Dark Soul: A Fae Shifter Romance (Guardians of the Fae Realms Book 7)

by JL Madore

  Rhylan takes control of the drone as soon as we’re in position, and fifteen minutes later, he’s downloading data and pulling up a schematic of the property on a data pad. When he’s ready, he sets it on the front hood of Hawk’s truck.

  “That’s fine work, Dragon,” Hawk says, grinning.

  Rhy shrugs. “The drone did the work. I just transferred the data.”

  “So, what have we got?” Creed asks.

  “The compound is a large gated rectangle with a sentry guard on each corner. There are three main buildings and four outbuildings. Honor could be held in any of them.”

  Lukas frowns. “We’ll need to hit the sentries in a coordinated strike. We’ve only got two sniper rifles, so two people will have to scale the towers and eliminate their targets face-to-face and as quietly as possible.”

  “I’ll take one,” Hawk says. “I can fly up and shift as I descend. Not an issue.”

  “I’ll take the other,” Jaxx says. “Those towers are made of wood. My jaguar can scale twenty feet in two seconds and then shift and take mine out before he knows what hit him.”

  Lukas nods. “That leaves Doc and me with the sniper rifles.”

  I nod. “Okay, so the sentries are down, what then?”

  Hawk points toward the lit-up map. “Once the sentries are down, I want Calli in the northeast tower and Rhylan in the southwest. You two are our offensive line. You’ll watch our backs and radio us if there’s trouble. Otherwise, we need to keep this as quiet as possible.”

  “The other eight of us will search the compound in two teams of four. Kotah and Keyla will take point as wolves and try to scent Honor and track her down. The other three in each team will keep them safe.”

  Creed frowns. “You want Keyla to take point in an offensive assault? I’m not comfortable with that.”

  Hawk turns a sympathetic gaze to the guy and nods. “I understand your need to protect your mate, but honestly, even before Lukas, Doc, and I began training the ladies for battle, Keyla was a proficient fighter. She’s had hand-to-hand and weapons mastery training her entire life. You haven’t seen her in action yet, but she’s as much as a force out there as you or me.”

  Creed passes an assessing gaze over our girl and she doesn’t seem to mind.

  “He’s right, my prince. And after the past four months battling with Calli and the boys, I’m in the best conditioning I’ve ever been in. Don’t let the princess thing fool you.”

  The prince looks at me and I give him a reassuring nod. “S’all good. And we’ll be there to back her up.”

  When he relents, we spend a few more minutes going over the map of the compound, and then it’s time to gear up and get ready to roll out.

  I spend that time assessing the workings of the sniper rifle and get a sense of the settings. Thankfully, it’s not that different from the guns I used in the military. Lukas and I take the weapons aside and crack off a few practice shots to get a feel for the trigger and the accuracy. Then we’re good to go set up.

  “Good luck, babe,” I say, leaning in for a kiss. “Be safe. I’ll take my shot and get down to you as quickly as I can.”

  “Right and tight,” Keyla says. “Don’t rush. Be safe.”

  “Take care of our girl until I get there,” I say to Creed and Rhy.

  The quint says their private goodbyes and then Hawk checks his FCO watch and makes sure we all have ours on. “We take out the sentries in ten minutes on my mark. Ready… Mark.”

  I set the countdown, kiss Keyla once more, and then knuckle bump Rhylan and Creed. “Don’t get dead boys. We can only be a quadruple with all four of us, so no casualties.”

  Everyone nods and dissolves into the darkness.

  Keyla

  Creed, Rhylan, and I wait as Doc sets up his shot from a vantage point in the trees that border the compound. I don’t have the countdown, so there’s nothing to do but wait silently in the darkness.

  You’re nervous. Creed slides his marked palm against mine and tugs me against his chest. My body melts against his willingly and I press my cheek against the solid plane of his chest. Dillan’s a military man, isn’t he? He can make this shot.

  I don’t doubt his skill with weapons in our realm, but your space blasters are different.

