"Great." He smiled, but it turned into a tentative look. "So if I and one of the other guys… while you were there…"
I flushed. My body ached at the thought. "That would be fine," I squeaked. So much for not talking about sex at a time like this. "We should probably concentrate on…um…Bryan."
"Right, yes," Dyson agreed.
The tiger and Corinne's dragon had him pinned. He writhed and snapped, but he looked exhausted.
"Come on, old mate," Leo said from a few metres away. "Give it up, you're beaten."
"Shift back into human form," Corinne ordered.
Bryan growled, still defiant in spite of everything. He writhed for another minute or two, then sagged. A moment later he lay on the ground, a naked, defeated human. His expression was one of utter dismay.
"Blake." Corinne kept the gun on Bryan while Blake pulled something out of his pocket.
"Sorry buddy," I heard him say before he slid a needle into the man's arm and pushed the plunger.
Bryan's eyes closed and his whole body relaxed.
I decided it was safe to get closer now. "What's going to happen to him?"
Corinne exchanged glances with Blake.
"He'll escape," she said finally. "There's plenty of evidence of a struggle." She nodded toward the smashed door. "Unofficially, he'll be stashed in the back of the car until we get to Sydney. We'll leave him with someone from the council. They can deal with him."
"And by deal with him, you mean…"
"Reason with him if possible. If not, that's up to them."
"Bugger," Leo said suddenly when we all looked at him, he added, "I forgot to tell him I can't afford to pay him back."
I snorted. "I think he has bigger problems right now."
"That's because you don't know how much I owe, darlin'," Leo said lightly.
I arched an eyebrow at him.
He grinned. "It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way."
"Yeah, let's get out of here before more Zeta agents arrive," Corinne said.
"Uh, guys," Dyson said. He raised a trembling hand toward the road leading to the house.
"Oh bollocks."
7
"They got here much sooner than I would have expected." Corinne sounded frantic.
"They can't take me again." I backed up a step.
"We're not going to let them." Dyson grabbed my hand.
Blake took the other. "Dyson is right, but we all have to play along with the scenario. Leo, can you carry Bryan?"
"Do I look like a weightlifter?" In spite of that, Leo grabbed Bryan's arm and hauled him onto his shoulder. "What is the scenario?"
"You're assisting us," Corinne said. "As a concerned local."
"That's more or less accurate, love," Leo replied.
Corinne gave him a look, but didn't correct him. "Best they don't know you're a demon. They won't hurt an ordinary human."
"I resent any suggestion that I might be ordinary," Leo grumbled.
"You're not even slightly ordinary," I assured him.
"See, you get me, darlin'." He grinned, but was obviously straining under the weight of the hybrid.
"Hurry up," Corinne urged. "Blake, get Peyton to the car. Dyson, you too. If anyone asks, you've been there the entire time." She stopped and frowned before adding, "Dyson, you should probably pretend you're drugged, just in case anyone asks. Peyton, remember you're coming with us willingly."
I grimaced, but nodded. I could play along as much as I had to, as long it meant we all walked away at the end of this. Or drove away. Or whatever. As long as I didn't up back in the hands of the bad guys.
The car drew closer. Through the trees a flash of red appeared.
"Does anyone in Zeta drive a red car?" I asked. I knew they occasionally drove blue ones, but mostly they used black, like any evil organisation.
"They might," Blake replied. "I know an agent who has a yellow one."
I glanced at him. "Really? But yellow is such a happy, non-evil colour."
"Unless you're allergic to lemons," he replied.
"Oh, you are?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, anything citrus. It makes my face swell and—"
"Hurry up," Corinne urged.
"Uh, I'll tell you later." Blake opened the door and gestured for me to sit.
Dyson flopped down onto the seat beside me and sagged onto my shoulder. "A drugged prisoner wouldn't sit in the front," he said without opening his eyes.
"Just don't spew on me," I replied.
