Glass clinked over the line. Scotch. I could certainly have used a drink right about then. My father sighed. “I didn’t say it would be easy. But it’s better than taking Malone on.”

“I’m not talking about fighting him, Dad. Not yet. This is a total covert op. I’ll be in and out before they even know I’m there.” As soon as I figure out what I’m looking for…

“No. You’re too vulnerable on your own.”

“So send me backup.” I stepped over a rotting log lying across the gravel road and silently cursed the fading daylight. I wouldn’t be able to travel very well or very quickly in human form, but if I Shifted, I couldn’t carry my clothes or my phone. And it was cold in the foothills in February, yet I had nothing but my jacket to keep me warm. “Put a couple of the guys on a plane. I’ll wait for them.” If I ever find an airport…

“Marc and Jace are already on the way.”

My initial massive surge of relief was eclipsed almost immediately by confusion. “How did you know where to send them?”

“We didn’t know where they took you and Kaci, but we figured it’d be out West. So as soon as I got the call from Mateo, I sent them north through Dallas, then west on I20. They’re waiting just this side of the territorial boundary.”

“I already gave them their new heading.” Michael spoke up from somewhere—probably from behind our father’s desk. “They’ll be there in about three hours, but we’ll need you to narrow down your location a bit by then, so you can give them better directions.”

“No problem.” Surely I could find a landmark, or road sign, or something by then. If I ever got off the gravel road and onto something a little better traveled. “What about Teo and Manx? And Des? They’re okay?”

Please, please, please let them be okay.…

“They’re shaken up pretty badly, and Carey Dodd and Mateo have some deep scratches, but there’s no permanent damage. Teo says they only sent four thunderbirds after you. One took Kaci, and a second and third took you when you went after her. He and Dodd beat the fourth with a crowbar. Manx was upset that she didn’t get a piece of the action.”

“I bet.” I’d never seen Manx fight, because she’d been pregnant when we…found her. But I understood her frustration over missing the fight. Unfortunately, without a weapon, or claws, even if she’d had time to Shift and someone to watch the baby, she could do little to defend herself beyond biting anything in her path.

“They killed the bird who stayed behind.” My father sounded both proud and amused. “Teo called to tell us what happened, and Dodd called a tow truck to pick them up, and once he got Teo and Manx to safety, I sent him back to pick up Marc and Jace.”

“Where are Manx and Teo now?”