Leaning back in his chair, Daniel rubbed the strain from his eyes. He yawned and stretched out his fatigue. For three days now he’d been trying to figure out what happened to Kyle. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d flown with the search parties over the Northern Sound looking for some sign of his friend. Dead or alive.
Finding the wreckage had given them some hope, but it was short lived. No bodies were found, and the flight recorder hadn’t been much help either. The thing fried itself as soon as the FAA technician plugged it in. No one said the word sabotage, but it was floating around in everyone’s mind. The crash was starting to look like more than just an unfortunate accident.
To make matters worse, Daniel’s instincts were screaming at him. Something about this whole situation stunk like yesterday’s garbage. He’d come back to Eternity’s main office to see if he could make heads or tails of it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t come up with a reason someone would want to kill Kyle. Sure, he was the King of Dragons, but he was a fair and just man. He did his best to tend to his subjects’ needs. There were the occasional moments of malcontent, but Kyle usually handled those with long practiced grace. Unfortunately, those moments were happening more often now. Raven Nightingale’s death had sparked a call for Eternity to act, but that anger had been directed at Eternity and its failing, not Kyle.
The scar down the side of Daniel’s face ached. He rubbed it, trying to soothe the pain. The only time that old wound hurt was when he pushed himself too hard. This week was proving to be one of those times. He needed to get some sleep.
Going home would put him out of reach if news came in, but there were plenty of open beds down in the holding cells. He could get a quick nap in and still be on hand if the need arose. Daniel grabbed his coat and headed out the door.
“Commander.”
Daniel turned to see a man, dressed in full SWAT gear, running down the hall towards him. “McGee?” His hope spiked. Had they found some sign of Kyle?
Josh McGee grabbed Daniel’s arm and wheeled him around. “Come with me.”
“Hey,” Daniel cried out as the muscular blond yanked him down the hall and around the corner.
Ignoring Daniel’s protests, Josh found the first door along the new hall and shoved Daniel in.
Daniel stumbled into the darkened storage closet. He grabbed one of the shelves for support. “What the hell?” Once he was stable on his feet, he turned to find Josh peeking out of the door. “Explain yourself!” This was not the way he’d trained his men to behave.
Josh glanced up and down the hall once more before closing the door and locking it. “Sorry about that, sir.” Light bloomed from the screen on Josh’s phone, cutting through the darkness. “I’m not exactly sure what’s going on myself.”
The center of Daniel’s brow furrowed, and he cocked his head. He watched as Josh tapped on his screen before holding his phone out. “What’s this?” Daniel asked taking the phone. A text box was open and the message on it ran chills down Daniel’s spine. Eternity is compromised. Get Commander out. Daniel’s head snapped up to meet Josh’s gaze.
The man gave Daniel a concerned look. “I got that message a few minutes ago from Michael Duncan.”
Daniel glanced back at the phone to check the sender. Whitey. Amusement curled his lip, but the smile was short lived.
“At first I didn’t know what it meant,” Josh continued. “Then Sanders came in and told us to gear up. He said we were going to be bringing you in for questioning.”
“For what?” Daniel asked. He had some idea what this was about, but he hadn’t expected it so soon. Falsifying Eternity’s records had been a risky move. He’d felt safe doing it while Kyle was there. He’d kept the king informed on all of the omissions, but with Kyle missing... He planned to explain things to Carissa, but he hadn’t had time yet.
“Treason.”
Exactly what I expected. “That’s fine,” Daniel said as he handed Josh’s phone back. “I have nothing to hide.” He didn’t have the files here, but he could get to them from any computer. All he needed to do to clear his name was present Carissa with the complete files and explain the situation. Should only take an hour to clear this up. It was high time he told Carissa what was going on anyway.
Josh held his hand out, preventing Daniel from passing him. “You don’t understand. Sanders told us to treat you as hostile. He said you had a hand in the king’s death.” A hurt look passed over Josh’s face. “Is that true?”
Daniel’s jaw dropped as he drew in a gasp of air. He expected the charges of treason for corrupting the files, not regicide.
