by Lila Jean
“In theory.” Tina crossed her arms, not convinced. “But these people who are trying to frame me don’t have Ray anymore. They don’t have direct access to my exact location anymore.” She shrugged. “Sure, they probably know I’m here, but they also know they can’t touch me as long as I’m in Epara.”
“So you think they’re trying to draw you out.” Flynn sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing his temples in frustration. “You think this is a trap.”
“I do.” Tina nodded. “I really do. Whoever these people are, they want me, and they want me bad.”
“We have a choice,” Anthony said, voice tense and dark. “We go after the diplomats, who will probably die within days, if not sooner, and continue to make Tina’s public image spiral, or we save them.” He squared his shoulders.
“We save them,” Tina said softly, arms crossed as she stared at the first monitor, part of her wishing she could read Spanish so she could obsess over every little detail of the message. “We save the diplomats. We bring them home. We prove everyone wrong, but we do it carefully. My gut tells me this is a trap, but if we go in with a plan, we’ll all walk out alive and better off for it.”
“Agreed.” Flynn and Anthony said in unison.
“An escape plan, huh?” Zane rubbed his chin, a playful grin spreading across his face as he stared at the first monitor, his eyes a bit out of focus as he lost himself in thought. “I think I have just the thing.”
5
Anthony
In the darkness, Anthony crouched behind an abandoned van, Draven at his side as he surveyed the abandoned warehouse in Tijuana where Emmett Williams, the diplomat that had been missing since March, was supposed to be hidden. Jaw tense, muscles tight, ears on alert for the slightest whisper out of place, Anthony waited, dutifully watching the scene while Zane droned on about security systems in his earpiece, the tiger shifter monitoring their rescue from their home base in Epara.
“We get it, you’re smart,” Draven whispered into his own earpiece. “Dear God, speak English, please.”
“He said ‘please,’ Zane.” Anthony nearly snorted in surprise. “You have to do it now.”
Through the thin headset, Zane groaned in annoyance. “It means that I’ve hacked their surveillance.” The brilliant tiger shifter signed in annoyance, the connection crackling briefly with interference. “Their monitors will display a loop recorded yesterday, instead of what’s actually happening. Unless you’re spotted, you can move undetected.”
“Thanks, professor.” Draven chuckled and slid a magazine of bullets into a handgun, his hands expertly preparing the gun without so much as him needing to look at it. “That’s all I needed.”
“Tell me about the security level here.” Anthony looked over the warehouse, noting the occasional flicker of a cigarette lighter in the shadows. “By my count, there’s at least thirty so far.”
“Close. Thirty-seven,” Zane confirmed. “All armed to the teeth with automatic weapons, so try not to die.”
“Comforting, thanks.” Draven rolled his eyes and caught Anthony’s gaze, silently pointing to the handgun with an expression of what the fuck is this going to do for me, then?
“These are all humans, right?” Anthony asked.
“I’ll check.” Zane hummed to himself for a second, a mouse clicking in the background. “Give me a minute.”
For a moment, neither Anthony nor Draven spoke while they waited for Zane to pop back on the mic. Anthony continued to scan the warehouse, getting a new hold on locations, possible reaction times, and weak zones, as well as his preferred route into the warehouse. Two on thirty-seven was hardly a fair fight, but he’d been outnumbered before. The guns he and Draven had were more of a precaution, a backup plan, something to get by on until they could safely shift. With a dragon on his side this time, he was confident they could get Emmett out safely.
“You realize your father has lost his mind,” Draven said softly.
At this, Anthony frowned a bit and stared down the dragon in surprise. “Obviously.”
“No, you don’t understand.” The dragon sighed and leaned against the van, chewing his cheek as he formed words. “He has to be stopped.” Draven caught Anthony’s eye, his intense expression saying more than his words. “Permanently.”
“You mean he has to die.” Anthony tensed, pretending to fuss with his handgun even though it was locked and loaded. “You mean, I have to stop him.”
