Page 77 of Sinner's Salvation

Anna stared at him. “What?”

“If it had been you, I don’t think I could have stayed behind. I guess that makes me a selfish bastard, and Baz a better man than I am. People can sense that he’d put his life on the line for you. The guy has never, not once in all the time I’ve known him, put himself and what he wants first.”

“He walked away from our family for hundreds of years,” Anna said, and she sounded angry.

“Did you ever consider the possibility that he walked away to protect you?” Evan asked. “A man who has had his reason for living ripped away from him is dangerous. Anyone going through that, with his physical gifts, would be the most dangerous creature I could ever imagine. Maybe it was the only good thing he could have done?”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” she said, after thinking about it for a few seconds. “He was inconsolable. He killed several vampires, all the ones involved in the crime, and even more normal humans. Then he just disappeared. No one knew where he went for more than forty years.”

On the screen, Baz was now the one yelling and gesturing broadly with his arms. He seemed focused on one of the FBI agents.

Two large men in black suits strode up to the group, and physically hauled Baz away and toward the elevator. The last thing Baz did before the doors closed was flip the bird at the FBI.

“He’s coming up here,” Anna said.

“Yeah, this ought to be fun.”

Anna frowned at him. “Have you seen him angry before?”

“I watched him rescue several wounded men while under fire.” He tried to smile, but he was pretty sure his face wasn’t cooperating. “Trust me, he was angry.”

They watched the screens, which were interesting all on their own.

The Lobby was busy. The FBI agents were talking with the detective and Marek. From the expressions on everyone’s faces, there was a lot of concern and confusion.

“Why do I get the feeling someone got kidnapped?” Evan mused, out loud.

“I hope you’re wrong.”

In the elevator, Baz still looked ready to tear someone apart, but he wasn’t yelling anymore. That was something.

When it reached Yvgeny’s apartment, Baz got off with the two bruisers and went straight for the safe room door.

He came down the stairs, but the two guys who’d come with him closed up the safe room behind him, pulled out their phones, and waited in the living area.

“What happened?” Anna asked.

Evan got a good look at Baz’s face and had to force himself to not step back. He looked ready to explode.

“Is Nika okay?” Anna asked.

Baz took in a deep breath, then let it out slow.

Huh, Nika was the magic word.

“She’s out of surgery, but in the ICU. The bullet did nick her liver. She lost so much blood they had to give her a half dozen units. They were able to reinflate her lung. As soon as they rolled her out of recovery, Homeland tried to take her into custody.”

“They didn’t,” Evan drawled.

At Baz’s flat stare, Evan shook his head. “What a bunch of idiots.”

“Williams said the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and a couple of surgery residents told them the same thing. They refused to believe she was that injured until they saw her. Once they realized she was just your normal average human, they grabbed Brian and dragged him out of the hospital. Williams tried to stop them, but they threatened him with the loss of his job and jail if he interfered.”

“Those morons,” Evan hissed.

“Williams knew something hinky was going on, so he came to tell me first, before going to his precinct to report to his lieutenant and captain.”

“What did Marek say, when Williams told you what happened?”

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