Nox Bay Pack: Complete Series Collection

by Connor Crowe

  Tristan sighed. He rubbed his eyes and scraped a hand over his stubble. "I don't know what you want me to say. She was always good to me when I was growing up. I just didn't recognize her at first because she was dressed so differently and wearing a ton of makeup. You know how people are around here."

  And that's exactly why I'm wary. I bit my tongue though, and decided to put my trust on the line.

  "If you trust her, Tristan, then that's good enough for me. But I hope, for her sake, that she is who she says she is. You know if anything happened to either of you..." I trailed off, a growl rumbling down deep in my chest.

  Tristan placed a hand against my heart. "I know. I know you worry. I appreciate that about you. I'm just asking you to trust me."

  I drew in a long breath through my nose and let it out. A jet of steam erupted from my nostrils and floated upward, but the flames had long since died down. "Okay. I trust you."

  "And you, James?"

  James linked one hand with mine, and the other with Tristan's. "Where you go, I go. And if you trust her, Tristan, then I do too. Let's do this."

  I squeezed James's hand.

  "Myrella will know the right people to get us into the Hub without recognition. And you saw all the different costumes and clothes they have here. Once Zion is done, they'll never notice us."

  When he put it like that, it did sound pretty convincing.

  "Okay," I finally conceded. "Just as long as I don't have to wear a dress."

  Both James and Tristan barked out a laugh, and I chuckled along with them.

  "Would I do that?" Tristan asked sweetly, batting his eyelashes.

  "Yes, you absolutely would." I rolled my eyes, put an arm around my men, and hoped for the best.

  When we emerged, Myrella was wearing the most ludicrous headdress I'd ever seen. And that was saying something.

  It added more than a foot of height to her already tall stature. Feathers and plumes of gold and red sprouted toward the ceiling and were reigned in by a silver filigree that sat against her forehead and over her ears. She looked like a preening peacock, and when she saw us and did a little pose, she looked the part too.

  "Did you have a good talk? What do you think? Isn't it perfect?" She spun around and when she did, the delicate metal jingled like a pocketful of coins.

  "It's...um..." I stumbled over the words. "It's very loud."

  Tristan shot me a glare, but Myrella didn't seem fazed by the comment. "Oh, good! That's exactly what I was going for. This way, I'll blend right in."

  I stifled a snort. Now I knew she was crazy. The thought that anyone could "blend in" wearing that thing...

  Almost as ludicrous as the outfit itself.

  James spoke up so suddenly it startled me. "There's still something I don't understand, if you don't mind me saying so. If you knew who Tristan was this whole time, why did you wait so long to tell us? Why did you play up the whole story about recognizing me?" He shook his head. "The way you're acting right now is night and day from when we first met you."

  Myrella shrugged. She averted her gaze, and in the dim light I could see a faint blush coloring her ears. "I had to make sure," she said softly. "I didn't want to make a scene in the middle of the street. I saw Tristan and recognized him but I knew I couldn't call him out in public like that. So I did what I do best—I thought on my feet and came up with a reason to get close to you." She tilted her head. "And if I remember correctly, you were quite the quick thinker as well."

  "He's a clever one," Tristan agreed. "Hugo too. I'm glad I brought them along. Couldn't have made it this far without them." He glanced at me.

  "You remember the old saying, Tristan—all the world's a stage. Especially on Ataraxis. I'm just playing my part, darling." She drew out the last word and gave us a saucy wink, further playing up the new "character" she'd tried on.

  I sighed and shook my head. Now that I was starting to get used to her flamboyance, it was kind of endearing. Not my style, but I didn't hate it. It was kind of fun, in its own way.

  "All right," Zion spoke up, rubbing her hands together. "Let's stop talking and get you dressed!"

  "I look ridiculous." I pulled at the layered wool cowl Zion had patched together from old sweaters. "And itchy."

