Chapter Twelve
Ewen’s fox was rumbling a steady rhythm in his chest as they rode the elevator up to the sixth floor. The image of his destroyed room kept flashing through his mind - mattress gutted, clothes shredded, everything he’d left in the room torn apart like it meant nothing.
During his interrogation at the textile factory, the woman had mentioned they’d “gone through his things” at the hotel.
Ewen had assumed she meant a quick search, maybe rifling through drawers and checking obvious hiding spots.
In his experience, most criminals didn’t have the energy to completely destroy a room.
Another thing I believed was true is now shot to hell. Ewen never expected such complete annihilation.
The elevator dinged quickly enough. They’d only gone up one floor. Lamont stepped out first again, scanning the hallway with the same intensity he’d shown before. Ewen appreciated the protection, even if his pride bristled at needing it.
“We need six-fourteen,” Ewen said quietly.
They walked past more identical doors until Ewen stopped and pulled out his second key card. His hand was steadier this time, as he braced for more devastation.
The lock beeped green.
Ewen pushed the door open and…
The room looked pristine. Completely untouched. Shocked, Ewen scanned the room. His suitcase sat exactly where he’d left it beside the closet. The bed was made with hospital corners tucked tight. His laptop rested on the desk, closed and centered on the polished wood surface.
Ewen’s fox snarled.
At the exact same moment, Lamont growled deep in his throat.
“What’s going on?” Ewen stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him.
Every instinct he had was screaming that something was wrong.
The room looked perfect, which was wrong for a start.
Nobody cleaned hotel rooms to that standard unless they were preparing for a photo shoot.
And Ewen had hung the “do not disturb” sign on both doors before he’d gone out the evening he’d been taken, so no one should’ve been in there making the bed.
Lamont’s eyes had gone completely black. His hound was riding just beneath the surface, scanning, searching.
“Don’t move.” Lamont’s voice had dropped an octave. “Don’t touch anything.”
Ewen froze.
Lamont moved slowly through the room, checking corners, and sniffing the air. He stopped at the window first, examining the curtain rod. His hand reached up and pulled something small from behind the fabric.
A camera. Tiny, black, no bigger than a button.
Ewen’s stomach dropped.
Lamont crushed it between his fingers without breaking eye contact with Ewen. He moved to the desk next, running his hand along the underside. Another camera. This one had been positioned to capture whoever sat at the desk.
Crushed.
The third camera was mounted inside the smoke detector on the ceiling. Lamont had to stand on the desk chair to reach it.
Crushed.
“They weren’t trying to find your research,” Lamont said grimly. “They were waiting for you to come back and lead them to it.”
Ewen’s blood went cold. “You were captured on those cameras before you disabled them.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter.” Ewen’s hands curled into fists. “Now they know about you. They’ll come after you, too.”
“Let them try.” Lamont’s smile was all teeth and hellhound. “I’ve got a few things to say to them about the way they treated you. Honestly, don’t worry about it for now.”
Ewen wanted to argue, wanted to protect Lamont the way his mate kept trying to protect him.
His logical mind already knew hellhounds were immortal - in other words impossible to kill - but that didn’t mean they couldn’t feel pain.
And yes, Lamont could translocate away from any danger, but still…
Just the thought of someone targeting Lamont - especially if it was because of him - made his fox feel bitey.
Crossing to the desk, Ewen examined his laptop without touching it.
He leaned down and sniffed the case carefully.
His fox’s senses were sharp enough to detect the foreign scent immediately, cologne he didn’t recognize, a particular brand of hand soap, and underneath it all, the metallic tang of someone who spent time around weapons.
“Someone handled my laptop.” Ewen straightened. “Recently. Within the past few days.”
“Can they crack your encryption?”
“Not without the password, and I used a sixty-four-character randomized string with symbols. It would take weeks, maybe months.” Ewen smiled grimly. “I have it set to wipe everything after three failed attempts. If they tried to break in, all they got was a factory reset.”
“That was clever thinking.”
Ewen’s fox preened at the praise, but he didn’t have time to enjoy it. He moved to the fitted desk in the corner, the cheap prefabricated kind that hotels bolted to the wall. The single drawer pulled out smoothly, revealing nothing but a hotel notepad and pen.
Ewen set the drawer on the floor.
Then he knelt and reached up into the empty cavity where the drawer had been mounted. His fingers found the envelope immediately, still sealed with packing tape exactly as he’d left it. He pulled it free and brought it to his nose.
Just his own scent. No one else had touched it.
“Got it.” Ewen stood, clutching the envelope.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. Multiple people were heading in their direction.
Lamont’s head snapped toward the door. “We need to go.”
“One more thing.” Ewen was already moving toward the bathroom.
“Ewen…”
“Thirty seconds.” Ewen hit the bathroom light switch and went straight for the shower. The showerhead was one of those cheap detachable models mounted on a slider bar. He grabbed the round chrome head and twisted it counterclockwise.
