Free Broken by Shiloh Walker

from there.”
    He was so nonchalant about his possible death that it took a second for the impact to hit her.
    This might be the night he left her.
    As she wrestled with this, she said, “If it came down to that, I’d want to get your location from Claudius, along with the details of any trap that caught you. That way we’d be prepared to avoid what you couldn’t if we had to make a rescue.”
    “I forbid you to come for me before you take care of the Underground. Is that clear, Dawn?”
    She didn’t argue, even though she knew she’d never leave Costin to any vamp trap.
    He went back to being matter-of-fact. “As I said, we should expect that Claudius will lure the lower vampires here and leave the Underground that much less populated. And if they do come aboveground for him, this means you are aiding me in the fight, Dawn. You would make my job that much easier. This is also the reason you and the team must stay.”
    He might be gone by morning. . . .
    She stood, still a bit dizzy, but not really because of the blood he’d taken. “All right.”
    She had to believe that he knew what he was doing. He was Costin, and he’d survived this long. Besides, there was the tiny fact that she’d learned the hard way in Hollywood that following directions was a good idea.
    “So you’ve chosen the Friends who’ll be with you?” she asked, trying to let him go gracefully.
    He almost seemed relieved, not that his ramrod posture assured her or anything.
    “I have chosen those who work best with me,” he said. “We have pulled most of the Friends off patrol from around the city. A group will remain here, of course, but Breisi will be leading the contingent that goes Underground with me. Although the Friends’ lulling didn’t seem to have any effect on Claudius when they first tried it, while I was conducting an earlier interview with him, they discovered that modulating their voices to a higher frequency was working. We hope to use the element of surprise by retuning the lulling to control the lower vampires while I question Mihas about the dragon and then terminate him. After Mihas is taken care of, I shall send word back to you, and I expect you to do what needs to be done in order to turn the vampire girls fully human.”
    Dawn had no problem with killing Claudius when required. That was what needed to happen if Costin was going to get his soul back. Short of killing herself, she didn’t know what else to do to free him from Jonah’s body. As she was Jonah’s creator, her death would make him human again and hopefully release Costin’s essence, restoring him to the Soul Traveler he’d been before. On occasion, Frank had accused her of having a death wish that would fulfill this option, but she’d rather release Costin from Jonah the long way—through completing Costin’s mission.
    “You can count on me to take care of Claudius,” Dawn said. “Are you going to tell me where you’re going? Just in case?”
    “I will give the location to the Friends who remain here.”
    Dawn tried not to give way to a cutting laugh. But how could she blame him for these precautions—never giving out too much information to a hunter who had a history as a loose cannon—when this was exactly the sort of safeguard that had kept his teams running smoothly in the past?
    She’d just thought she was his “key.”
    “The Friends know all the backup plans,” he said.
    “But what if this Underground has learned how to captivate them, just like in Hollywood, and we corporeal team members find ourselves without spiritual aid?”
    “Without the Friends, I am as good as gone this time.”
    In denial of that, her anger rose, and it placated her with its familiarity. “I still want to come with you. I wouldn’t get out of line—not like the first time.”
    “Dawn.” Apologetic. But he wasn’t going to give an inch. Not the warrior, no matter how special he said she was to him. “Each member has her or his own function on the