Thirteen (Otherworld 13)

Benicio said no. Lucas said no. Paige said no. Even Sean--who's never played the overbearing big brother--said he'd really rather I didn't. They all insisted there was plenty I could do at headquarters. Only, there wasn't. I wasn't a researcher or a strategist. I belonged on the front lines. Here, I was no more useful than any admin assistant.

Yet as long as I was a spell-free target, I was ordered to stay under twenty-four-hour guard. I couldn't even go back to Paige and Lucas's condo for the night. Several offices had been cleared and transformed into bedrooms. Benicio was staying on site. While Lucas was away, so was Paige. Only the werewolves got to take their significant others and leave, and even they had to agree to stay in secured condos and accept armored cars, along with a small army of guards.

So I got a futon in an empty office. Troy got a cot outside the door.

Adam called before I went to sleep. Larsen Dahl had been at the location Bryce had given us, but he'd been moved. They were trying to find out where. Or Lucas was. Adam had been sidelined to rest, like me. If only we were "resting" in the same place, it would have been a lot more tolerable.

I woke up early, feeling as if I had to be somewhere. Then I remembered I wasn't going anywhere and lay back on the futon, staring up at the ceiling.

Eventually I realized sulking wasn't going to do anyone any good. I might as well get up and figure out how I could make myself useful.

There was a suitcase of my stuff in the corner. I dressed and eased open the door. Troy was sitting on the edge of his cot in a T-shirt and boxers, running his hand through his sleep-rumpled hair.

"You don't have to get up," I whispered.

"Yep, I kinda do." He yawned and shook himself. "Compared to Benicio's schedule, this was actually sleeping in. Just give me a sec to dress."

I withdrew into the office to wait. I felt bad making Troy get up, but he was used to it. Normally, bodyguards would alternate night shifts, but Griffin was a single parent--his youngest not yet in college--so Troy spent most nights in a bedroom outside Benicio's.

Troy didn't have kids. Or a wife. I'm sure he had company when he wanted it--he was decent-looking for a guy in his forties and a big, brawny bodyguard is going to have his appeal at any age.

I'm not the type who thinks people can be happy only with a family, but . . . Well, maybe I am. A family of some sort. I guess Troy has that with Benicio and the Cabal. He nearly died a few years ago, protecting his boss from Jaz and his brother Sonny. Afterward, Benicio had given him a huge bonus and beefed up his pension, which was his way of saying "If you want to retire, I understand." Troy hadn't, of course. I supposed he wouldn't, not as long as Benicio was alive.

Troy tapped the door when he was ready. He was not only dressed, but looked a helluva lot more awake than I felt.

"Coffee," I said.

He grinned. "That I can do."

"I don't suppose there's any chance of going out to get it."

The smile faltered.

I lifted my hand. "Sorry. Not your rules, I know. As long as I can get caffeine, followed by a shower, I'm good."

TWENTY-NINE

Caffeinated and clean, I was walking through the executive suites, Troy trailing me, when Karl swung out of a doorway behind us. "You," he said. "Come here."

"I have places to be, Karl," I said. "And you'd get a better response if you actually bothered to learn my name."

"Savannah," he said. "Please. It's Hope."

That please got my ass moving. Karl was already back in the room by the time I got to the door. Hope lay on a sofa. She just lay there. Eyes open. Unblinking.

"I'll get help," Troy said behind me.

"Please get Paige," I said. "And Jeremy."

"I've already called him," Karl said. "He's on his way. She just collapsed."

I leaned over her and checked her pulse.

"She's alive," he growled, as if he wouldn't be just standing around if the situation was that dire. "Breathing fine. Pulse rate fine. But she's locked in a vision and I can't snap her out of it."

"A vision? How--?"

"Her eyes," he said.