by Olivia Ash
“Okay!” a blonde woman says, lifting her hands in the air. “Okay, yes, it’s—it’s over here…”
“Get it,” I snap, gesturing for her to get on with it.
She fumbles with a key ring in her pocket. Hands shaking, she finally manages to find the one she’s looking for and slides it into the lock on a small cabinet in the wall. As she opens it, steam rolls out, hitting the floor like dry ice.
Carefully, she lifts a vial of green liquid. “This is what you want, right?”
“Hand it over,” I demand.
She obliges me, and as her fingers brush my open hand, she trembles harder.
“This will cure her?” I ask, lifting the vial.
“Yes,” the woman insists, shaking violently in fear.
“If it doesn’t, you know I’m going to hunt you down, right?”
It’s a lie. I just want to know it’s real.
She nods, eyes wide, quivering and unable to speak. Unless she’s the most brilliant actress in the world, this truly is some random scientist in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“All right, back to work,” I say, gesturing with my gun to the vials and steaming beakers around us. “And thanks for your help.”
I step into the hall and slip the vial in my pocket as the door closes behind me. The emergency deadbolt engages behind us, locking out anyone who might try to force their way into the tunnels after us.
Jace pinches the brim of his nose, eyes squeezed shut in frustration.
“What?” I ask, handing the gun back to Tucker. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“Let’s just go,” Jace says, gesturing down the hallway.
“That was hot,” Tucker says quietly, nudging me with his elbow as he races ahead of me to scout the corridors with Jace.
I grin. At least Tucker gets me.
We race through the halls toward our exit point. Every step brings us closer to freedom. Every second brings us ever closer to healing Irena and putting this whole mess behind us.
Very soon, the Vaer won’t have any leverage on me anymore—and that’s going to be so incredibly liberating.
But it all hinges on this—the exit.
Possibly the hardest part.
Getting away from a military compound without being noticed—it feels next to impossible.
But if anyone can do it, it’s us.
We round the bend, and a rush of fresh air rolls over us as the massive double doors at the far end slowly open.
“I just opened all of the exits in the tunnels,” Drew says through the com in my ear. “Just to throw them off. That should leave them scrambling just long enough for us to get away.”
“You’re the best,” I chime into the comm.
“Yeah,” he says, and I can hear that cocky smirk in his voice.
All of us pick up the pace, running a little faster, excited to be done.
“Guys!” Drew says through the comm. “Lookout—”
“Jace, wait!” Tucker grabs the shifter’s shirt and yanks him backward just as a hail of gunfire rips through the dark tunnel from another corridor.
As the storm of bullets slashes through the tunnel, the three of us take cover along the wall. Jace sets his hand against his abdomen, clearly unsettled, and looks at Tucker in astonishment.
“You—you saved my life,” he says, as if utterly shocked by the concept.
“Well, yeah,” Tucker says, shrugging as he cocks his rifle. “You’re a jackass sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I want you dead. Plus, she kind of likes you,” he adds with a nod toward me. “So, you get extra Tucker-saves-the-day points, I guess.”
With that, he aims his rifle down the adjacent corridor and opens fire. The grunt of men taking bullets fills the air, and several thuds hit the concrete floor.
After only a moment’s pause, Jace joins the gunfight, and together the two of them make short work of the opposing forces.
As I guard Irena’s gurney, one hand on my bleeding chest, I’m kind of jealous. I’m used to being in on the fun.
Injuries suck.
But as I look down at my sister’s unconscious body, I’m filled with too much gratitude to care if I miss out on a firefight. At least she’s safe.
Ish.
“Looks clear,” Drew says through the comm. “I’m going to bail. Meet you guys back at the embassy. Keep me posted on your locations.”
“Roger,” Jace says, his tone crisp and militant again. “Tucker, take us out.”
“Oh, so you like me now?” Tucker says with a grin.
“For the moment.” Jace laughs. “Don’t push your luck.”
As we run into the night, the chop of helicopter blades slicing through the air captures my attention. A short distance away, two helicopters wait for us.
“Wait, why are there two of them?” I ask, brow pinched in confusion.
