by Mikayla Lane
Liam put a gentle hand out to stop her from grabbing more than she could carry. “You are welcome to every bit of what is here, but you will not need it for the briefing,” he said as he stuffed a gear pack with small items for her and handed it to her.
Dree gave him a bright smile. “Thank you Mr. Dranovian!” She said with a flourish as she manifested a yellow daisy. With a dramatic bow she presented the flower to Liam as she took the pack from him.
Chris wasn’t sure who was more stunned by the charming and innocent female, but he could see that the normally quiet Liam was rendered completely speechless by the young Tezarian’s kind gesture. He and his brothers looked at each other in confusion. None of them could detect any disgust, fear or even artifice in the actions of the Tezarian’s and they were surprised at how easily they were accepting who they were.
In fact, his brother Cade had bet they would kill each other before they could make it to the estate to retrieve their sister and the hybrids being held there. Chris knew that Cade was also affected by Dree’s kindness and acceptance when he walked by and handed him a hundred dollar bill to cover their bet. It was Cade’s way of admitting he was very wrong about how they would get along on this mission.
Thinking of his sister, Chris headed to the front of the large conference room, designed specifically to hold he and his brothers and whistled to get everyone’s attention. Surprisingly enough the Tezarian’s had sat down and fallen into conversations with his brother’s and he had to shut them up.
He gave a surprised look to his brother Liam who was in quiet conversation with Dree, who had sat beside him and pulled her chair closer to his. Liam grinned and shrugged his shoulders before turning Dree’s attention to Chris.
He had no intention of telling them about Angel, still believing they could get her out before the Tezarian’s saw her. Nor would he reveal their real purpose in this location.
What he would tell them was only what was necessary to get inside the estate. Other than that, they would do whatever they could to hold off Satalis and protect the Tezarian’s, while his brothers got their sister the hell out of there. If their father found out that Angel was up to her neck in this, he would kill Chris for letting her run wild.
When the room finally got quiet, Chris cleared his throat to begin and nodded at his brother Reign who was at the control center. “These are the original estate plans,” Chris said as they popped up on the wall behind him.
“The catering company we use is set to arrive at noon in order to begin the set up for the party. We are contracted to provide twenty people. Ten in the kitchen and ten on the floor to serve the food and drinks.”
“Because of the humans that will be attending, we had to provide a list of us that would be going, to their security personnel for background checks. Once we determine which of you will be replacing us in those areas, Grant will make the changes in their computers so your presence won’t be questioned.”
Chris pause while Reign zoomed in on an area of the extensive gardens. “This is the penetration point for the rest of us. There is a hole that goes under the wall that allows easy access in and out of the gardens. It’s hidden behind a blanket of ivy that covers a large part of the wall.”
Reign changed the image to a close up satellite view and Chris pointed to the wall area. “We need to have the first teams in place before the catering crew arrives. In case anything goes down, we want back up already there. The catering crew will arrive at noon and carry out their duties just like a real catering company while the penetration teams get into the basement to release the captive hybrids before the human guests and their security teams arrive.”
Chris stopped and looked directly at Lara. “We’ve never worked for Rothfeller before, but we were warned that he is very meticulous about his parties and will make an appearance before the guests arrive to make sure everything is going as planned. And perfect. I am assuming that is all you will need to verify he is the Dark Prime you are looking for?” Chris asked Lara, hoping they wouldn’t be required to engage the man before he and his brothers could determine if they could use their unique gifts to stop him.
Lara shook her head. “I won’t even need to see him. I will be able to sense him when we get inside the house. If he is there I will make sure everyone knows.”
Chris nodded and looked at Drago. “You should be part of the serving staff so you can mingle in the crowd easily and look for your mate,” he said as Drago nodded his thanks.
Chris looked at everyone in the room. “We will relay messages through Drago who will share updates with you through the Shengari’…,” he began when Dree interrupted.
“Hey, I don’t care if you do the mind thing to me that you did to Drago. If I stay in the kitchen with that staff then we’d have all of our people in communication. I can relay to the kitchen staff, Drago to serving staff and you and the others will be outside and can communicate together,” Dree said with a happy smile, thinking it was a great plan.
Trick and Mir thought otherwise and were getting ready to yell at her on their private mental path when Dree held her hand up to them and glared. “Don’t even think it you assholes, you’re just jealous,” she said before grinning up at Liam.
Most of the Dranovian’s smothered their laughter while Liam blushed and Chris cleared his throat before the meeting descended into chaos. “Liam can do that after the meeting. It’s a good idea,” he said with a smile at the brave girl. Dree reminded him a lot of his sister Angel and he had no doubt that his brother’s would put the safety of the little imp before their own.
Chris nodded at Liam, who nodded back to him, silently accepting the responsibility for Dree’s life. Life and the responsibility of it was something he and his brother’s took very seriously, as was required by their curse. But it was the honor instilled in them by their father that would make them fight the One God himself to protect their charges.
