“And we’ll win again, love.” Chase reached over to stroke his mate’s cheek, then he turned his steely, determined gaze on Nathan and the others. “Lucan is making a very public show of working with human and Breed law enforcement to root out Opus Nostrum. However, the Order’s primary mission is something far more crucial, more covert. If what Crowe said is true, then everything we’ve been through to this point in time—including our hard-won battle with Dragos—was merely preparation for the war still to come.”
“If Cassian Gray knows anything about Crowe’s threat,” Tavia added, “worse, if he’s part of it, he has to be contained. We can’t let him get away.”
“He won’t,” Chase assured her. “Lucan has arranged for each of Crowe’s former wives—his widow and the five exes who came before her—to be quietly interviewed at the D.C. headquarters.”
Rafe grunted, his mouth spreading into a wide grin. “Invitations to tea, followed by a friendly game of twenty questions and a mind-scrub?”
Chase slid him a wry look. “Something like that, yeah. If any of the women who knew Crowe best have any knowledge about his true nature or his dealings as part of Opus Nostrum, we’ll find out soon enough.”
“As for Cass,” Nathan said, “we’ll find him too. We’ll bring him in. His employees, his known allies and associates—we’ll leave no lead unturned. Tell Lucan, neither Cass nor his secrets will elude us for long.”
Chase gave him a tight nod. “Excellent,” he said, and dropped his open palms to the table in finality. He rose from his seat, and the rest of the group stood up with him. “If there’s nothing else, Tavia and I have some personal business of our own to contend with this morning.”
“It’s Carys,” Tavia volunteered to Nathan and the other warriors. “She’s moving out. Today.”
“Moving out,” Nathan murmured guardedly, surprised by the news, though surely not as surprised as the young woman’s parents must be. “That seems like a sudden decision.”
As he spoke, he caught the uncomfortable looks exchanged between his teammates as all three made a hasty exit from the conference room.
The bastards.
He’d punish them later for abandoning him to this unwanted drama.
“Carys says she’s been considering this for a while now,” Chase replied. “But I know my daughter, and she’s holding something back. I’ve already asked Aric if he knew of any reason she might be upset about something—or upset with us—but he’s been no more forthcoming than her.”
Nathan grunted. “Do you know where she’s going?”
Tavia answered him. “She’s moving in with Jordana at her apartment across town. Nathan, do you know anything about this?”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “It’s the first I’m hearing of it.” The answer was as close to the truth as he could slice it without betraying the sibling conflict of the night before.
“I realize Carys is an adult, and she’s free to live her own life,” Tavia reasoned aloud. “She’s always been impulsive, but this just doesn’t seem like her. More than that, I don’t know if I’m ready to let go of her,” she added, turning a baleful look on Chase. “I know, I’d never truly be ready for this day to come, but especially not now, knowing dangerous people like Cassian Gray are skulking around, unaccounted for. Who knows what he or his cage-fighting thugs might do if they realized one of the Order’s children—a female, no less—was living somewhere in the city away from our protection?”
A growl vibrated in Chase’s chest now. “I’ll forbid her to leave.”
Tavia sighed. “You can’t and you know it. Trying to force her will only make her dig her heels in harder. Carys is a headstrong young woman—not that either of her parents should be surprised by that.”
“No,” Chase replied, his eyes gentle on his mate, even if his tone remained firm. “But if she’s leaving because she’s got a head full of steam over something, or if she’s in some kind of trouble—”
Tavia shook her head. “If she’s upset or in any trouble, you know she’ll only try to shield us from worrying about her. Nathan, what do you think? Are we being too protective if we try to make her stay?”
Fuck. How he’d found himself in the role of family mediator, Nathan had no bloody idea.
But it was difficult not to be moved by Chase and Tavia’s obvious love and concern for their child, even if Carys was a full-grown woman, twenty years old. She was stronger than most later-generation Breed males, and more than capable of taking care of herself.
“You raised her to be independent—Aric too. If Carys feels she’s ready to live on her own, she’s going to do it. No matter what anyone says or thinks. But if you’ll sleep better knowing my team and I will keep a close eye on her, consider it done.”
“Thank you, Nathan,” Tavia said, exhaling her relief while Chase gathered his mate close and gave Nathan a brief nod of appreciation for his offer. The three of them exited the conference room to the corridor outside. They paused there, and Tavia lifted her head from where it rested against Chase’s shoulder. “I still think it can’t hurt to talk to her one more time, see if I can persuade her to change her mind.”
Chase grinned. “Your powers of persuasion may work flawlessly on me, love, but good luck dealing with your daughter. And you’d better work fast. She’s upstairs now, packing up her things with Jordana.”