“I called the second one,” Jace says with a shrug. “It’s good to have a decoy, so they don’t know which one has Irena.”
“Bullshit,” Tucker says with a curt laugh. “You have the second one in case I failed to come through.”
“Yeah,” Jace says, grinning, his lie exposed.
Through the com in my ear, Drew chuckles.
Two women I’ve never seen before jump out of the first helicopter, hunching to avoid the whirring chopper blade as they race toward the gurney. They slide it out of my hands, easing it toward the helicopter with practiced grace.
I don’t want to let go.
If I wasn’t so weak from the bullet wound, I might not have.
One of the women scans my shoulder and frowns. Without a word, she yanks a small flashlight from her pocket and flashes it in front of my eyes, as if she’s checking for something.
I wince in the sudden light. “Hey, what—”
“Sir, she needs medical attention!” the woman shouts at him over the loud whir of the helicopter. “The gunshot—”
“I know!” he shouts back. “We’re heading back to my medical bay. Focus on the girl!” He nods toward Irena’s gurney as the first woman locks it in place for the flight.
“Get her help immediately, then!” the woman warns, wagging her finger at him.
He nods, and she jogs back toward the chopper.
My heart twists, and a possessive impulse warns me to rip the gurney from their hands.
I just got my sister back—and now I already have to give her up?
My hands flex and stretch as I try to steel myself. This is the way it’s supposed to go. They’re professionals. They can help her.
I can’t.
“Wait! Here,” I say to the woman who just checked me, handing her the green vial from my pocket. “Do not lose this.”
She nods and smiles reassuringly at me.
With that, they slide the doors closed, and the helicopters slowly begin to lift into the air. I hurry backward to give them space as they take off in unison.
And there goes my sister.
I hope we can get her the help she needs before it’s too late.
And there it is again—hope. I’ve done all I can do. Now, yet again, I have to wait. I have to trust. I have to relinquish control.
It’s more agonizing than any bullet wound.
“I’m out of the facility,” Drew says through the com. “Are you guys clear, yet?”
“Almost,” I reply.
“Wait, where’s our ride?” Tucker asks as the helicopters speed off in different directions.
Ah, right. There’s a reason I didn’t tell Tucker this part.
At that, Jace smirks. His body shimmers, and I quickly step back as he begins to shift.
“Oh, hell no.” Tucker says, shaking his head as he joins me. “You don’t seriously expect me to let him carry me off like some damsel from a tower!”
As Jace’s form grows, he stretches his massive wings, his beautiful black scales shimmering in the moonlight. He opens his glowing blue eyes, digging his claws into the dirt, ready to fly.
With a f
ew huffing breaths—dragon laughter—he grabs me and Tucker and bolts into the night, as silent and undetectable as a shadow.
“You’re an asshooooole!” Tucker shouts up at the dragon carrying us off.
As the final shreds of adrenaline start to dissolve within me, I laugh. All I can feel is grateful—that we’re out, that Irena’s safe, and that I have such wonderful, ridiculous men in my life.
Even with a bullet in my chest, I’m pretty damn lucky.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“You’re sure?” I say, leaning forward in my seat as I rest my elbows on my knees. “You’re absolutely sure?”
Jace and I sit together in a hospital ward. Across from us, Irena lays in her new hospital bed—one that actually looks comfortable, thank goodness. A half dozen monitors beep and buzz around her, reporting just about every known vital sign.
As I move, however, the wound in my chest stings. I grimace, holding my hand over the bandages beneath my shirt. Jace sets a hand on my shoulder, watching me with a concerned expression, but I smile reassuringly at him.
I’m fine, really. I just need to move a little slower for a few days, that’s all.
Thanks to the magic in my core, I’m already healing far faster than I would be without it—give me a few days, and all I’ll have is a scar.
“The vial you, uh, procured,” he says with an eye roll, “is responding well in the experiments they’re running on her blood samples. So far, so good.”
Wow.
We actually did it.
The real antidote.
I sigh with relief, setting my head in my hands as I let that sink in. Part of me was terrified that it was all a trick, that there wasn’t even an antidote to begin with, that it was yet another lie the Vaer tried to stuff down my throat.
