by JL Madore
Rhylan helps me back toward the van and Doc helps Keyla. Once we’ve retreated and are back where we started, the intensity of the beacon subsides. We straighten and I draw a deep breath. “Let’s not trigger a warning like that again.”
Keyla chuckles beside me. “Agreed. I think that fried more than a few brain cells.”
“Not to belittle your suffering or rush things,” Hawk says, frowning as he surveys the land, “but how do we get to Travon now? We need weapons.”
“We could fly,” Rhy says, looking over the group. “I could carry two and Calli could probably carry two.”
Keyla shakes her head. “No. Leaving four people behind when heading into a battle is a bad idea.”
“Agreed.” I lay my arm across her shoulders and kiss the side of her head. “All of us or none of us.”
“No man left behind,” Doc says, nodding.
Without portal transportation or flying, I can’t see many options. “We’ll have to do things the old-fashioned way and drive there. Once we hit the fringe lands, maybe we can find some unsavory characters and bribe them for weapons. Then, we hit the badlands.”
Hawk frowns. “What’s the currency of the black market here?”
I grunt. “You’re asking me? I’ve never been to the badlands. I have no idea how things are run. Rhy? You’re from Travon. Do you know anything about your criminal element in the fringe or badlands?”
“Only by reputation. You know when you’re kids and your mother tells you to either stop being a little shit or she’ll sell you to one criminal group or another.”
Keyla frowns and looks at the others before focusing on Rhylan. “No. My parents were bad but even they didn’t do that.”
Lukas is frowning now too. “This isn’t helping. Do we have access to standard currency here?”
“Quadrant credits,” Rhylan says. “Not nearly enough. I’ve got some savings, but Creed’s accounts were frozen the moment Laryssa took over.”
“I really hate that woman,” Brant grunts.
I bark a laugh. “Back of the line, Bear.”
Hawk sighs and looks around. “Does StoneHaven have a ruler?”
Rhylan and I shake our heads. “Not a ruler… but there is a Grand Historian who takes care of the texts.”
He shakes his head. “What about a bank? Do you have banks here? Investment firms? Brokerages? Any financial hub will do.”
Creed nods. “There’s the credit exchange. The finances of the four quadrants are run through them.”
“Good enough,” Hawk says. “Take me there. I’ll see what I can do to get us flush. Surely, with all the things I’ve seen, the financial backbone of your society can’t be all that different from what we’re used to.”
Lukas gets into the driver’s seat and I climb in the front as well. Leaning to the side, I activate the navigation screen in the vehicle while the others climb in the back. When the map on the screen recalibrates and points the way, we get moving.
Hang on, Honor. We’re coming little sister.
Doc
As it turns out, Hawk makes quick work of his visit to the credit exchange. The guy knows business and how to talk money with corporate kings. I’m sure it helps that he has more money than the one-percenters and speaks their language.
“Here, I’ve been assured this should do us.” He hands Creed a small briefcase into the back of the van as he climbs in.
Creed opens things up and the guy’s ebony eyes grow wide. “Holy fuck, did you just rob the exchange?”
The avian’s mouth twitches up in a curt smirk. “No, I leveraged the first contact with the Wolf King of the human realm and took out a personal loan toward establishing a working business relationship.”
“Just like that?” Rhylan asks. “And they sent you off with a case full of credits?”
“Well, that and a promise that when we’ve completed our pressing business, Kotah and I will return with Prince Creed and fill some promises.”
Kotah nods to his mate from the other side of the van. “Understood.”
Creed nods too. “Whatever it takes. If this gets us Honor, I don’t care what you promised them.”
Rhylan lets off a soft curse and shakes his head.
I shift to get a better look at the guy and smile. “What’s with the huff, Dragon?”
“I keep waiting to see behind the curtain. Are you guys for real? Since when do people put themselves on the line for other people with nothing to gain for themselves?”
