Page 9 of Dark Gambit: The Play

"I'm just thinking about the logistics." Mia opened one of her drawers and started pulling out sets of sexy underwear. "I'm in a wheelchair, and if Turner’s rented a house with stairs, you would have to carry me and the chair up. It's a drag."

"Not for me." He took a pair of lacy panties from her hand. "As long as I get to see you in these, I don't care if I need to carry a car up the stairs."

She laughed. "I can actually imagine you doing that. Should I take my motorized chair or the one that folds for travel?'"

"Whatever makes you more comfortable, love. You know that I have no problem lifting this chair with you in it."

Mia loved when he flaunted his physical strength and was turned on by it, but this time, she hadn't reacted as he'd hoped.

"I don't want to be a burden." She opened another drawer and pulled out two long skirts and two T-shirts. "Do you think that's enough? Or do I need to take more clothes?"

"We are only going to spend one night there and fly back tomorrow. I'm taking just one change of clothes and no pajamas." He wagged his brows.

Mia laughed. "You never wear pajamas. I thought that you left your only pair in Switzerland."

He'd had to wear pajamas when staying with Mia's grandparents in the rented apartment in Zurich while she'd been undergoing treatments for her heart condition, but he'd left them there because there had been no room left in his carry-on. He'd never bothered to replace them with a new pair.

"That's why I'm not taking any."

6

KIAN

Kian hated asking anyone for favors, whether it was Kalugal or Toven, but at least with Kalugal he had an official treaty, and his cousin owed him a favor or two. Besides, under his bluster the guy was a decent fellow, and he also loved to flaunt his compulsion ability.

Toven was a different story.

Kian didn't know the god well, and just the fact that Toven was a god was enough to make him less approachable. Not only that, but Toven had also already paid his dues by helping Eric pull through his transition and by promising to help the rest of Kaia's family.

Never mind that Darlene was Toven's granddaughter, and if she knew that Toven's assistance was more than spiritual, she would have expected him to help her mate survive. But she didn't know, and therefore couldn't ask for it.

Kian had to do that.

Perhaps the thing that bothered him most, though, was not knowing what the god's limit was. Had he already depleted his quota of good will?

Toven was an incredible asset, and Kian hated wasting his favors for things that were perhaps not critical. Turner had convinced him that getting the information out of Sofia qualified as such, but he wasn't sure that it did.

With the god's compulsion power, the clan could possibly take on Navuh and his island, Jade's captor and his compound, or both. It depended on whether Toven was more powerful than Navuh and the Kra-ell leader, and whether he could wrestle control over their people from the two despots.

Turner was right that they couldn't move against the Kra-ell without getting more information on their leader. Come to think of it, the guy might not even be a pureblood. Navuh was just an immortal, the son of a god and a human, but he was a more powerful compeller than most of the gods of old. The same might be true of Jade's captor.

Not that it made any difference to Kian. The hybrid Kra-ell were formidable enough.

The clan's small Guardian force didn't stand a chance against the Kra-ell unless there were only a handful of them, which was unlikely, given that they had slaughtered Jade's tribesmen and then kidnapped her and the other females.

The other option for the clan possibly coming out victorious in a face-to-face confrontation with the Kra-ell was that the Kra-ell relied on their brute strength and didn't own modern weaponry. That would give the Guardians the edge they needed.

The best option, the one that would result in the least casualties, was Toven taking over their minds in one fell swoop.

Was it fair to ask him to go to battle for the clan, though?

Annani was just as powerful if not more so, and yet Kian would never even consider risking her like that.

Kri accused Kian of being a chauvinist, and maybe she was right. Despite her training, and despite her being a damn good Guardian, he still couldn't bring himself to risk her in a battle with the Doomers or with the Kra-ell because she was a female.

Annani was a force to be reckoned with, and she could be a great asset in battle, but all he could think of was how small she was, how delicate, and how soft-hearted.

He was well aware that aside from the soft heart all the rest was an illusion, and that there was nothing fragile about his mother, but she was the clan's heart, and if anything happened to her, it would be the end of them.