79. Aareth
SEVENTY-NINE
AARETH
He was going mad. He knew that. Not only was he seeing his dead wife, but an animal rage was also building inside of him, clouding his better judgment and transforming him into something terrifying.
But if he knew he was going crazy, didn’t that mean he was still sane?
Crazy people didn’t realize they were crazy … did they?
Aareth remained on his knees as he watched the woman he loved, and lost, and found again, escape.
He knew he should be happy she’d made it out alive.
He just couldn’t lose her again. The woman he had fallen so desperately and totally in love with was still in there, somewhere.
Whatever had happened to her, he would find the truth and a way to reverse what had been done.
Rough hands violently shaking him finally brought him out of his daze.
“Aareth, Aareth, are you all right?” Sloan looked him up and down for injuries. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Aareth lied. He was bruised in a dozen different places, bleeding from his left temple and lip. His long, black hair still smoked from where it was cut by Brenda’s mage sword.
“You were going to get yourself killed,” Sloan started in on him, now sure he was physically fine. “What good is that going to do anyone else?”
“She’s my wife, Sloan.” Aareth grimaced as he regained his feet.
“Somehow she’s alive. I have to find her.
” Aareth understood the second’s hesitation in Sloan’s eyes.
The kiss they shared wasn’t something he had forgotten or would be able to ever forget.
In a different place and time, maybe things could have worked out.
But Sloan deserved to know the truth about Brenda.
“Well, your wife’s the commander of Doctor Oliver Livingston’s personal security team. She won’t be hard to find, now that we know who she is.” Sloan cleared her throat. She refused to make eye contact with Aareth. “We’ll send out a notice to the city police. She’ll be in custody soon.”
Aareth nodded dumbly as Sloan turned to her men to give orders and sort out the prisoner transfers.
Jack and Abigail made their way to Aareth’s side. Lack of sleep and food made him slow to notice their approach.
“You going to make it?” Jack rasped through his swollen throat. “I’m sorry we couldn’t stop your wife.”
Aareth didn’t respond. He knew he owed more to Jack, the person who stood by his side through the events of the night. Right now, he just didn’t have anything else to give.
“So your wife’s alive.” Abigail tried to find a glimmer of hope in their dire situation. “That’s good, right? We’ll help you find her, Aareth. We’ll figure out what happened to her.”
Aareth’s mind was a million miles away. Something was nagging at his thoughts. It was a legitimate concern he would have picked up on in an instant under any other circumstance. Like a lightning bolt, it hit him.
Aareth snapped out of his trance like someone woken from a nightmare. “We have to find her before the city police or soldiers do. She won’t be taken alive. You saw her fight today.”
“Then we’ll do what we do in the Outland when we’re tracking a target.” Jack offered Aareth a hand. “We set a trap.”