by Morgan Wylie
“You’re cute when you’re bloodthirsty, little one,” Rylen informed her as he locked his arm around her neck in an awkward yet brotherly embrace. “Thank you for coming through, Gracie,” he whispered in her ears and released her. She and Lola then headed back to the Den, but before they did, Lola turned to Rylen and Mather.
“Will you let us know when Tom gets her message?”
They both nodded then went back to their preparations. “Everyone hold tight for the time being, but be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. We are waiting on a message.” Murmurs of understanding came from the twenty different people standing around the room.
Mather opened up the large, heavy double wood doors that led into the Throne room. “Feel free to hang out in there while we wait. There’s more space and chairs.” He swung his arm wide, extending it into the big empty room for occasions such as this. There were not usually this many members of the PAC at the Lair at one given time except for right before a larger mission.
Rylen kept checking the clock on the wall above Mather’s head where he sat. After about a half hour of waiting, Mather’s head shot up.
“It’s Lucius,” Mather said before he lifted his finger indicating to wait a minute. He stared down at the floor as if he was concentrating hard on something.
Rylen sat on the edge of his seat, waiting. That seemed to be all he was doing—waiting—and it drove him crazy. He needed action. He needed to fight something and drive his fist into a wall. He needed to be in control again. If it wasn’t the Black Widow counting down until his demise, it was his own people being taken right from under his nose, and then the wild card that was Alana. Rylen still didn’t know what to think of her, but he knew his animal, and his body, wanted her. He just didn’t know if he could trust her. He’d already revealed too much, compromising his people’s safety. If anything happened to them he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Everything within him wanted to scream, but he held it in, kept his smooth controlled demeanor and remained calm… for the most part.
“He must be getting further away, his words were in and out like with bad reception,” Mather explained as he lifted his eyes to Rylen’s, the conversation over. Rylen glared at him, his impatient expression saying, Get on with it. Mather cleared his throat covering the growl that he inadvertently loosed, but Rylen caught it and gave him a different look. This look asked if Mather was looking for a challenge, which they did not have time for. As a wolf, Mather did not like to be pushed even though he recognized Rylen as his Alpha and would submit. Mather lowered his head, but continued. “Luc said that he followed the girl,” Mather started.
“Alana,” Rylen interrupted as if it was important.
“He followed Alana,” Mather corrected, but gave Rylen a studied look, “and another woman that picked her up in a large van back to the warehouse. People very quickly began evacuating, but the girl… Alana,” he corrected himself quickly before Rylen could, “went off in a different direction within the same maze of warehouse buildings. She kept looking up at the sky. Lucius believes she knew he was there following her and was trying to show him something. She didn’t go into any other buildings, but stopped and hid in the shadows of another,” he reported. “She waited for a few minutes while a guard walked by through the main street. After he was gone, she went another building further down and began pointing at it. Quickly, she then ran back to the original warehouse. Luc thinks that might be where Poppy or the others are being held.” Mather took a deep breath and waited for Rylen.
“Good. Is he staying or returning here?”
“He’s going to stay and keep an eye on that building. He’ll get as close as he can and try to find a way inside,” Mather answered after a moment of silence in which he apparently had contacted Lucius again.
“Well, that’s something at least,” Rylen said tiredly as he wiped his hand down his face and sighed. “Sorry, man. I’m on edge with all this going on.”
“No need. We’re all worried about Poppy and you’ve got Black Widow breathing down your neck on top of your regular shit.” Mather shook his head back and forth in confusion. “Why is Widow riding your ass all of a sudden? I mean you’re one her best leaders. What does she want from you?”
He groaned and shook his head. “She’s complicated. I don’t talk about my time with her, but you know she brought me back from the edge of one of the outer levels of hell, right?” Rylen paused and looked at Mather who gave him a nod. “She told me when she gave me a position it was not because I earned it, but because she needed to test me. Honestly, I think she gets bored and likes to play with people. I don’t know what she’s fully capable of, but she’s a creature of the depths. She shouldn’t be here, but somehow she is and she wants to control it all.”
