"Eden?" Shock and happiness and relief mingled in his tone. "My G.o.d, Eden, tell me it's you. You've been gone three days without a word. We lost your signal, and I thought-"

"I'm fine, but I don't have a lot of time." Three days had pa.s.sed, yet only one had pa.s.sed on Targon. "Have you spoken to Lucius? Has he checked in?"

"Last he checked in, he told me you had been abducted as planned and he was going in to buy you. After that, we never heard from him again. We've been searching for him but haven't caught a trace. We had your location locked, and even checked there. Nothing. What's going on?"

"Jonathan Parker shot him."

"Is he de-"

"No!" I shouted. I still wasn't ready to consider the possibility. "I think EenLi has him now and means to sell him as a slave. There are five women, too, meant to be put up for sale. Has EenLi been spotted at all?"

"No, but Jonathan Parker was found dead."

"I know. I killed him. Michael," I said, my voice shaky. "I need you."

"Where the h.e.l.l are you, sweetie? I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Where am I?" I demanded of the man at the foot of the stairs. My urgency made me sound fierce, lethal.

His already pale face went white at my renewed attention, and he gaggled out a few unintelligible sounds.

"Tell me where I am," I said gently. "Please. I'm not going to hurt you."

My gentleness lifted him out of his terror-filled shock. "New Mon-montana," he stuttered.

"New Montana," I told Michael. "Can you get my signal now?"

"Let's see." A moment pa.s.sed, the sound of his breathing and the clicking of computer keys the only sound. "Got you now," he said with satisfaction. "We'll get you home, baby, we'll get you home."

"No. I need you to take me back to New Dallas. Back to the house they kept me in. EenLi is still here, I know it, and that means Lucius is here, too. They might still be inside. We've got to save him, Michael. The others, too."

"We will," he said, hearing my panic. "We will. I promise you."

The sound of police sirens penetrated the background. Their blue and red lights soon followed. "Just get here as fast as you can," I said and left the house the same way I'd come.

Chapter.

26.

You enlisted the aid of a Targon?" Michael growled.

His familiar voice boomed from the headphones covering my ears and was like a soothing spell from a voodoo priest. I gazed out the experimental hovercraft's window, drinking in the dark, almost velvet sky and diamond-glistening stars. The vehicle's engine was small and quiet, emitting only a slight hum as the twenty-three-million-dollar machine soared through the air.

I'd already explained to him how the solar flare worked, and about the necklace. I told him about EenLi's man having an electro-gun. He had listened in stony silence. I wasn't sure how I felt that the first thing he'd reacted to was my involvement with the Targon.

"Do you realize," he continued, speaking into his small black mouthpiece, "that the Targon king, whatever the h.e.l.l his name is, could right now be warning EenLi about you? Your cover could be completely blown."

My coverwas blown, but I didn't point that out. "Saving Lucius matters. Saving the women matters. Nothing else." And after Devyn's vow, I didn't think he'd betray me. That vow had seemed so...official. So life-threatening, just as he'd claimed. "Maybe Devyn has told EenLi I'm here and after him, maybe he hasn't. Either way, I'm hunting him down."

Michael expelled a frustrated breath through his teeth. "All right," he said. "I'll let you go to the building, but you're taking Ren and Marko with you. They'll-"

"No. I go alone." I was willing to use the Targon. He had powers that could work to my advantage. I wouldn't be taking humans-especially not Michael's agents. After seeing EenLi with that electro-gun, I knew there was a very real possibility Michael had a leak. I couldn't risk EenLi going underground again.

I explained this to Michael, but he shook his head. "EenLi and I worked on that gun together. There isn't a leak. You're taking my men, and that's final."

Maybe there wasn't a leak. I still wasn't willing to risk it. "I guess that means I quit." At last I turned and faced him. His expression was hard, resolute. I think he had more gray hair than the last time I'd seen him. "Now try and give orders."

Something cold and hard glistened in his eyes-a glint that had never been directed at me before. "You're willing to give up your place within the agency, to give up everything you and I have worked toward, just to save Lucius on your own?"

"That's right," I answered without hesitation. "It's safest that way."

"Well, guess what? The man you so desperately want to save, the government didn't pay him to be your partner.I paid him to keep you safe. Me personally. And he failed."

"Excuse me?"