“Yes.” Draven nodded somberly. “Yes, I do.”
“I know,” Anthony said softly. “Come on, man. Of course, I know.”
“Doesn’t make it an easy pill to swallow.” Draven peeked out around the van, jaw tensing as he surveyed the warehouse once more. “He is family, after all.”
“Not even family threatens my woman,” Anthony said, his voice getting deeper and darker with every word. “Not even family can try to take her from me.”
“So, when the time comes?” Draven looked at him, and Anthony’s heart skipped a beat with the dragon’s intense expression. “You know it can’t be any of us, Anthony. It can’t even be Tina, not with everything that’s at stake.” The dragon shifter leaned in and clasped Anthony’s shoulder. “For the wolves to honor the outcome and name you king, you have to be the one to… you know.” He cleared his throat in discomfort. “It has to be you.”
“I know.” Anthony nodded, already resolute, already having thought through a thousand different scenarios, all ending the same way. “When the time comes, my father will die.”
“As will mine,” Draven said softly, sighing as he knelt beside the van, loading ammunition into a few more handguns stashed in a gun bag nearby. “Though I’m hopeful I can turn things around with him, but Anthony, between you and me, I don’t know how much.”
“You think you’ll have to kill your father?”
“I’ll have to face him, that’s for sure.” Draven frowned, and Anthony instinctively set a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “And when dragons face off, one usually dies.”
“The toughest choice on Earth.” Anthony sighed. “For mate or for family.”
“No contest.” Draven shook his head. “Tina is my family. You lot are my family.”
“Likewise,” Anthony said with a thin smile.
“I thought you didn’t do feelings, Draven?” Zane said through the headset. “It’s weird hearing you, I don’t know, feel.”
“Shut up. Ass.” Draven smirked and loaded the last magazine into his fourth handgun, stashing the weapons in the various pockets of his cargo pants. “You have answers for us or what?”
“Confirmed, those are all humans in and around the warehouse.” Zane sighed, the rush of air loud as a gale against the mic. “No shifters in there except Emmett.”
“You have a visual on him?” Anthony asked, finally standing, ready to go the moment he had one more piece of info.
“Center warehouse, tied to a chair and gagged.”
“Place of honor,” Draven said with a huff. “Let’s go get your boy, Anthony.”
Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Anthony reminded himself that these men were going to die tonight, that they had signed up for this the moment they agreed to guard Emmett, knowing full well shifters were coming for him. Tonight, his life was on the line, as was Draven’s and Emmett’s. Anthony wasn’t a cold-blooded killer, but he would kill whoever got in the way of him protecting the people he cared about, and right now, that meant making sure both he and Draven got home alive.
Tonight, Anthony would get blood on his hands, and it was for a good cause.
Centered and ready for war, Anthony gestured for Draven to follow. Together, they stole through the night, silent as ghosts, nothing but shadows in the darkness as they raced toward the back exit, one that, based on Anthony’s surveillance, had the fewest guards by it. Anthony kept his gun raised, just in case, though silent would be best. Gunshots drew attention, and attention meant open fire. He needed to handle this, and as many other
guards as possible, with silence.
As they neared the three men standing outside, one of them dragging on a cigarette, Anthony bolted forward, too quickly for them to react, and landed a few well-calculated blows to weak points in the temple, jaw, neck, and ears. Each man collapsed in a heap, and within seconds, he and Draven had dragged them into the shadows, ready to carry on. By the time those men woke up, he and Draven would be long gone.
“Left,” Zane said in their ear, guiding them through the corridors. “Right. Right. Left. Two guards coming up in three, two, one …”
Again, Anthony raced forward, using the element of surprise to knock out one of the guards while Draven opened fire on the other. Again, the two of them resumed, Zane guiding them through the hallways, the pair of them taking out every guard who passed. When Anthony paused to reload his handgun, Zane led them finally to a door, the thin window in it revealing a large open space lit only by the dim haze of the full moon.