“Never,” he said in a breathy whisper. His dragon thrashed at the accusation. His eyes narrowed and he glared at the younger man. “I’ve been protecting Kyle since the lad was a child. I would never hurt him?” He’d actually thrashed Kyle many times, but never without a good cause. Daniel reached past Josh for the door handle. Someone was going to get the rough side of his tongue for this one.
Josh’s hand on his chest stopped Daniel from boiling through the door. “Commander,” he said drawing Daniel’s attention again. “We have shoot-to-kill orders.” He met Daniel’s gaze, fear and concern darkening Josh’s eyes. “Someone doesn’t want you to make it through this alive.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold, and he stopped fighting. His stomach turned over as he finally realized his situation. He was in trouble. Deep. “What’s the plan?” Josh would not have saved him from his office if he didn’t have some way out.
The sound of running feet in the hall startled them both into silence.
Daniel could hear muffled voices through the thick door. He leaned closer and placed his ear against the wood to listen.
“Sir!”
“Did you find him?”
Tension radiated through Daniel’s body as he recognized the second man’s voice. Sanders. He was overcome with the sudden need to go out there and beat the hell out of the man. An angry rumble rose from his chest. Josh’s hand on his shoulder startled him and he cut off the noise before it could give them away.
“No. He wasn’t in his office. I’ve already sent men to the brig to see if he’s there.”
“I want him found,” Sanders said. “Double the guards at the gates. Search the building. Top to bottom. I also want teams sent to the palace and his home. And call over to the Coast Guard to see if he’s there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh,” Sanders said before the officer could get away. “There’s a pub on the south side of town called The Dragon’s Wing. The owner’s a friend of his. Turn the place inside out.”
Daniel growled again but didn’t move from his spot. It was well known that The Dragon’s Wing was a safe haven for the Elites of Eternity. The fact that Sanders would order it defiled put him at the top of Daniel’s growing list of suspected spies. He’d already suspected the man for the way he acted when Alex went missing.
“Yes, sir!”
Josh and Daniel both froze when the noise in the hall increased as orders were given. They had just started to relax when the door handle jiggled. After a few seconds, it stopped and the searching men moved on.
Daniel let out the air caught in his lungs. “Now what?” he whispered.
“I’ve got some friends that are going to help,” Josh said. “Give them a few minutes to get into place.”
Moving away from the door, Daniel tried to figure out how this could have happened. Carissa has known me all her life. How could she suspect I would hurt Kyle? Things didn’t make sense. He turned it over and over in his head. Obviously Michael had seen through whatever plot was laid, but why hadn’t he convinced her? Was someone manipulating her? Was she in danger? He shook the thoughts away. He’d leave Carissa’s protection in Michael’s hands. He was more than capable of taking care of his mate. Daniel would deal with that later. What he needed to do right now was concentrate on his own survival. He looked up at Josh and waited for the man to act.
Light filled the room as Josh cracked the door and peeked into the hallway. “All clear,” he whispered.
Daniel settled his coat around him and got ready to run. With the building crawling with guards, they were going to have to be fast about this.
Josh pulled the door open. “This way,” he said, starting off down the hall towards Daniel’s office. As they came to the corner, Josh stopped and peered around it.
Daniel chewed on his lip, waiting for Josh to move. Glancing over his shoulder, he checked the empty hall behind them. He turned back when Josh patted his arm and signaled for them to move.
With light steps, they sprinted across the opening. Daniel glanced down the hall to see two men standing outside his office with guns at the ready. They really weren’t joking around.
Josh led him through the familiar corridors and in and out of rooms as they dodged the squads looking for Daniel. At one corner, they turned and ran straight into a pair of guards.
Daniel’s heart dropped as they skidded to a halt. His dragon tensed for the fight.
One of the men stared in shock, but the second one nodded. “It’s clear from here on out,” he said.
“Thanks, Marco” Josh said as he patted his friend on the shoulder.
Daniel looked them over and memorized their names as he and Josh hurried past.
