"Hello? Niko - you there, amigo?" The deep voice rolled with a Spanish-tinged accent, as warm and smooth as caramel.
"It's Rio, my man - "
"He's not here," Renata said. "We're in position at the site north of the city, waiting for you guys to arrive. Nikolai's out on recon. He shouldn't be long."
"Good," said the warrior. "We're almost there, ETA about forty-five minutes on the outside. You must be Renata."
"Yes."
"Gotta thank you for saving our boy's ass up there. What you did was...well, he's lucky to have you working on his side. We all are." She could hear the genuine concern and gratitude in the vampire's voice, and she found herself very curious to meet the other warriors whom Nikolai called friends. "Everything okay on that end? How about you? You doing all right, hanging in there?"
"I'm good. Just anxious to get this done tonight."
"Understood," Rio replied. "Niko told us about the little girl - Mira. I'm sorry for what you've gone through, knowing that a sick individual like Fabien is holding her. I know it couldn't have been easy for you waiting around all day to rendezvous with us either."
"No, it hasn't been. I just feel so helpless," she confessed. "I hate the feeling."
"I am sorry about that. We're not going to let anything happen to her tonight when we go in there, Renata. I'm sure Nikolai explained to you that getting our hands on Edgar Fabien is critical to the Order, but we're going to do our best so that the child comes out of this situation just fine - "
A sudden chill permeated her chest as Rio's words sank in. "What did you say?"
"She's going to be fine."
"No...that you wouldn't let anything happen to her tonight...in there..."
On the other end of the line, a long beat of silence ticked by. "Ah, Cristo. Niko didn't tell you about the video feed we have from Fabien's Darkhaven last night?"
The chill in her got colder now, ice spreading from her chest to her limbs. "A video feed...from last night," she replied numbly. "What was on it? Did you see Mira? Oh, God. Has Fabien done something with her? Tell me."
"Madre de Dios," he said on a long exhale. "If Niko did not...I'm not sure it's my place to tell you now - "
"Tell me, goddamn it."
She heard a rumble of rapid conversation in the background before Rio finally relented. "The child is with Fabien and several others we haven't yet identified. We picked up the intel from a security surveillance feed at Fabien's Darkhaven. They left last night and we tracked them to the property where you are now."
"Last night," Renata murmured. "Fabien's been holding Mira here...since last night. And what about Nikolai...Are you telling me that he knew this? When did he hear about this? When!"
"I have to ask you to just hang in there for a little while longer," Rio said. "Everything's going to be all right..."
Renata knew the warrior was still talking, still issuing reassurances to her, but his voice faded away from her consciousness as bone-deep anger and fear - a hurt so profound she thought it might shred her into pieces - engulfed her. She closed the phone, cutting off the call and dropping the device onto the floor at her feet.
Mira was here since last night, with Fabien.
All this time.
And Nikolai knew that.
He knew it, and he kept it from her. She could have been here hours ago - in the daylight hours - doing something, anything, to see Mira to safety. Instead, Nikolai had deliberately withheld the truth from her, and, as a result, she had done nothing. Not totally nothing, she admitted, stricken with guilt for the pleasure she'd enjoyed with him while Mira was only about an hour out of her reach.
"Oh, God," she whispered, feeling sick at the thought.
She was vaguely aware of footsteps approaching the vehicle, her senses lighting up before her mind could process the sound. The blood bond she now shared with Nikolai told her it was him well before his dark form appeared at the window. He opened the SUV door and climbed inside like hell was on his heels.
"It's Dragos," he said, searching the console, dashboard, and seat for the cell phone. "Holy shit, I don't fucking believe it, but it was him. I just saw the son of a bitch inside the house with Fabien and the others. Dragos is here - right in our grasp. Where the hell is that phone?"
Renata stared at him, seeing a stranger as he leaned forward and reached for the cell phone where it lay near her feet on the floor of the vehicle. She hardly heard what he was saying. Hardly cared now.
"You lied to me."