“Pay attention, baby.”
“I am,” she lied and sat up straighter.
Savage kept his hands on her, helping to steady her as she looked around and finally focused on Czar.
“I know it took a lot of psychic energy to help Plank’s people, and I certainly wouldn’t ask you to do any more, but you seemed to think this was a crisis, and I have a gut feeling you’re right.”
She nodded. Her gaze flicked to the other members of Torpedo Ink. “I didn’t get much. She planted a suggestion in both men to inform on the shipments to the Feds. I’m fairly certain she got to someone in the Demons club as well. I couldn’t see who; it was a vague impression only. Whoever it was hadn’t met her at the De Sade. She just felt smug to me until she suddenly was thinking of you. That came out of nowhere.”
“What about her? Did you get any impression of what she looked like? Her age? Anything at all?” Czar persisted, glancing over his shoulder at Absinthe.
Savage stiffened. He wasn’t having his brother question Seychelle. Absinthe could get the truth from anyone, but it could be a very painful interrogation.
Seychelle shrugged. “I told you, not much. I got the impression she was young and originally from Russia. There must be some record of her at the De Sade. Maybe surveillance tapes Code can get?”
“We have no real timeline,” Czar said. “No way of knowing when she was there.”
Absinthe approached the picnic table. Savage surged to his feet and set Seychelle down, sweeping her behind him as he faced his fellow Torpedo Ink member. “I think we’re done here, Czar.” He didn’t take his gaze from Absinthe as he made the declaration to his president. “We’re all tired and need rest.”
“If someone is going to assassinate me, especially someone from my own club, it might be good to know who it is,” Czar pointed out.
Seychelle slipped her fingers into Savage’s back pocket, connecting them. He liked when she did that as a rule, but right now, he felt threatened—or, more importantly, he felt as if she was threatened. He needed room to fight, if necessary.
“Why would you need Absinthe to question Seychelle when she’s voluntarily told you about this Russian woman and the danger to you?” Savage asked. “She didn’t have to say a word.”
“Absinthe might be able to see more than she’s remembering. No one thinks she isn’t telling the truth, Savage,” Czar said patiently. He ran a hand through his hair. “This night has been tough on everyone, especially Seychelle. All of us have fucked up with her. I know she’s tired and needs to sleep. Do you think I don’t want that for her?”
“What I think is a better use of Absinthe’s time is to check everyone to see if they attended the De Sade and interacted with a Russian woman,” Savage said. “I don’t mind if he starts with me. I’ve been there enough times, and if it happened before Seychelle and I were together, then I could be programmed and not remember.”
Czar sighed. “It might come to that. I’m hoping Seychelle has more details than she knows. I can’t imagine what your objection is.”
“You can’t? After what you heard this evening? I fucked up and left her when she needed me the most. Maestro and Lana treated her like shit. They went so far as telling her she wasn’t the right woman for me and she shouldn’t be here. That she couldn’t see to my needs and other women here could. Hell, you made her feel like an outsider as well. Our club was more than willing to use her for our purposes, no matter how difficult it was on her, but we still treated her like an outsider. I’m not willing for that to happen again.”
There was a soft murmur of objections that ran through some of the club members. Maestro and Lana looked down at the ground. Destroyer and Reaper both moved closer to Savage. He couldn’t tell if they intended to protect him or Czar. He didn’t care which at that point. He just knew he was standing between Seychelle and anything that might harm her.
“Every word you say is the truth, Savage,” Czar acknowledged quietly. The moment he did, the club members who had been objecting to Savage’s assessment went silent. A few looked at Maestro and Lana with a kind of shock. “I understand you wanting to protect Seychelle. She is your first priority, and you nearly lost her tonight.”
“I still could lose her.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Seychelle suddenly stepped around Savage to stand beside him. “I’m right here, Savage. It’s not like I can’t think for myself.” Her gaze went from Savage to Absinthe. “What do you do when you ask questions that makes you a threat to me, Absinthe?” Deliberately, she challenged him directly. If she was supposedly a part of them somehow, then Absinthe would answer truthfully. Clearly, she didn’t believe he would.