Page 20 of Taken for Granite
Juniper didn’t fight the urge to swing around, searching for signs they were being observed. “He must have. I can’t exactly overpower him.”
The woman chuckled, cold and bitter. A shiver went down Juniper’s spine.
“Bring the creature. Retrieve your sister,” Rhododendron repeated. “Everyone is happy. Agreed? Good.”
The call disconnected before Juniper could answer. Of course she would agree. What else could she do?
* * *
tas
Tas listened to the melodrama unfold on the telephone. The entire time, he could barely hear Rhododendron’s half of the conversation over the blood pounding in his head. His mouth watered and his glands swelled to the point of making speech difficult.
No doubt the female led him into a Syndicate trap. What kind of name was Juniper?
It was so obvious she was an agent that her name might as well have been Marigold or Carnation.
Juniper.
But her distress seemed so real. Too real? Or did her distraught cries have just the right level of authenticity for him to lower his guard?
The urge to mate distracted him, clouded his judgment.
Juniper—no,the female, because he had to stay objective—took a dramatic breath, making a production of calming herself. “They want to do a hostage exchange.”
He rolled one shoulder in a lazy acknowledgment of her words. “Then our deal is the same as before.”
“You for Chloe,” she said. “I don’t understand. Why are you so willing to go back?”
“I accepted your hospitality. I have a debt.”
“Bullshit. We both know you’re only standing here because you want to and if you didn’t, you’d fly off.”
“I cannot fly,” he admitted. His good wing stretched to demonstrate, the broken wing hung limply against his back.
“And you’re blind, but that doesn’t seem to be slowing you down any.” Suspicion slipped into her voice.
“The Syndicate have something of mine. I want it back.” His sigil.
“Must be important.”
“My mission is as important to me as your Chloe is to you,” he said.
“I doubt that,” she huffed. Then, “Fine. Let’s go. I need to think and I can’t do that here. And there’s barf on my shoes. Nothing about this is copacetic.”
She would agree to their original bargain and exchange him for her youngling. To expect otherwise was ludicrous. Were he in a similar situation, he would hand the probable agent over for his sister in a heartbeat.
“They gave you the coordinates of their facility,” he said.
“I guess. It’s some directions leading out of town. I don’t recognize it.”
Lies, of course, but her delivery was convincing. He could almost believe her.
“Let’s hit the road,” she said.
He would allow the female to lead him back to the Syndicate, but he would never be their captive again.
8
