Page 63 of The Death God
“Not much. Gregory called, he was whispering and out of breath.”
Thanatos winced. A vampire out of breath meant a lot of physical exertion.
“He said they’d been in the clearing when a car had arrived. He’d moved to hide in a place where he could follow when he’d heard a snarl, then three people had come out of the clearing. A man in combat gear and a rifle, a blonde woman, and a big man who’d been carrying Amell without effort. There was a dart in his leg, and they’d put him in the trunk before driving off. Gregory followed and told me to track his phone since he had no idea where he is. That’s it.”
All eyes turned to Himeros.
“Kratos and Echo and a guard.”
Anger burned in Thanatos. Himeros had lied to them, and he’d trusted him. How could he have trusted him? He’d risked all their lives. Gregory hadn’t wanted to get involved in this, but he’d pushed, and now Gregory was in danger. Amell was in danger. “You said you hadn’t met any other psychics.” His voice was low, sounding more hurt than he’d intended it to.
Himeros shrugged. “I haven’t lived with any other psychics. Kratos and Echo are the retrieval team.”
“The retrieval team.” Rufus repeated the phrase in a deadly tone.
“Whenever one of us is out on a mission, they’re the ones who get us. The guard varies, but Echo can track us through our last used connection.”
“Meaning?” Rufus didn’t sound any happier now.
“If she finds you or something with your essence, like the thing you took out of my thigh, she can track the link. If they went to where you placed it, she’ll get feedback from the thread and sense where Amell is. If she finds Amell, she can use him to find me.”
“Why didn’t you say this yesterday?” Thanatos was close to screaming, but Himeros only shrugged.
“I was tired. I didn’t know I had the tracker in me, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Hadn’t they found me; they’d have gone to Amell.”
Thanatos gritted his teeth. “She knows where you are right now.”
He looked at Himeros in a new light. He’d known all this and hadn’t told them. The fucker had betrayed them. Gregory hadn’t wanted him in the castle, but nooo, Thanatos insisted. Made sure he got food and a bed to sleep in.
“Yes. I don’t know why they took Amell instead of coming to get me though.”
“Because they want him to mate with the female who hired them.” Alaric was more animal than human. “I bet they can find a way to force him now when they have their hands on him.”
Fuck. But they couldn’t without Himeros, could they? Or maybe they could. Who knows what skills the other teams had or how many other teams there were. Thanatos wanted to scream.
Himeros looked ready to fall asleep but didn’t show much emotion otherwise. Thanatos wanted to slap him. Hard. “And Kratos?”
“Personification of strength.”
Thanatos had known that. Had he used his brain and tried to remember everything he’d read about Greek and Roman mythology, he’d known.
Rufus looked around the table, then at Alaric. “Do we kill him? If he’s dead, she won’t be able to track the connection, right?”
“No!” Minerva slammed her palm against the tabletop. “We’re not killing anyone.”
“Oh, there will be killing.” Alaric turned harsh wolf eyes on the group, then he focused on Rufus. “You have the location?”
Rufus held out his phone to Alaric.
“I’m calling in the pack.”
Rufus nodded. “If we could get some protection here, I’d appreciate it.”
“Of course. We should’ve killed him when we found him trespassing on our land, instead I brought him here. I’m not stupid enough not to realize when I’ve fucked up. I’ll give you some of my men until this is over.”
Thanatos would never admit it, but a small part of him wished Alaric had killed Himeros instead of bringing him here. Gregory was in danger, and he wouldn’t have been if it hadn’t been for him…and Thanatos wouldn’t have insisted he’d go if he hadn’t known there were other psychics out there.
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