by A. C. James
“If you don’t mind my asking,” Tomas said nervously. “What exactly do you do?”
The question sent Craig and Sage into peals of laughter.
Maelíosa crossed her arms over her chest. “This isn’t a joke. What’re you doing in London?”
“I work for M16,” Craig said.
“Like the secret service?” Maelíosa had heard it described like that, but didn’t really know anything about it.
Craig chuckled. “Turns out the limeys were watching me on a couple’o SEAL missions and liked my fancy footwork.”
Her eyes widened.
Then Craig clapped Sage on the back. “Did I ever tell you, this one saved my ass one time?”
“You didn’t,” Tomas said.
Maelíosa sighed, and tried to sound like she knew what she was talking about. “And the weapons? What do you have on hand? Small guns? Ammo?”
Craig grinned at Maelíosa with crooked teeth that were somehow still perfectly white. “Nope. Better than that.” He jerked his head to the side. “Why don’t y’all come with me and we can check out the armory?”
Niall raised an eyebrow at Maelíosa as they followed Craig and Sage down the hall, Tomas and Kieran skittering behind them.
“We’ve got an armoury, too,” Niall said. “But ours is full of mostly large weapons, the kind that we couldn’t carry alone.”
“High firepower, gotcha,” Craig said.
He wiped his hands on his jeans and then pressed a button on the wall that Maelíosa hadn’t even noticed.
“Well, I got some of that shit, too. But this is mostly the kinda stuff y’all want right now.”
A panel in the wall slid open, and Maelíosa gasped. In front of her was a deadly array of weapons and other, less identifiable items. There were lots of guns and what looked like grenades, as well as larger explosives.
Craig turned back to the group. “Y’all take whatever you need. Your boy here saved my life, so I need to return that favor.” He punched Sage hard in the arm. “You hear me?”
Sage chuckled.
“Thank you. This is...well, it’s a lot,” Maelíosa said. She frowned, reaching forward and picking up a black plastic rectangle. “What’s this?”
“That’s a walkie-talkie,” Sage said. “It’s kinda like...um...well, like a telephone, but you can only use it within a certain range of whoever you’re speaking with.”
He held up the rectangle to his face and clicked the button. Maelíosa jumped at the sound of static.
“Testing, one, two, three,” Sage said into the mouthpiece.
“I copy,” Craig said. He stepped out from the shadows, holding an identical walkie-talkie.
Maelíosa glanced at Niall. “And this is reliable?”
“Sure is! We humans have some great shit, don’t we?” Craig elbowed Sage, and the two burst into laughter.
Maelíosa smirked. Boys and their toys. “I’m not sure I’d agree with that.”
She didn’t understand how something that looked so fragile could be used by top-level military personnel like Craig and Sage. She watched as Sage loaded up a camo-printed bag with explosives and enough walkie-talkies for the whole group. An odd kind of pride passed over her— Maelíosa had to admit that, aside from being totally turned on by the way he’d taken charge, she’d always known she couldn’t end up with anyone who was less of a badass.
Sage hauled the bag onto his shoulder and turned to the group. “We should come up with a plan. Let’s go back to the kitchen and talk. Craig, can you pull up satellite on a certain locale for me?”
“Yeah, man,” Craig said with a wolfish grin. He grabbed a laptop and brought it into the kitchen. “I’ll make some food for the road.”
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, they’d come up with a plan. Craig had traced the OH headquarters to outside of London, in a slightly more rural area. Sage knew that’s where they must be holding Cyn. The place matched the description of where Fallon had been dropped off—rural and remote. That’d make a good place to hold someone captive.
“We’ve been watching these assholes for a while,” Craig said. “But since they never actually broke the damn law, we couldn’t do anything. Well, not until now anyway.”
Sage turned toward his friend. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, they kidnapped someone,” Craig said, grinning. “Now we get to smoke ‘em out. The government can shut that shit down, as soon as we rescue your girl. MI5 didn’t have anything on ‘em before, but we do now, don’t we?”
Sage nodded. “Fuckin A. We’re taking those bastards down.”
