Dad cleared his throat as the queen took her seat at the other end of the table, once again with her lackeys hovering behind her. Having gained everyone’s attention, he said, “Regardless, it’s only right that we fix it – give them the choice to come above to live amongst the humans.”
“What about the humans?” Pierce asked cautiously. “They kept these people in a prison for thousands of years. You don’t think that will cause some issues once they’re free?”
Dad opened his mouth to respond, but Maeleigh beat him to it. “We have to have faith that they both want peace.” I could see the argument on Pierce’s lips, but she went on, “Keeping them in prison while we have a way to change that is taking that choice away from them. We don’t have that right.”
The room was so quiet I could make out the sound of a few heartbeats. I turned and smiled at her, proud to call her my mate and partner. Reaching under the table, I grasped her hand and held it on my thigh, linking us further. I wanted to kiss her right then, but knew it wasn’t the right time. My eye caught the eyes of the woman behind her just then. Selena’s proud gaze on Maeleigh told me I wasn’t alone.
“I believe Maeleigh said it perfectly. As responsible parties, we must be there to help the two sides integrate with one another and coexist as best as possible. If they can’t, we have the same responsibility to stop any war that may ensue.” Worried glances were exchanged all around the table. “We’ll just have to worry about that if it comes.”
No one had any further argument. Now, we had to see who was going with us on the mission.
Turning to Selena, Dad invited her input. “Queen Selena, you have information, do you not, on the whereabouts of this contract?”
She nodded gracefully to him, as if thanking him at being included. “Yes, I do. An old acquaintance has it in his possession.”
“And just how long have you known about this?” James asked critically, narrowed eyes shooting daggers down the table.
Confidently, she answered. “I had my suspicions, but nothing concrete until recently. It was Alstahr, in fact,” she looked at Maeleigh “who retrieved the intel confirming the rumors.”
Maeleigh turned to look at me, surprise written all over her face. I gave a small shrug, showing her that I was just as surprised at the information.
There was a time that many of our species wouldn’t be caught dead sitting at the same table. Now, after learning that we all shared similar ancestors, things had changed tremendously; it just seemed like none of us had figured out the new status quo.
Maeleigh let go of my hand to pull out her phone, holding it under the table to read a new message. After glancing at it, she looked up at me.
“What is it?”
“It’s my dad. He says he’s on his way back,” she said. Considering, she looked down the table at those sitting at the table. I knew what she was thinking without reading her mind.
“Tell him what we’re doing. We’ll text him the location when we have it,” I instructed her. We could definitely use a powerful druid like Ben with us. No telling what sort of magic we’d find on sight.
She nodded and started to tap out a new text.
“Were you able to find its location?” Dad asked Caleb.
New to this whole table meeting thing, Caleb stumbled a bit over his words as he told the room, “Y-yeah. It’s uh, it’s in a business building in Langor.”
Where the queen was residing right then. I looked over at Ro, who gave a nearly indiscernible shake of the head, indicating that I shouldn’t question him or the queen about it.
“What business is it?” Pierce asked.
“Roc Industries,” Caleb answered. Pierce exchanged a troubled look with Dad just then, making the hairs on the back on my neck stand on end.
“What is it?” I asked Dad, looking at them both.
A little unnerved, Dad answered, “Roc Industries is a very powerful – and old – company. They have dealings with land and other business purchases. Recently, they started a fracking business...” he hesitated but Pierce finished “… based in Ireland.”
“Shit,” Bri muttered under her breath.
My mind whirled as pieces started to fall into place. “This isn’t just about freeing people. Whoever has it is probably going to drill into the faerie mounds.”
“They can’t do that! There are people down there!” Maeleigh argued.
Thorn finally spoke up, “It’s a perfect way to get rid of your enemy.”
“Or siphon an otherwise untappable resource.”
“Shit!” It was Ro’s turn to say what we were all thinking.
“What’s the plan?” Italia asked, quelling the murmurs that were starting to get out of hand. We all looked to Dad and waited. He turned to Maeleigh and told her, “You’ll be at the head of it, beside Ro, who will be on point. He has experience in getting in and out of places he shouldn’t.” There was no dig in his words: he was just stating a fact. He turned to Caleb, “You’ll be in his ear from outside of the property, guiding them in.” Caleb nodded. “And the rest of us will go in after them as back up, taking on any problems with security that we come across.” He gazed around the room, getting nods from everyone, even the queen. Over the next few hours, we configured a plan, then went over and over it. Caleb brought up multiple maps and information on exits, cameras and guard stations.
Ro would stick to Maeleigh like glue and the idea was for them to get in and out as inconspicuously as possible. But the queen had revealed that this Mer dude may already suspect that the queen knew the location of the contract and could possibly be expecting this sort of action, so we were to expect the unexpected. Which didn’t sit well at all with me, but I had to trust that Ro would protect Maeleigh.
