by JL Madore
We follow Hannah back to where two other FCO officers are tucked behind natural blinds.
“Where are the other two?” Hawk asks. IO teams ride in groups of five.
Griggs stands from his position and Hannah relieves him to keep watch. “Hannaford circled to the west and Watkins treed himself to the east of the compound so he could get a look at what we’re dealing with using his long-range scope.”
“What are we dealing with?” Hawk asks.
“From what we gather, Robbins hit the nail on the head when he wondered about them consolidating the teens. Those three teens that arrived were ushered upstairs into an open loft. Watkins counts eight in total.”
“That’s still one short on the tally,” I say. “Even with one dead and buried, our lucky number is nine.”
“I’m sorry to say Hannaford found another grave on the west end of the clearing. We’re focusing on eight hostages inside that building.”
Two dead. Dammit.
My bear roils inside me and pulls at my tether of control. The growl that rumbles free of my chest is nothing I can control or contain. “I want to fucking rip these people in two.”
Hawk sets his hand against my neck and looks at me straight on. His touch does more than any casual contact should. With the five of us mated to Calli, and Kotah with Jaxx, and Jaxx with Hawk mated as well, our bond grows stronger by the day.
He senses it too. The moment our connection fires, his gaze softens and his posture relaxes a little. “I know how you feel, Bear. First, we rescue the eight. Then you and your bear friends can make ribbons of anyone in there that’s involved.”
“Yeah? You’re giving us free rein?”
He nods. “First we focus on the kids we can save.”
“Agreed.” I check my phone and check on the status of our backup. “The Cavalry is here. Giddy up.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Kotah
“You’re back.” Calli greets me at the door of our suite with a soul-warming hug. The moment her forehead nuzzles into my neck, the power of our mate touch takes hold and the strain of visiting with my parents eases.
Jaxx joins in and wraps us both in his arms, pressing his lips to my throbbing temple. “Other than the obvious state of affairs, how’d it go?”
“There were no battles but enough looks and frowns to let me know that neither of them thinks there’s any hope for the fae realm in my care.”
“I’m sorry, sugar,” Calli says. “But you know what? Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke. They forced you into the position. They can’t then gripe that it’s you that’s there.”
“That’s what I told him,” Keyla says, her and Doc shuffling to pass us where we’re blocking the doorway. “Holy crap, look at this place. It’s exactly how we planned it.”
Jaxx brushes his thumb over my cheek and then eases back. “You had a hand in the remodel too, did you?”
“Most of it,” I say, drawing a deep breath and taking Calli’s hand. “Though the furnishings Hawk and I purchased, I took care of myself.”
The smile that warms Jaxx’s face drains the rest of my stress away.
Calli releases my hand and moves to the refrigerator. “Adahy stopped by and left us a housewarming gift. You up for some pie?”
“We have cookies too,” Keyla says, holding up a covered plate. She pulls one out and takes a big bite. “Chocolate nut. Raven gave them to us on our way out.”
Jaxx launches forward and smacks the cookie from her hand and my mouth drops open.
“What the hell, Jaxx?” Keyla snaps.
Calli takes the plate from Keyla and covers them back up. “Does the palace have a science lab?”
“On lower-level two,” I say. “Why do you ask? What’s gotten into you two?”
Jaxx fills us in on Adahy’s visit and I’m shocked.
“I don’t believe it,” Keyla says, looking even more skeptical than I’m sure I do. Then again, she’s never been as close with Adahy as I am and is closer with Raven. During the past couple of years, while I was away at university, they grew to be friends. “No one is controlling Father. He’s simply a cold, closed-minded male.”
“One way to find out,” Calli says, handing the cookies to Doc. “Take these to the lab and oversee the testing. You know the most about drugs and chemicals of all of us. Don’t let the tech make any calls or leave the room. I don’t want it to get out what we’re doing.”
Doc nods. “I’ll handle it. Maybe Kotah can call down and give the royal okay, so they don’t question it.”
