The Rising (Darkness Rising 3)

"You will call me Mr. Nast." Sean's eyes chilled as they swung her way. "You've attempted to sabotage an operation organized by your employer. That's treason."

She staggered forward, bleating excuses. Sean waved for the remaining guard to take her and called others into the room.

"Clean this up," he said, waving at the guards on the floor, as if they were pieces of litter.

Two medics came in then and rushed to Daniel. They got him onto a stretcher and took him out. When I tried to follow, the female medic stopped me.

"Let her go with you," Sean said. He turned to me with a faint smile. "Maya, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

He nodded and waved for me to follow the medics. Outside, two state police cars blocked the motel room entrance. Between them was an ambulance. That startled me . . . until I realized the people in them had to be Cabal employees, pretending to be real emergency personnel, as they waved away onlookers. Commandeering police cars and ambulances? Now I realized why Antone said we couldn't fight the Cabals.

I followed the medics to the ambulance and stayed out of their way as they checked Daniel. As I'd hoped, the bullet hadn't done any serious damage, but they did need to get him to a hospital for a better look and possible surgery. They had a clinic in Philadelphia--a special medical clinic for supernaturals, staffed by supernaturals. He'd go there by private jet. I'd accompany him and the others would follow.

FORTY-SEVEN

MORENO WAS ASSIGNED AS our security detail. Sean Nast came in the jet with us, so he could arrive in advance of the others. On the way he explained what had happened. Part of Antone's plan had been contacting Sean and getting him involved. At the same time, Moreno had gained Dr. Inglis's trust enough for her to tell him of her plan after the farmhouse raid. He'd then told Antone, who'd gone straight to Sean.

They hadn't been able to arrive before Dr. Inglis launched her attack, but they'd been on their way.

"It would have been nice if you found a way to tell us rescue was coming," I said to Moreno when Sean paused to take a call. "Or helped out during the fight."

He only arched his brows, as if the suggestion was preposterous.

"After all we've been through, you should have trusted me," he said.

I snorted a laugh at that. "Yeah, because you're such a trustworthy guy."

"Oh, I am, for the right people, under the right circumstances. It's a flexible concept."

"Don't expect me to forget you tried to shoot me, with a real gun."

"Because you looked like a mountain lion, attacking your daddy, who is one of those 'right people.' I'm a damned fine shot. I wouldn't have hit you if I didn't need to, and if I did I'd have only winged you. If you're hoping for an apology, Miss Maya, you won't get it. Pull that stunt again, and I'll pull my gun again. And maybe this time, I'll hit you."

I glowered at him. He smiled.

We got to the clinic and Daniel went in for surgery. He was stable and there was no risk . . . or no more than the usual risk that comes with any surgery, but I tried not to think of that.

There was a Cabal satellite office next door to the clinic. That's where Sean took me after Daniel had been prepped for surgery. They'd cleared out the employees for our negotiation meeting, and when we walked in it was eerily silent. Then I heard the quick march of footsteps. Antone rounded a corner. He saw me, picked up his pace, and caught me up in an embrace. I didn't return the hug, but didn't push him away, either.

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nbsp; When I heard more footsteps, I looked up to see Rafe, stepping from a room. He was grinning, with Ash and Corey behind him. Antone waved them back. When I drew closer, I spotted Kit, Sam, Hayley, Chloe, Derek, Tori, and Simon inside what looked like a boardroom.

"Everyone's here except Kenjii and Annie, and only because we didn't want to stress them out with a long plane ride." Antone patted my back, leaned down to my ear and whispered. "It's almost over, Maya. Just hang in there."

As we walked into the room, there were murmured hellos and a few hugs, but attention quickly shifted to the guy who was with us--for most of them, a stranger.

Sean introduced himself, then Kit introduced everyone else. When he got to Tori, Sean's smile widened.

"Ah, yes," he said. "The other witch-sorcerer."

She frowned. "There's another one?"

"Savannah, my little sister." He paused. "Well, not so little. She turned twenty last month. If everything here works out, you'll have to meet her someday. Not anytime soon, I'm afraid--too many people know about the experiments already."

Kit introduced Derek, and Chloe stiffened, her gaze fixed on Sean's face, waiting for his reaction. He just smiled and shook Derek's hand.