MAELÍOSA SHIFTED FROM one foot to the other. She was weary waiting outside OH headquarters. They’d all grabbed weapons from Craig’s house, they’d borrowed one of his cars—a sleek, fast-moving thing Sage had driven at a terrifying speed to the outskirts of London. Sage was able to track the location using some kind of plastic device that beeped every few seconds. It was incredible to watch him in action—Maelíosa had never been so proud in her life.
They’d found Fallon lurking outside. He’d been frantic with worry over Cyn and dirty from travel, but Maelíosa was reassured to see her father alive and in one piece.
“I’m not meeting up with them until tomorrow,” Fallon whispered loudly. “But I thought I’d hang around outside and see what those arseholes are up to.”
“I’m just glad we found you...”
He shook his head. His fingers had curled into a fist. “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to make that man regret the day he was ever born.”
Maelíosa blinked.
“Sounds like a plan,” she whispered back. “Sage and his mate told us that these men might be extremely unstable. We need to be cautious. Do you trust him?”
Fallon closed his eyes and nodded. “I do.”
Sage strode out from behind some bushes. He’d circled the perimeter to get a better look while they’d been watching the place.
“Here’s the plan,” he said roughly. “In a few minutes, when they change security, that’s when we’ll attack. They won’t be expecting anything—Fallon’s not supposed to meet with them until later tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me, mate,” Niall said.
Fallon, Kieran, and Tomas were exchanging looks and nodding in agreement.
He glanced at Maelíosa. “You okay with that, baby?”
Maelíosa flushed. Her heart was pounding from the adrenaline. This might be their only chance to rescue Cyn. She nodded fervently.
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
Sage pointed to a dark corner by the front door. “You wait here. When everyone’s in position, we’ll confirm on the walkie.”
He shoved one of the hard plastic boxes into Maelíosa’s hand. “Just press on the button and say ‘over’ when you’re done, you got that?”
Maelíosa nodded. “Aye.”
SAGE GRABBED HER AND pulled her close. Maelíosa blushed, knowing that Fallon was right there, but part of her didn’t care. As their lips met, she closed her eyes and tilted her face up. Love flowed through her, stronger than any sensation she could have ever imagined. It was different, somehow—as though she was more complete just from being with Sage.
“Be careful,” Sage whispered loudly.
“I will, love,” she said.
He kissed Maelíosa again on the forehead, and then he was off, darting into the darkness like a wild animal.
Maelíosa leaned against the wall of the house. Try as she might, she couldn’t hear a damn thing from the inside. Her heart was hammering inside her chest, and she tried to focus on the mission. This would all be over soon. She gripped the walkie-talkie with a sweaty fist and grinned into the darkness. And then we’ll be on one of those planes again, flying back home. She’d never leave the Realm again, if she could help it.
The walkie-talkie volume was low, but she could hear the static crackling over the speaker as everyone informed Sage they were in position. All she had to do was wait for a light to turn on inside
, and then press the bloody button and tell Sage she was good to go.
Maelíosa strained, holding her breath as the seconds ticked by. Come on, come on. Hurry your arse up already and change guards! Finally, after an eon of waiting, a yellow light flickered in a downstairs window of the house. Anxiety and panic rose in her throat but she didn’t even tremble. Lifting up the walkie-talkie to her mouth, Maelíosa pressed the button.
“I’m ready.”
There was no answer. Frowning, Maelíosa lifted the device to her ear. Suddenly, the back of her neck went cold as she realized the static was no longer sounding through the speakers. It’s gone dead. She fisted the useless piece of plastic. It’s gone dead! She shook it in her hand, hearing a tinny kind of rattle from inside the device. Maelíosa pressed the button again and lifted the walkie-talkie to her lips. Still, there was nothing.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
From inside the house there was a loud noise, and the yellow light in the window flickered. Then there was a sound behind her. As she turned, something smashed down on her head, and everything went black.