Genuine confusion rings in his voice and I feel bad for the guy. “A better question would be why don’t the people in your realm care enough about each other to do the same?”
“And it’s not for no reason,” Hawk says. “We are securing Keyla’s future with you and Creed and Doc. It’s the right thing to do, helping to free the realm from a usurper queen bitch who has no right to torture the people of this quadrant. And lastly, we’re establishing access from the Fae realm to our home and want to make sure the people coming through our portal gate aren’t a danger to our world.”
Rhy shakes his head. “Sorry, I hear what you’re saying—and I believe you mean it—but there’s still a part of me waiting for the double-cross.”
Brant arches a brow and chuckles. “Quite the skeptic, Dragon.”
“You learn what you live.”
Keyla offers him a soft smile and reaches over to pat his ankle from where were sitting on the floor of the van. “Then you need to live a little better. It won’t be like that for you, not anymore.”
“Where to next?” Lukas asks.
“Wherever it is, let’s get there,” Brant says. “My ass isn’t enjoying the accommodations.”
Calli laughs. “That’s because Hawk spoils us.”
Brant gives his head a shake and smiles. “Maybe. Still, I’m anxious to get to where we’re going.”
Now it’s Jaxx who is laughing. “That’s because you smell a fight coming.”
He chuckles. “Maybe.”
I’ve known Brant long enough to know there’s no maybe about it. My brother bear loves a solid physical confrontation.
“I wish you people had airplanes,” Hawk says. “What is going to take us days in this can on wheels would take us hours in my helicopter.”
Calli giggles. “What are the odds you can get your Dauphin luxury transport through the gate? It’s too big to fit down the halls of the hub stations.”
“Wait! That’s it!” Creed twists around from the front seat and nods. “We may not be able to use the portal hub station to get to Travon, but the expansion gate might still be an option.”
Rhylan’s lips turn up in a slow grin. “Yeah, that might work. Although, I don’t know that it’s ever transported passengers.”
Hawk lifts his chin, his gaze expectant. “We’re listening. What’s an expansion gate?”
Creed starts punching information into the navigation screen on the front dash. “It’s exactly that. It’s an expanded gate used to transport large items like building materials and conveyances from quadrant to quadrant.”
“And there’s one here in StoneHaven?”
Creed finishes punching things in and the screen blanks out and starts searching through data. “There would have to be. That’s the only way they could’ve gotten the cranes and building machinery here to rebuild after the wars.”
Rylan nods. “I know for a fact they brought construction cranes here from Travon for the restoration.”
“Yes, this area of the realm was destroyed. It took years of restoration to bring it back to what it is today.”
When the screen stops cycling through its searches and a map appears, Creed taps on the closest site. “It’s unorthodox for people to use an expanded gate but it’s worth a try.”
“Well, unorthodox is where we feel most at home,” Jaxx says. “Welcome to our world, Dragon.”
I chuckle at Rhylan’s expression. “True story. Never underestimate how strange things get with the Phoenix Quint as part of
the team.”
Calli grins. “You’re welcome.”
Keyla
Finding the extended gate site is a little challenging as it’s tucked away in an industrial part of the city, but eventually, we find it. Hawk does what Hawk does, and soon enough the ten of us are on our way.
“Your searing beacon isn’t weighing in on this at all, is it?” Doc asks.
I take a moment to access the constant buzz in the back of my mind but there’s no warning there. Since the moment Creed and I locked gazes, it’s been there but usually it’s just a little hum I’ve grown to ignore. “No. Nothing to be alarmed about.”
“That’s good,” Doc says.
“Are you worried about the gate?”
He lifts a muscled shoulder. “Am I the only one who noticed they said no people ever use this as a way to get from point A to point B? Why is that? Why wouldn’t the foreman go through with his building supplies or a driver stay with his machinery?”
“Are you scared, Bear?” Creed grins, obviously finding his reticence amusing. “I said people don’t use the expanded gate, not that they can’t use it. It just doesn’t have the same comfort buffers portal gates do.”