I looked back as Corinne opened the back of the car to let Leo place Bryan inside. The back slammed shut and Leo moved around to the door.
"You can sit in the front," Corinne said tersely.
"But—" Leo waved toward me.
"Front," Corinne repeated. "A Zeta agent should sit in the back with Peyton."
Leo's face dropped, but Blake smiled.
"I'm happy to." Blake swung the door open just as a red SUV pulled out of the line of trees near the road.
Even from a distance, I made out their Zeta uniforms and the general feeling of bad juju.
"Maybe we should leave before they can stop us," I suggested.
"Nothing says guilty like fucking off from the scene of the crime," Leo remarked.
"He's right." Corinne opened the driver's side door, but stood leaning against it.
Blake slid in next to me and held my hand so no one outside the car could see. "I won't let anything bad happen to you. Whatever it takes."
"Me too," Dyson muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
If the situation wasn't so serious, I would have laughed. "You might want to look more drugged."
"Mmmhmm," he agreed.
"Shhh, they're coming," Blake said.
"Agents," Corinne called out. "It's good to see you, but we have the situation under control."
My heart raced as the agents stepped into view. I knew one wouldn't be Fitz, I killed him, but I was surprised to see one I knew. I had nicknamed him Blondie and last saw him when I made a Zeta car crash into a magical waterslide.
"Kear, Davis, and Singh." One pointed to himself, then Blondie, and finally to a black-haired agent.
Davis peered into the back of the car and frowned at Dyson and I. I wished I could have made us invisible, but I had to stick to the plan for the sake of Blake and Corinne. They had to be seen to be model Zeta agents, regardless of the risk to us.
"You managed to recapture these two." Davis waved in our direction. For some reason, he looked troubled by this. I suspected he didn't care for the way Zeta did things any more than I did, but he was still working for them. That made him the enemy, however anyone wanted to swing this.
"We've recaptured the shifter," Corinne agreed. "The hybrid came willingly. You know how some of them are with their new abilities." She clicked her tongue. "Out of control. She was scared she'd kill someone she cared about."
Davis nodded. "Right. That's…sensible of her." He eyed me as if he wasn't fully buying the story.
I gave him a watery smile and nodded. "It's true. I'm very dangerous."
"I'm sure." He nodded and backed away.
"We have the other hybrid in the back of the car," Corinne said. "You can see for yourself."
While Singh and Kear moved around to the back, Davis hovered near the front, occasionally looking back at me. After a while I noticed him including Leo in his regard.
"How's things, old boy?" Leo asked.
"Um, fine," Davis replied awkwardly.
"He's a demon," Dyson muttered.
"He—" I shut my mouth so quickly my teeth clicked. I had no reason to question Dyson. If Dyson thought Davis smelled like a demon, then he was one. I sniffed the air, but couldn't detect anything different. Maybe phoenixes didn't have a particularly good sense of smell, like dogs did.
Leo moved slowly toward Davis. I barely caught him saying, "We're on the same side, old mate."
"Zeta's side?" Davis asked.
"Of course," Leo said easily, "wh
at else would I have meant?"
Davis looked uneasy. "I know who you are." His voice was barely above a whisper.
"As you'll see, the hybrid put up quite the fight." Corinne led the other agents away toward the house.
"Excellent." Leo grinned. He spoke a little louder now. "This will be much easier then. I know what you are. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I assume your counterparts don't know?"
Davis glanced toward their backs. "I would prefer they didn't."
"Naturally, old boy. Us demons have to stick together."
Davis flinched.
"What would Zeta do if they knew?" I asked in Blake's ear.
"Officially, demons don't exist," he replied.
"Unofficially?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Most don't have magic and they tend to shift into…um…"
"Things from your nightmares?" Leo asked, his face just under the line of the roof.
"I mean no offence…" Blake flushed bright red.
"None taken. The average demon has a face only a mother could love." Leo tapped the car roof with his knuckle and stepped away.
Blake swallowed loudly. "I really didn't mean to be rude."