The faceplate came off in his hand.
Inside the hollow interior, wrapped in three layers of plastic and secured with waterproof tape, was a USB flash drive containing every encrypted file from his investigation. Bank records, shell company documents, emails he’d intercepted, whistleblower testimonies - everything.
The footsteps in the hallway got louder.
“Ewen.” Lamont’s voice held a warning growl. “Now.”
Ewen shoved the flash drive in his pocket and bolted from the bathroom.
Someone pounded on the door. Hard. The kind of pounding that said they weren’t hotel security asking politely about checkout times.
“Block the door,” Ewen ordered, crossing to Lamont’s side.
Lamont didn’t question it. He moved in front of the door, putting his considerable muscles between Ewen and whoever was trying to get in.
The pounding intensified. A shoulder hit the wood, making it shudder in its frame.
Ewen grabbed Lamont’s arm with both hands. “Get us out of here.”
“Where…”
“Anywhere safe. Your choice.” Ewen’s grip tightened. “I trust you. Just go.”
The door splintered. Not broken yet, but close.
Lamont’s eyes flashed with flames. His arm came around Ewen’s waist, pulling him close against the hellhound’s chest.
The world lurched.
Ewen’s stomach dropped through the floor as his reality twisted sideways. The hotel room dissolved into streamers of color and shadow. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t feel anything except Lamont’s arm locked around him like a vice.
Then the world snapped back into focus with a sound like a rubber band breaking.
Ewen stumbled, his knees going weak. Only Lamont’s grip kept him upright.
“Easy.” Lamont’s voice rumbled against Ewen’s ear. “You haven’t done this very often, yet. It takes a few seconds to get your bearings when you land.”
Ewen’s vision cleared slowly. They were standing in… My gods. Ewen’s eyes widened so far that they ached.
They were in a penthouse apartment. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked a nighttime cityscape Ewen didn’t immediately recognize.
The furnishings were expensive but sparse, as if the person who owned the place didn’t spend much time at home.
A leather couch faced a fireplace that looked like it had never been used.
Bookshelves lined one wall, crammed with volumes in a dozen languages.
“New York,” Lamont said, reading Ewen’s confusion. “My apartment. Well, one of them. I have places in a few cities around the world.”
“Of course you do.” Ewen’s legs finally stopped shaking. He was still clutching the envelope and could feel the flash drive digging into his hip through his pocket. “You travel for work.”
“And now you’re with me, you won’t have to pay for hotel rooms anymore.
” Lamont’s smile was gentle. “What’s mine is yours, mate.
Including all the apartments, the bank accounts, and the extensive collection of historical artifacts, I probably shouldn’t have taken from the occasional archaeological site.
But I promise I only took things I felt a connection to. ”
Ewen managed a weak laugh. His fox was already relaxing, recognizing this space as safe, saturated with Lamont’s scent.
Then the reality of what just happened hit him.
“They saw you.” Ewen turned to face Lamont fully. “On those cameras. They know what you look like now.”
“I know.”
“They might have facial recognition software. They could track you, find out who you are, you’re a well-known investigative journalist with a far bigger following than I…”
“Ewen.” Lamont cupped his face with both hands. “I’ve been alive a very long time, you know this. Some thugs with government connections don’t scare me.”
“Well, they should.” Ewen’s voice cracked. “You don’t know what these people are capable of. What they did to me, what they’ll do to anyone who gets in their way…”
“Then they’ll learn what a hellhound is capable of.
” Flames flickered around the edges of Lamont’s dark eyes, and Ewen guessed his hellhound was right there.
“Those thugs who thought it was fun to scare the crap out of you are going to end up in Lord Hades’s court sooner or later.
I find remembering that can be a great leveler in the grand scheme of things. ”
Ewen wanted to argue. His need to protect his mate from the danger he’d brought into Lamont’s life was as strong as Lamont’s was for him. But the stubborn set of Lamont’s jaw told him arguing would be pointless.
“I’m not losing you again,” Lamont said quietly. “Not to them, not to anyone. Whatever’s on that drive, whatever you found that made them chase you across continents - that is all stuff we’ll handle together.”
Ewen’s throat tightened. Nobody had ever said “we” before. His whole life, every problem had been his alone to solve.
“Together,” he repeated, testing the word.
“See, it’s not a dirty word. Together.” Lamont’s thumbs brushed across Ewen’s jawline, stroking softly. “Now, how about you tell me exactly what you found that pissed off some random government or billionaire corporation so badly they felt the need to kidnap an American journalist in Egypt?”
Ewen looked down at the envelope in his hands. Inside was enough evidence to bring down a defense contractor worth billions, expose falsified safety reports that put soldiers at risk, and implicate at least three congress members in accepting bribes.
“It’s a long story,” he said.
“It’s a good thing we’re immortal then.” Lamont pressed a kiss to Ewen’s forehead. “We’ve got time. I’ll put the coffee on.”