Calli makes a face. “Does that mean it’s going to tingle and burn her skin like our gate does?”
Rylan nods. “Yeah, but not for so long. These bridges have already been established. It’ll be the same feeling but over almost instantly.”
That makes me feel better.
Hawk comes out of the foreman’s office and points to the briefcase in Creed’s hand. “Can I get ten thousand, please?”
Creed frowns. “He’s charging for us to go through? Gate portal technology is free. Access is free.”
Hawk chuckles. “Not today it isn’t. I agreed to one thousand each, and he agreed to look the other way to keep his mouth shut. I think that’s credits well spent.”
I pat Creed’s shoulder and point to the case. “You’ll get used to Hawk spending money on us. It’s best just to let him do his thing.”
Jaxx opens the case and holds it toward Creed. “Our avian likes it when his money paves the way for things he believes in. Don’t let it bother you.”
Creed sorts through the cards bound in stacks and pulls out ten blue ones with gold trim. “Ten thousand it is,” he says, handing them to Hawk. “You got overcharged, but thank you. It means a lot to me that you’re willing to help me get my sister back.”
Hawk winks. “That’s the important part. Money is just money. Family is everything.”
I meet Calli’s gaze, and the two of us melt a little. Hawk has come so far in the past four months. Being part of the Phoenix Quint has truly brought out the best in him.
Hawk doesn’t notice the soft smiles all around him. His focus is solely on paying the foreman and making things happen for us. “All right, that should do it. Ten passengers to portal to Travon. It’s been a pleasure, sir.”
The foreman smiles at the cards in his hand. “No, sir. The pleasure is mine.”
I laugh to myself. No doubt it is.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Rhylan
When we arrive in Travon, I’m flooded with mixed feelings. This quadrant is my home. As kids, Vik and I used to fly with Father to the city and be received like gods. We were the Silverwing dragons.
To be sneaking into the industrial bowels of the city and know I’m not welcome is bad enough. To think that at any moment someone might recognize me, and my shame would infect Creed, Keyla, and Doc is too much.
While Hawk and Lukas speak with the transport master, I keep to the shadows. Slecking hell, I didn’t love the idea of coming back here and now I’m downright hating it.
“What’s wrong?” Creed lays a hand on my shoulder and turns me to face him. “I sense your turmoil. What’s this about?”
Before I answer, Keyla and Dillan join us.
“Are you all right?” Dillan takes my wrist and flips into doctor mode, lifting his watch to start tracking things again.
“I’m fine,” I say, reclaiming my arm.
“Pants on fire,” Keyla says.
I don’t know what she means by that, but see that they aren’t buying it.
“Tell us the truth and trust that we want to help you,” Keyla says.
For some stupid reason, I want to.
Maybe it’s been too long since people genuinely seemed to give a shit about me, or maybe I’m still recovering from being shunned and trying to kill my queen or maybe it’s knowing that Vik knows I’m with Creed and chose to send me off with Laryssa rather than warn me what was coming down.
Whatever the reason, these three people are the only thing I have left. After checking that we’re alone in our conversation I tell them.
I spill my guts about my family disgrace and my mother being claimed by Shadowcaster, and being sold off to Laryssa as the last-ditch effort to salvage some pride in our brood.
“I’m sorry,” I say, rubbing the ache in my chest. “When I claimed Creed, I never thought about how my garbage life would reflect on you. Slecking hell, you’re the royal couple of Dornte and I’m the sludge on the bottom of your shoe.”
“Well, that’s dramatic,” Calli says, blinking. “How about you let us decide what we should be protected from? What happened to you was unfair. You don’t have to bow to your brood alpha to get the approval and respect you deserve. You’re mated to the royal couple of Dornte. You’re the shit now, baby.”
Keyla chuckles. “That’s her way of saying you don’t need them, you have us.”
