She struggled to get free. Jaz put his hand under her chin, lifted it, and kissed her. Not a quick brush of the lips this time, but a real kiss, deep and hard. At a crack from across the room, I tore my gaze from the screen to see Karl yanking on the door.

“Open this goddamn door,” he snarled at Benicio. “Or—”

“Am I pissing you off yet, Karl?” Jaz yelled from inside his cell.

I turned back to the screen. Hope had gotten free and retreated across the room. Jaz was scanning the ceiling.

“What’s the matter, Karl?” he called. “Ol’ Ben not letting you come to the rescue? Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s opening the door right about now.”

The door flew open. Benicio followed Karl out, saying, “Calm down, Karl. We’ll get her out. She’s not in any danger.”

In his cell, Jaz kept talking. Behind him, Hope fussed with her scarf, tugging at it anxiously.

“You shouldn’t have left me alone with her,” Jaz said. “Do you know how fast I could fix her little pregnancy problem? Faster than you could get in here and stop me. One good punch”—he swung his hand back—“and she’d be free from—”

Hope kicked him in the back of the knees. As he dropped, the scarf went around his neck. She twisted it and jammed her foot into his back for leverage.

I raced after Karl and Benicio, and caught up just as the guards flew into Jaz’s cell, the two men behind them.

“Hope!” Benicio said. “You don’t want to do that.”

“Oh, yes, I do,” she said. Her face was twisted, eyes glowing, and at that moment, I didn’t see sweet, quiet Hope. I saw the demon.

Everyone stopped in their tracks. Everyone except Karl, who barreled past and tugged the scarf from her hands, saying, “I’ve got this,” and in another second, Jasper Haig would have been dead, but that split second was all it took for the security guards to recover. They rushed Karl before he could give that final wrench.

They pulled Jaz out of his reach, then turned on Karl, guns lifted. He waved them aside, picked up Hope, and carried her out the door.

As Benicio called for a doctor to tend to Hope, Jaz rose, rubbing his throat and wincing.

“I think she likes you,” I said.

He looked at me, hesitated, as if to say, “Who the hell are you?” But he didn’t, only flashed that disarming grin and said, “I made her mad. I deserved it and I wouldn’t expect anything less. That’s why I love her.” He turned to Benicio. “So, Ben, when do I get to see her again? I was hoping we could play a board game. Trouble. I bet she likes that one.”

Benicio ignored him.

“You think I’m joking?” Jaz said. “You forget. I know which of your scientists has turned traitor on you. You’ll want to know that information. You’ll also want to know about the top-secret project he’s working on. With your equipment and your resources. Some of your other scientists, too, I bet. For that I’m going to expect more face time with Hope. A lot more.”

Benicio waved me from the room and followed without a word to Jaz.

Karl had taken Hope to the lounge where I’d rested. When I got there, he was arguing with a doctor. I was about to withdraw when he noticed me.

“You,” he said. “Get back here.”

“She has a name,” Hope murmured. “Hey, Savannah. Good show, huh?” She tried to smile, but it was strained.

“I want Jeremy,” Karl said. “And Elena. Find them and bring them here.”

“I don’t need—” Hope began.

“Savannah.”

“Yes, sir,” I said and retreated.

twenty-four

Jeremy had gone for coffee with Jaime. When I called, he said they’d come right back. Jeremy wasn’t a doctor, but he was the Pack’s medic, and he’d seen Elena through her pregnancy. Karl trusted him.

Karl also trusted Elena, and that was why he wanted her there. For Hope. Elena wasn’t my first choice for a shoulder to cry on, but she was Karl’s, and that was what mattered.

I found Elena helping Clay read research files. When I said Karl wanted her for Hope, Elena didn’t question, just asked where to find them. “She saw Jaz, I take it,” she said.

I nodded. “She tried to kill him.”

“Tried?” Clay said. “So she didn’t succeed? Damn.”

“They would be better off with Jaz dead,” Elena said. “But I wouldn’t want to see Hope do it. That’s not something she needs to deal with right now.”

“Seeing Jasper Haig isn’t something she needs to deal with right now,” Clay said.

Elena nodded and said she’d be back. Then she left and I was alone with Clay.

“Doing research for Adam?” I said, pointing at the stack of files.

“Yep.”

That wasn’t as odd a task for Clay as it sounded. He had a Ph.D. in anthropology, and did more than his share of research for papers.

“Can I help?” I asked.

As his mouth opened, I lifted my hand. “Yes, before you ask, my literacy skills have not vanished with my spells. I’m still capable of reading.”

“Then read.” He dumped a pile of folders in front of me. “We’re looking for any reference to those people you met. Giles, Althea, Severin, Sierra . . . We’re also pulling info on Balaam. Most of that has been compiled before, but Adam thinks there might be more here. Unsupported claims of him making contact.”

I pulled out a chair and opened the first folder. “I told Adam I’d be happy to help with this, too, but he’s not going to ask, is he?”

“Nope.”

I read through one file without having a clue what it was about, my eyes just scanning the words, any connection to my brain failing.

“I know he’s not happy with the way I acted—”

“To put it mildly.”

I twisted to face him. “It’s more than that, isn’t it? You know what’s bothering him.”

“Everyone knows what’s bothering him.”

“And you’re the only person who’ll tell me.”

He shrugged and made a couple of notes, then said, as he wrote, “Remember back when Paige and Lucas went away on their honeymoon? You were fifteen and Adam had to babysit you?”