As the jokes and chuckles traveled the table, Lucan’s comm unit buzzed with an incoming call. He left to take it while the discussion continued.
“It’s going to be close to sunrise when we land,” Hunter said. “Even if Riordan anticipates that we’re on to him, I doubt he’ll be prepared for a full-scale attack in broad daylight.”
Chase nodded. “And we’ll be covered on that front. Mathias’s vehicles are equipped with light-blocking windows, and we’ll be storming Riordan’s gates wearing full UV tactical gear.”
“What about females or young children?” Tegan asked. Once the coldest member of the Order, having a mate and an adult son of his own had added a new, protective dimension to the lethal male. “We gonna have to sweep for civilians once we get inside?”
Mathias shook his head. “Not a concern. Riordan hasn’t been mated for years. Unfortunately, his Breedmates seem to have an unhealthy habit of dying under mysterious circumstances. He does have a brother, Ennis, whose reputation is almost as repulsive.” Mathias cleared his throat. “Then, of course, there is the matter of Riordan’s son.”
Chase grunted at the reminder. He wasn’t about to forget the delicate matter of potentially going into combat against the male Carys loved. Tavia had stressed to him that she and their daughter both expected him to reserve judgment, to do what he could to spare Riordan’s son if at all possible.
He’d given his word. But he couldn’t guarantee the male wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire if things went south inside the stronghold.
With those grim thoughts riding him, he nearly didn’t notice that Lucan had gone markedly quiet, still on his phone call at the other side of the jet’s cabin. But everyone else had stopped talking now too.
Lucan’s sober expression and silence drew more attention than if he’d been roaring vicious curses at the top of his lungs.
He ended the call and walked over, his grave eyes locked on Chase.
“What’s going on, Lucan?”
“It’s Carys.” Two words, spoken so seriously, it seemed to suck all the air out of the room. “She’s gone missing from the party in London.”
“Gone missing?”
Chase felt his veins freeze over. At the table with him, Aric exploded with a shout of disbelief and worry.
“What do you mean, gone missing?” Chase murmured. “For how long? Where would she go? For fuck’s sake, tell me we’re turning that house upside down looking for her right now.”
“Brynne searched the house. Gideon had Carys’s GPS signal on site and active, but when they located her earpiece . . .” Lucan shook his head. “It appears she’s been gone for more than an hour.”
“Someone took her?” Chase knew the answer without asking it. He knew who, as well, and the ice that had settled in his blood turned arctic. “Riordan.”
Lucan’s stark gaze confirmed it. “Gideon’s tap on the security cameras showed her arriving there with Ennis Riordan. She hasn’t been there long.”
“One second in that place is too goddamn long,” Chase muttered. “And we’re how far from touching down in Dublin?”
“A couple of hours. I’ve already told the pilot to push this bird as hard as he can.”
Chase thought about his mate, who’d stayed behind at headquarters with the other women. “Has Tavia been told?”
“Gideon thought you’d want to be the one to break the news to her.”
“Yeah. He’s right.” And Chase should have known Tavia hadn’t yet been informed. He would have felt her anguish through their blood bond. The way she was most certainly feeling his now. “It’ll be best if she hears it from me.”
As he got up from the table to make the dreaded call, he put his hand on his son’s strong shoulder. He couldn’t imagine what Carys’s twin must be feeling. The siblings had been so close as children. There had been strains in their bond recently, but it was on the mend now and their love had never dimmed.
Aric looked at him with eyes the same green shade as Tavia’s. His gaze was stark, unblinking. When he spoke, his deep voice was firm with resolve. “We’re gonna bring her back. She’s going to be all right. And those fucks who took her are going to pay in blood.”
The other warriors murmured their support, but the assurances did little to numb the dread clawing at Chase. He’d never felt so helpless, realizing that he was hundreds of miles and too many damn hours away from reaching her.
He knew Carys was strong. God knew she was stubborn. His daughter had never backed down from any fight, but she’d never been tested by something like this.
She had never faced the kind of evil that Fineas Riordan was reputed to deal in, and the thought of his little girl being taken—being touched by filth like Riordan—was almost too much for him to bear.
As the jet’s engines roared and the agonizing wait until landing began, Chase found himself pinning his hopes on an unlikely ally.
With him and the Order too far away to help, her best chance of survival could be Riordan’s own son. The same Breed male Chase had been reluctant to accept and all too quick to condemn.