“That’s what I said,” Calli says, chuckling.
“And as for being recognized and exposing us to the bad stink of your family drama,” Doc says. “Bring it on. Your brood has never seen family drama like we’ve got backing us up.”
“True story,” Calli says, joining us. “Sometimes found family is a shit ton more powerful than blood family. When you grow up without the connections you need, you’re extra protective of them when you find them and make them with others.”
“Well said, kitten,” Jaxx says as he and the others join us. “The best revenge will be for you to show your alpha and your brood that they were holding you back.”
Keyla grins. “You’re better off without them.”
Kotah nods. “And, when we end Laryssa’s claim on the throne, you’ll be mated to the king and queen of the quadrant.”
“And let us tell you from experience,” Brant says grinning. “That’s a sweet place to be.”
I pan my gaze across the warm expressions of the group, who up until this week, were strangers living in another realm.
Can this really be happening?
Can these people be meant to be my refuge?
Yes, they can, Creed says directly into my mind. They are the real deal. It’s crazy and it took a few days for me to wrap my head around it too, but this is our future, Rhy. From now on, it’s the four of us with the quint at our backs.
What about Vik? What do I say to him? How do I explain any of this to my twin?
I can’t tell you that. All I know is you’re right where you need to be. Accept it. Embrace it. And when the dust settles, we’ll figure out a way to make it right with your brother… and we’ll be there for you no matter how that turns out.
Creed sweeps his hand through my hair and brushes the flop of my bangs back to look me in the eyes. Let them see you, Rhy. I promise you won’t regret it.
The meaning behind Creed’s words is poignant. For so long, with my brood mates watching and judging, I’ve put on this hard ass persona to keep up the front.
Self-loathing is like a virus.
When there is an outbreak, it festers and spreads, consuming all the good and healthy things in its path.
I’m tired, Creed. I’m really slecking tired.
Then let us share your burden and we’ll do the same. I truly believe that’s why the universe stepped in. We’re supposed to come together and do what none of us could manage alone.
&
nbsp; Pulling up the hood of the sweatshirt Doc loaned me, I tuck my hair back and out of my face. I feel more than a little exposed, but I suppose that’s the point. I’m letting them see me.
Creed’s mental caress means I’m on the right track and then Keyla moves in and presses a gentle hand on my cheek. “It’s nice to have you with us, Rhy. It might not feel like it at first, but if there’s something we’ve all learned this week, it’s that after the shockwaves subside, we’re better for the explosion of our lives.”
I think about Vikarus and Shadowcaster and everything that happened with the queen. Then I think about Sebastian Whitehouse Senior, Hunter, and how their person poisoned Keyla’s father to put Kotah into office.
Yeah, explosion is about right.
Creed
When Hawk and Lukas are finished with the transport master, they walk us over to where a fleet of trucks and shuttles are lined up for rent. “I opted for two large SUVs over one shuttle,” Hawk says. “That way, if we run into trouble, we’ve got twice as many options.”
“Trouble?” Calli says. “Why on earth would you be expecting trouble?”
They find that amusing and I can only imagine what they faced during Calli’s quest to open the portal rift.
It doesn’t take long for us to divvy up and get into our vehicles. It’s the four of us in our truck and the Phoenix Quint and Lukas in the other.
“Rhy?” I tap the nav screen on the rental and wake it for input. “Any ideas where to start looking for weapons suppliers in the fringe lands?”
He nods. “Take the Mark Six Trail north toward Granite Ridge. There’s a traveling swap meet where you can get anything and everything for the right price.”
I punch in the information and lower the window to lean out and tell Lukas our destination. “Follow close. Two nice trucks driving in the fringe are going to draw attention. Be ready for anything.”
“How long do we have before we need to be on guard?” Jaxx asks, from the back seat.
“A little under two hours based on what the destination information says on my screen.”
Lukas rolls his eyes. “Seriously, Jaguar. Keep it in your pants.”