Confident that their happy new friend would be safe, Chris continued. “Once the extraction teams have the hybrids out of there, we will return to assist you in any way that you need. Keep in mind that we will be hiding among the human security personnel, so if you have to fight, memorize our faces now so friendly fire will not be an issue.”
Chris and the others were fascinated when the Tezarian’s began looking around the room, actually memorizing their faces. When Lara continued to stare at him in amused silence, he cocked a brow at her and was floored when she spoke. In his mind. On a path he never knew was there.
“Do not worry Dranovian son of Grai. I can sense the energy of your brethren clearly and will not harm you or your brothers. Or your sister,” Lara said in his mind.
Chris locked down his mind, terrified at what the Prime had been able to see. An unfamiliar fear ran through him as he wondered what Lara knew of his family and if they were safe from her. He looked at her with narrowed eyes, his mind working overtime behind the shield he created to block his thoughts from the Prime.
Lara smiled at him. “You fear needlessly Chris. We are friend, not foe. Don’t create a problem that does not exist. You are as safe from us as we are from you.”
Chris felt the truth in her energy, but still he worried for his family and just nodded at the Prime. Choosing to speak of it with his brothers later, Chris looked back at the room.
“We will have to dress the part, so our normal tact gear is out but we have some new skin suits that you guys can help us test out for Freedom Enterprises. So far they are pretty impressive… a little weird, but effective,” Chris said with a grimace while his brothers grumbled.
“Skin suits?” Dree asked, looking up at Liam curiously.
He reached over and gently took the pack from her that he had given Dree earlier and rummaged through it for a moment. He pulled out a wadded bunch of material and handed it to Dree before setting the pack on the floor beside her.
Dree opened up the material and held it by the shoulders, her eyes widening in surprise as she realized what it was.<
br />
“Leotards! We get to wear them?” Dree asked brightly, while Liam groaned and blushed and his brothers refused to look anyone in the eye. Even each other.
The Tezarian males looked horrified while it finally dawned on Dree what their problem was. She looked at the leotard and the large, hulking, handsome men in the room who blushed deeply and burst out laughing at the same time Lara did.
“You’re fucking kidding right?” Dread asked the closest Dranovian’s to him, hoping like hell this was a joke. A really bad one.
When they shook their heads, still refusing eye contact, Dread and Trick let out a string of curses that only made the women laugh harder.
“I’m not wearing it,” Mir said, folding his arms across his chest and shaking his head determinedly.
Chris sighed and shook his head. “Sadly, that is not an option if you plan on going. Like I said, it’s weird, but effective. Although much thinner than our other tact gear, it is more durable and more effective at providing protection during battle.”
“The best part, is that it is designed specifically to camouflage energy signatures. Once worn, even the Dranovian energy can be hidden from your beasts allowing us to walk among you without your knowledge,” Chris said, not telling them that he and his siblings had done it to them more than once since they had arrived in DC and were able to hide easily from them.
“This is our only hope of hiding our energy from the Dark Prime while we are in his home,” Chris said, to the surprise of even Lara.
“You can hide your energy with that?” Lara asked curiously as she pointed to the shiny beige leotard in Dree’s hands.
Chris nodded his head while his brother Alex left the room. “Watch,” he said as he nodded to the door his brother left through.
Several minutes passed in awkward silence before Alex came back into the room, just as he had left it. Except no one in the room, including the Prime, could sense his energy. It was as if the Dranovian had disappeared and there was nothing more than a normal human standing there.
Proving he was still a Dranovian of great power, even though it was undetectable, Alex snapped his fingers loudly. Dree gasped and the Tezarian’s stared in awe at what looked like flaming whips of energy that crisscrossed and flowed around his body like large serpents.
Chris interrupted the silence to explain. “The suit conceals our energy signatures completely but allows us to more easily concentrate our power by keeping it compressed closely around us. It also helps prevent unnecessary energy expenditure in the heat of battle.”
Chris was again interrupted by a curious and awestruck Dree who turned to her new best friend, Liam and asked, “Can you do that?”
Liam chuckled and shook his head. “No little fairy that is not my talent.”
Chris couldn’t help but smile at the adorable girl who was already wrapping him and his brothers around her charming little finger. Just what they needed, he thought, another Angel to drive them crazy and keep them in various forms of panic over their well-being.
Turning his mind back to the matter at hand, Chris continued. “It blocks minor projectile penetration and if it can hide from your Prime,” he said pointing at Lara. “It might be able to hide from the Dark Prime.”
Lara nodded her head emphatically, seriously impressed with the suit. “He’s right, I can’t sense Alex at all. We have to wear these,” she said, pointing at the leotard in Dree’s hands.
Viper slapped a hand over his face while the Dranovian’s groaned and looked away from the Tezarian’s in embarrassed camaraderie. The tough warrior males all looked horrified that they had to wear the feminine looking item, while Dree smiled in excitement.
“So cool!” She said as she held it up to her chest.
“Rides up in places you don’t want to know are there…,” one of the Dranovian’s grumbled quietly, while a few others muttered agreement.