  Not that different, Rhylan says. He’ll be fine. Once the sentries are taken out, Hawk will fly down and open the gate. I’ll take Doc’s weapon and cover your entry from above. Quick and quiet.

  I offer Rhy a smile and wish we were closer.

  I’d like to hug him and tell him to be careful but don’t want to push the situation. It was only half an hour ago when he said he didn’t want to move forward with me romantically. I think that was only because of his knowledge of what happened to my father, but we haven’t had a chance to revisit that yet.

  The soft pffft sound in the branches above wouldn’t be audible by a human but my wolf is close to the surface and my senses are heightened for the situation.

  Rhylan and I both look up to where Doc is barely visible among the foliage of the tree. He flashes me a thumbs up and my heart beats a little easier.

  “The sentries are down. It’s go time.” Reaching up, I kiss Creed and cup his chiseled jaw. “Be safe.”

  “You too, Little Wolf. Recovering Honor has no meaning if I lose you in the process.” He growls into my mouth as we come together in one last loving kiss. We have grown confident with one another over the past week—confident and passionate.

  We both need for this to work out.

  We both need to see where this adventure takes us.

  Ending the kiss, I brush my lips over his again, breathing him deep into my soul. “Everything will be fine. We’re destined for great things.”

  Easing back I abandon my original plan to play it cool with Rhylan and hug him. “Be safe, Dragon. You and I have a lot of getting to know one another to do and I’m looking forward to it.”

  I catch the surprise in his expression as I lace my fingers into his hair. Closing the distance between us, I pull his mouth down to mine. Whatever this is, the searing, the plus-ones, the need to belong, we are bound to one another and I need him to know I genuinely care about his well-being.

  Where the kiss with Creed was laced with emotion and worry, Rhylan’s is tentative and stiff… at first. Then, I let my wolf ascend further to call his wildling side. His dragon follows the primal call, deepening the connection as his tongue sweeps the seam of my lips and invades.

  I swallow and step back. “A promise for later.”

  My words come out a little breathless but I’m not the only one whose chest is pumping.

  This is what it could be like. We could have it all.

  “Move out.” Doc drops from the tree, hands Rhylan the gun, and smacks his shoulder. “Be safe, Dragon. And hey, if you need to feed later, consider my veins an open invitation.”

  Rhylan chuckles. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  And with that, I launch forward and invite my wolf to rise to the fore. Shifting on the fly is the work of a thought. A wildling’s transformation is based within magic, not biology.

  It’s painless, quick, and a joy to embrace.

  When we arrive at the gate, Calli is there with Kotah, Brant, and Lukas. My brother and Brant are in their wildling forms as are Doc and I.

  In the dark of night, Kotah’s coat looks black as he brushes his shoulder against mine. He licks the side of my muzzle and lets off a soft whine. The guttural sound is his wolf’s way of telling me to be careful.

  I nip at the fur covering his cheek and lick him back.

  The soft slide of steel bolts shifting in their tracks precedes Hawk opening the gate. He doesn’t say a word, just pats my shoulder and Kotah’s as we lead our pack inside.

  I have a bit of an advantage because when Creed showed me around the royal suite, he also showed me Honor’s bedroom. His sister has a distinct scent… well, everyone does, but hers is memorable.

  It’s like summer rain and stubborn
strength.

  I take the right wall and Kotah and his posse take the left. My thinking is that if we start at the garage or where the vehicle that brought her parked, I might be able to pick up a trace of her scent and follow it.

  It’s been weeks—closer to a month—since Riley last contacted Calli, so if that was when she was captured at StoneHaven and brought here, it was long enough ago that the scent will be faint and diluted at best.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Creed

  Sticking to the shadows, Doc, Lukas, and I follow my white wolf. She’s breathtaking in her wolf form: lithe and graceful, muscled and deadly. And although they assured me she can take care of herself, I still worry.

  After everything life has taken from me, I won’t lose my other half. She is mine and no one and nothing is worth losing her.