"Hewas to keep you from EenLi and kill him himself.He was to protect you and bring you home unscathed. He did none of those things. He failed."

My stomach clenched as his words sunk in and brought a memory to the forefront of my mind. Once, when I'd first met Lucius, he'd said something about being paid by Michael. At the time, I'd thought nothing of it, that it had been a slip of the tongue. A mix of shock and anger poured through me.

Lucius should have told me. He'd had plenty of opportunities while we were in bed together. I didn't like that he'd lied to me. Still, that didn't change how I felt about him. I'd punish him for lying, of course, but first I'd save his life.

"You want me to be mad at him, and I am. But I'm also mad at you. You paid him, Michael. Do you really trust me so little?" My voice was quiet. Hurt. "Do you really see me as so incapable?"

When he realized the darkest heat of my anger wasn't directed at Lucius, but at him, he experienced his own wave of shock. "I love you. I'll do whatever I have to do to keep you safe. Please. Take a few of my men with you."

That was it. That was all he had to say to me. Sadness beat through me. "I know you love me, Michael, but I see now that you'll never see me the way I want-need-you to. As a woman of strength and courage-a woman who can successfully complete any task. The way Lucius sees me," I said, and realized it was true. He'd told me he was proud of me, that I'd done a good job.He'd released me into the lion's den, so to speak, and trusted me to find my way out.

"My resignation stands," I said. "I go alone."

His nostrils flared and his cheeks flushed, obvious signs he was angry at my lack of capitulation. "If you're no longer an agent, you have no business going after Lucius. I'll take you home. You need the rest, anyway."

"Take me to New Dallas," I snapped, "or I swear to G.o.d I'll join EenLi and become his right-hand woman." I'd do it, too. I'd do whatever was necessary for Lucius and the women. "When I was a little girl, you used to count to three when I refused to do your bidding. And if you made it to three and I didn't act, I'd be punished. Not that you'd ever see the punishment through."

"Don't be this way, Eden."

"One."

"Please. Just let it go."

"Two."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Thre-"

"Fine." Michael's lips thinned, but he nodded stiffly. "I'll take you to New Dallas. I'll send you straight into the heart of danger alone." He knew I never made empty threats. "Just don't cry foul when I send my guys after you. You've been warned." Motions stiff, he punched a b.u.t.ton on the side of his headset, switching his communication link to the pilot.

When he returned the link to me, I said, "Give me the map to the house where I was held."

He did, and a little while later we landed in New Dallas. I hurriedly changed into the standard agent attire Michael had brought me-black pants, shirt, boots, and weapons, lots and lots of weapons-then stole a black duffel bag loaded with even more weapons and necessities from the hovercraft.

I left the private airstrip on foot without another word to or from Michael. The moment I was out of hearing distance, I knew he commanded two of his men to dog my steps. Toprotect me, I thought, scowling.

When it came to EenLi, they'd do more harm than good. Alert him, perhaps. Frighten him away.

Feigning nonchalance, I drew the men into a darkened alley. Unfortunately, the pyre-gun in my bag only stunned and immobilized other-worlders. Fortunately, the bag also held a new prototype for a human pyre-gun. I'd practiced using the weapon only once before, and now prayed I didn't accidentally fry up Michael's men like a Fourth of July barbecue.

When they sneaked their way into the alley, I aimed and fired. A thin red beam erupted, freezing the first man in place. The second drew his gun, but I'd already shifted my aim. I squeezed the trigger, emitting another thin red beam. It hit him dead center in the chest.

"Sorry, boys," I said, pushing their frozen bodies into the shadows. I turned on their cell units so Michael could track them when they didn't check in.

Alone now, I entered a busy street lined with cars. I picked the most expensive and heavily secured because I knew how to reprogram it. Luck was on my side. The black luxury sedan was covered in shadows. Kneeling down, I opened my duffel bag. After withdrawing the proper tools, I used a mini wire cutter to rearrange the ID pad, then inserted a new control chip. Standard issue. The driver's-side door opened automatically. I then reprogrammed the command unit to my specifications, and the car roared to life.

Quick.Easy.

I followed the map Michael had given me and drove within a mile of the house, unwilling to risk hidden cameras and security by stopping too close. I parked the car in a thicket of trees and emerged. I didn't bother with the duffel bag. Everything I needed was strapped to me.