Chris sighed, not wanting yet another bitching session on the new skin suits. “Yes, they ride up in places, yes we look ridiculous in them, but at least we can hide it under regular clothes,” Chris said, using the same argument with his brothers that he had used every time he made them wear the suits.
When the Tezarian males joined in with his brothers in complaining, Chris put his head in his hands and sighed heavily. Being the oldest seriously sucked sometimes, he thought as he left the room and the rising voices of friendly bantering over their shared horror of the new gear.
He wasn’t a fool. Chris was putting his own suit on right now. To hide his energy and secrets from the Prime now in their midst. He was more desperate than ever to get his sister and keep her away from the estate tomorrow night.
Chapter Sixteen
Thursday Morning
Angel stretched out under her warm blankets, loathe to leave the comfortable confines of the bed she’d tossed and turned in all night. She threw her arms wide and stared at the same ceiling that had taken so much of her attention the night before.
Turning her head, she looked at the empty night stand like she had a hundred times during the night. She’d gone rogue. Again. Leaving behind all of her father’s technology and gadgets to ensure her brothers couldn’t find her before she completed her job.
Sitting up, Angel looked at the alarm clock on the dresser and swung her legs over the side of the bed. It may be early but she had a lot to do before she headed to the estate. She knew her brothers expected her to be there already, but she wasn’t stupid, she knew she couldn’t trust the hybrids inside that were being brutalized to turn on one another.
No, this was one plan that was going to go right. Angel was going to make sure of it. She and Chris had spoken of how they would handle this for months before the Tezarian’s showed up and they were going to follow the original plan. The one that finally destroyed Devon Sinclair, and all she cared about and accomplished, for good.
This party, although a modification to the original plan, would work in their favor. The guests, a bonus that she looked forward to mingling among. All of Devon’s personal little bitches. The people she paid to make things happen. Yeah, tonight would be the finale of years of hard work and Angel looked forward to the end.
Angel was tired of this particular mission and the subterfuge that it required. It hadn’t been that bad until the Tezarian’s arrived and now she just wanted it over with, exhausted with the effort it was now requiring of her.
She wanted to return to the life she had before this mission. When she could hide in plain sight without fear of discovery. It was past time for her and her brothers to move on now and she looked forward to whatever new place her father would send them to this time.
Angel knew that Grai would find out what she’d been doing behind his back. Whether they succeeded or failed, her father would know. And with the arrival of the Tezarian’s, she knew that he would be pulling them out of the city soon, unwilling to take a chance on their discovery.
Which meant a new city, a new life and a new mission for the new life, surrounded by her brothers. Wrapping her arms around herself, Angel tried to convince her own mind that it would be enough.
Across town, in the bolt hole apartment that Angel knew her brother’s had found out about years ago, her comm rang endlessly, the urgent messages piling up in her inbox. Unaware of the warnings of unforeseen changes and new information, Angel had no idea that her life depended on whether or not she heard those messages.
*****
Drago passed a smiling Dree, who had not left Liam’s side, as they all loaded the catering vans with the food the human staff at another location had made for the party. He was nervous and scared for his mate. He had called her phone, but it went right to her voicemail and he knew that she had it turned off. Refusing to speak to him.
The last few hours had been hell for him. The waiting dragged on even though they had remained busy preparing for the mission and trying out the new gear. With a friendly grin, Drago reached for the tray that the Dranovian named Cole handed him, before stac
king it in the van.
Through Dree’s unending questions, they had all learned a lot about the Beast killers that they had never known before. And after working with them for the last few hours, Drago had no idea why they were relegated to the stuff of nightmares.
From what he had seen, they were good men. Although, taller than the average human, they could easily pass as any other normal Earth person, looking no different than the Valendran hybrids. Which is in fact what they were.
They were cautious, with good reason, considering how they were feared, but kind enough to answer every humiliating and personal question that Dree had come up with it. And she’d come up with some that had even her brothers begging her to shut the hell up.
The Dranovian’s had only laughed patiently at Dree and taken the time to answer her questions as honestly as they could. His brothers showed them a healthy respect, as did Trick and Mir, with no trace of the brief fear they had felt at first seeing them on the snow covered lawn.
All things considered, Drago enjoyed working with the quiet, but friendly men. Beast killers or not. His own beast, Jinba, no longer feared for his safety and easily accepted the Dranovian’s as safe to his existence.
With everyone working together, they had the vans loaded quickly and assembled in the warm warehouse before leaving for the estate. Chris stood on a crate in front of the group.
“My brothers… and new allies,” Chris said with a nod to the Tezarian’s and the Prime. “We may not know what we face, but we will face it together. With pride and strength of will, we will do our best to protect those unable to stand on their own and we will bring them home, while protecting the innocent humans.”
“All of you,” Chris said eying Dree. “Must stay alert and pay attention to your surroundings. Report anything you think may be out of place or doesn’t feel right. Trust your instincts and those of your beast. Stay in visual contact with at least one other team member at all times! No exceptions!” Chris said, again eying Dree who seemed to have a permanent smile on her face.
