Free Avenger by Heather Burch

behind him, not hiding a thing. Winter and Glimmer rushed to the door and fell in line with the group following Zero into the kitchen.
    By the time they were gathered, Mace looked about ready to explode. “What’s happening, Zero?”
    Winter’s heart went out to him. He’d spent the night pacing the floor and wondering if Nikki was still alive. Several times, she’d seen him trying to leave in hopes of finding them, but his duty to the other Halflings kept him. If the seeker arrived at Viennesse, he claimed he’d be abandoning them, and Winter partly agreed. Besides, all he’d known was Raven might take her to the underground tunnels of Paris, like she’d suggested, and even if he’d followed that advice, there were miles of tunnels. There’d be no way to find them.
    After much argument, Winter had convinced him to wait until Raven made contact. As Mace met her eyes across the kitchen, she hoped Raven made that contact soon.
    Vegan moved to Zero’s side as he spoke. “The seeker killed a guy on a university campus in Paris.”
    Winter’s eyes went back to Mace. He looked like he’d been struck by a brick. “Is it —?”
    “I don’t know who it is, but the report said the guy’s flesh — what was left of it—was marred by scars. They thought it might be someone who’s been in his share of knife fights.”
    The room released a collective sigh. It wasn’t Raven.
    When everyone continued to stare at Zero, he lifted his hands. “That’s all I got.”
    Mace spun from the group and headed toward the door. Winter followed closely. “What are you doing?”
    He turned to face her, the challenge evident and powerful. “I’m not waiting any longer. She’s out there, Winter. I have to find her.”
    “Raven said he’d send us information as soon as he could.”
    Anger bubbled beneath the blue of his eyes, causing them to look like glass under pressure. They might shatter at any moment. “I’m not trusting Nikki’s fate to Raven. You can sit here as long as you want, but I’m going to Paris. There has to be answers there.”
    Vine stepped out from the group. “I’m with you, bro.”
    “Me too,” Glimmer said.
    Winter weighed the options. “Okay, I’ll go as well. Zero, will you keep searching for information on the seeker?”
    He nodded. “I’ve got some programs running back history — if there’s any written record of seeker attacks, I should find them, but it might take awhile. Vegan can help me.”
    Vegan opened her mouth to protest, but Winter stopped her. “He’s right, Vegan. You should help Zero. You know more about his computer system than the rest of us, and the two of you work together well. You’ll do us the most good by staying here.”
    Vegan’s mouth twitched with aggravation, but she conceded with a sigh. Winter, Vegan, and Glimmer were a team. In fact, she couldn’t recall the last time they had been apart. But everything had changed when they’d been sent to help the males. Unfortunately, it took all of them to keep Nikki Youngblood alive.
    Nikki stared over the table at Christopher, who had cluttered the space with books and notepads. Unlike Solomon, he wastall and thin and lost in a sea of loose papers. “I’ve been intending on getting this stuff organized,” he said.
    Her frustration grew. She’d rested. So had Raven — sort of. But now it was daylight and she felt like a beacon-lit target from staying in the same place for so long. And Christopher didn’t seem in much of a hurry.
    Raven entered the kitchen and spun a chair backward, straddling the seat and crossing his forearms over the back.
    “Make yourself at home,” Nikki mumbled.
    “Thanks.”
    He’d been chilly to her since the night before. But that was for the best, even though his cool demeanor and impassionate looks leached any warmth from her body. She’d sat on the porch swing while he dozed — and for that moment of time, she’d relished the feel of him against her, his defenses down, simply