“No need,” Keyla says. “I’m going too. I’ll show you where the labs are and then we’ll prove Raven’s not involved in anything duplicitous.”
I take her hand and nod. “I honestly hope you’re right, but remember what Hawk said. We can only trust us until we know who’s moving behind the scenes against us.”
It’s clear Keyla disagrees, but she squeezes my hand and nods her understanding. “Miss me while I’m gone.”
I chuckle. “I always do.”
Brant
The thing I’ve always loved most about being a FCO Enforcer was knowing I was heading into a fight and feeling the surge of adrenaline kick in. I’ve never been arrogant enough to think myself invincible. But I am cocky enough to know I’ve got better than average odds. Standing behind a screen of trees in the wooded hillside of my wildling territory, nothing fits quite right. I breathe in the loamy moisture of the forest. I see and feel my bear brethren shifting and ambling all around me.
Tonight, the thrill doesn’t take hold.
I don’t want to be here.
At some time during the past three weeks, my priorities shifted. As much as I want to fight the good fight and free these kids. I can’t help thinking I’m not where I should be.
Calli, Kotah, and Jaxx are halfway across the country in a den of vipers and my heart and focus are with them. Wondering about them. Worrying about them.
“Head on a swivel, Bear,” Hawk says. “Don’t you get dead on me.”
I grip the shoulder straps of his Kevlar flack vest and try to anchor myself. “You almost bit it on our last field trip. I don’t want to go through that again.”
Hawk looks like he’s about to say something flippant but stops himself. He leans forward and touches his forehead to mine. “We stick together, mate. You and me. No matter what else happens around us, we’re joined at the hip. I promised Calli we’d both come back to her in one piece. Don’t make a liar out of me.”
I nod and shift to my bear form.
The woods quietly heave with furred bodies weaving through the trees around us. In my wildling form, I stand chest level with my mate. He walks beside me, one hand on my shoulder, and scrubs his fingers through my thick, grizzly fur. “You know, Bear, you’re a hell of a lot more badass than I give you credit for.”
Now he tells me? I lift my snout to him and let off a grunt.
“What’s that? You think I’m even more incredible than you? Thanks, Bear. It’s good of you to finally recognize it.”
Asshole. I grunt again.
He ruffles the side of my furry head and laughs. “All right. Let’s do this.”
With the whistle of a bird call, he signals for everyone to start our approach. Griggs, Hannaford, and Watkins are leading an advanced team focused on the extraction of the teens.
We are in charge of the offense and bad guys.
At least, that’s how it’s supposed to go.
“We’ve got movement in the house,” Hawk whispers, tapping the comm earpiece and waiting until I nod.
My bear brothers drift in and out of the trees around us. We blend well into the natural landscape and our scents fill the night air. Full-dark has fallen and masks our approach. Hannah and Lukas swept the area for warding spells and perimeter alarms. Everything is a go.
I keep my senses on high-alert—hearing, sight, smell…
The breeze changes course and a host of new scents hit the receptors in my nose. They are
n’t wildling scents, and they aren’t natural woods scents… they’re fae. Definitely fae.
Bodies rustle in the underbrush. The movement is faint. I prick my ears and freeze.
Hawk tenses beside me and draws his gun.
“Ambush!”
The woods explode to life as cast-magic lights up the sky above the trees. Lunging into formation, we charge the attacking foes. The trees are a harried mess of clashing bodies.
A brown bear I know tackles a female with purple hair and glowing hands. Lukas takes on two hyenas fighting in tandem.
I let a roar tear from my throat and stand on my back paws. Hawk gives me an appreciative glance and then signals for me to follow him as he cuts through the opposing forces.
After three gallops, I pass him and start mowing over our opponents. He finds he’s more effective in his human form, but I worry about him. Neither human nor hawk is as strong and menacing as he needs to be in situations like this.
