Raoul gave her an indulgent smile. “No offense, Jordan, but the odds are small that this is a female.”

I couldn’t resist speaking up. “Why?”

“Most females don’t have the stomach for that kind of killing,” Raoul said, earning a scowl from Jordan. “Mohiri females do,” he amended, “but I doubt one of them is behind this. I think we are dealing with someone new.”

“Why does it matter who they are as long as they are helping people and killing the bad guys?” I asked.

Nikolas’s hand gently squeezed my foot. “It doesn’t as long as they keep a low profile and don’t endanger humans. We monitor the police bands in most cities, so we heard about the warehouse in Minneapolis and were able to get it contained before the local authorities arrived.”

A warrior named Brock chimed in. “It looks like we aren’t the only ones with a vigilante at work. A month ago, we also picked up a story about a village in Mexico that claims an ‘angel’ appeared out of nowhere to destroy the demons terrorizing their village. One of our teams down there checked it out and found two dead vampires.”

My eyes met Jordan’s across the room, and she didn’t have to speak for me to know what she was thinking. She knew about every one of my adventures, and she would have traded places with me in a heartbeat.

A message flashing on my screen pulled my attention back to my chat. I smiled when a picture of a fluffy white cat appeared with the caption “Lulu says hello.”

Me: Give her a hug for me.

Kelvan: Already did.

Me: Any luck with that lead in Canada?

David: No, but we might be onto something else. K is on it.

Pause.

Me: Guys, don’t keep me in suspense here!

Kelvan: Hold on. Running a new algorithm.

Me: English please.

David: He wrote a new routine with new search parameters.

Me: Oh.

Kelvan: Give me a few minutes.

Long pause.

Kelvan: Think I have something.

A black and white photo appeared in the chat window, and I clicked on it to make it larger. The woman in the picture had a strong resemblance to Madeline, but it was hard to be sure.

“Nikolas.” I turned the laptop to face him, and his eyes narrowed on the screen. He leaned over for a closer look and Chris crowded in behind him.

“It’s Madeline,” Chris breathed. “How the hell did they find her?”

I lifted a shoulder. “I told you they’re the best.”

Nikolas looked at me. “Where was this taken?”

“One second.” I pulled the laptop around and asked David, who replied immediately. “Yesterday in Vancouver,” I told Nikolas. More words appeared on the screen and my pulse sped up. “David sent an address where they think she’s staying.”

Nikolas stood and began issuing orders for a team to be ready to depart within the hour. One of the warriors brought up Vancouver on his monitors, preparing to track the team once they got there.

I set the laptop on the couch and followed Nikolas. He finished talking to one of the warriors then turned to smile at me. “Great work, Sara.”

“Thanks, but David did most of the work.”

He laid a hand on my arm. “Why don’t you grab your stuff, and I’ll walk you and Jordan home before I leave?”

My smile faltered. “What do you mean? I’m coming with you.”

“It’s too dangerous,” he replied firmly.

“I can take care of myself, Nikolas. Besides, it’s only Madeline.”

He shook his head. “You’re not ready. We’ll handle this.”

I refused to back down. “She’s my mother, so if anyone should be there, it’s me. I didn’t work this hard to find her just so you could leave me behind.” My voice had gotten louder and people were staring at us, but I didn’t care. This was too important to me.

His jaw hardened. “You can talk to her when we bring her back here.”

“So that’s it. We’re back to you making all the decisions and me having no say at all?” Angry hurt made my chest ache. “I thought we were in this together.”

“We are.”

I waved an arm at the room. “You mean as long as I’m doing something you don’t think is dangerous. Why have I been working my butt off in training if you’re not going to take me seriously?”

“I do take you seriously.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, this is not the time or place for this discussion. We’ll talk about it when I get back.”

“Fine.” I grabbed my laptop and backpack from the couch and marched to the door. “Chris, will you walk me back?”

Nikolas followed me. “I said I’d take you home.”

I couldn’t look at him and let him see how much his dismissal had hurt. “You have a mission to organize. One of the others can make sure I get home.”

“Chris can get things ready here.” He picked up my coat where it lay over the back of a chair and held it up for me. I had no choice but to let him help me into it.

Silence hung over us during the short walk back to the house. At the door he took my hand and laced his fingers with mine. “I hate to leave you upset, but I have to go. We’ll talk when I get back, okay?”

I nodded, still not able to look at him.

He let go of my hand and pulled me against him, wrapping his arms around me. “I’ll see you in a day or two,” he said against my hair.