Crimson Highlander (Onyx Assassins 2)

“That email that Valor gave me to monitor,” he said with a deep breath. “We just got an encoded message from Daphne.”

Valor froze in my arms.

“Lachlan, we know where she is.”

I nodded once and shut the door.

A pair of wide green eyes met mine, and the lust was clearing. “Did he just say…”

“Aye.” I nodded. “I’m going to get your cousin for you as soon as I get some clothes on.”

She untangled herself as I lowered her to the floor. “I’ll just get my—”

Oh, hell no. “You’re not coming.”

“The hell I’m not!” Ah, and there it was. The hatred was back in her eyes.

6

Valor

“Lachlan, we know where she is,” Ransom said, his tone the most exasperated I’ve ever heard the playful and sarcastic vampire.

Lachlan shut the door, and I gaped at him. “Did he just say…” My mind reeled. The heat that had been steaming in my blood seconds ago totally evaporated and transformed to ice. The breath in my lungs seized.

“Aye,” Lachlan said, not noticing the terror in my eyes. “I’m going to get your cousin for you as soon as I get some clothes on.”

I shimmied slightly, only now realizing I still had my legs wrapped around his very naked hips. “I’ll just get my—”

“You’re not coming.”

“The hell I’m not!” I snapped, both feet firmly planted on the floor and my eyes solely on his. Sure, a few minutes ago? I’d been admiring the damn perfect specimen he was. Fuck, it had felt so damn good to see him alive. Seeing him naked? A shiver raced down my spine, but I refused to acknowledge it.

Lachlan totally ignored my anger, shifting out of my eyesight without so much as a blink. I hadn’t even worked the words around my tongue before he popped back into sight, fully clad in his leathers, his Glocks holstered beneath.

“I don’t have time—”

“You sure as fuck do,” I cut him off, stepping between him and the door. I blinked a few times when he flashed his fangs. Terror should be racing through my veins, but for some illogical reason, I wasn’t peeing my panties right this second. Not with the true fear clinging to my skin. “You don’t know our code. I have to read the message.”

Lachlan arched an eyebrow at me but didn’t remove me from his path, so I considered that a plus. “Ransom is the best hacker I’ve ever seen—”

“He may be,” I cut him off. “But this isn’t some security program written and sold all over the world. Daphne and I have created codes and innuendos and inside jokes since she could speak. You may think you know where you’re going, but you really don’t have a clue.”

He studied me for a moment, those eyes of his scanning every inch of my face, and who knew what else he was sniffing out with his heightened senses. The mating bond was a bitch in more ways than making me an irrational, territorial woman with a need so fierce between her thighs she wanted to devour the male in front of her—no, it fucking let him sense my emotions too, or so Lyric had told me. And right now?

Hope and terror were the only things stronger than the lust and hate slamming through my veins Hope that he’d listen, that he wouldn’t play primal alpha hero and go off half-cocked to the wrong location. I knew Daphne better than anyone. I didn’t care how intelligent Ransom was. He wasn’t talented enough to crack into my sixteen-year-old cousin’s head.

His shoulders dropped, just a fraction, and elation ripped through my heart.

“Okay, but you’re not—”

I spun around, my hair quite possibly smacking him in the face I opened the door behind me so fast. I hurried to where Ransom waited at the end of the hall, not caring to look over my shoulder to see if Lachlan had followed.

I knew he had.

No, not me. The stupid mating bond knew he was there.

“What—”

“No time. Show me the message,” I cut off Ransom’s question. He glanced behind me, and I’m guessing he got a nod because he reached in his pocket and retrieved a cell phone. He turned the screen toward me after pushing a few buttons.

I snatched the device from his hand, thankful I didn’t have to race through the residence to whatever place they kept their security system.

A choked gasp ripped from my throat as I read and re-read the email on his screen.

Finally managed to earn some Netflix time. It only took a few days of begging. I think my…new family realized how bored I was getting doing nothing but staring at the wallpaper in each new room they shove me in. Besides my “lessons” from my soon-to-be mother-in-law, I’m not allowed outside of it. I eat in a room, sleep in a room, shower in a room…you get the picture. The only thing that changes is the wallpaper. Sometimes it’s floral. Sometimes it’s yellow and peeling—picture me shivering, bleh. Sometimes there is no wallpaper, just paint and curtains. I like the ones with curtains best. You know my favorite kinds, thick, loud, bold prints? Peacocks or the rainforest. Anyway, my…fiancé snuck me an iPad with Netflix uploaded on it. I found Bridgerton and instantly binged. I can’t help but relate to the ladies being presented at court—eager but nervous. Will I be enough? Am I pretty enough? How can I improve the family and all that. You know how much I want to please the family, but you also know how much I worry. I know you worry too, know you wanted to please the family. I don’t believe the lies they told me about you. Not for one second. I’m always telling Jared that. I think he believes me. I think he knows you’re too valuable to leave outside our family’s walls. Sigh. I could really go for one of Foghorn’s burgers and triple caramel shakes right now, you know? Those fix everything, amIright?