Caleb and Ro collected around the laptop, talking about the ins and outs of the building, and I drew Maeleigh out of the room. With the house as crowded as it was, we found ourselves on the swing on the back porch. She rested her head on my shoulder as we quietly sat together and a thought came to me. With all that was going on and what was about to go down, I was thankful we were able to steal that fantastic moment together earlier. As crazy as it had been, our wolves had never been so at peace with our human selves. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, I cupped the side of her face with my other hand and drew her lips to mine. We melded so that in that moment, we were one. To draw it out, I slowly pecked at her lips before trailing my mouth down her chin, along her jaw and, finally, to the marks, pressing a lingering kiss on each one. When I finally pulled away, I gazed into her eyes, seeing that she’d gotten lost in the moment, just as I had. Slowly, she came back to herself and she smiled up at me.
“Promise me you’ll be careful in there,” I said.
She searched my face, as if to etch it into her memory, and sighed, “I promise.”
I wanted to ask her to clarify what she was actually telling me. Her promise didn’t ring completely true with me. But I didn’t. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into it right then. Or if I would like the answer. We sat there a little longer, enjoying the sun warming us. When Bri stepped out, signaling me, we had to return to reality. Together, we went back inside, ready to take the next step.
Dom approached me the moment I stepped back inside, stopping me short as the door hit me on the ass when Maeleigh shut it. “Got a minute?”
Okay, maybe I wasn’t entirely ready to deal with whatever this douche had to say. Maeleigh tugged on my arm and said, “Go. It might be important.”
I didn’t bother to cover an irritated sigh when I looked up at him. “Sure.” We walked through the kitchen and into the living room off the front entrance. I crossed my arms across my chest and waited for whatever he threw at me, secretly wanting it to be a punch so I would have an excuse to knock him on his ass.
He looked me up and down in one quick glance and I got the feeling that he was reading me loud and clear. The snort he blew through his nose sounded a lot like a wolf, which I hated to admit even to myself.
/> “My queen is being understated when she says Lord Mer is dangerous,” he told me. “It’s not exactly what you think. His magic is ancient and he’s been able to retain it somehow.”
I frowned at him, dropping my arms as my hackles rose. “What do you mean? Are you saying that he has all his magic still, even with the separation from the goddess?”
Dom nodded, his brows shadowing his eyes. “We don’t know how, just that the queen has had to walk on eggshells around him for eons now.”
“Why are you telling me this? Why not the queen herself?” I asked, a little wary of taking anything he said with more than a grain of salt.
“Because …” he started, straightening to his full height, which was equal to my own,
“… she is too proud to admit that she is afraid.”
Well, okay then, I thought. That made sense. Selena didn’t exactly scream that she was a damsel-in-distress woman to me: she was more of a fend-for-yourself-and-kill-anyone-who-gets-in-my-way” sort of woman. So, I got why she would downplay someone’s fear factor.
Finally, I nodded my understanding to the guy and he started to walk back towards the kitchen, but I stopped him short. “Hey.”
He turned to look at me, the usual irritation showing on his face. “Thanks.” The lines softened, and he nodded to me, then stalked back down the hallway to the rest of the people gearing up to infiltrate this mystery guy’s modern fortress protected by tech and magic. Yay!
Chapter Eighteen
Maeleigh
Once again, I was a part of a caravan. We never seemed to just stay where we were. I wondered, as we drove the nearly two hours it took to get to Langor, what it would be like once we were done saving people, myself included. And it wouldn’t stop after tonight. If we survived and were successful, we’d still have to worry about hunters, vampire with ulterior motives and introducing a whole race of people to the world. Just then, Gearden took my hand lacing my fingers with his. Glancing over at him in the driver’s seat, he gave me a quick smile and went back to speaking with Ro who was sitting in the back seat.
Bri sat next to Ro, studying a map of the building. She must have it memorized by now as she’d been looking at it for the last hour – since we had climbed into the jeep. She was texting Caleb who rode in the car ahead of us with Freya, Liam and Danny. I was without an interpreter for this trip too. We had decided it was too dangerous for Sally to come with us; she would just be another person – someone we would feel the need to protect. She may be wolf, but she was hardly a fighter. Her rank in the pack was close to an omega, but McIntires didn’t treat our lower pack members like the Westboro did. Something occurred to me then. It must have been quite an impact, because Gearden felt the need just then to check in on me.
“You okay?” he asked, giving my hand a squeeze.
I held onto it tightly and smiled back and nodded. “I just decided that I would change the way Westboro treats lower pack members.”
He stared at me for a second, then glanced back at the road ahead of him. I watched as a smile slowly began to crack his lips, until his teeth made an appearance. “What?” I asked, confused at his giddy reaction.
“Nothing,” he tried to say. But I didn’t let him off the hook.
“It’s obviously something, so spill!” I wished he wasn’t driving because I’d start threatening him with jabs to the side if he weren’t.
“No, really. It’s just that…” He gave me another smile. “… you sound like you might be considering staying on as alpha.”
Only a little taken off guard, I tilted me head at the thought. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but he was right. I couldn’t go around making changes to a pack if I didn’t plan to occupy the status of alpha. And one didn’t go around making plans unless they were comfortable about the idea of it. But I just shrugged. It was not the time to have this conversation.