Weighed down as I was with weapons, I had to move slowly through the forest. Slivers of moonlight guided me. Too bad the air was warm and dry.

Finally, the old house came into view. It appeared like an average home-well kept, gray stone. Not too big. A rush of emotions overtook me: fury, hope, dread. For an instant, I flashed back to the first mission that had brought me to EenLi. I'd gone in alone then, too. I'd also failed. But I wouldn't fail now. Too much was at stake.

Though the lights were out, making the isolated residence appear empty, I didn't relax my guard. My gaze constantly soaked in the details of my surroundings. It wouldn't do to trip a wire or motion detector and alert the inhabitants of my approach.

Pyre-gun in one hand, blade in the other, I entered the house. No alarm sounded. I moved through the shadows, searching every room, every corner-even the dungeon. The sentinels were gone; the women were gone.

Lucius was gone.

"d.a.m.n it," I snarled. I leaned against a corner wall in the living room-the very place my auction had been held-staring down at the blood dried on the carpet. Lucius's blood. There was a large pool of it that blended with Jonathan's, making the air reek with a metallic tang.

Where was Lucius? Where had the women been taken?

Think, Eden, think.Where would EenLi have gone from here? Most likely the same place he'd been hiding all these many weeks-a place we had been unable to discover.

A board creaked.

My hands clenched around my weapons. Instinctively I sank deeper into the shadows and slowly turned to find the source of the noise.

"Eden," a familiar male voice said. "I know you're there. I can smell your woman's scent."

My mouth pulled in a scowl. I didn't relax my hold on the gun. "How did you get here so quickly, Targon? I had to take a hovercraft."

"I knew where to land." He entered the living room completely. Moonlight flooded through the far window and bathed him in light. "You won't find anyone here."

"I know." I, too, abandoned the shadows as I reholstered the pyre-gun. "Do you know where EenLi is?"

He grinned, a familiar expression of smugness. "Of course I know where he is. I am his best customer."

I stepped toward him. "You swore to help me, and I'm holding you to your word. Take me to him."

His grin widened, stretching across his entire face. So handsome. So in need of a beating. "You also promised me one night. We failed to work out a few details, though. Like who would get their reward first."

So, he wanted to rebargain. I pretended to soften, to sink into his body. His arms instantly wrapped around me. I let my blade slide past my wrist cuff until my fingers circled the handle, and then I inched the sharp edge toward his p.e.n.i.s. "By all means, let's rebargain."

"Ah, Eden, you are so predictable. If you'll notice, I'm wearing a metal shield this time."

I scowled as I sheathed the knife. Intimidation wouldn't work with this man, this s.e.x fiend. "Will you help me for a kiss?"

"Just one?"

"With tongue," I snapped.

"Now?"

"Now." I stood on my tiptoes, but let him come to me.

"Deal." Slowly, so slowly, he lowered his head. Our lips met, soft and gentle. He didn't give me his tongue. No, he made me give him mine. I cupped his cheeks and angled his head, then swept my tongue into his mouth.

His arms locked around my waist, holding me captive in his embrace. He tasted hot and virile. He was strong; he was all man. But he wasn't Lucius, and he didn't make me burn for more.

He pulled from me with regret and trailed his fingertip over the seam of my lips. "I must be losing my touch."

"EenLi," I prompted.

"He is at his warehouse, and if your human is alive he will be at the warehouse, too, soon to be sold as a slave."

Frowning, I shook my head. "They are not at the warehouse. We have control of it."

"Yes, I heard about that. Too bad you didn't seize his other one."

Breath whooshed out of my lungs. I'd never thought, not once, that EenLi might have another warehouse. I felt stupid; I wanted to scream. And dance. This was it; I was at last on the right course. "Where is it?" My voice was raw, hoa.r.s.e with emotion.

Devyn sighed, and his warm breath fanned my cheek. "Why, next door to the first. Isn't that the way of it? Hide under your enemies' nose, and they'll never find you? There's a big sale tonight, a sale I originally planned to attend."

Yes, this was it. I practically hummed with the force of my fervor. "I need you to take me to that sale."

"And I need you to promise me another kiss."

I didn't hesitate. "Done."

"I love bargaining with you, sweet." He leaned down until his lips brushed my ear. "But you know what? I would have taken you to the sale," he said, drawing out the words and giving them a proper Texas accent, "for free."