  Not even my sister.

  Glancing up at the southwest tower, I search for any sign of Rhylan. Hawk is smart to have him and Calli as our sentries. From their perches, they can be airborne at a moment’s notice, they can cover any incoming threats, and they can cut off runners who might escape our net.

  Keyla says he’s a strategic power.

  I hope that ensures our success.

  Keyla’s footing slows and she lifts her nose off the ground. Rising onto her back paws, she sniffs the perimeter wall. I’ve got her scent here. It’s faint, but it’s her.

  Maybe they pushed her up against the wall when they were bringing her in?

  Yeah, maybe.

  It still baffles me that Keyla can open her own channels of communication. It’s like she’s absorbed my power and took it on as her own.

  She truly is amazing.

  Dropping back to all fours, she continues. She bypasses the first two outbuildings, which look to be a tool shed and a bunkhouse. Lukas and I bend to duck below the windows as we progress. It’s close to three in the morning, so hopefully, other than the sentries, everyone else is tucked in and fast asleep.

  When we get to what looks like a small, guesthouse, Keyla sniffs along the threshold of the door and then looks at Lukas. Her scent goes inside.

  I whisper Keyla’s words to Lukas and the man moves forward. He’s dark-haired and has the same military frame as Dillan but he carries magical energy that makes my gift tingle.

  He’s powerful, but nobody looking at him from across the room or talking to him would know just how lethal he could be.

  Which makes him more powerful by my estimation.

  Lukas places a hand over the latch plate of the door and a surge of power snaps in the air. After drawing his weapon, he lowers his goggles and readies for the infiltration. The door makes no sound as it’s opened an inch. He checks things aren’t rigged to catch intruders unaware, and then leads the way in.

  True to what it looked like from the outside, it’s a guesthouse. And it’s empty.

  It only takes Lukas and me a moment to search the two bedrooms and one bath. Nothing in the closets. No one here at all.

  I’m disappointed.

  Keyla seemed so sure.

  A soft whine brings my attention to my girl sitting on the floor. When she has my attention, she paws at the floor beside the sofa. Her scent is coming up from between the floorboards.

  I holster my weapon, and gesture for Lukas to help me move the furniture. The two of us shift things out of the way and flip the carpet back.

  Nicely done, Little Wolf.

  Lukas kneels beside the metal door hatch and places his hand on the locking mechanism. A moment later, he opens things up and reveals the rungs of a ladder.

  Looking back, he points to Doc and then the door. Then he points to Keyla and the open door. She sniffs at the opening and her wolf drops into the darkness without question.

  My heart kicks up a fuss. I certainly wouldn’t send her down first. What the fuck?

  Annoyed, I drop to the floor, swing my feet down, and grab the rungs. Keyla? Are you all right?

  Fine. Come. I think I’ve found the lead vault.

  It’s pitch black down here and for a moment I think about using the night vision of my cursed self. But no. If there’s any chance that could notify Laryssa or the blood witch that we’re moving in, I’d rather go blindly into the dark. Pulling down the goggles Hawk and Lukas picked up while we were in the fringe, I give my eyes a moment to adjust.

  The brush of Keyla’s wolf against my thigh is comforting. Hey, sexy girl. Show me what you’ve found.

  My heart is racing as we jog down the dirt tunnel. Obviously, this pathway goes beneath the compound and not just under the guesthouse because, after fifty feet, we’re still moving.

  A quick glance behind us assures me that Lukas is on our heels and backing us up. Good. He’s much more than a great door opener but having him open the doors is awesome.

  Here. Keyla paws at the wall. I smell her in here.

  I don’t see anything. In fact, the wall shows no sign of even having a break for a door.

  “It’s a glamor,” Lukas whispers beside me. “Give me some room and I’ll see what I can do about taking it out of play.”

  Keyla and I step back, and I run my fingers through her long, silky coat while we wait. Touching her has quickly become my foundation in life.

