Not Broken: True Destiny, Book 5 (13 page)

Slade sagged in Magnus’s embrace. “She’s going after her.”

“I know.” Without another word, Slade and Magnus followed after Sylvia.

“I’m going hunting.” Val glared at the closed door, practically vibrating with rage. “Nik can go fuck himself.”

Sylvia couldn’t agree more. “Slade and Magnus will be watching me too closely for me to get free.”

“I’ll go.” Toni held up her hand. “Maybe I can slip in and out without Logan or Kir noticing.” Toni looked happier than she had in weeks, as if just the thought of rescuing Syd was better than frozen M&M’s.

Val shot her a strange look, but shrugged. “It’s not Logan or Kir you need to be worried about.”

Toni crossed her arms over her chest and stood her ground. “I’m going. This is what I do, Val.”

Val threw up his hands in surrender. “All right. Let me know if you find out anything.”

“Will do.” Toni gestured for Sylvia to follow her. “All right. Can you think of anything that would have gotten Syd out of here?”

“A threat to either Jordan or Logan.” Sylvia did as told, striding after Toni as the other woman led the way into the condo they were sharing. “She might also go if there was a threat against you or me.”

Toni nodded and led the way into the room Syd had obviously claimed as her work space. Computer monitors lined one wall, two keyboards, a tablet, a laptop…it was a geek’s wet dream, and fit her best friend to a T.

“All right. You take the laptop, I’ll take command central. Let’s see if we can figure this out.” Toni settled in Syd’s chair and began tapping at the keyboard.

Sylvia picked up the laptop and began searching. The first thing she checked was Syd’s email, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Syd had gotten the usual spam emails about enlarging her non-existent penis, paying someone money to get more money, and even something in French that Syd couldn’t read.

“Hey. I’ve got something odd.”

Sylvia looked up from Syd’s laptop to find Toni running a video on the third screen. Toni was leaning forward, studying the image through narrowed eyes before she paused it with a scowl. “Take a look at this.”

Sylvia stood, placing the laptop back on the desk. What had captured Toni’s attention so desperately?

“Okay.” Toni rewound the video, and Sylvia realized she was watching the front of the condo complex. “Watch this.”

She started the video, and Sylvia watched as Syd appeared, racing out the door and looking frantic. She darted across the street, or at least attempted to before she was nailed by a car.

“Oh fuck.” Sylvia stared, horrified, as Syd was lifted off the ground and tossed into the back of the dark sedan. “Was that Nadine?”

“Who?” Toni seemed focused on something other than the car, her brow furrowed as she paused the video again. “Mother fucker.”

“What?”

Toni took a deep breath and sat back. “Nothing. Just…a case I was working on.” She tapped her fingers on the desk. “Who’s Nadine?”

“Frederica Grimm’s girl Friday.” Sylvia bit her lip. “At least we know who has her now.”

“Will Frederica harm her?”

“I don’t think so. She’s got a plan for her.” As long as Syd was useful she’d be safe. Frederica was determined, but she wasn’t demented like Odin was. “She’ll lock her up, but I don’t think she’ll abuse her.”

Toni nodded, staring at the monitor in thought. After a few moments, she finally spoke. “Then I say we let her follow through with her plan.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m positive Syd will figure out a way to get in touch with us without letting her captors know. Once we have a clue what Frederica’s plan is, we can rescue Syd and stop Frederica without too much trouble.”

“You can’t go into this thinking you’ll have backup and that she’ll go to jail.” Sylvia tilted her head. “Well, you
will
have backup, but it will be Val, Logan, Kir and the rest of the nuthouse.”

Toni grimaced. “Still, what better way to stop Frederica than to leave Syd in there? I mean, you’re sure she won’t be hurt, right?”

Sylvia nodded. “Frederica’s a bitch, but she’s not crazy. Not like Oliver.”

“Good.” Toni leaned back. “Then we wait for Syd to contact us. Val is out looking, so we let him do that. Frederica will get suspicious if we leave Syd without making any attempt at getting her home again, and Val is the best one to send for that. He’s obvious.”

“I don’t think you give him enough credit. Val waited for centuries to kill Oliver, and when he had the chance he took it.” He’d sliced Odin’s throat, stabbed him in the back and cut the major artery that ran by Odin’s groin. Odin should have perished, but the stupid prophecy protected his life. The Avenger was not the one meant to kill him, so Odin survived the lethal strikes.