But it’s real. And Irena’s going to get better.
“How long?” I stand and walk to her side, leaning on the thin railing of her new gurney as I watch her face. She already looks better. Her skin has some color to it, now, and her pulse is normal.
Jace stands and slips his hands in his pockets. “How long until she wakes up? We think we have about a week or two.”
I frown. “A week?”
“Or two,” he says again, no doubt trying to help me manage my expectations. “This antidote is designed for dragons, Rory. Not humans.”
Ah, damn it. I knew there was a catch.
“It’s okay,” he says. “Because the tests are positive, it looks like she’ll be able to take it. We just have to give it to her in smaller doses. That’s why it’ll take so long.”
I nod, understanding the doctor’s caution even though I wish he would hurry the hell up.
We stand together in silence for a moment, watching Irena breathe. After so long without her, I almost can’t believe she’s really here.
“Back in the compound,” Jace says suddenly, jarring me from my thoughts. “When you killed Ian…”
I lift my gaze to meet his, wondering where he’s taking this.
“I’ve never seen your magic react like that,” Jace eventually says. “It was greater than any dragon I’ve ever seen, and to your credit, you kept fairly decent control.”
“I guess I can handle being ‘fairly decent,’” I say with a chuckle. “Thanks, I guess.”
I smirk, wondering why compliments are so hard for this guy.
“Your magic is getting stronger, Rory,” he says firmly. “And that means it’s going to fight to control you. This will only get more difficult.”
“I can handle it.”
He smirks. “I know.”
We let the conversation fade again, and I cross my arms as my thoughts race back to the Vaer facility, back to the near-death experiences, back to burning away Ian into white dust.
“Thank you,” I say softly, taking a deep breath as I smile warmly at him. “You really came through.”
He nods. “In the end, I would do just about anything for you, Rory.” The corners of his mouth tilt upward, and he watches my face with guarded affection. “You know that.”
As I sit on the edge of a cliff overlooking the embassy, I sigh a happy sigh and lean back on my palms. My feet kick over the abyss as I watch Levi soar through the air, spinning, making the mists dance for me.
He pauses, grinning at me, and dives back into the white fog.
I smile. Goofball.
“Hey, babe,” Tucker says, planting a kiss on my cheek as he sits beside me.
“You look chipper,” I say with a grin.
“Jace doesn’t want to kill me anymore,” he says with a lazy shrug. “It puts a spring in your step, I won’t lie.”
I chuckle.
“Are we brooding?” Drew asks from behind us.
The massive shifter joins us and sits beside me, hugging one knee to his chest as he lets the other dangle over the cliff.
“I think we’re watching Levi show off,” Tucker says with a grin. “But yeah, she might be brooding.”
“Hey.” I lightly smack him in the arm.
Drew wraps an arm around my shoulder and playfully kisses the side of my head. We stare out at the mists, letting our minds wander in the silence.
The Vaer still have one last piece of leverage over me—they know I’m a Spectre. They could reveal this to the world at any point, and it could ruin everything. So far, however, they’ve chosen not to—and I wonder if that’s because they want me alive.
To make matters worse, Zurie is after me and desperate enough to make alliances with the Knights. So even if the Vaer don’t reveal my secret, there’s a good chance the Knights will.
How fun.
None of that matters, though—I have bigger fish to fry. The bosses want to meet with me, and I need to figure out a way to bring Levi back from the brink—before I lose him forever.
But I’m not alone anymore.
My magic gets stronger every day, and there’s no telling what my limits really are. With Tucker, Jace, and Drew at my side, I can do anything.
And if I can truly get my sister back, I’ll be utterly unstoppable—as long as she isn’t the one who betrayed me to the Vaer in the first place.
I frown, unwilling to believe it. But soon—very soon—I’ll be able to ask her myself.
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OLIVIA ASH
Olivia Ash spends her time dreaming up the perfect men to challenge, love, and protect her strong heroines (who actually don’t need protecting at all). Her stories are meant to take you on a journey into the world of the characters and make you want to stay there.
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