Episode 12
Chapter One
Maelíosa struggled to open her eyes, but the intense pain in her head weighed her down. She frowned—this wasn’t right, it didn’t feel like her big, comfortable bed. Her mouth was dry and tasted coppery, like she’d been bleeding. It took her a moment to realise that her hands were asleep. And somehow she wasn’t able to lift them from her sides.
Her eyes flew open. She was in a dark, dimly lit room that smelled dank. She discovered with relief that she was still dressed. Thank fuck for small favours. Maelíosa swore that when she got her hands on the arsehole who’d knocked her out, she was going to bash his head with a brick. See how much he liked it.
Everything came rushing back to her: Cyn’s kidnapping, Fallon going ballistic and chasing after her. Maelíosa, Sage, Kieran, Tomas, and Niall all chasing after him. And then those stupid communication portals made of plastic. Bloody human devices—they never worked right. The plan had gone arseways, that was for sure. Some chancer knocked her over the head and hauled her here, and now they’d have to find and rescue two instead of one. Bloody brilliant! She laughed out loud.
“All right?”
Maelíosa’s head snapped up. It was difficult, but she managed to turn sideways. Her whole body ached, pins and needles shooting up her arms and legs. She blinked. “Cyn?”
The room was poorly lit, but if she wasn’t mistaken, Cyn was sitting in a chair next to her.
Cyn chuckled. “You’ve been out for ages. I expect you’ve come to save me and all that rubbish?”
“We tried. Fat lot of good it did you. I’m really not sure what happened. I was waiting outside for a chance to sneak in, and then my...” She struggled to remember the name of the blasted human technology which had failed her brilliantly at the last moment. “My walkie-walkie broke. But I’m not sure how the damn thing even worked to begin with.”
Cyn snickered. “You mean a walkie-talkie.”
There was an awkward beat of silence.
“And this is just grand, isn’t it?” Cyn cracked a wry grin. “The one person who hates me is here to save my bloody guts!”
Maelíosa sighed and tried in vain to pull her hands free from the ropes around her wrists. “I don’t hate you. This wasn’t supposed to happen. We had a plan...all of us. And something went terribly wrong.”
The taste of fear in her mouth grew stronger. Of course, she was happy Cyn was alive and well (aside from being cuffed to a chair), but she was worried about Sage. Her mare didn’t like being separated from her mate any more than she liked being tied up. Sage was a bloody SEAL—he should be fine—but she couldn’t shake the idea that something bad was about to happen. After all, she’d been caught unaware with a strong blow to the head. What if their plan had completely failed, and those Only Human arseholes killed Sage and all of the rest of them? Her heart contracted as if it were squeezed in a vice—she couldn’t handle losing her mate, her father, her brother, and two of her dearest friends all at once. If this whole thing fell apart...
Cyn coughed. “I don’t know how long I’ve been down here. It feels like ages. And these bloody gits upstairs are hell-bent on killing Fallon and destroying the clan.”
“I’d like to see them try,” Maelíosa said, deliberately making her voice stronger. Even if she didn’t feel particularly strong, she’d never let on, not to Cyn, or to those fucking cowards.
“I think they already have,” Cyn said.
“They don’t know who they’ve picked a fight with. Our lot will argue and fight with one another, but watch ’em come at us, and see them all unite.” Maelíosa shook her head. “And Fallon is the strongest of them all.”
Cyn chuckled. “I know. And I can’t believe he let you all come with him!”
Maelíosa licked her lips. They were already cracked and dry, a sure sign of dehydration. Though her mare was prancing around her, she could tell that they were both in need of water and eventually food. The basement had a sour, acrid smell—part urine, part stale sweat. Maelíosa shuddered at the thought of how they’d been treating Cyn. She hoped like hell that Cyn had kept quiet about her condition.
“Truth is,” Maelíosa said after a pause, “he didn’t let us come. He took off after he announced that you’d been taken, and refused our help because he didn’t want to risk your safety. They told him they’d kill you if he didn’t come alone.”
Cyn gasped.
“Of course, that’s Da’s way. I knew his stubborn arse wouldn’t give two licks what we had to say.” She sighed heavily.