“I think she’s threatened by you. Of any of the warlocks and magic users I know in this world, you could rule the side of the other,” Mather verbalized matter of fact.
Rylen barked out a laugh of disbelief. “I don’t know about that, but I do know that my time is running out to prove myself in whatever capacity she wants me to. And she wants me to take out the leader behind the Fairfax Alliance. If I fail, I’ll be history.” Rylen slid his finger across his throat. He seemed relatively unaffected by the information, but those close to him knew the almost indistinguishable worry lines around his eyes was one of the tells when he cared. It helped that with supernatural abilities, they could read each other much easier. “I think it’s all a game to her and I’d love nothing more than to expose the game for what it is. The problem is finding out how to play the game and how to win it.”
“It’s hard when you don’t know the rules. And when you do, they can change at any time. It’s bullshit! That’s what it is,” Mather mouthed off emphatically. He stood up and began to pace agitatedly. “I need to hit someone soon,” he growled out. Mather’s eyes began to glow, on the edge between man and beast. His fists clenched reflexively.
“Something up with Poppy?” Rylen asked carefully.
“No, Luc hasn’t said anything else,” Mather replied flippantly.
“Not what I meant, man,” Rylen prompted suggestively.
Mather frowned at his friend and boss for a moment. “Nah,” Mather said shaking his head. “She’s one of ours. We keep her safe. That’s what we do.”
“Right, but the others feel that way too and they aren’t losing their shit over it. They keep their heads to think. You’re not,” Rylen stated.
Mather made a loud sound that was somewhere between a growl and a howl as he beat the wall behind him with his fists splintering the sheetrock. It was one of the few places with sheetrock, had it been anywhere else with the rock walls, he would have broken his hands instead of the wall.
Rylen snickered. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Nah, it’s nothing. I’m good. I’ll keep my head, don’t take me off this one, Ry.” He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose, filling his muscular chest with calm air, then slowly released it.
“For now,” Rylen replied as he watched his friend fight to control the beast of his flesh and the one of his heart.
Another moment passed before Rylen stood up abruptly with his finger pressed to his ear piece. “On our way.” Rylen turned to Mather. “Tom’s got something. Let’s go see what our little Poppy is trying to tell us.” They both strode quickly and deliberately toward the command center down the other end of the Lair.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“What do you have for us, Tom?” Rylen prompted as he marched into the smaller room filled with monitors and computers and all things electronic followed closely on his heels by Mather, Enock and Mai. It wasn’t a large room and with all of them standing right in the doorway Tom shrunk back into his chair where he obviously felt more comfortable.
Rylen signaled for the others to take a seat in the theatre seating against the back wall while he stood behind Tom. Tom nodded his appreciation and spun his chair to face the myriad of buttons and swit
ches that Rylen had no idea what they did, but that’s why he had Tom and Poppy and their team of experts.
“Ok, I tried a few diagnostics that would tell me what kind of program she created and how to decrypt it,” Tom began.
Rylen pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Just give it to us straight in layman’s terms, Tom.”
Tom nodded. “Basically what it comes down to is she created a message in her own kind of language with the help of her magic.”
“So, she sent us something that we can’t even understand?” Mai asked skeptically.
“Yes and no,” Tom began and got excited the more he talked. “She gave me a clue that only I would know. Before she was taken,” a subtle growl came from the gallery where the others were sitting, interrupting Tom, but Rylen shot the responsible party a glare. “Before, well just before… anyway, we were working on a program to decode something just like this, but we hadn’t yet been able to test it. She must have figured out a way to do that. So I ran it through her program and it worked! Well, it took some time—more than I would have thought for such a short message,” Tom rambled, “but I think it was a test to see if it would work. And it did! She’s a genius, that Poppy!”
“Tom, what is the message?” Rylen asked his patience obviously thinning along with the others in the room.
“Oh, right. Basically, it says she is safe for now. Don’t try anything heroic. It could be a trap.” Tom looked at Rylen then around the room. They looked like they were waiting for more. “That’s it.”
“That’s it?!” Mather erupted from his seat. “No clues to where she is? Just don’t come for me because it might be a trap? That’s bullshit!” Tom and Mai jumped a little at the volume of his outburst.
