by JL Madore
“What jumpstarts magical soul crystals?” Calli asks.
Kotah pulls his out of where it hangs against his chest beneath his shirt and examines it. “Putting them all together?”
I dip my hand into the collar of my shirt and pull mine out as well. “Can’t hurt to try.”
Hawk and Brant each fish out their pendants and hand them to Calli. She holds them together and closes her eyes. “Come on, mighty fae crystals. Do your thing.”
We all watch and wait but nothing happens.
“Well, crud,” she says, deflated. “Maybe all five of us have to be touching or something when we focus on the crystals. Five become one, right?”
Calli holds the crystals and I take her hand. Brant touches Hawk’s arm while he drives and reaches back to hold Kotah’s hand, who, in turn, touches Calli and me.
Nothing happens.
Calli frowns, sorts out the pendants, and hands them back. “Why can’t anything be easy for once?”
I throw up my hands. “Destiny, am I right?”
We’re all still chuckling about that when Hawk pulls off the graveled road and stops beside the other truck. We’re in a worn patch of land, parked in front of an outfitter group set up on the bank of a wide river.
I’m kinda jazzed about rafting but keep that in check for the sake of those of us who are much less enthused.
Hawk looks over at me when I jump out. He tilts his head over to where Brant is breaking the bad news to Doc and the avian is all smiles. “At least life is never boring.”
I laugh. “With us, I doubt boring will ever be a word in our vocabulary.”
Brant
What. The. Fuck. As the ten of us pile out of the truck, I’m considering opting out and waiting here. River rafting? “Okay, seriously guys, this is probably my worst nightmare come to life. I don’t know that I can do this. Maybe I can hike in, or get a dirt bike and ride in.”
Hawk looks hella apologetic when he shakes his head. “It would take you five or six hours to hike it and dirt bikes would not only give away our element of surprise but also disturb the fae species which make this land their home.”
“What kind of fae are we talking about because I’m pretty charming. I could explain—”
“The colony closest to the river is the fire dervishes.”
I wince. “Oh, those little fuckers are nasty.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
Calli wraps an arm around my hip and laces her thumb through my belt loop. “We’ll strap you into a life jacket and as an absolute worst-case scenario, I can go full phoenix and pluck you out of the water. It’ll be like when we escaped Hawk’s office tower, except without all the bullet holes.”
“And that worked out well enough,” Jaxx says. “Sex on the deck, magical healin’, badda-bing you’re all fixed up.”
I shake my head. “If this is your idea of a pep talk, you guys suck at it. Seriously.”
Lukas returns from speaking to the raft outfitters and shrugs. “What’s the word? Are we doing this?”
All eyes fall on me and I look at Doc. He’s not much happier than I am, but he also isn’t as big or heavy. There’s a chance he could navigate the water. There’s no chance for me.
I curse. “Fuckety-fuck. I don’t want to do this.”
“Then don’t,” Kotah says, gripping my wrist with his magic touch and sending me a wave of calm. “If we’re going downriver, they’ll have to drive down to pick us up, so stay with the crew and we’ll meet up in a few hours. It’s okay if you skip this one, isn’t it guys?”
They all front and give me the okay.
“Of course,” Calli says. “Stay with the crew and we’ll meet up downriver. Kotah’s right, as usual. That works too.”
Oh, how I want to take the out.
But deep inside me, my bear is vibrating with fury at the thought of choosing fear over my mates. “Fuck me. No. I’ll go. But if I drown, I’m never forgiving you guys. Seriously. You’ll all be on my shit list for eternity and I will haunt you.”
CHAPTER NINE
Calli
We get Brant and Doc decked out with their PFD life vests and each of them opts for a ring buoy around their waist as well. Once Brant is settled in the middle of the raft, the rest of us vest up, push off, and climb in.
The river isn’t too fast-flowing, but our guide says it gets a little quicker closer to where we’re going. Thankfully, Brant isn’t listening.
The guide steers from the back of the boat. He has two long paddles anchored in place and he keeps us in the center of the river as we practice our paddling and matching strokes.
Lukas, Hawk, Jaxx, and one of the FCO guys have all done this before, so that makes me feel a little more confident that between the ten of us, we’ve got this.
Well, that and the fact that there’s a professional guide on board to navigate.
“Brant, do you think you and Doc can check the coordinates now and then if the rest of us are paddling? And maybe keep your eyes on the landscape in case we run into any trouble.”
Brant and Doc each have a firm hold on two tether straps attached to the floor of the boat. Brant twists his wrist to check if he can see the screen on his FCO watch and then swallows. “Yeah, I think so.”
Hawk squeezes his shoulder and pats his arm. “Good stuff, Bear. You’re doing great. You too, Doc.”
I try not to snort. Where Brant’s panic is loud and dramatic, Doc has withdrawn into a silent scowl and is no doubt unable to speak because his jaw is clamped so tightly shut.
“You’re both rocking this,” Keyla says. “It’ll be over before you know it and you’ll have the story to tell Ben and Margo the next time you go home to the ranch.”
The bears don’t acknowledge her attempt to cheer them up. “It’s quite peaceful out here, isn’t it?”
Yeah-no. Still nothing.
“Look how calm the water is. Nothing to worry about.”
They don’t respond, but the fact that we’re floating along on pristine and still water has to make it easier.