  It was a rainbow of warm hues, draping my neck and shoulders in fire. I couldn't help but smile at that. She knew what she was doing, and even if she knew that James and I were different shifters, she didn't say anything.

  "Then you're on the right track," Tristan joked and nudged me in the side. "Look at me!"

  He wore a deep blue velvet coat that nearly reached the floor, embellished with huge golden buttons. Underneath he wore black pants and a ruffled cream-colored shirt.

  "Hey," James called from behind Tristan. "I don't want to hear it!"

  I peeked around Tristan to see my omega standing there in his new costume. No question about it—James had to be the most adorable out of the three of us. He had on a grey button up with a bright red vest and a rainbow colored bow tie.

  "You look..." Tristan started.

  "Adorkable!" I finished.

  The room devolved into good natured laughter, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like we were just friends hanging out. No life or death mission on the line. My heart thumped in my chest, drawing me closer to my men. I wanted to hold them. Wanted to take this joy somewhere else, somewhere private...

  "Everyone ready?" Myrella piped up, bringing me (and my shifter) back to the present.

  Right. We had a job to do. But the moment I had the two of them alone...

  "Ready," Tristan said, cracking his knuckles. "Let's finish this."

  "In style," James quipped.

  I linked hands with them both, and we left the hideout with Myrella leading the way.

  15

  Tristan

  With Myrella at our side, we made short work of getting across the city to the Hub. Even though I’d grown up here, it had been years and the place was ever-changing. Myrella, for her part, knew all the secret passageways and shortcuts. She knew where to walk and how to act to blend in: something I’d forgotten long ago.

  Even though we hadn’t expected to bring her along, I was grateful. Not only that I had reconnected with someone from my past, but that perhaps the city wasn’t so doomed as I thought. If there were others like her, others that wanted to see a real change...

  Maybe there was hope for this place after all.

  Another thing that surprised me was Myrella’s partner, Zion. The gryphons were very proudly heterosexual, thank you very much, and any notion of straying from that would get you ostracized. Maybe that’s why she’d gone into hiding.

  As for me, the idea had been so firmly ingrained into my mind that I didn’t even think twice about it.

  Until I met Hugo and James, that was. Until they showed me that it wasn’t my fate to marry a woman after all.

  “So what have you been up to out there?” Myrella asked while we walked down an alley. Our footsteps splashed and clattered against the metal grating of the floors, and the whizzing of the mechanical lifts covered our voices from passersby.

  “A little of this, a little of that.” I shrugged. “Just trying to make a life for myself, mostly. After...you know.” I grimaced, not wanting to think about how I’d left the city. “That man you saw? The one that took me away? He wasn’t going to help me at all. He was a crime lord, and I was stuck for years under his thumb. Me and a host of other omegas, too.”

  She stopped long enough to whirl around and fix her gaze on me, eyes wide. They weren’t the eyes of accusation, though. It was shock, sadness, and maybe even a little guilt. “By the skies,” she cursed and clenched her hands into fists. “I knew he was up to no good.” Myrella bit off the words and shook her head. “But I had no idea.”

  “It’s okay,” I offered. “I made it out alive.”

  “And thank the skies for that.”

  “Were these two your, um, colleagues?” Myrella flicked
her gaze over my two partners. “Though one of them is an alpha, so maybe not...”

  “No.” I shook my head. “We met up afterward. A wolf pack raided the compound and freed us. I’ve stuck by them ever since.”

  Myrella smacked her lips. “Wonders never cease, do they?”

  “The world has changed,” I offered. “A lot.”

  She snorted. “That much is for certain. But you never told me what brought you back here. What’s so important that you had to return?”

  Hugo nudged me in the side, shooting me a wary glance. “Careful,” he mouthed. I gave him a curt nod and squeezed his hand. “Trust me,” I whispered back.

  And that was what it all came down to, didn’t it? Trust.

  Did I trust Myrella and Zion not to betray us? That was the question. They’d seemed earnest enough, and the story matched up with what I remembered, but...