“Like I said, I think she was testing the system. Perhaps she will send more. I’m sorry there’s not more there.” Tom lowered his head and turned back to his computers.
Rylen placed his hand on Tom’s shoulder. He flinched under the touch, but nodded at Rylen’s appreciative gesture. Tom was a skittish sort. Rylen had gotten some of his past, but not all of it. He knew Tom had reason to be on edge, but he had relaxed a lot since living at the Lair and becoming more comfortable in his role there.
“Thank you, Tom. Please let me know if she sends another one ASAP.” He paused. “Can you return a message?” Rylan probed with a sudden thought.
“I’ll try, but it would matter if she was at the same computer since it seems to be an internal message she’s using that particular machine for. I’ll look for openings though. If I find one, is there a particular message you want me to send?”
Rylen glanced subtly to his team in the corner, but particularly Mather. “Tell her: We’re coming.”
Mather stormed out of the mechanical room and everyone else followed him back through the main entry and into the Throne room. He flung the door so hard, it hit the interior wall and knocked down a large framed piece of art depicting various scenes of war, shattering the glass across the concrete floor. Many in the room sprang up, prepared for whatever was entering the room.
Rylen had had it with Mather’s temper tantrums. He grabbed Mather by the collar and shoved him up against the wall. Rylen on his own was not strong enough to put a large man, let alone a large man with a wolf’s strength against the wall, but his magic aided him where he lacked his own strength. It was second nature to Rylen to use his magic and for most he didn’t even need a spell. He just thought it, and it happened. His power held the shifter slightly off the floor, enough to make Mather uncomfortable. Rylen stared him in the eyes daring Mather to challenge him, but Mather averted his eyes submitting to Rylen. In a true wolf pack, Mather most likely would be the alpha or at the least his second. He was a dominant man that housed a dominant wolf, but he respected Rylen’s leadership.
“Enough, Mat,” Rylen spoke low so the entire room couldn’t hear. “I know this is frustrating. But you can’t lose your cool like that. You did it in front of the members so I have to correct you in front of them.” He waited a beat while Mather nodded his head. He relaxed his body in full submission. Rylen’s magic let him down from where it held him on the wall.
“Sorry, Boss,” Mather apologized loud enough for those still watching to hear. Enock and Mai had moved on to strapping on their packs, gearing up to go.
Rylen turned to address the entire room. “We had waited on a message that our own Poppy had sent to us. She is safe for the time being—her words—but in the hands of the Fairfax group.” There were multiple gasps as Rylen had not told everyone what was going on yet. Rylen continued over their murmurings, “The Fairfax group, for yet unknown reasons, are abducting magic users from the area. Maybe even the globe. I don’t know how far their stretch is, but it is about to be cut short here in the Northwest.” There were a few shouts and grunts from the group. “Tonight, we have intel from the Widow herself of a location she believes to house the headquarters of the Fairfax Alliance. We are going to destroy that building and all that’s inside!” Rylen shouted to get a rise out of the members and they did not disappoint.
After a few minutes and the noise had subsided, Rylen gave the order, “Suit up! Get your placement orders from Mai.” He pointed over to Mai who stood by the doors to catch people as they left. They all began to line up for Mai. Twenty people were a lot for a simple explosive job, but Rylen wasn’t taking chances. They would wait in the forest where he had met Alana and in some nearby areas. Several of them were trained as medics or even had healing abilities. They were there to help transport and get any injured out. And some would be there ready to take prisoners if they were lucky enough to capture any of the alliance.
“Vi will open the transport portal from within the tunnel once we get through the door out of the Lair. At my word, she will open it again in the exact spot you exited it on the other side. She will only be able to hold it for a limited amount of time. When I say ‘home’ you get your asses back to the portal ASAP. Understood?” Rylen asked as he passed the line. Hearing confirmations, he went straight to the room of the door to wait.
Almost there, he was stopped by Lacy and her pouting lip. “I don’t have time for you now, Lacy,” Rylen mentioned as he attempted to pass her. She stepped in front of him. He could have easily picked her up without the help of his magic and move her aside, but he allowed her to stop him.
