Page 96 of Daniil
“Stop telling me what to do,” I say gruffly.
“I know you’re upset but taking it out on me isn’t going to solve anything.Or help us find him any faster.”
“You’re part of the reason I stayed,” I reply angrily.“All your talk about safety protocols, how things aren’t black and white…what a great guy Daniil is.”
“All of those things are true!”she says, frowning.“It’s not like I lied to you.But shit happens.”
“You made it sound like it doesn’t.That it’s the exception, not the rule.Instead, I’ve been here three times and there’s been an attack two of the three times.I don’t like those odds.”
Natalia appears at the door before she can respond.“What’s happening?”she asks.“You want to leave?”
“Iamleaving,” I state bluntly.“Let’s go.”
Natalia and Lennox exchange a look and Lennox shakes her head slightly.
“Don’t do that,” I say angrily.“I’m right fucking here.Someone kidnapped my child, so yeah, I’m being a little unreasonable.I dare either of you to say you’d be perfectly calm under the same circumstances.”I turn to Lennox.“And you’re supposed to be my friend.One of my best friends.Why aren’t you on my side?”
“I am,” she whispers, hurt flickering in her eyes.“But we have every available body out looking.Joe is running point at the palace, Ace is reaching out to all his CIA contacts, and even Erik is on the phone calling in favors for information.No one is taking this lightly.And you have a fucking fractured skull!”Her voice breaks a little and I feel bad, but I can’t succumb to emotion right now.
Micah’s life could depend on my being vigilant.
No matter how many feelings get hurt in the process.
Chapter39
Daniil
By dawn,when we still haven’t found him, fear and frustration have set in.I won’t be any good to anyone if I don’t close my eyes for a couple of hours and I know Marcus is running on empty too.Hell, one of his eyes is swollen shut and the other has turned a marvelous combination of blue, black, and green.We’ve pulled out all the stops, raiding every knownBratstronghold in the country, but we can’t find anyone or anything that has a clue about Micah’s whereabouts.
Just before sunrise, we head back to the palace.
Dax goes to check in with Joe and I head to my suite to grab a quick shower before I go to the hospital to talk to Courtney.I imagine she’s scared and furious, but I don’t even know how to comfort her.
I will never forgive you for this.
Her words before I allowed the medics to sedate her haunt me.
She has a fractured skull, a concussion, and twenty-five stitches in her head—she needed medical attention.But I imagine I’ll get an earful about that.
The stab wound in my thigh earned me twenty stitches of my own, and a tetanus shot.I had them do it right there on the street before I left with Dax and the others.We didn’t want to let them get a long head start but it was already too late.By the time we went after them, they were long gone.The only bright spot is that we managed to detain one of them—the guy I kicked in the balls.So far, he’s not talking, but he will.
Erik will make sure of it.
I’ve just gotten out of the shower when there’s a knock on my door and Sandor comes in.
“News?”I ask, oblivious to the fact that I’m naked.
“Not about Micah, no.However, you need to brace yourself before you see Courtney.”
“I was going to head over to the hospital now.”
“She’s not in the hospital.”He grimaces.“Apparently, she’s not just upset or scared—she’s on a tear.She threatened to pull out her IV herself if someone didn’t do it and though Lennox finally got through to her a little by talking about the danger of brain bleeds and such, she refused to stay at the hospital.”
“She’s here?”I ask in surprise.
He nods.“And not happy.She told Lennox if anyone sedated her again, she would never speak to her again.And she called Grim.He and Rage and someone named Chaos are in the air on the way here, probably landing in an hour or two.”
“Fuck.”I close my eyes for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts.“I’m sure she blames me for this.”