  I clenched my hands into fists. This was the only lead I had. I needed to trust them. Not just for myself, but for both of my mates. And possibly, the fate of the world itself.

  I took a few quick steps to catch up with Myrella, then lowered my voice. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

  She stopped in her tracks, fixing me with the full weight of her arresting gaze. Her eyes flicked around. She tossed her head backward to glance over her shoulder.

  “Just who do you think I am?” She hissed, hands on her hips. “Go ahead. Out with it.”

  I bit my tongue, steeled myself, and asked. “It’s about the Wings of the Wind.”

  Myrella actually snarled at me, her eyes alight with terror.

  It all happened in an instant after that. I’d barely got the words out before she lunged forward, slamming me against the wall of the alley. It wasn’t her strength that surprised me—it was the sudden burst of action. Her elbow jammed right into my diaphragm and I buckled over, the air rushing from my lungs. Hugo and James leapt into action and pulled her away before she could do any more damage, but I was still wheezing.

  “You say that any louder and the whole City will be on us in an instant!” She hissed, her voice frantic. “The hell do you think you’re doing?”

  I stayed on my knees, still gasping desperately for air, but she’d answered my question. There was no reason she’d react so strongly if the Key wasn’t here. She knew about it, all right. And knew about the utmost secrecy of it, too.

  It was here. Probably had been all along, had I been awake enough to see it.

  Hugo growled, yanking her arm backward even further. She hissed with pain and glared at me, wide-eyed. I coughed and held up a hand. “Let her go,” I rasped when I found my voice. “I’m fine.”

  “She attacked you,” Hugo snarled.

  “Are you okay?” James asked.

  “I’m fine, both of you.” I struggled to my feet and coughed a few more times, still finding my breath. “Let’s talk about this like adults.”

  “She sure didn’t act adult just then,” Hugo muttered under his breath, but released his grip at last.

  Myrella stumbled forward, still rubbing the place where my mates had grabbed her. The feral look had fallen away, but her eyes were no less fiery. They had that golden glint to them that I’d all but forgotten—the tell-tale sign of a gryphon about to shift.

  I let out a breath and chose my next words carefully, barely more than a whisper.

  “So it does exist.”

  Myrella sniffed and looked away. She wrapped her arms around herself and refused to meet my gaze.

  “It does, doesn’t it? It’s here.”

  She sighed. Her shoulders sank. “I’m not saying one way or the other,” she muttered at last. “What exactly are you planning?” With that last, her gaze lifted, and this time those eyes weren’t full of fury. It was sadness. Worry. Concern.

  When I saw her like that, all the fight I had left fled into the night. In that moment, I saw something beyond the glitz and glamor. Beyond the bravado and the theatrics. She was scared.

  And of course, why wouldn’t she be? Myrella was as much a victim of this regime as I was. Perhaps even more since she’d had to live here all this time and go into hiding with her partner. I squeezed my eyes shut. Perhaps I’d been too hard on her.

  “We’re trying to help,” James offered. “You have to believe that.”

  I nodded. “We have an idea. I know everything’s been crazy lately, but I think we can help. You just need to trust us.”

  Myrella snorted. “You come back into my life, my world, and expect to just dictate how everything’s gonna go? I care about you, Tris. I do. But you don’t know what it’s like here.”

  I winced. Never had I felt more like an outsider. “I know. That’s why we need your help.”

  The stare-down continued for a few more moments, but her posture softened at last. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her gaze downcast. “It’s been a lot to deal with.”

  “I know,” I replied just as quietly. “And you know I wouldn’t have come back without a good reason.”

  “I know,” she agreed. Myrella shoved her hands in her pockets and looked up at me. “Trust doesn’t come easy around here. You should know that much by now. If you really are...” she waved her hands in a vague gesture, “...you know, there’s a rumor you should know about.”

  “What’s that?”