“Yeah, too bad it didn’t work.” Toni grimaced. “I’ll keep watch on this end, and if I get anything that tells me that we need to extract Syd I’ll contact you. You, in the meantime, stay calm. I’ll get Jamie and Jeff to give me a hand, so someone will be online at all times, monitoring.” She hit a couple more keys, bringing up the inside of Frederica’s office. “Look.”

There was Syd, sitting at the desk, her expression both terrified and filled with concentration. She was wincing as Frederica stood behind her talking to her, but other than a bruise on her cheek she seemed all right.

That was until Frederica patted Syd’s shoulder and Syd flinched, her face paling. Her gaze darted toward the camera, and Sylvia could see the desperation there. Syd wanted out, away from Frederica, and was injured worse than what was visible. “I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I.” Toni stood. “All right. You make the call. Do we go in and take her back, or leave her there?”

“We get her back.” Fuck Frederica and her plans. Sylvia needed to know her friend was safe, and it was obvious she wasn’t. “But what about Nik?”

“Pfft. You let me deal with Nik and his orders.” Toni strode out of the office and reached for her shoulder holster. “In the meantime, let the others know what we found out. I’ll get a hold of Val and come up with an extraction plan.”

“Got it.” Sylvia opened the door. “Thanks, Toni.”

Toni nodded but didn’t respond, too busy dialing her cell phone and waving an absentminded good-bye.

Sylvia returned to her own condo, worried sick for her friend, to find Slade and Magnus curled up together on the couch. They were staring at the door, looking every bit as upset as she felt. “Hi.”

Magnus was the first to reach her, but Slade wasn’t far behind. “You scared the crap out of us.” Slade’s gravelly tone was filled with fear, his arms tightening around her to the point of pain. “You aren’t leaving, right? We can’t risk losing you.”

Magnus kissed her forehead. “If it comes down to it I’ll go looking for Syd, but you aren’t going anywhere.”

Sylvia slumped into their embrace, letting them take her weight, and her worries. “Frederica has her, and she’s banged up. Toni hacked into the security cameras around the building and saw Syd get kidnapped. We need to get her back before someone hurts her.”

Magnus cupped her cheek as Slade rubbed his chin against her hair. “If you really feel that strongly about it let me go after her. I’ll get her home.”

Slade shivered. “No. Send Val. Hell, send fucking Kir. You’re not going either.”

“Slade.” Magnus grabbed them both, holding them to his chest. Slade released her just enough to keep one arm around her and place the other around Magnus, holding them as tightly as he could. All of Slade’s nightmares were there in the way he held them and shook.

Odin might not have broken Slade, but he’d come damn close. It would be decades, if not longer, before Slade was healed.

“I’m not going after Syd, Val and Toni are.” She felt Slade relax and prayed Syd would understand. Sylvia wasn’t a fighter. She’d leave that to the ones who were.

“I’ll only go with someone to back me up, like Morgan.”

It was the best Slade could hope for from Magnus, who was a warrior through and through. Slade sighed, and when he lifted his head from Sylvia’s his expression was resigned. “Fine. But you’ll be taking me with you. I’m a trained battle steed, remember?”

“And no one could catch him, not even Odin.” Sylvia rather liked the idea of Slade watching Magnus’s back.

Now Magnus was the one who sighed. “If we go somewhere I need a battle steed you’re the only one I’d ride.” He began walking them back toward the sofa. “You have a plan?”

“Toni is going to try and figure out how to get her out of there.” Sylvia allowed herself to be seated between Magnus and Slade, the two men still holding on to her as if she was going to slip away from them at any moment. “Val is also looking. I’m supposed to hold down the fort and keep an eye on Syd’s emails and stuff, see if she tries to contact us.”

The two men exchanged a look over her head. “Nik’s not gonna like that.”

Nik can bite me.
“It’s up to Toni whether or not she helps, not Nik.”

“Nik has claimed her.” Magnus stroked her hair, tugging softly on the strands. “He’s going to try and stop her.”

Sylvia bit her lip. She had the feeling Toni was more than a match for the Guardian. “I think she can handle herself.”

“If you say so.” Magnus didn’t sound convinced. “But we have more important things to worry about.”

“Like what?” What could be more important than Syd?

Slade tilted his head, his expression thoughtful. “What color should we paint the ceiling?”