I patted his arm. "Some shifters are straight out of a nightmare, too."
"If you're referring to yourself, there's nothing nightmarish about you," Blake said firmly.
"He's right," Dyson added.
I looked over to him, but he was still slumped against the seat, head at an angle.
"They're coming back," Blake said. "They don't look convinced."
I peered out.
"We'll take the hybrids off your hands," Kear said. "You can do what you want with the shifter, just get it back to headquarters."
It? Fuck you too, buddy. Wait, hybrids, plural? My hand closed around Blake's. A bubble of anger rose inside me. My inner phoenix threatened to boil over and rip the car apart. And everyone in it.
My nails dug into Blake's hand until he jerked.
"Ouch."
I smelled blood, hot and warm. I wanted to taste it, to drink it, to paint the world with it.
"Peyton," Blake hissed. "Don't lose control. If you do that, they'll kill you. After you kill us."
I turned and looked him in the eyes. To his credit, he didn't look as scared as I might have been. Blood ran down his hand, but he either didn't notice or he was ignoring it.
"Please, take a few breaths."
"They can't kill me if I destroy them all first." I bared my teeth.
"Peyton, please." He put a hand on my arm.
"If you don't get out of my way, I'll go through you," I hissed.
His eyes widened. "If you do that, you'll regret it. I know how you feel about killing Fitz."
"Fitz deserved it," I growled.
"Maybe, but you don't deserve the pain you'll feel after you harm someone else. Let Corinne take care of it."
I gritted my teeth. For a moment I seriously thought about shoving him away, maybe with a talon. I could have ripped him in two without a second thought.
A tiny part of me, right in the back of my mind, pressed itself forward. Sense, rational thought, whatever you want to call it. It told me Blake was right. It reminded me I didn't want to be a murderer.
I blew out a breath between pursed lips. Control gradually took over and my blood started to cool.
"So you see—" I became aware of Corinne speaking and the agents staring into the car. "We have her under control, but only Agent Jordan here can get through to her. He's helping her to tame her phoenix. I can't guarantee your safety if you try to take her."
"If we tranquillise her like the shifter and the other hybrid—"
"You wouldn't get close enough," I growled.
"They seem to have the situation well in hand," Davis said. "Let's just grab the other hybrid and get out of here."
I resisted the urge to shoot him a grateful look. He was probably just trying to save his own ass anyway.
Kear hesitated, then nodded and disappeared around the back of the car. Singh followed a moment later.
"Are we going to let them take Bryan?" I whispered.
"I don't see that we have a choice," Blake replied. "We've done enough to draw attention to ourselves as it is."
"But…what will they do to him?"
Blake shook his head regretfully. "I don't know."
I sat around in my seat and watched them carry Bryan between the two of them.
Leo stood behind them and scowled. "Careful, old boys, he's a mate of mine."
Kear gave him a suspicious look, but didn't so much as slow down. Evidently they didn't know what he was and didn't plan to find out. They had their orders and they followed them. Bring in Bryan.
I sighed softly. I didn't think things would end well for the hybrid. He'd be used or he would die. Probably both eventually.
"This doesn't feel right," I said half to myself.
"I know, but it's him or you," Blake replied. "I choose you."
"We shouldn't have to choose," I said bitterly.
"I know." Blake gave me a look which suggested he'd kiss me if we weren't surrounded by Zeta agents.
I squinted out at Davis, who looked as happy about this as I was.
"If you need to reach out to the collective, they can help." Leo pressed something into Davis' palm.
Davis flinched, but then nodded. "Yeah. Maybe." He turned and walked back to the red SUV.
"He's a conflicted man," Leo said before he slipped into the front passenger seat.
"Aren't we all?" Blake replied.
"Nope." Leo twisted around to look back at us. "I know exactly what I want." His eyes rested on me. I blushed.
"We should get out of here." Corinne's expression was grim as she took the driver's seat. "We still have a long way to go."