  Myrella drew even closer this time, closer still than when she’d attacked me. Hugo flinched and James stepped forward to stop her, but I gave them a reassuring nod. She went right up next to my ear and breathed the words, her voice laced with the same irrational fear I’d seen earlier:

  “They say that thing’s the only reason this place is still aloft. Without it, all of Ataraxis would crash to the ground.”

  My eyes flew wide in realization. I pulled back, staring at her in shock. “Are you sure?” I mouthed. “Do you believe them?”

  Myrella shrugged and gave me a grim smile. Her voice was still barely audible. “Dunno. Not like we can test it.”

  All at once, this had become so much bigger than any of us had anticipated. Yes, there was a lot on the line, and yes, we needed to get to the Key. But if the fate of my homeland, much as we had our differences, was at stake...

  I raked a hand through my hair and over my chin. There had to be something we could do. Something we could try. There was always a way—that’s what they taught us in the Black Hands. There was always a loophole. You just had to find it.

  When the idea came, it struck me like a bolt of lightning. A grin quirked across my face and my eyes lit up. It just might work.

  James, Hugo, and Myrella all three were looking at me like I was a crazy person, but it was better than nothing. It was a start.

  “Maybe we can,” I started, the idea still crystallizing in my mind. “Maybe we can.”

  Myrella watched me warily, but the fight and fear had left her. In its place was a genuine curiosity. She tilted her head to the side.

  “I won’t do anything dangerous,” I told her. “Promise.”

  “You’d better not,” she said. “I know there are a lot of assholes here—believe me, I know—but don’t forget, there are people like Zion and I too. We didn’t choose this life, but we’re taking it day by day with what we have. The children too. They’re innocent in all of this.” For a moment, her eyes squinted shut. When she opened them again, they were glassy with tears. “Spare them, Tristan. Whatever you do, spare them.”

  Hugo and James flanked either side of me, each taking one of my hands. I prayed that I would be the man that they needed. That this city needed. I bowed my head and knelt. Hugo and James did the same next to me.

  “I give you my word,” I swore. “I swear it on my wings, I will protect this land.”

  “And I,” Hugo echoed.

  “And I,” James intoned.

  I raised my head now to seek her gaze. She needed to know how much this meant to me. “I will never be like those snakes on the council. This isn’t about revenge. It’s about our future. All of our f
utures. And they’re all in jeopardy if we don’t do something.”

  Her faced turned stony. She drew in close once more. “You think the Key is, well...the key.”

  “I do.” I promised her. “You just need to buy us time to investigate at the Gala.”

  Myrella nodded. “I’ll do what I can, but you’ll have to make it quick.” She stood tall, looked around, and brushed a bit of dust off her dress. The clever facade slipped back on like a well-used mask, and she was the bubbly socialite once again.

  Hugo squeezed my hand. James’s arm tightened around my waist. “We’re in this together,” James said. “Where you go, we go.”

  “Then let’s get going.” Myrella turned. She pointed with lacy gloves to a huge orb-like building across the next platform. After flicking a piece of hair behind her ear, she grinned at us. “The Gala is waiting, and we’re going to be fashionably late.”

  16

  Tristan

  The moment we entered the Hub, it felt like being on that drug they called Haze. Felt like an acid trip or something even more powerful. The sounds and colors and movement drew my eyes this way and that. I swiped my head from side to side, trying to find something to focus on. But there was so much.

  Hugo and James, bless them, looked even more stunned than I was. Of course, they would be. They’d never seen anything like this before. Not even close.

  It was even a lot for me, to be honest. I didn’t remember anything this extravagant when I had lived here. Maybe I’d chosen to forget. But here we were, and we had a job to do. We just had to keep our heads about us.

  “Keep your cool,” I muttered to Hugo and James beside me. James, for his part, had my hand trapped in a death grip. Hugo simply stared at the display in stunned silence.

  “Hearth preserve us.” Hugo cursed under his breath. His hands were fists. Already-tense cords of muscle stood out on his neck.