Anthony paused at the door, peering through the window into the vast, four-story space that had once held airplanes, the giant warehouse rife with shadows, stacked boxes, and various hiding places that would make for excellent cover. “How many guards are in there, Zane?”
“Twelve,” the tiger shifter said with a frustrated huff. “Three more in transit due to failed guard reports from the ones you’ve taken out. The rest are holding the perimeter.”
“Suggestions?” Draven asked.
“Burn the place down.” Zane paused. “Duh.”
“Oh, great, just figured we would go for a bit of stealth, but whatever.” Draven rolled his eyes and pocketed his handgun. “Thanks, coach.”
“Focus,” Anthony whispered. “Here’s the plan. We both sneak in, go silently.” Anthony gestured toward the two sides of the warehouse. “When you’re in a good spot, shift and roast the south half of the warehouse. I’ll take out the guards on the north half and secure Emmett.”
“Done.” Draven gingerly opened the door, Anthony holding his breath as he waited for it to squeak.
Thankfully, it didn’t, and the two crept in, Draven disappearing into the shadows while Anthony stole through the dark and silent warehouse. He spotted the various guards camped out throughout the vast space, hidden behind crates of boxes and old cars, some of them drawing on cigarettes, the little red lights floating in the darkness, giving them away. Four were set up in the rafters, snipers trained on Emmett, lying in wait.
Definitely a trap, but nothing Anthony couldn’t handle.
“Snipers above,” he whispered into the headset.
“Roger,” Draven said. “Cover me while I roast them, buddy. I’m fireproof, not bulletproof.”
“Will do.” With that, Anthony stalked up behind the closest guard and, in one fluid motion, snapped his neck. He slumped on the crate, lifeless and still, silently dying while Anthony eased his body onto the floor.
However, and much to Anthony’s surprise, a little red light blinked by the wall, nestled almost invisibly behind an old potato sack. He nudged it carefully aside to find a bundle of explosives with a coiled wire attached to it. He groaned, rubbing his face as he stared at it, wondering how this changed things.
“Guys,” he whispered. “Bad news.”
“Yeah, I just found one.” Draven cursed under his breath. “Zane, what do we do with a warehouse rigged with explosives? There could be dozens.”
“Get out,” the tiger shifter sighed deeply. “Get out immediately.”
Anthony turned to look at Emmett, who was closer now, the gag and blindfold unable to hide the tremble in his hands as he fought to untie the ropes binding him to the chair. “We have to try. We’re so close.”
“Zane, can you disable them?” Draven asked.
“I’m not a miracle worker, no.” Through Anthony’s earpiece, fingers tapped violently on a keyboard. “From the orders given these guards, it looks like the explosives are a failsafe in case someone rescues Emmett. A last-ditch effort.” He hummed to himself. “Best guess is, if this is a trap, they wanted to capture you alive.”
“Oh, it’s a trap,” Anthony confirmed, his intuition flaring. “You need to warn Tina and the others.”
“Will do.”
“Draven, change of plans.” Anthony pocketed the handgun and peered through the crates, eyeing the four nearest guards as they slowly paced their small stretch of the warehouse. “Take out the foot soldiers, then shift and roast the ones in the rafters. We have to take them out if we’re going to get Emmett out of here. He’s a big guy. Even with my super speed, he’ll slow me down. We might get hit.”
“What if there are explosives in the rafters?” Draven asked.
“I’ll get him out. Can you withstand a blast?”
“Probably.” The dragon shifter chuckled. “Being fireproof has its perks.”
“Good. Go.”
One by one, Anthony took out the soldiers lining the north end of the warehouse, carefully dropping them to the floor as he made his rounds. Soon, seven of the twelve gunmen lay dead, scattered throughout the crates and abandoned cargo. With four in the rafters, Anthony would only have to deal with—
“Shit, change of plans.” Zane was typing furiously all of a sudden. “One patrol found the dead guards in the halls. They’re coming, all of the remaining soldiers, with backup on the way. Go, go, go!”