“That’s not a very nice way to treat someone who just wants to kiss you good luck for your job,” she whined as she slunk closer to him. She smelled like some fancy perfume and her girls were hoisted to high heaven. They were all he could stare at until she wove her fingers of one hand through his hair and pulled his neck down to her level. Slowly, she reached up on her tip toes and began to give him a slow sensual kiss—the kind of kiss that someone gives when they want to be remembered, not when they want to send you off with the memory of your life. It was needy and clingy. Rylen was surprised that he hadn’t been bothered by it before. There was a strangeness about her that caused Rylen to pause and even pull back. He looked at her deep into her eyes, reading her very soul. Rylen shook his head to clear it. Maybe he had been mistaken, but something was off with her. Or perhaps it was with him. He felt different. Other than the lust for her body, he didn’t want to be pressed up against her luscious curves and voluptuous breasts. Alternatively, a long-haired beauty was calling his body to her own and wasn’t that just a splash of ice cold water to squash his urges and break the hold Lacy seemed to have over him.
“Sorry, Lacy. I’ve got to go,” Rylen said without much thought and moved past her.
Lacy looked at him with a curious frown, but backed up and let him pass with her hands held in mock surrender. “Don’t let me stop you, Rylen. I’ll be here when you get back. Or maybe I won’t,” she winked at him and sauntered past those coming toward them.
Rylen walked into the room that held the single door. The door was large and wide, not the standard household-sized door. Thick iron infused with the toughest of wood and laced wi
th the strongest magic known to warlocks made up the door—quite the feat to create, but it was also one of Rylen’s proudest accomplishments. He didn’t do it alone, of course, but it bowed to his signature energy along with those of his inner circle. He placed his thumb on the scanner on the wall next to the door. It began to scan his thumb print while simultaneously pricking his finger for a blood sample. Rylen pulled back his finger and sucked on it for a moment, closing the wound.
A computerized female voice spoke out loud, “Destination, King Rylen?”
He groaned as his head fell back in exasperation. Enock laughed as he came up behind him and slapped his back. “Well, look at that. You decided to claim your title for us all to hear.”
“Seriously, Nock? Isn’t that a bit juvenile?” Rylen complained using a nickname that he reserved for times Enock was especially jovial.
“Sounds good to me, boss,” Mai winked as she came up on the other side of Rylen. They were all apparently in on the voice command change.
“How did you even hack in to change the commands?” Rylen asked then paused and looked back at them both then to Mather just behind them. “Poppy.” Mather nodded with a slightly mischievous smile.
“It was her idea too,” Enock added proudly.
“You all are a bad influence on her,” Rylen said with a small smile. “We’ll keep it for now, until she comes back and can fix it. Or perhaps it’ll grow on me.” He shrugged, but entered the four digit code that would instruct the door to open into the tunnel leading to the garage. The door slid to the side with a creak as it opened into the faintly lit tunnel. It was more of a passageway than an actual tunnel. Against the curved metal walls, the sconces reflected a nice dim light guiding them like the flame from torchlight would.
Rylen entered the tunnel to find Vi set up with her tools she used to conduct her energy. She usually used her tools in conjunction with the door, but in times when they weren’t sure what the other side was capable of or if they’d be followed home, she did it in the tunnel or wherever they needed. The energy in her magic sparked a cool electric blue, which she ignited when she touched a small conductor box that she kept with her whenever possible. Her magical current flowed into that box and then into another one just like it a few feet apart, drawing the base of an electrical rectangle with four points of fusing blue sparks. Vi was then able to hold open a magical portal to almost anywhere. She could do it on the fly without her tools and magic alone, if necessary, but it drained her much faster, so she wasn’t able to hold the door open as long. She and Poppy had constructed the device to contain and conduct her magical energy current to do what she was now. Rylen had never heard of any other transporter or magic user that could do what Vi could do with the enhancements that Poppy had made. He was grateful they were both on his team. He hadn’t realized how much Poppy had added to his team and strengthened each of them until she wasn’t there. He would not take her for granted again.