“Wait,” the shocked man said. “Aren’t we supposed to stop him?”
The other man wrapped his arm around his buddy’s shoulder. “There are times when the best thing you can do is turn and walk away,” he said as he pulled his friend around and started down the hall in the opposite direction. “This is one of those times.”
“But!”
Marco shushed his friend. “I’ll buy you a beer when this is over. Just remember, you didn’t see anything.”
The flustered man glanced back at Daniel once more before following his friend’s pull. “All right, but you need to explain this later.”
Daniel smiled as the pair disappeared around the corner. Some of his men were still loyal. He picked up his pace and raced after Josh.
When they got to the door leading out, Josh stopped. There were three guards between them and the checkpoint. “Wait here.”
Daniel drew in a breath and held it as Josh went to check with the guards. Two of the men nodded but the third gripped his weapon tighter and started grilling Josh. Daniel watched as one of the guards, a large man with rich brown skin, cracked the combative man in the back of the head, dropping him like a stone.
Josh waved for Daniel to come out.
Pushing from the building, Daniel hurried over to where Josh and his friends were stuffing the downed man in the little guard shack. “Will he be okay?” Daniel asked. He looked at the two guards, identifying them. The heavy set man was Mac and the thinner one with the red hair was Corry.
“He’ll be fine,” Mac said as he finished shoving the unconscious man into the box and shut the door. “We’ll take good care of him.”
Daniel glanced at the man once more before letting the three guards usher him out of the gate. Putting the unconscious guard from his mind, Daniel looked up and down the street, wondering how he was going to get away. The road outside this checkpoint ran between the fence and a very tall building and, for security reasons, Eternity kept cars from parking along the curbs. That was an awful lot of open space to cover before he could make it to some kind of safety.
“Wait right here,” Josh said as he pressed Daniel back against the outside of the guard shack.
Not sure what was going to happen, Daniel squatted next to the shack so he was out of sight from the main building.
After a few long minutes, a car cruised up with the radio blaring. It stopped when it got close to the curb.
“Go,” Josh said, urging Daniel up from the ground.
Daniel scrambled to his feet and hurried to the car. He didn’t stop to thank Josh or the other men that had risked everything to get him out. Once this was over, he’d find a way to make his appreciations known.
Getting in the car, Daniel turned to look at the young woman in the driver’s seat. She was a slip of a girl with shockingly pink hair.
“Hey,” she said with a smile. Turning her attention back to the road she took off at a nice easy pace.
“Hi,” he said back. Every nerve in Daniel’s body pulsed with the beat of the heavy metal music blasting from the radio. So many things rushed through his mind that he couldn’t follow any of them. He slouched in his seat, sure the bass would draw attention. He wanted the woman to go faster but forced himself to be calm. If the noise didn’t get them noticed, racing off at break-neck speeds definitely would. Sitting back in his seat, he pulled his seat belt on and watched in the mirror to see if anyone was following them. After about three blocks with no signs of a tail, he looked at the strange woman again. Her hair was still glaringly pink, but it fit with the series of piercings running around the shell of her ear and the gem in her nose.
She shot him a sidelong glance and smiled as she popped her gum. Reaching out, she turned down the volume. “So, where to?”
Daniel blinked a few times as his senses kicked in. There was something strange in the calm way the woman spoke. “What?” he asked, trying to figure out what wasn’t right.
Irritation took a little of the brightness out of her smile. “My brother said you needed a ride. Where ya going?”
The truth dawned on Daniel. This woman wasn’t tense about the situation because she didn’t know that there was a situation. He drew a breath in through his mouth as his mind spun. “Yes,” Daniel said as he thought. He needed someplace safe that Eternity didn’t know about. There was only one place he could think of. “There’s a gas station over on River and Vine. Can you take me there?”
“Sure thing,” the woman said, pointing her car in the right direction.
Daniel slipped his hands into his pockets and looked out the window. Josh had done a fantastic job of getting him to safety, but from here on out, he was on his own.