responsible for his friend’s death pay first. The murdering SOB belonged to him, not Rodin’s death squad.
So, step one...keep it quiet and off Rodin’s radar.
Step two? Find Tania Solares.
Lothair had hunted her before his death. Was Solares the last high-energy female he needed to round out phase one of the breeding program? No clue. But after checking out her picture, Ivar suspected it would be a whole helluva lot of fun finding out, so...
Call it killing two birds with one stone.
By capturing her, he would honor his friend—finish what Lothair started—all while playing mind games with the enemy. Another missing female for the Nightfuries to chase. Add that gem to the fact Denzeil had discovered Solares was BFFs with the Nightfury commander’s mateand...you guessed it. Instant torture to a pack of males more interested in protecting humans than their own kind. The double whammy would distract Bastian, drive him and his band of bastards insane as they tried to find her.
All the better for him.
The frenzy would be entertaining to watch. From a distance, of course. He’d be too busy breaking in his new captive: playing cat to her mouse, tossing her in a cage, toying with her until she screamed for mercy, all in the name of payback. And once he had his fill? He’d put her on the end of a hook. Dangle her as bait for the Nightfuries, then close the trap around them when they came to her rescue.
Annihilation inevitable.
Ivar’s mouth curved. Time to stop living in the past indeed. He smelled Kentucky Fried Nightfury in his future. So, yeah...
Rodin, and his pissant Archguard problems, would have to wait.
Chapter Four
Good news traveled fast, bad news even faster. Fortunately for J.J., her news hadn’t traveled anywhere at all. Just the way she liked it—everything buttoned up, information on the down-low. The last thing she needed was for word to leak out. At least not until she was ready to share, and that wouldn’t be anytime soon.
Not if she wanted to stay under the radar.
And she did. With all her heart.
Strategize for the coming battle first. Celebrate the victory later.
The plan was a good one. But only if she could pull it off in a place full of nosey parkers and prison yard bullies. Drawing the attention of the hard-core element inside the cellblock wasn’t advisable. Not if she wanted to stay healthy. So she needed to move fast, and getting her sister on board was a definite must. Secrets, like raw meat, didn’t keep inside a prison for very long.
Taking a calming breath, J.J. played it cool, her attitude all about ordinary as she waited outside the last checkpoint.Steels bars in front of her, a series of locked doors behind her, she stood in limbo as the guard checked the logbook. With a nod in her direction, he unhooked a clipboard from the wall, slid a pen from beneath the metal clip at the top, and wrote her name on the list.
Different day. Identical story.
Check in. Check out. Same old, same old as the guards followed each security measure to a T. Head counts at lights-out every night. Regular cell sweeps designed to crack down on the contraband problem on the inside. Three squares a day. Nothing but routine day after day, month after month.
Right now, though, J.J. didn’t mind the watch-and-wait from inside the cage. Wasn’t annoyed by the double check or the time it took. Today was visiting day, and for the first time ever, she had something other than doom and gloom to share with her sister.
J.J.’s mouth curved.
Good news.
Secret, incredible, fantastic news. An ache bloomed in the center of her chest. The sensation was unfamiliar...long forgotten. And no wonder. After four and a half years inside, she’d forgotten what hope felt like.
“Jamison Jordan.” The raspy voice, flavored with a down-home hint of Georgia, came from the other side of the bars. “You gonna be a problem today?”
Startled from her thoughts, J.J. blinked and glanced up. Dark brown eyes met