Pressed between Blake and Dyson, I silently agreed. It would be a long, hot drive.
8
We slid until the southern suburbs of Sydney about fours later, without any sign of anyone following us. Granted, the closer we got to the city, the thicker the traffic was. We could have a dozen cars on our tails and not realise it. Fortunately the heavier the traffic, the less chance of Zeta trying anything nasty. At least, that was what I told myself. That hadn't stopped them from coming after us in Melbourne.
"So, what happens now?" Dyson asked. He stretched and yawned, his fake sleep having turned into a real one a couple of hours ago.
"Oh good, you've stopped snoring," Leo said from the front seat.
"I do not snore," Dyson protested.
Leo turned around and gave him a wink.
Dyson cocked his head like a dog and let his tongue loll out to the side.
I giggled, but he brought up a good question. "You're not actually planning to take us to Zeta headquarters?" Although maybe I could let my inner phoenix loose there. No, I didn't want to kill, but they might leave us alone if I toyed with them a bit.
Rational thought caught up a moment later. They also had phoenixes and those shifters probably knew how to tear off heads better than I did. I didn't relish the idea of getting us all killed.
"No, this is where you escape," Corinne replied. "But Blake is going to go with you. Officially, you charmed him into your way of thinking."
I eyed Blake sideways. "And unofficially?"
He blushed. "It might be true," he admitted. "I've decided to continue to study at the AMM."
"Oh." My mouth stayed in that shape for a few moments. "I didn't know you'd gone there?"
He shrugged. "A couple of years ago. I left to help Corinne with Zeta, but I think my place is there now."
"Peyton has that effect on people, doesn't she?" Dyson asked softly.
"Yeah," I muttered. "It's all fun and games until you decide I have to choose between you."
"Bah." Leo waved dismissively. "Who needs to make a choice like that? Plenty of folks live in polyamorous relationships."
"By "folk" do you mean it's normal in demon circles?" Blak
e asked, genuine curiosity on his face.
"Demons, normals, paranormals, hippies." Leo smiled.
"Hippies?" I echoed.
"Sure, why not? They're all about free love and all that."
I glanced at Blake who looked amused. "So what will you study?"
Dyson was studying primary education, I was studying high school teaching and Kane was doing science. Matt was a computer science major and a bigger geek than he looked. Luckily, I liked geeks.
"Biomedical engineering," Blake replied. "It's hard for shifters to work with prosthesis because they can't change them along with the rest of their bodies. I was hoping to find a way to do that. Maybe with engineering, maybe with magic."
"You, old boy, might be the biggest geek I have ever met," Leo remarked. In spite of his words, he sounded impressed.
"That's because you haven't met Kane," Dyson said. "He runs geek rings around the rest of us."
"He really does," I agreed. "Although Matt isn't far behind." And has an adorable behind. I sighed, then turned back to Blake. "I'm impressed. That sounds amazing."
"Thanks," he murmured. "We're nearly there."
I glanced out the window. To my surprise we were deep in the city now. The suburbs gave way to…well, higher density suburbs. Those sat side by side with various businesses in a mishmash of styles and states of repair.
"We'll be dropped off at the train and make our way from there." Blake handed out train cards to Dyson and I. When Leo held out his hand, Blake simply looked at it for a moment. "Sorry, old boy, we weren't anticipating you. Besides, aren't you stopping in Sydney?"
"Ahhh, no. I got into some trouble with a couple of Demon Hunters here. It's best I avoid them."
"It's a big city," Corinne remarked.
"I have a big personality," Leo said proudly.
"We've noticed," she agreed. "We're not taking any responsibility for you."
"Great," Leo grinned. "Then no one will mind if I tag along."
"I don't mind," I said.
"Me either," Dyson added.
Blake hesitated. "Fine, but I still don't have a train card for you." He slipped off his Zeta shirt and pulled out a blue one from a bag next to his feet.
Logical Magic (Academy of Modern Magic Book 3) Page 5