Page 15 of Tin God

Shattered whiskey brown singed by ashes. He could picture the color in his mind even though the camera leached it away.

“I won’t say I’m sorry.”

“Of course you won’t.” He braced his arms on the table, staring at her, examining her face for any sign of change. Was it fear that lined her eyes? She looked tired. Was that a burn mark on her cheek? “Where are you?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“You won’t tell me.”

“I promised Oleg if he helped me, I wouldn’t reveal locations.”

“That bloody Russian bastard?—”

“He’s helping me. He wants to take care of Zasha too.”

“That’s utter bollocks, Brigid. If Oleg wanted to kill Zasha, they would already be dead. He’s a fire vampire too, and he’s older than Zasha. He should be the one cleaning up his clan’s mess, but instead, he wants to cover his ass with the others and let you do it.” He had barely kept from shouting and throwing the tablet across the room. It was the first time she’d picked up his call since she’d left him in Las Vegas. It had been months since he’d seen her face.

“I want to do it.” Her brilliant eyes turned hard. “For Lee. For Lucas. For Summer and Dani. And they’re the ones who are still alive.”

“Tell me where you are.”

“I can’t.”

“Fuck!” he roared. “Brigid Connor, I am your mate!”

“I know.” She was crying, and the tears dripped down her cheeks, turning to steam as they crossed her skin. “I’m sorry.”

“Shhhh.” He knelt down in front of the camera when he saw her skin starting to heat up. “Calm, darling girl. Be calm. I love you, Brigid. I love you so much.”

“I love you so much it hurts.” She nodded. “And I promise I’m not doing this alone. But I need to turn off the camera now.”

“No no no no no.” Carwyn pleaded with her. “I’m in Seattle. Give me a clue and I’ll be?—”

“I have to go.” There was shouting in the background, and she looked flustered. “I think I heard a gunshot, and I have a feeling I know why. Don’t worry—I’m not in danger.” She dashed the tears away. “I love you.”

The screen went dark, and Carwyn had to resist the urge to fling it across the room, because if he wrecked that one, he didn’t have another chance of seeing her until he hunted her down.

He walked outside into the pouring rain, his feet bare, and loosed his rage in a violent scream of elemental power he shoved into the earth behind the isolated house.

The ground rocked below his feet, but he felt the earth resist his amnis, unsure of what it all meant. This wasn’t a place like California where the terrain was fluid and the faults were many. He could feel the old cracks deep below the surface, but they were sleepy, and the upper layers of rock and soil were wary to rouse them.

Carwyn let his amnis scatter along the surface of the ground, and the green lawn rolled like waves lapping at the shoreline while he gradually calmed the churning anger in his chest.

At least he’d seen her.

At least she was safe.

A sound like thunder echoed overhead, and a familiar thread of amnis hit the ground next to him like a lightning bolt a moment before a dark shape came shooting through the clouds, arrowing down to Carwyn’s house.

The wind vampire’s black clothes were dripping with rain, his hair was plastered to his face, and his eyes shot bolts of fury at the face of his old friend.

“Carwyn?” Ben Vecchio’s voice was iced in anger. “Where the fuck is my mate?”

ChapterThree

Tenzin looked down at the blood pouring from her thigh. What an odd and unpleasant sensation. “Did they shoot me?”

She looked around for where the sound had originated.