“Who did you tell?” His voice was flat, angry, but whether the anger was directed toward us or was because of the loss of his men, I couldn’t say.

“No one. Not even PIT knew.”

“Suggesting I have a leak in my own organization. I’d feared that.”

“Rinaldo seems to have a finger on the pulse of all the major players in this city,” I said. “But he’s an extremely strong telepath, so it might simply be a matter of reading the mind of someone close to you.”

“Just as telepathic wolves are a rare find, it’s also rare for wolves to be telepathically invaded. We are somewhat immune.” He was silent for a second, and then said, “I’ll check, however. Thank you for the call, and please remember to pass on any information you get on this bastard.”

He hung up. I blew out a breath. “Rinaldo is dead meat if Baker ever gets his hands on him.”

“That can be applied to us, PIT, the rats, and whomever else Rinaldo might have crossed.” Jackson caught my hand, tugged me close, and kissed me. It was as much about grief as an affirmation of life. After a few moments, he added, “What did PIT say when you called?”

“A crew will be here shortly.”

“Good, because we need to get moving if we’re to meet Rinaldo on time.”

I hesitated. “I don’t really think—”

“Do not try to stop me from coming along.” His expression was hard. Determined. “Because you know that’s not going to happen.”

“But he won’t be at the meeting. He won’t risk it.”

“I don’t care. I’ve already lost Shona. I’m sure as hell not going to risk losing you.”

I smiled and brushed my fingers down his cheek. “I have one advantage over Shona, remember.”

“The point remains.” He took a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder as the sound of a siren began to invade the night’s stillness. “We should tie our captives up more conventionally. Just because your ex and Richmond knows we’re fire capable doesn’t mean the rest of them need to.”

“Does Shona keep rope or wire anywhere?”

“No, but I saw some packing tape in one of the open boxes. I’ll grab that.”

He did so. We taped all three up and, given the woman’s proclivity for biting people, shoved several additional layers over her mouth.

PIT arrived a few minutes later. I didn’t know either of the operatives, and they certainly didn’t say much. Once they’d checked our IDs—both our driver’s licenses and the associate badges PIT had handed us just before the Brooklyn battle—we were allowed to go.

Jackson immediately left the house, but I hesitated. “Watch the female vampire. She has a nasty habit of using her teeth.”