Page 90 of Orcs Do It Harder

A pause. “Mr. Mercer has declined involvement. He indicated the relationship is over.”

My jaw clenched. “Thank you for the information.”

I hung up and started making calls.

“You’re not celebrating.”Dane’s deep voice pulls me back to the present. “You’re not even talking to anyone anymore,” he adds. “That’s not like you.”

“I’m here. I’m celebrating.” Even I can hear how wrong it sounds.

“You’re planning something. I can see it in your face.”

I don’t deny it. “Everything’s set,” I tell him. “I’m leaving at dawn with Aldar and Kelt to find a female journalist who hasn’t checked in. I’ve gotten to know her very well over the last two months. She was investigating cartel contacts to Aldridge. We have a helicopter waiting in Miami, a fixer in Bogotá, and contacts who know the cartel’s territory.”

“You hired private human military?”

“Yes, two ex-SEALs. Good men. I coordinated everything myself.” The lightness I’d normally inject is missing. “They understand the mission.”

Dane is quiet for a moment. “She’s the one, isn’t she? The journalist you’ve been talking to for weeks. You’ve mentioned her before.”

I stare at my untouched ale and think about all the times I teased Garlen about winter madness, about the Irontree curse. All the times I said it wouldn’t happen to me, because I thoughtI’d never feel strongly about any single human female. I’d met so many up to this point and felt nothing but friendly connection. Why would that ever change?

“It’s not like how you and Garlen describe it,” I finally say. “The instant knowing, the freight train. But she’s...” I stop, trying to find the right words. “But she’s under my skin. I can’t explain it. And now she might be in a jungle somewhere, being held by males who want to harm or kill her, and the human male who was supposed to love her walked away.”

“So you’re walking in.”

I shrug. “Someone has to.”

Dane claps my shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t think it would happen to me either. I didn’t find my mate until I was over fifty years old. You never know how or when it’s going to happen.”

A chuckle rumbles in my chest.

“Be careful. Check in with us regularly. You know if you need backup the rest of us will be on a plane in moments, ready to rain down orc hell.”

I grin. “Keric already told me the same.”

I watch him head back toward his new Bride, Laurie Willis.

Then I turn around and walk toward my vehicle, ready to return to my cabin, which now looks like a command center, with my laptop, satellite phone and printed maps. I’m good at this. Coordinating, organizing, making things happen. It’s what I did for Garlen and Ellie’s media coverage and what I’ve done for Anna’s too—managing journalists, interview requests and public perception. Now I’m doing this in a slightly different way, to bring a woman home from a warzone. Same skills. Very different stakes.

Hold on, Sloane. I’m coming.