He clenched his jaw in annoyance. She was doing that for show. Trying to give everyone the wrong idea. It wasn’t for manipulative reasons, either. She wasn’t smart enough for that. This was just…what, desperation? Whatever it was, it wasn’t important right now.

“Yes, sir,” Maureen said, her limbs shaking as she pushed up to standing. “M-Mister Jackson called and asked if—”

“Did Boman call? Bria or Alexis? Jack?”

“Oh yes. S-sorry, sir. Yes, Boman called for you earlier—said to call him back as soon as you could. And Alexis did, yes, but she didn’t leave—”

Kieran peeled away, his heart thumping. His phone screen was just populating, and he tapped on the phone icon at once.

A strange tug within his center took his breath away. He reached out to brace himself against the doorframe. It pulled uncomfortably, as though someone had attached a string behind his ribcage and was dangling on the other end of it, threatening to pull his center out through his sternum. His knees weakened with the intensity of the feeling.

The possible implications screamed through his mind. There were three Demigods who could get to her at any time. Any time. They could overpower her—or kill her, if it was Magnus—if he wasn’t there to get her back. Was one of them there now?

He shook his head to clear it as Thane and Zorn started to move Nancy’s people out.

“Hey!” Nancy said, pushing past him. “What is this?”

“Sorry, Nancy, forgive me.” Forcing his impatience and worry away for a moment, Kieran turned and gave Nancy one moment of solid playboy focus. The kind women lost their knees over. The kind Alexis always crinkled her nose at. Not one ounce of it was genuine. “Something came up. Call my assistant tomorrow and let’s set up a dinner, yes?”

He gave her a beaming, sultry smile and tickled her with his mother’s passionate magic. Two seconds and she was starry-eyed. Too easy.

He let Thane usher her out as Henry showed up, out of breath. Donovan was on his heels.

“Get a hold of Boman or Bria, right now,” Kieran said to his guys. “Jack should be nearby. Make sure he is on scene.”

“Yes, sir.” Donovan put the phone to his ear as Kieran pushed into his office. Henry came through the door after him and closed it behind them.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

Sweat breaking out on his forehead, Kieran listened to Alexis’s message from earlier. There were two. One was gushy and excited, and he knew it was her response to the necklace. She couldn’t wait to see him. The other was…off. She asked similar questions, but her mood had changed considerably. He couldn’t tell if it was fear riding her words, or unease.

“Replace Maureen,” he said as he tapped Alexis’s name to call her. “If she can’t hear when something is gravely wrong with my most important attachment in the world, then she has no place answering my phone.”

Emotions softly filtered through the soul link. He couldn’t make them out. They seemed fuzzy, as though hidden behind a veil. He could only discern that she was in a heightened state, as if in great turmoil.

He choked with fear. He’d never heard of a Hades Demigod being able to drag a living person into the spirit world, but they were secretive at best. He had no idea what they were capable of. He shouldn’t have let Alexis out of his sight after what happened last night.

“Find out if Donovan got through,” Kieran barked, pacing now, willing Alexis to answer her phone. Anyone to answer her phone. It went to voicemail. “Fuck!”

He ended the call, then called her again as he turned toward the door. When Henry opened it, Thane was on the other side, just reaching to grab the handle. His expression was flat. He was concerned, too.

“No one is answering,” Thane said. “Not even Jack or the kids. I tried them all.”

“Bria either,” Zorn said, his body tense.

Kieran was running before he’d registered it. His guys were at his back, passing Nancy’s team in the mostly empty halls. After six, most everyone had gone home.

Mia appeared right next to Kieran, surprising him enough that he staggered.

“A spirit was trespassing here,” Mia said, running with him without moving her legs. “One that kinda kept blinking out. I saw him when you were in the meeting with that woman. I tried to follow him, but I kept losing him in the crowd of real people.”

“What did he look like?” Kieran asked as he reached the wide stairs with various landings and leading down to the lobby.

“Like a ninja. With a cover over his face and swords and everything.”

“What about his eyes? What color were his eyes?” Kieran took the stairs two at a time.

“I don’t know. He never looked my way.”

“Did you see Alexis today?” He got a nod. “Did anything seem the matter?”

He pushed through the large double doors. She glided through the glass.

“No—”

Lights and colors dazzled Kieran as though he were suddenly in a sparkly space vacuum. His stomach flipped and his feet slammed into the ground. He fell to his knees as Mia moved away from him. They were facing the large glass doors again, from the middle of the lobby. She’d teleported him back inside.

From his position, he could see his guys, still outside. Thane reached around his body slowly and plucked a throwing star from his arm. He shivered before rolling his shoulders, and Kieran knew Thane was fighting the urge to go Berserk. Something was out there.