She searched for a weapon in the demolished room. Nothing. With a shriek, she flew across the room and landed on the back of one of the guys fighting with Zane.

Her vision blurred, and her lungs burned.

Whatever was in the grenade slid into her central nervous system. She had to fight to remain conscious. Even as she watched, Zane’s movements slowed.

The guy in the mask punched him hard in the face.

The man she’d jumped on reached back and yanked on her hair. Pain exploded in her head. She jabbed her elbow into her attacker’s neck, right in the sweet spot. His neck cracked. He dropped to one knee, and she jumped off him, spinning a side kick into his temple. He toppled to the floor.

She swayed. Three more men in masks ran through the door.

One of them reached her just in time to grab her before she fell. Her last thought was that she hoped Zane didn’t fall out the window while fighting.

Chapter 27

Daire signaled for Garrett to break off and fall behind the motorcycles roaring toward Bear’s headquarters to wage war. The kid nodded and began to make his move. He couldn’t afford to get taken down to the police station, and Daire couldn’t afford for the king of the Realm, Garrett’s uncle, to be pissed off right now. Hopefully Bear would diffuse the situation once they arrived.

If Bear stayed true to form, he wouldn’t diffuse shit.

Trees sped by, and a fine Seattle mist covered their bikes as they rode hell-bent for trouble. The Fire members reached the Grizzly courtyard, and two rows of Grizzly members were waiting. Wearing their cuts and pissed-off expressions, they looked as dangerous as the mountains rising high above them. Apparently Kellach had decided to warn them, which may have been a good idea. Or maybe not.

How could humans not see something immortal within these guys? It was so obvious they were bear shifters.

Daire growled low and cut his engine. He needed to get back to his mate and not fuck around with a bunch of humans and bears. Why the hell had he agreed to this mission in Seattle in the first place? Of course, if he hadn’t agreed, he never would’ve met Felicity.

The Fire members silenced their bikes. It looked like the numbers were about even, but the humans had no clue they might face bared teeth and three-inch claws.

Bear stepped forward, irritation sizzling in his deep eyes. “What the fuck?”

Pyro disembarked. “Where is our prospect?”

“No clue, man.” Bear lowered his chin and actually looked like a bear. Tension vibrated from him with an animal ferocity, and several of the Fire members shifted their feet uneasily. They might not know Bear was a bear, but their instincts seemed to be kicking in. “Why the hell are you here?” he all but growled.

Pyro motioned Daire forward. “We have a picture of one of your skanks with our prospect leaving a bar the other night. Where is he?”

Daire handed the phone to Bear.

Bear studied it, and his eyebrows rose. A growl rumbled from his chest. “That’s Tasha.”

“One of your skanks?” Pyro asked, triumph in his voice.

“No.” Bear returned the phone, his jaw tightening. “She’s a nice girl and not a skank. This was the other night?”

“Aye,” Daire said. There were many female members of Bear’s club, but in order to stay under the radar and appear like other clubs, nobody knew it. Women were either old ladies, skanks, or visitors to the outside world. To the inside? There were some badass female warriors in Bear’s group, but Tasha looked fairly young and probably wasn’t a full club member. “Any word from her?”

Bear lifted his head and surveyed his men. “Has anybody heard from Tasha?”

Nobody stepped forward.

Well, shit. “We think the prospect disappeared with her the other night.” Daire tried to communicate more.

“Leads?” Bear asked, fury flowing from him.

“Not yet. Working on it.” Daire glanced at Pyro.

Bear stepped toward him. “Does the prospect’s family know he’s missing?”

“Aye.” Daire bit back a snarl. “They’re here, in fact.”

Bear winced. “Sorry.”

It was nice to have a buddy who understood. Dealing with demons wasn’t easy in the best of circumstances. Daire stepped closer to Pyro. “Bear doesn’t know anything, and we need to get out and find our prospect. Let’s go.”

Pyro waved him off, the stench of smoke and booze pouring off him. He swayed in his battered boots, but determination hardened his jaw. “I promised the boys a good fight, and I figure we’re due. For Duck!” He rushed toward Bear and was instantly taken down by Lucas Clarke, Bear’s top lieutenant.

The Fire members billowed forward, already throwing punches.

Lucas wasted no time in flipping Pyro over and smacking his forehead into the concrete. A genuine smile, dark and grim, curved the shifter’s lips when Pyro began to gurgle up blood.

“I told you not to attack,” Daire muttered.

Two Fire members ran for Bear, only to be stopped by two angry Grizzly members.

Bear grabbed Daire’s arm, pivoted, and tackled him through the open door. Daire landed hard with a fucking bear on his chest. His lungs protested, and his ass hurt from smashing onto a wrench. “Get off.”

Bear kicked shut the door and stood, holding a hand to Daire.

Daire took the hand and jumped to his feet, rubbing his butt. “Put your damn tools away.”

“You’re welcome.” Bear reached down and grabbed the wrench to toss it onto the counter. It clanked away and landed on the other side. “Damn it all to hell. Can’t you control those Fire idiots?”

“Apparently not.” Daire shoved rain off his face.

Bear sighed. “We have about five minutes until the cops show up.”

Sirens echoed down the lane.

“Make that one minute.” Bear hustled for a back door. “Follow me.”

Daire ducked his head and followed Bear through an office to a garage holding a Bentley, a new Porsche, and a Spyder. “Nice,” he muttered, careful not to touch anything.

“My mechanics are the best in the Northwest.” Bear ran through a back door to where a couple of bikes were parked. “Take the Harley.” He jumped onto a Victory Gunner.

A helicopter’s rotors split the rain-filled night, and a beam of light poured down from a police helicopter.

“Shit.” Bear started the bike and roared toward what looked like a trail.

Daire followed suit, his head down to avoid the rain.

The light swept to and from, and he tried to keep to the tree line. Garrett Kayrs had better have gotten clear before the cops showed up.

Red and blue swirled through the clouds, and the screech of vehicles stopping competed with the helicopter noise. Gunfire pinged through the air.

Shit. Who was shooting? Pyro had completely lost it. If Daire could get him alone, he might be able to finally get a line on both the distributor and manufacturer of Apollo. Or maybe it was time to just torture the club leader for information.

Daire followed Bear down a narrow path, ducking several times to avoid tree branches. Wind whipped into him, and the rain traced a chilly path down his neck and underneath his cut. He thought about using fire to warm up, but the helicopter might see the flames and investigate. Adrenaline flowed through his veins, and the need to get back home to Cee Cee compressed his lungs. Instinct bellowed for him to return and shield her.

The path wound around trees and bushes for several miles, finally ending up at a logging road halfway up a mountain.

An SUV blocked the road, and Detective Alexandra Monzelle leaned against the passenger side door, gun out and pointed at them. Rain matted her no-nonsense blond hair to her head, and her eyes glowed a dark blue through the darkness. She was small and lean . . . and knew how to shoot. She was also mated to Kellach, but that didn’t guarantee any cooperation, unfortunately. She’d shot him a couple of times, Daire was fairly certain.