And you've seen it. Don't pretend you haven't. There would be a bloodbath the likes of which no one has ever seen. I refuse to take chances with your life-or my honor. Are we clear?"

She swallowed hard, tears burning behind her eyelids. "I don't want anything to happen to you or your friends."

"This is what we do, baby. And I've got someone to come home to. I wouldn't blow it now." He leaned down and took a tear from her face with his tongue. "Don't be afraid for me. I want you to pack up everything you'll need just in case we have to move fast. We'll keep this house as a base, but we'll need to go at a moment's notice. I want to be on the next scene the moment we get word."

He wanted there to be no mistake: She wasn't going to be staying with her parents. She'd be with him.

Tansy nodded. "I travel light, Kadan. I'm used to the life, remember?"

He didn't want to remember the horror in her mind, and he sure didn't want her remembering it either.

"It won't be like that. I won't let them take your soul again."

She rested her forehead against his. At least he understood. Her parents had tried to understand her, but it was impossible when they couldn't know what was happening in her head. Just don't think about it, Tansy-girl, her father had said. Why can't you just push the bad things out of your head and think good thoughts? her mother had chimed in. As if somehow, if she just tried, she'd stop the killers and victims from sticking in her head and sucking out her soul.

She looked up at Kadan. He seemed so strong. Invincible. Standing between her and evil. She believed him. She believed that quiet confidence, the implacable resolve she found in his mind, but most of all, the ice running through his veins and in his mind and heart. Because he could match the killers move for move, like players on a chessboard, and they couldn't defeat him with their immoral, malicious inhumanity as they had her. They couldn't eat him alive and take him over. And he was standing in front of her.

"We really have a chance of stopping them, don't we?" she asked.

"We will."

Tansy nodded. "Okay then. I'm with you."

"Then let's get your parents back."

Kadan squeezed her hand and let her go. There would be no more touching her mind until it was done. Maybe once, maybe one more time when he kissed her good-bye and left her with her guards at the safe house across the narrow canyon from her parents' house, but that would be a luxury. She couldn't be anywhere near him when he ran a mission-especially this mission. Because if her parents were in any way involved with Whitney, he would fulfill his promise to her: She would see them one more time, and then they would disappear.

Kadan still had possession of her cell phone, a fact she had long forgotten, and he hoped it stayed that way, because there was no way she was getting it back until this thing was over. As a precaution, there was no phone in the safe house he was taking Tansy to, so if things went wrong she couldn't try to call and make a deal with Fredrickson, exchanging her life for her parents'. Ian and Tucker had strict instructions on what to do if the mission went south. They would get Tansy out of the area fast, that night. They had the necessary drug and would use it if push came to shove.

Kadan had given orders that they weren't to tell her, just drug her and get her out. They could deal with the grief and anger later, but they weren't to let Whitney get his hands on her. Tansy was not going to end up in his macabre breeding program, not if Kadan could do anything about it, and that was a promise he'd made to himself.