With that, Anthony leaped into the warehouse, shifting as he ran, a dark blur through the shadows, drawing the attention of the remaining gunmen so that Draven had time to shift and roast the rafters.
Bullets whizzed by, always a split second to slow thanks to his blessed enhanced speed. When he got home to Tina, he would kiss her again in thanks for this beautiful power she and Damara had given him, just because it was so damn perfect.
With an earth-shattering roar, the massive red dragon rose from the south end of the warehouse, flames erupting from his mouth as he shot a fireball toward the roof. Two of the snipers jumped, but the other two weren’t so lucky, and their rifles began firing wildly as the bullets cooked in the guns. One loose bullet hit Draven in the shoulder, and the massive dragon roared in pain as he bit into the steel frame in the rafters and twisted, wrenching the supports out of place, a hole ripping in the roof from the sheer force of Draven’s powerful jaws. Groaning steel and the clatter of iron falling on concrete thundered through the warehouse.
Taking his cue, Anthony dashed for Emmett, ripping into the ropes, tearing them apart without biting the dignitary. The man stumbled out of the chair, falling on the concrete, gasping wildly. He tried to stand, but his arms and legs shook, giving out underneath him.
Anthony growled, eager to be on their way, and Emmett yanked off the blindfold. His wildly dilated eyes widened, and at that moment, it finally clicked for Anthony. The reason that shifters could be kidnapped by humans, the reason they could be kept contained and tied to chairs despite having supernatural, feral animals within them, was because these assholes had used powerful drugs to keep these men under control. He growled protectively, disgusted that one of his subjects had been so abused, and quickly pushed his nose under the wolf shifter, nudging and pushing until the man was draped over his back.
Fast as a blur, Anthony grabbed the nearest dead soldier and threw him into the chair, hoping his admittedly weak decoy would work in the darkness or at least buy him a few precious seconds to get out.
As bullets fired wildly around him, Anthony ran. Behind him, Draven roared, beating his wings as he rose into the air to the whirring of helicopter blades chopping the air, no doubt the backup that had been called moments prior.
As Anthony tore through the halls, the corridors barely wide enough for his massive wolf form, he heard the stomping of boots around the corner. Careful to keep the dazed wolf dignitary on his back, Anthony charged ahead, too fast and powerful for the guards unknowingly marching to their doom. He rounded the corner, tearing into them before they could so much as scream, their blood staining his mouth as he ripped through the wall o
f men blocking him from the exit. Onward he ran, not daring to stop for even a moment until he was safely outside.
After all, this place would blow at any moment, as soon as they realized in the chaos of the warehouse that Emmett was missing.
He bolted outside just as Draven broke through the roof of the warehouse, his massive mouth chomping at the sky as a helicopter shone its light on him. The side doors were open, revealing armed men with guns drawn, every one of them pointed down at the massive red dragon. Anthony watched in horror, knowing he couldn’t do anything, knowing he could only stand there and pray Draven was fast enough, strong enough to take out a helicopter.
As Draven soared into the sky, he blasted the helicopter with a roaring stream of fire, incinerating the machine in midair. Men screamed, some jumping out rather than taking their chances in the inferno, and Draven rushed past as the warehouse detonated below him. Anthony turned away, growling softly as the structure exploded, the distant heat of the blaze hitting him like a tsunami.
Draven roared into the sky and flew off, toward their rendezvous point, and the dragon would shift and take the last stretch on foot to hide his route, just as they’d planned. Antony lifted the diplomat onto his back once more, bolting through the desert, putting as much distance between him and the smoldering warehouse as possible.
When he finally reached the fully-stocked van that served as their rendezvous point, he gently lowered Emmett onto the ground and shifted, ever vigilant, eyes surveying the desert and mountains as he waited for Draven to return. He tugged on a fresh set of clothes and got out some water and food, kneeling to tend to the still-shivering Emmett as the rodents and snakes of the desert night came to life around them, all of them keeping a wide berth.