“She insisted on gathering some things for you,” Voodoo admitted.
“And you left her alone?” Incredulous, I nearly shrieked.
“Of course not. Do I look stupid?” My brother—damn, that was weird—appeared affronted I would think that. “We left Rooster with her. They were going to make a couple of stops for your friend, then they were supposed to be on their way here, but they haven’t made it yet. Neither are answering their phones.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I surged to my feet and closed in on my brother, but a strong arm hooked me around my waist and pulled me back to a hard chest I immediately recognized.
“Babe,” he quietly warned. Voodoo heard, and his gaze darted to Phoenix. To my surprise, he didn’t say anything about the term of endearment. That told me Phoenix must have said something to him.
“No! If they aren’t answering, we all know that’s not good. I could see one of them not answering but not both. Something happened to them. We need to find them,” I insisted. Besides Niara being my friend, we needed her for my mother.
“I’m aware, Sloane. But we can’t risk sending anyone else out right now. We only have a handful of us here to protect you and your mother until we can figure this shit out. They could be in a dead area, and calls aren’t going through,” Raptor explained, but it didn’t satisfy me.
“Or they could actuallybedead.” My lips pressed together. I tried not to be a harpy, but we were talking about my friend. Hell, the guy was their brother; you’d think that was important. The thought of her being killed made my stomach churn.
Voodoo took a slow, deep breath and harshly exhaled. “I hate that something could’ve happened to either of them, but Raptor’s right—we can’t send another brother out alone. And if we send more than one, that leaves us with even fewer people here to protect everyone. I’m pushing it by getting club backup for a personal issue. As I said before, theonlyway it flew at all was because you’re my sister.”
Hands clenched, I knew I had to find a way to convince them to go find her, but it wasn’t looking good. Besides her being my best friend and needing a third to open the scrolls, there was no way her being my friend was a secret to anyone who was after me. If they got to her, who knew what they’d do to her? It didn’t take a genius to realize she would be one of my weaknesses.
“Please,” I begged. We needed to get to my friend before they did. I refused to accept that I was already too late.
“Sloane,” my mother spoke, her voice raspy with her fatigue. “There are bigger things at stake here. I love Niara as much as you do, but the scrolls are what are important. If the black witches gain control of them, they could eradicate humankind. That’s what they want.”
Pain lanced through my heart, feeling torn.
“We need to let your mom rest,” Voodoo said, motioning to where my mom’s tiny form was curled up under the covers.
She did look utterly exhausted. “Do you need pain meds?” I asked. That was my only concern with her not being in the hospital.
“They don’t do anything but make me sleepy, and I’m already tired from the trip here. I’ll be fine,” she insisted. Her face was pale. Voodoo was right; she needed to rest.
Still feeling indecisive, I chewed on my lip, trying to come up with a solution that worked for everyone involved. Finally, I nodded, kissed her head, and followed Phoenix out of the room. The rest were on our heels.
When we reached the main room, the man who had arrived with Stone approached. Raptor shook his hand. “Jigsaw. Thanks for coming.”
“Hell, yeah. When Jameson called, I told him I was still in the area, and I’m always up for a little excitement.” His grin was wicked, and I knew there was a dark side to the handsome man who seemed like a bright light.
“Right on,” Raptor replied. “I’d like to talk to all of you for a moment, if I could.”
The men sobered and nodded. Then they followed Raptor into the room that I thought was a conference room of sorts. Phoenix pulled me into his embrace that seemed so perfect I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it had been missing from my life before. I clutched his T-shirt and breathed him in.
“Promise you’ll talk to Voodoo, and you’ll keep the scrolls safe if anything happens to me.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you,” he insisted.
“Promise,” I pleaded.
“Of course I will. Don’t worry. We’ll be right in there. If you need me, knock. Everything should be okay, and we shouldn’t be long,” Phoenix assured me as he stepped back and motioned toward the room the men had all disappeared into. I already missed the protective warmth of his arms.
“Okay,” I said with a worried frown as I forlornly wrapped my arms around myself.
“We’re going to take care of everything. Just let us make a plan. Okay?”
“Uh-huh,” I reluctantly agreed.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and my eyes fluttered shut as I basked in his presence. Then he was gone, and I was left to my thoughts.
Nervous energy surged through me, and I paced. Impotence drove me crazy. It was like my hands were tied. A heaviness settled in my chest, and I couldn’t help but think it was a warning that Niara was not okay.