The attacking force seems surprised to be facing such strong opposition. Maybe they only knew about team two acting as our scouting party. Maybe they thought they’d be picking off easy targets. Sucks to be them.
I can make out traces of different races as we break through the trees and reach the two-story ranch-style cabin where the teens are being held.
By the long, pointed ears and straggly blond hair, we’ve got drow, the guy with the grotesquely long arms and rippling muscles is a rugaru, then we’ve got the beaked faces of an orc, the green-tinged ugliness of a goblin, and the boxy, no-neck, barrel-body of trolls.
None of that registers as much of a threat.
What has me peeing a little is the eight-foot caribou man standing on the front lawn with his eyes glowing silver.
Hawk raises the sight of his gun and braces his arms. He jogs out, arms poised. “Why are you here, Forest Lord? Are you bound to these men? Are they bound to you?”
Cue the cackle of evil laughter.
I cringe. “What business is it of yours?”
“What business is this of yours? We two are Guardians of the Phoenix. These men are involved in a plot to stop us from opening the portal gate. I would think you’d want to reunite with your kind.”
“You know neither my mind nor my heart’s desire, wildling. If you did, you wouldn’t be so calm.” He lifts the horn hanging around his neck and presses it to his lips.
Hawk unloads his gun, first shooting the Forest Lord and then ricocheting bullets off his enchanted dog whistle. The bullets hit their target but bounce off without effect.
The echo of something unholy rents the air and I feel more than hear the rabid snarls of the dire hounds as they are drawn from the annals of hell. Shadows pull from the ground and form demon dogs that take physical form. They flank their master, their eyes glowing red, their fangs dripping with frothy saliva.
For a moment time freezes and my mind spins into fast forward. My heart quits beating and stalls out in my chest. Hawk is too close. If those hounds launch into an attack, I’ll never get in front of him fast enough to shield him.
Panic spikes through my veins and Hawk’s comment from the plane rings in my head. “More to love is more to lose.”
Except, I won’t entertain the idea of losing Hawk. Jaxx is right. The five of us are becoming a family. Five. Of. Us. Hawk can’t be taken down by a giant antler freak. I can’t allow that.
I suck in a breath and the world flips back into real-time.
I call on the strength in my muscles, the strength of my will, and the strength in my belief that the five of us have more destiny in front of us.
My roar shakes the trees around me and I launch forward.
I don’t go for Hawk or the hounds, I go for the source of power. I bolt straight at the Forest Lord himself. Several of my ursine kin see my plan and join the attack.
In one of those slow-motion moments in life, both sides assessed the other. I see the Forest Lord for the ultimate power he is and he sees that I don’t expect to win this battle… but I will do enough damage that the bears who come after me will finish my fight.
The freak’s crooked sneer slips from his face as I sweep his leg and take him to the ground. The hounds attack and the daggers of their fangs rip through my thick pelt.
The sharp bang of Hawk’s gun going off does nothing to slow the attack. The hounds are made of shadows and vapor. Bullets won’t get them off my back.
Fae roar in the woods all around us.
Foul magic, wild and tainted with dark energy sears my body like a swarm of hellwasps stinging me all at once. I curse myself for manifesting that idea.
Hawk yells something and a glowing sword appears in his hand. He’s got Lukas’s magic in his blood from the transfusion and he uses it to swipe at the shadow beasts tearing at me.
The Forest Lord bellows beneath me and I almost lose my hold. Another bear’s jaw closes on the antler man’s wrist. He writhes, impaling my kin on his sharp, ivory horns. The tine breaks off in the bear’s throat and his body convulses until it falls still. I roar as my vision fades.
I’m not afraid of dying but I cannot stand the thought of another dying in my place. For a moment, my sight fails me and I’m all sensation and instinct. The snap of bone and a burst of blood in my mouth gives me strength.
You might not die, motherfucker, but you won’t kill what’s mine either.
I wanted none of this Guardian. This is not my choice. The Forest Lord’s words invade my cranium a split-second before he vanishes from beneath me. The magic from his portal tingles in my nose and I gag.