  From that first night locked in that cabin while we tried to figure out what our searing meant, to this moment now, the one constant has been that having her close not only eases me but strengthens me.

  I love you, Little Wolf. I’m so, incredibly thankful you’re the other half of my soul. Where I am the dark and damaged, you are the light.

  Keyla shifts and rises before me, reaching her arms around my neck. She’s naked and her skin is hot and cock-achingly soft. I love you too. When this is over... when our time and privacy is our own... I want you to meet me back in my grotto for some fun in the sun. I want time with us as a group too, but I need some alone time with you.

  Agreed. I can’t wait.

  The deep-throated male chuckle across the hall brings our attention back to Lukas smiling at us.

  “Love is in the air,” Keyla says, flashing clothes on.

  “And it’s highly contagious. I don’t think there’s been a day in four months that I haven’t caught someone naked and getting frisky.”

  Keyla giggles. “Like Calli says. We need to find you someone awesome enough to deserve you.”

  He winks and then tilts his head toward what is now visibly a lead door. “How about we finish the extraction first and worry about my lack of a love life later.”

  “Deal. Let’s do this.”

  Doc

  They’ve been down there a really long time. My bear is wearing a path in the floorboards as I check the front windows, round the sofa, listen at the trap door in the floor, and then complete the circuit back around to the front windows.

  Silence isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  It could be a good thing—a great thing. Maybe they’ve found Creed’s sister, hit no snags, and are about to pop up out of the floor.

  Maybe…

  Any minute now…

  My bear lets off a soft grunt of frustration and I go for another round. I plod toward the door when it swings open and I’m suddenly looking at two very surprised men in battle fatigues.

  Before they get their weapons up, I charge and bat their guns out of play. Head down, I barrel through them, forcing them outside. The crashing of bodies and bear breaks the silence of the night and I curse.

  If men are sleeping in the barracks next door, they are definitely awake.

  The two men who found us scramble to their feet and separate enough that I can’t keep them both in my sights at once.

  I focus on the one about to reach his weapon and end that big idea once and for all. Stomping on the silver blaster, I crush the possibility of it ever firing again.

  I turn and am about to race back toward the other one when the door to the barracks opens and bad guy reinforcements start hemorrhaging out of the building like clowns out
of a Volkswagen.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  I crank my head around to assess my chances of making it back inside the guesthouse, but I’m cut off. Head down, I dig my mighty claws into the earth and charge the incoming hostiles. If nothing else, I can bowl a few over and cause a panic.

  Annoyingly, it’s these moments I wish I was as big and intimidating as Brant. That asshole’s grizzly is something to be truly feared. I’ve actually seen grown men wet their pants when he’s charging them.

  Still, my black bear is not to be dismissed.

  Digging in, I ready for things to go south. There’s no way I can fend off ten or twelve men and come out the victor.

  Damn. This is going to suck.

  Rhylan

  I hear the commotion a moment before I see a black bear charging a crowd of men exiting the long outbuilding along the opposite wall. The guy is seriously outmanned.

  On a running leap, I launch over the rail of the tower and burst into my dragon. With a couple of pumps of my wings, I build up enough speed to dive into the mix and do some real damage.

  Zooming in unseen, I extend my talons and start picking off the men trying to kill my bear.

  I laugh at myself as I rise back into the air, crunch the two men I have clutched in my grip, and arc back around for another go.

  When did he become my bear?

  I think that was at some point when I was swallowing his blood and he was sucking my dick so good I thought I might pass out.

  If signing up for this quadruple thing means I can get that on the regular, I’m game to give it a try.

  At the height of my turn, I drop the two I had and go in for two more. On the way down, I catch the headlights of three vehicles coming up the road.

  Who invited friends?

  This is supposed to be a private party.

  The hiss and zing of laser fire below have me torn between cutting off the incoming troops and helping Doc with his outmanned situation.

  The night sky bursts into flame as Calli reads my mind. Her phoenix launches off the platform of the far tower and she spews a line of fire to cut off the incoming caravan.