I didn’t answer and he let it go as I tucked the thought into another box in my head and put it away for later.
When we finally arrived outside the Roc building, it was late afternoon, with people working. It was a towering building compared to the others around it, twenty floors at least, with its own parking garage and small park outside the front entrance, complete with a water fixture and bench seating. Gearden parked along the curb across the street. We watched the building for a moment and then he turned in his seat to ask Caleb, “What time does everybody clock out?”
I’m not sure what Caleb was doing but it definitely wasn’t legal because he then started spewing times people were to clock off, what time people actually started clearing out of the building, how many people were on the security staff and, to top it all, what time sunset was.
I looked back at Bri who was typing something on her phone. I tapped my seat to get her attention and signed, “What are you doing?”
It took her some time, but she told me, “Texting Julie. They took a detour.”
I frowned, not sure if “detour” was code for “got lost,” or if they really did go a different route and, if they did, why? Which is what I signed, “Why?”
She shrugged, looking just as clueless as I was, which told me the Cearer weren’t sharing. I looked at Gearden. “Do you think we can trust the Cearer? I mean, do you think they have their own agenda? They didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea of breaking the contract.”
He peered at me for a moment, thinking it over. “For now, yes. But let’s be prepared in case that changes, huh? Just be prepared.”
I don’t think either of us knew how to be prepared for a betrayal in something like this. However, I would keep any new information to our close-knit group of people until I knew for sure.
We didn’t stay there for too long and then pulled the jeep around the block and parked in a nearby parking garage. Not long after that Liam, Freya, Ro and Danny arrived, followed by the Cearer in their black Yukon.
We spent a few hours relearning everything. The Cearer even split up, sending Italia and Pierce to a nearby rooftop for surveillance, relaying any pertinent information back to Thorn. Julie seemed to be on the phone a lot, but she made a point to keep to the farthest corner of the emptying parking lot with her back to me. I wondered who she was talking to that she worried I would eavesdrop on the conversation.
I looked at Gearden, “Do you know who Julie’s talking to?”
He glanced up from the image of the document on someone’s tablet to gaze at the woman in question. I could tell from the concentration on his face that he was trying to listen in for clues, but after a moment he only shook his head. It was disconcerting to say the least.
As we were getting geared up to head over, the queen’s car finally showed up – it was black and shiny, and with her two guards, she stepped out looking as if she were there to take in dinner and a show. Looks can be deceiving though, and I don’t think anyone would forget that she was dangerous, no matter what sort of dress she wore.
She approached us with anxious interest, looking to me first, asking, “Can I be of assistance?” Then to Liam. “I may not be a veteran in breaking and entering, but I am quite familiar at staying hidden.
I’m pretty sure I saw James, who was standing behind her, cover up a laugh at her words. I rolled my eyes at him. Thorn and James seemed to be two peas and a pod when it came to their little Cearer group. I just wondered if they knew how to play nice with others who were not in their small circle. And we were about to find out.
Liam declined her help and I feigned indifference, when really, I was pretty sure I didn’t want her anywhere near the contract. I just couldn’t pinpoint why just yet.
Ro came over and touched my arm to get my attention. “You ready for this?”
I nodded. I didn’t want to tell him that I was as ready as I’d ever be, because that didn’t sound very convincing nor reassuring. He stared into my eyes intensely for a moment, and I almost expected him to talk to me in my mind, but he finally looked away and up to Liam. “We’re ready.”
; Caleb and Freya stayed behind, setting up the base of operations, while the rest of us, sans the queen and her posse, made the trek down the block to Roc Industries. As we rounded the corner leading us to the street the building was on, I shifted my eyes to that of my wolf and looked up at the rooftops. It didn’t take long to spot Italia and Pierce standing on the ledge. Someone had set them up with a radio to communicate with Caleb and Freya, being our eyes on the outside. Just in case.
Before we crossed the street, Gearden grabbed my forearm to hold me back and quickly kissed me. His lips were demanding, urgent. I met him as much as I could but just as I started to get up to speed, he pulled away, setting me away from him, like he just needed to get that out of his system before we headed in.
“Be careful,” he ordered.
“I will.” Smiling at him, I turned to follow Ro to the back of the building, leaving Gearden with the others as they made their own way to a side entrance, to wait for the go from Ro. The idea was to have Ro get us in with Caleb’s hacking skills on the keypad at the single loading dock for large deliveries, while Gearden’s team waited until Ro and I could subdue, quietly, the security guard on the ground floor. This would clear the way for them to enter through the service and employees’ entrance on the east side.
Luna didn’t like that we were leaving Gearden but I reminded her that Ro was my protector and he took his job seriously. We would be fine. But we were leaving Gearden with the Cearer, and we’d already deemed them to be not entirely trustworthy. No! I had to stop my brain from this whole train of thought. It was messing with my mind and I really needed to get my head in the game. I would have to make sure I was just as silent as Ro when we walked in that building and I was deaf. I had to rely on his ears to tell me if I took a wrong step.
The Kill: Book 3 in The Hunt Series Page 14