The sudden loss of tension beneath me makes me stumble off balance. My body sags, blood gushing from the wounds on my back and shoulders. The dire hounds are gone… their summoning lost when the Forest Lord fled.
A booming battle cry roars through the clearing, and the sounds of violence are replaced by heaving breath, pained growls, and baleful howls.
“Brant, shitshitshit.” Hawk is there, grabbing at me with bloody hands. “Lukas! I need you. Don’t you die on me, Bear.”
Die? Am I dying?
“He needs a healing sleep,” one of my kin says.
Fuck that. I need to stay sharp and find out about the teens.
“Hibernate, Bear,” Hawk says, looking ill. “Sink into a healing sleep.”
I strain my neck and let off a grunt.
Lukas rushes in from behind me and curses. He drops on the grass beside me and starts spouting off shit about bleeding out. Um, hello . . . sitting right here.
More cursing.
Hawk frowns and grips my cheeks with both hands, making eye-contact. His eyes are glowing with the full ascension of his alpha. “As your alpha mate, I command you to hibernate. Sink into full, healing sleep.”
I don’t get the option to argue. My bear recognizes Hawk’s power and there’s no fighting biology.
I close my eyes and give up my struggles.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Hawk
A knock at the stateroom door brings Lukas into the room with a tray of food. I sit up on the birthed mattress and scrub my hands over my face. “What time is it?”
“One o’clock.”
I frown, my mind weighted under a wet, wool blanket of fog. “In the morning or afternoon?”
“Afternoon. We’ll be landing soon. Eat and have a shower. I’ll sit with him.”
“I need to piss but other than that, I’ll stay. He’s better when I’m touching him. It’s a bonding thing. It comforts him… all of us, actually.”
Lukas offers me a sad smile. “He’ll pull through. He’s too stubborn not to.”
I nod and roll toward the small lavatory at the back of my plane. The moment I stand, gravity makes things more urgent and I hustle to get to where I’m going. “How are the teens?”
“Happy to be reunited. The twelve of them will spend the next few days in the care and protection of the bears and Griggs’s team. Then, once you’ve spoken to Fiske, we’ll make the arrangements to reinsert
them into their lives with protected identities.”
“Once we get Brant to the palace, I’d like you to fly back and go through the debriefing with them personally. I’d prefer to do it myself, but I can’t.” I shake off, get things put away, and wash up.
“I’ll take care of it.”
I collapse more than climb back onto the mattress. “Thank you, Lukas,” I say, studying the dark circles under his eyes. “I know I ask too much of you.”
He waves that off. “I’m more than your right-hand man, Barron. I’m your friend. And I’m also a concerned member of the fae community who wants to see things work out. If we have to double or triple the workload until Calli gets the gate open, that’s what we’ll do… but it’ll happen.”
I prop myself up against the wall of the plane and shift my legs until they bump up against the rounded spine of my bear. He’s been out cold since I commanded him to rest. It took over an hour and six bears taking turns lifting him, to get him out of the woods and back to the trucks, but his kin never complained and never let up. “You’ll feel better, soon, Bear. I promise. Calli will take care of everything.”
I hate to keep falling back on Calli healing us back from the brink, but she is—by far—Brant’s best chance of survival.
I know I should call her and give her a head’s up, but she’ll go stir crazy and there’s nothing to be done until we get there. When we’re preparing for landing, I’ll make the call to Jaxx and let them know we’re coming.
Why have all of us sick with worry?
I set the tray over my lap and try not to think about the worst-case scenarios tripping around in my head. He’ll be fine. I have to believe that.
“Barron, eat. You’re no good to anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.”
I make a concerted effort to focus on the truth of that. There are two sandwiches on the tray, one of them is turkey with cranberry and brie, and the other is a roast beef dip with caramelized onions and provolone. My stomach lets off a wild roar of appreciation and I dig in.