“Then I am not telling you, I will go myself.” Tegan headed to the door.
“Fine,” Cord muttered as he snatched her hand. “Tell me.” Tegan described the corridor he needed to portal to, and he took them there in moments. “Here?”
“Yes.” Tegan looked around furtively for Drakhyn.
“Good.”
“Castor!” Tegan growled as she found herself in the room with Commander Bryce staring at her in surprise.
“Where are they?” Cord demanded of the Commander.
“You thought they would wait?”
“By the wrath of Harrian,” Cord cursed. “Make surethisone does.” Cord pointed at Tegan before he portalled again.
“Are you okay, Commander?” Tegan asked, torn between following Cord and staying.
“Better for seeing you, Elite Sentinel Tegan, your father is very worried about you.”
“Leonid?” Tegan’s head snapped up with excitement. “He’s here?”
“Err…no. I meant Salem.”
“Oh.” Tegan felt her face flush with embarrassment. “Of course.” Her eyes darted to the door, and she chewed her lip as she thought about it.
“I am your Commander, Tegan, and I order you to stay here with me.”
Tegan stared long and hard at the Commander. “That’s…sneaky.”
He fought his smile, but he couldn’t hold it, his chuckle of amusement escaping him. “I suppose it could be construed that way.”
Tegan walked over to him and assessed his arm. “How bad is it?”
“The Castor gave me some aid before he went to find you,” Bryce told her.
“Wait, Cord came for me, so why did Salem and Sloane leave?”
“To see what else is happening in the building,” Bryce explained. He assessed the Elite Sentinel as she stood in the centre of the room. She was in a Sentinel uniform, but the jacket looked too big. “Where did you get the overcoat?”
Tegan glanced at the jacket before looking at the Commander. “I took it off of a Sentinel.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.” Tegan toyed with the zipper. “I am sure he is fine,” she added.
“Where have you been, Tegan?” Bryce asked her softly. He had a daughter nearly the same age as Tegan, and he knew he would have been driven mad with worry had Kallie or his other daughters been taken.
“I do not know, he didn’t tell me,” Tegan replied quietly. “I was in a room for five, no six, days.”
“He locked you up?” Bryce asked her gently.
“Yes, in a room with a sealed door,” Tegan snapped. “He is a devious Akrhyn.” Tegan glared at the floor as she spoke.
“Was he gone the whole time?”
“I do not know, Commander.” Tegan looked at him sadly. “But my…instinct?” She considered her words. “Yes, my instinct tells me he had nothing to do with this.”
Commander Bryce nodded slowly as he watched her. “It is the bond,” he told her.