Flawless Evans, Gabrielle (ebook smartphone .txt) 📖

Tuesday’s demeanor became frigid, and a muscle in his jaw ticked as he ground his teeth together with such force that Kieran could actually hear it. It wasn’t the response he’d expected, and he didn’t know what it meant, either.

“How fast can you get us to Snake River?” he asked, looking directly into Kieran’s eyes.

“How fast do I need to?”

“Five minutes ago. Zasha has family in Leuven, Belgium. He visits every year in the spring.”

130 Gabrielle

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Chapter Fifteen

“Who are you calling?”

They’d just pulled up to the gates of Snake River when Zasha grabbed his cell phone from the dashboard of the SUV and began dialing. “Gideon. They should be at the well by now.” He pressed the phone to his ear and waited.

Lynk fidgeted nervously in his seat, dividing his attention between Zasha and the view beyond the windshield. He really wanted to shut everything out and try to connect with Thane, but he wanted to know what Gideon and Axton had found first.

“He’s not answering.” Zasha frowned at the display screen as he came to a stop in front of the main house, the lights inside glowing brightly and welcoming. Then he shook himself and opened his door.

“We’ll take the ATVs from here.”

“Where is the well?” Raith asked, sounding much more hostile than Lynk felt the situation warranted.

“I know the way. Just follow me.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I don’t have time to draw you a fucking map. Let’s go!” Lynk wasn’t reassured by Zasha’s evasiveness. It was a simple question that could have been answered just as easily. What was he hiding?

Jogging after the vampire, Lynk rounded the corner of the house just in time to hear Zasha curse. “The ATVs are gone. We’re going to have to go on foot. It’s not too far from here.” How convenient. Lynk didn’t mind hoofing it, but it would take longer, which allowed more time for something to go wrong. He was Flawless 131

starting to get a very bad vibe from Zasha as well, and it did nothing to calm his nerves.

As they started off across the side lawn toward the trees that surrounded the house, Lynk allowed Raith to lead him, taking the opportunity to try and contact Thane. Concentrating all of his energy and picturing Thane in his mind, he pushed with everything he had, hoping he could reach his brother.

In return, there was just a slight brush that made the hairs on his arms stand up, like the hum of a very low wattage of electricity.

Either Thane was succumbing to his injuries and starvation, or he had been moved farther away.

“I can barely feel him,” he whispered to Raith. Even as he spoke the words the connection grew fainter until it was more like a gentle breath tickling the back of his neck.

“How much farther?” Raith asked of their guide.

“Not far.” Zasha was moving at a good pace now that they had come out on the other side of the trees into an open field. Without slowing, he pointed ahead of them to three vast windmills standing like sentinels in the moonlight. “The well is at the base of the center one.”

Even from the distance and in the dim light, Lynk could tell that the area around the windmills was deserted. “Where are Gideon and Axton?”

Zasha shook his head but didn’t answer, increasing his strides until Lynk was jogging to keep up with him. Climbing the slope that inclined toward the windmills, a sense of danger washed over Lynk, causing him to stumble and nearly fall on his face if Raith hadn’t caught him.

“What is it?”

“He’s not here.” Instead of growing stronger as it should when he moved closer to the well, Thane’s energy was nearly nonexistent now.

There was another force inside the clearing, however—something 132 Gabrielle

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malevolent, watching them, waiting for them. “Stop. We have to go back.”

“We’re already here,” Zasha argued, charging over the crest of the hill in his determination to reach the windmills.

“We have to know for sure,” Raith added grudgingly. “We need to at least see if there’s any evidence that Thane was here at one time.” It was with a great deal of trepidation that Lynk approached the old stone well. Zasha was leaning over the edge of it, peering into the depths with a frown on his face. “Hello?” he called, his voice echoing back to him.

“Lynk!”

So intent on establishing the connection with Thane, Lynk had been inadvertently blocking out his mate. “I’m here, Kieran.

Something’s not right. I don’t think Thane is here.”

“Get out of there. Get away from Zasha now! Run as fast as you can and hide. I’m coming for you.” The fear and urgency in Kieran’s voice propelled him into movement, but he’d taken only a half a dozen steps away from the well when a ragged moan drifted up from the bottom. “Thane!” Without thought, he sprinted forward, grabbed the edge of the stones, and leaned over as far as he dared. “Thane! Are you okay? Can you talk to me?”

He received only an agonized groan in response.

“We’re going to get you out. Just be still.” If they didn’t get him out soon, it would be too late. Thane hovered just on the brink of death, his energy growing fainter with each passing second.

A loud grunt from behind him drew his attention, and Lynk started to turn to investigate. Sickening pain exploded in his temple, temporarily blinding him and sending him stumbling backward, right over the stone lip of the well and plunging into darkness.

Because of the awkward angle at which he’d fallen, the back of his head smacked against the unyielding wall, and everything went black.

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* * * *

“Lynk? Lynk!” Kieran stomped down on the accelerator. “Lynk!” he yelled aloud, startling his passengers.

Leader Tuesday occupied the front passenger seat while all three of Kieran’s brothers had crammed into