Unchained (Men in Chains 3)

He sent healing power to his ears and to his mind so that after a minute, he no longer hurt, just his chest because of the mass murder.

He gave himself another minute to absorb and to recover, then turned to Shayna. “Can you tell me if the weapon is still in that location?”

He watched her close her eyes again. She shook her head, but she suddenly gripped his hand. “Marius, I’ve found it, but you have to see this. I don’t understand why it’s in this place. This makes no sense.”

“Go ahead and stream it.”

The images arrived like a new onslaught. The weapon sat on a land bridge within a large cavern. Below were a couple hundred human slaves, all staring up, milling around, nervous. Something was going on.

He opened his eyes and met her gaze. “This isn’t a vision, is it?”

She shook her head. “It’s just the location, here and now.”

“The Dark Cave system?”

She nodded. “Yes, but it feels like a trap.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

This time her shoulders rose and fell with a quick intake of breath. “We have to go get it.”

“Yes, we do.”

“But how? Because I’m convinced we’ll be attacked.”

“Let’s get you dressed, then we’ll make a plan.”

“I need to get my dress.” She stood up and headed back into the bathroom.

He followed after her and watched her start tidying up the space, something she didn’t need to do. He didn’t understand at first until he saw that her fingers trembled as she wrapped up the hair dryer and put it away on a wood shelf beneath the sink.

She was in shock.

When she started wiping down the sink, he went to her. He turned her to face him and surrounded her with his arms. “It’ll be okay.”

She hugged him hard. “I’m scared,” she mumbled against his shoulder. “I don’t want to be, but I am. It was awful to watch them die.”

“I know and you have every right to be freaking out right now.”

“I want to be stronger than this.”

He rubbed her back up and down. “You’re doing just fine. I’m so proud of you.”

After a moment, she calmed down and gathered up her clothes. “I’m ready.”

He flew her to her original room. She went immediately to the closet and he picked up his phone again and placed a call to his brother. When he heard Adrien’s voice, guilt poured over him once more, that old remorse that lived in him like a wound that would never heal. “Marius. We’ve been hoping we’d hear from you, but didn’t want to call.” A phone ringing at the wrong time could alert the enemy.

“I wanted to let you and Lucian know what’s going on. And I want you to share with Gabriel what I’m about to tell you.” He quickly outlined all that had happened, beginning with his call to Rumy and the later explosion. “I knew his mind, Adrien. He’d always said if Daniel started moving in on The Erotic Passage, he’d destroy the whole system before he let that bastard take over anything.”

Adrien was silent for a moment. “Sounds like Daniel’s serious this time. He’s making his move.”

“We think so, too. Shayna and I are going after the weapon. She’s seen the location. I know you’re in hiding, but if things go wrong, you may need to go after the weapon yourself. I know your woman, Lily, has the same tracking ability as Shayna. I need you both to be our backup in case things go south.”

“We will. Just keep us informed.”

“And there’s something else; Daniel had Quill kill off a number of vampire sex slaves by firing up the weapon. It happened so quick; they died so damn fast.” He then relayed the vision that Shayna had streamed for him, answering any questions that came to Adrien’s mind.

Adrien huffed a heavy sigh. “Daniel has to be stopped.”