***

Taye led Grace into the house while I dealt with Tannin. Roger had a storage room next to the kitchen that worked perfectly as a holding room. I might have been less than gentle when I dragged him through the house, but he excelled at the verbal abuse.

“So what’s your plan, Kaynan?” he asked, lounging as though he sat in a luxurious room instead of on a cold cement floor.

“You’re going to take me to Colleen and I’m getting her out of your labs,” I replied, glaring at him despite the throbbing in my chest from the bullet wound.

Dr. Tannin’s eyebrows rose. “You think it’ll be that easy?”

“I don’t see why not,” I growled.

A smirk curved the corner of his mouth. “You seem to think you hold all of the cards, but you don’t.” I wasn’t in the mood to be baited into asking questions, so I waited for his patience to expire. Luckily, his broken ankle seemed to have shortened his endurance. He gestured with one hand. “This new facility was my back-up in case I needed to move from the old one.” He gave me a wry look. “You assisted with that sooner than I intended, but I had the chance to hire extra security in the meantime. If you show up without me, or try to leave without my permission, they’ll kill you on sight.”

My heart slowed. “And if I take you at gunpoint?”

His smile sharpened. “I have very specific instructions when it comes to bringing anyone to the laboratory. If anything happens outside of protocol, they have orders to move your sister to a different facility until they hear from me. She’ll be long gone and it’ll be your fault that you lost her once again.”

I fought back the urge to wipe the grin from his face and took a calming breath. “What is protocol?” I asked, spacing the words carefully to avoid growling.

“I call my driver, he picks up one individual with me at an undisclosed location and takes us to the laboratory. Only one person can go, no tails, no weapons, and no police or you’ll never see Colleen again.” His expression turned serious. “But if I take you, you have to agree to stay. That’s the only way I’ll let Colleen leave.”

I shut the door to the storage room before I did something I truly regretted.