Really, he had no business looking so surprised when the pillows went flying. But that night, when her men snuggled her close after Magnus’s blood bound them together, they whispered to each other in the darkness of hopes and fears and family. She was no longer alone. Syd would be saved, Ragnarrok would end Odin’s reign of terror, and Sylvia would finally have the family she’d always dreamed of. It would take time, and hard work, but already they meant more to her than anyone or anything.

They would understand it when she helped Toni hunt for Syd. After all, Syd was family.

“We will.” Slade’s sleepy, raspy tone was so low she thought at first she’d imagined it. “As if we ever thought you’d be able to sit back and wait while your friend was out there alone.”

Sylvia blinked. “Did I say that out loud?”

Slade snickered. “Yup, you did.”

“You won’t do this by yourself.” Magnus’s voice was louder, and far more determined. “You
will
let us help.”

She sighed happily. “The Three Musketeers, right?”

“Right.” Slade yawned.

Magnus’s response was a simple kiss. “Go to sleep, d’Artagnan. We’ll slay Milady de Winter tomorrow.”

“Goober.” She rolled her eyes.

“Bake her cookies,” Slade muttered. “That will teach her to mess with you.”

She glared over her shoulder at Slade. “Three Musketeers my ass. More like the Three Stooges.”

The two men looked at each other and, with identical grins, echoed, “Nyuk nyuk nyuk.”

“Ugh.” She hid her head under the pillow. A moment later, she peeked out and whispered, “I get to be Moe.”

The only reply she got was a bone-rattling snore.

Epilogue

“Are you sure about this?”

Nik desperately wanted to roll his eyes, but Kye had been through enough recently that he didn’t want the guy to think Nik was mocking him. “Yes, I’m sure. Even if Logan and Kir want to say no I’m positive Travis will say yes.” And while Nik respected the hell out of Kir, it was Travis he still felt fealty toward.

Oh, well. Swearing fealty to Kir wouldn’t be all that big a deal for him. He’d done it for Odin, the bitter taste of defeat still fouling everything. He could swear to Kir for the sake of Antonia.

The thought of the bright, brown-eyed homicide detective made him shiver with need. She didn’t want to acknowledge the pull between them, the instant flare of attraction, but Nik was going to ensure that nothing stood in the way of his claiming her. Even Kir.

“I hoped to have Ryker with us when we arrived, but he’s managed to hide even from me.”

“He’s safe.” Nik could see Jörmungandr, who’d taken the mortal name Ryker Saeter, the instant he thought of him. The World Serpent slept in the deeps, but he’d made tentative forays onto land now that Kir held the Godspear. It was one of the reasons Kye had such a hard time finding him. When the World Serpent was on land, he was invisible to Kye’s senses. “You can sense him now if you try.”

The relief on Kye’s face didn’t surprise him. Kye’s reluctance to hunt Jörmungandr, his desire to keep the Serpent safe, and his need to swear fealty to Kir all led Nik to one inescapable conclusion: the god of the sea had the hots for a snake. He’d have to wait to claim the man, though. Nik knew Ryker Saeter wasn’t quite ready to join his father. Something else needed to happen before the Serpent emerged from the deeps. “Ready?”

Kye blew out a breath and squared his shoulders. “Ready.”

Nik waved his hand and the two of them appeared inside the condominium complex. He would never say it out loud, but he
loved
doing that. The look on Logan’s face as he tried to figure out how Nik got through the wards was priceless every single time.

Nik smiled as Jordan opened the door to her condo. “Good evening.”

Her brows rose. “Good evening?” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “What are you doing here?”

He gestured behind him toward his bags and Kye. “We’re moving in.”

Kye waved. “Hi, neighbor.”

“Shit.” Jordan shook her head. “There goes the neighborhood.”

About the Author

Dana Marie Bell wrote her first short story when she was thirteen years old. She’s now a
USA Today
bestselling author with Samhain Publishing and Carina Press. Dana has lived primarily in the Northeast with a brief stint on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix. She lives with her soul mate and husband Dusty, their two maniacal children, two evil ice cream-stealing cats and a bull terrier that thinks it’s a Pekingese. She’s been heard to describe herself as “vertically challenged” and “a lapsed brunette.” Dana also suffers from ankylosing spondylitis (a progressive inflammatory arthritis that primarily affects the spine), and can be seen walking with a cane or tooling around in her mobility scooter. Her condition was the inspiration for Belle’s hip injury in
Steel Beauty
.

You can learn more about Dana at:

www.danamariebell.com

danamariebell.blogspot.com

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