Cyn laughed. “I bet.” She grew quiet for a moment, and then sighed. “And what, you lot were forced to track him?”
Maelíosa could practically hear the smile in Cyn’s voice, her exasperated pride over what her mate had done, even though she couldn’t make out her features very well.
“Aye. And Sage used his military knowledge to figure out where they were holding you. We met up with Fallon before he stormed the place on his own. He was prowling around, waiting for a chance to sneak in.” Maelíosa snorted. “You should’ve seen him. It was something else. He had a spear and a crossbow. Can’t tell you the last time he’s actually had to use one, but mind you, that didn’t stop him.”
“A crossbow? Blimey. He wasn’t bleeding kidding, was he?”
Maelíosa’s throat tightened. “Not at all.”
“Maelíosa, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that Nathan would kidnap me like this... Thing is, I’d just gotten out of a meeting with my agent. Nathan called, said he wanted to apologise. I actually fell for it! Can you believe that bollocks?” Cyn shook her head in the semi-dark. “And as soon as I was on my way there, some arsehole grabbed me and threw me in a van.”
A lump formed in her throat. Maelíosa wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting—some kind of a small operation? A group with a few radicals and a dangerous mission? These people were deadly, and organised. They’d clearly been holding Cyn for a reason. Her mare whinnied uneasily, and Maelíosa shifted against the bonds holding her to the chair.
“You know this isn’t your fault. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Besides...” Maelíosa said, drawing herself up as tall as she could against the ropes.
“It’s no use. I already tried squeezing out of these cuffs.”
“You’re breeding with a new babby. My wee little brother or sister.” Maelíosa whispered. “And that’s definitely a reason to get us out of here. We need to make sure the wee one is—”
“Shut it,” Cyn hissed. “I don’t want them knowing—”
“Why’dyou think I’m whispering?” Maelíosa hissed back at her.
Suddenly there was movement at the top of the stairs, and a man appeared. Maelíosa held her breath as a portly, middle-aged bloke tottered down the steps.
“Cyn,” the man cooed. “Cyn, I had no idea! Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nausea bubbled up inside of Maelíos
a until she thought she’d be sick. What had she done? And how long had he watched and listened to them, creeping in the darkness? The man walked toward them, and for a moment she was afraid he’d turn on her. But what made her even sicker was that he ignored her completely. It was like Cyn was the only person in the room.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Nathan,” Cyn said in a strangled voice. “I haven’t kept anything from you.”
Even though Cyn was one of the strongest women Maelíosa had ever known, she could tell that her stepmother was inches away from tears.
“I didn’t know you were pregnant,” Nathan said.
Nathan put a hand on Cyn’s shoulder. Maelíosa cringed—if she wasn’t roped to a chair, she’d have knocked him out. But Cyn shrugged off his unwanted touch. She had to admit her stepmother could handle the prick on her own.
Nathan backed away, withdrawing his hand. “If I’d known...”
Cyn laughed bitterly. “Like it would’ve made a bloody difference. Nathan, you don’t give a fuck about my safety. If you really cared about me, you wouldn’t have let those arseholes chuck me in the back of a van.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know,” Nathan cried, seemingly oblivious to her words.
“Nathan, shut it. You did know, or you should have known, what was right. But we both know it wouldn’t have made a bloody difference. You’re so hell-bent on hurting Fallon you nicked me up off the streets anyway!”
Nathan paled, his chest heaving. “Cyn, please... I love you.”
He sounded bloody pathetic. Maelíosa didn’t know why he thought Cyn being pregnant would change anything. His actions were crazy no matter how you spelled it out. There was something seriously wrong with him if he couldn’t see that, and it kind of scared Maelíosa.
Cyn twisted away from Nathan in her chair. “I don’t believe that.”
“You need to let us go, Nathan. And we’ll think about going easy on you,” Maelíosa said sharply.
He completely ignored her. The greasy, unkempt man stared at Cyn; his eyes were pleading and hungry. Maelíosa realised with growing horror that he was obsessed with her stepmother. Maybe they could use that to their advantage, but it could also be a huge obstacle to them getting out of there alive.