Ivar reached him first, clapping him on the back in a fierce hug. The Viking felt solid and strong, and Adare knew he’d give the mission all he had. “We’ll get her back, brother. You have my vow.” He moved inside as one by one, his brothers issued the same promise before entering the house.

Quade planted a hand on Adare’s shoulder, his gaze clear and his face hard. “We’ve faced worse, and we’ve won each time. As a force, we’re stronger than this entire world, and your mate is a Key. She has power and protection we can’t even imagine—I know that in my very bones. Trust me, brother.” He nodded and moved on into the house.

Garrett’s hug was strong, and his words few. He was a Kayrs, and he had the power of that entire lineage in every hard muscle. “I’m ready to hunt. We’ll find her.”

Logan was the last one, a newly mated vampire, one with ties to the Realm, the demon nation, and to the Seven. “We’ll do what we need to do, brother.” He wore more knives across his chest than he had pockets. “I have the demon nation looking, and Garrett has the Realm. We’ve reached out to the witches and the shifters, and even though they’re pissed right now, they won’t let the Kurjans take a mate. We will find her, and we’re ready to go the second we get word. She will be all right.”

Adare swallowed, his body settling. They’d come. The second he’d needed them, they’d immediately come, no matter what. That kind of loyalty, that kind of brotherhood, was exactly why and how they were going to win this thing in the end.

His phone buzzed, and he lifted it. “King?”

“Hey, Adare. Emma heard us talking and got an idea. She just returned from testing—”

“Hi, it’s Emma.” The queen’s voice came clearly over the line. “There was a substance I couldn’t identify in Grace’s blood, and I figured it was something to do with being a Key, so my tests went in that direction. But when you were arguing with Dage about how she was tracked to your cabin, I had another idea.”

“Hurry it up, queen,” Adare growled.

“Right. Okay. It was tracking dust. Also known as tracing dust. We’ve dealt with it before in other ops, and this was sophisticated stuff, but that’s what it was. They somehow got it into her blood stream. Probably her lungs, too. Maybe liver.”

Adare stood stock still, anticipation licking through his veins. “Can you track it?”

“Already have,” the queen said quietly. “I’m sending the coordinates to your phone. Happy hunting and good luck.”

Chapter 38

Chapter 38