Page 41 of Dark Rebel's Mystery

"Is this a bribe so I won't object to you doing that?"

"Not at all." She shifted in his arms, settling into a more comfortable position. "I feel like experimenting. Now that youare not stressing me out with your antagonistic attitude toward my visions, I think that your presence might actually be beneficial to me attaining them. I draw strength from you."

"I was never antagonistic toward your visions. I just didn't like you summoning them because of how they drained you. I was afraid for you."

Her eyes softened. "I know, love." She cupped his cheek. "But that created negative energy that affected my ability. Now that you are more accepting, I can summon a vision right here in your arms."

"You also have Allegra here, and her presence enhances your results."

"True." She cast their daughter a fond look. "I'm going to have a good one."

As Syssi closed her eyes, Kian tried to remain quiet and to move as little as possible. He even tried to make his breathing nice and even.

It didn't take long for Syssi to go slack in his arms and for her breathing to slow down and deepen. To anyone else, she would have seemed asleep, but the rapid movement of her eyelids indicated that a lot was going on.

Long moments passed as Kian waited for his mate to wake up, and just as he was starting to get worried, she gasped and opened her eyes.

"What did you see?" he asked gently, trying to keep the urgency from his voice.

"Give me a moment to collect my thoughts." She reached for the forgotten cup of coffee on the table and took a sip. "How long was I out?"

"No more than five minutes."

"It seemed like much longer." She put the cup back on the coffee table. "I saw Kyra again." Syssi shifted in his arms so she could look at him. "At first, I thought that I was seeing the same vision again, but then I started noticing the differences. It was another dingy room with peeling paint on the walls and a small, barred window, but it wasn't the same room as before. Kyra was once again chained to the bed, but she wasn't drugged this time. She was bruised, her lip was swollen, and she had a black eye. The same man was there again, but this time he wore a uniform instead of a doctor's coat."

Kian tensed. "Was he beating her up?"

"Not while I was watching. He was just standing there and talking to her. He spoke in Farsi, and I could understand it this time." She rubbed her temples. "He said he was surprised to find her in Tahav, and he seemed very pleased with himself."

"Tahav? I wonder where it is." He lifted his phone off the table and typed in the inquiry. "It's a small town between Iranian Azerbaijan and the Kermanshah Province. It's in Kurdistan territory." He put the phone back down. "Did Kyra or the man look older in this vision?"

Syssi shook her head. "It was hard to tell with Kyra because of the bruising, but the man looked exactly the same as he did in the other vision." She frowned. "But maybe both visions are not from long ago like we thought. The television was playing in the background, and even though it was in Farsi, I recognizedthe speech the ayatollahs recently gave about Iran's nuclear capabilities. I saw it a day or two ago."

Kian sucked in a breath. "How is it possible? Your other visions of Kyra showed her among the rebels and in the previous one with the same guy when she was young. It doesn't make sense."

Syssi shrugged. "Maybe the man wasn't the same one, only looked like him. Maybe he's the son of the other one." She straightened in his arms. "But regardless of who he is, we know that the vision was current, and we have a location. Kyra is in Tahav."

"Daddy?" Allegra's small voice interrupted them. "My castle needs a princess."

She must have dreamt about building castles.

"It sure does, sweetheart. I'll get you a princess."

Allegra smiled, sighed, and went back to sleep.

Kian turned back to Syssi. "Did you see anything else?"

"The uniform he wore had an insignia. I don't know what it meant, but it looked like he was a high-ranking military, possibly Revolutionary Guard."

The implications were staggering. If the Revolutionary Guard was involved, getting Kyra out would be much more complicated than a simple rescue mission.

"We have to help her," Syssi said.

"I'm not sure that we should get involved. The Kurdish resistance Kyra's been working with might be already planning a rescue." Kian ran a hand through his hair. "I don't doubt yourvisions, but it is hard to know when they take place. Kyra might already be free."

Syssi shook her head. "I wouldn't be getting the same vision twice if there was no urgency and our help was not needed."

She was right, of course, and he was engaging in wishful thinking instead of accepting what the vision was trying to tell them. If the man in the second vision was the same guy and not a younger relative who looked exactly like him, he was an immortal, and that meant that Doomers were part of the Revolutionary Guard.

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