Kotah smiles up at the mid-afternoon sun and then at his sister. “It is peaceful. I prefer having soil beneath my claws but yes, for an adventure with friends and my mates, it’s a nice experience.”
“I can think of fifty nicer experiences for the five of us to share,” Brant growls.
Jaxx chuckles, matching my stroke into the water with a wink. “Let me guess, the first one is sex.”
“Actually, yes.”
I chuckle at the guide at the back of the boat. He’s got his eyes firmly locked on the waterway ahead of us, but he’s about to get an earful, I’m sure.
“Then what, Brant,” Kotah says. “What would your next pick on the list be?”
“Sharing a roast beef dinner.”
The four of us start laughing and I can’t even look at anyone else in the boat.
“Why is that funny?” Keyla asks. “Or is that TMI?”
“Wicked TMI, girlfriend,” I say.
“Okay Brant,” Hawk says, chuckling, “what’s your next experience better than this and it can’t be sex. Our friends already have to endure enough around us without torturing them and our poor guide with awkward images.”
“All right, Jaxx drinking games.”
Jaxx snorts. “Always fun… but also always lead to sex.”
“Physical combat training,” I add.
The five of us laugh.
Keyla groans. “Seriously, you guys? Does everything you do lead to sex?”
Lukas grunts. “Afraid so. I need to find a quint of my own and make them pay. They deserve a little taste of what it’s like to be on the outside of a fivesome.”
“Hells, yes,” I say, loving that idea. “Lukas, seriously, if I had any friends I liked enough to set you up with, I totally would, but my only bestie is Riley and we’re not even sure she’s real, so there’s that.”
Hawk chuckles. “I’ve accused Lukas of having imaginary girlfriends before. Riley’s not a total write-off.”
<
br /> That gets a laugh from us and earns Hawk a middle-finger salute from Lukas. The important thing is Brant is now chuckling and his knuckles are no longer clenched so tightly that the blood is being pinched out.
“I’ve got one,” I say, dipping my oar and pulling it through the water. “Paintball training. We played capture the flag all afternoon. It was fun and didn’t lead to sex.”
“Despite the flags we captured.”
I roll my eyes as the guys chuckle. Yeah, the goal was to find my undies hidden in the forest. Oh well, let them yuck it up. At least Brant’s not losing his shit.
“Dinner with Ben and Margo,” Kotah adds. “It was fun to share a meal with your foster parents and see you in your family home with your sleuth.”
I turn from where I’m paddling. “Man, does your family eat. I’ve never seen so much food.”
“Dancing at the Rusty Spur was a good time,” Jaxx says.
“Hells yeah, that was—”
Lukas lets off a curse behind us and I spin—Gun!
Bang
The crack of the gun discharging echoes in my head as Jaxx launches and knocks me to the side. The boat rocks as two high-strung bears dive onto the bottom of the boat. Lukas unsheaths his thigh knife and impales our guide and Hawk shoves him over the hull.
My mind is swimming as I try to catch up.
Then I register Jaxx’s frantic movement six inches from where I was sitting. “Shit, we’re hit!”
Jaxx
“Shit, we’re hit!” I toss my paddle into the boat and press my hands over the tear in the thick nylon hull. That fucker tried to take out Calli. If I wasn’t holding my hands over a hole in the hull, I’d dive overboard so I could kill the bastard myself.
A rifle shot echoes from our right and my heart thunders even harder. “Kitten, get down.”
“We’re sitting ducks,” Brant snaps, his voice more growl than words.
“Barron,” Lukas snaps. “Plug that hole. Kotah, take his spot to keep us balanced. Bears stay where you are. Jaxx, once he’s got his hands over the tear, I need you back here to steer us downriver.”
“Fuck downriver,” Brant says. “We need to get to the bank and get out of this dingy deathtrap.”
Lukas isn’t listening. He’s turned to the back of the boat speaking in magical tongues.
I catch sight of Brant’s eyes and a whole world of panic hits. “Kotah, you need to calm the bears down right now. If they lose their hold on their wild sides, I guarantee this will become Shit’s Creek in a hot minute.”
Keyla meets Doc’s gaze and offers him a comforting smile. “Please, hold on. We don’t want two irate bears in the middle of this raft.”
Kotah drops his paddle on the floor and kneel-crawls closer to Brant and Doc. Grabbing each of them with his outstretched hands, our Omega closes his eyes and the bears’ eyes roll closed too.
Thank you, baby Yoda.
With that pending disaster averted, we all get back to the other problems—a hole in the boat and a sniper shooting at us. I have no idea what Lukas is doing, but the tingle of his magic raises the hair on my arms.
There’s no time to dwell.
Hawk crawls into my position and his hands press over mine. I give him possession of the hole and shift to take Lukas’s position at the back, grabbing onto the stern mount handles to steer. Another shot rings off and we all duck.
Crack. The incoming bullet hits a protective field and falls to the rising flow of water.
“Well done, Lukas,” Calli says.
Hawk is hanging over the side of the boat, calling on his magical side. He doesn’t have the juice Lukas does, but his mother did give him access to a few tricks.
Hopefully, Raft Patching 101 is one of them.
As soon as I’ve got a hold on the stern handles, Lukas drops to his knees on the floor of the raft and stretches over the side to the river behind us.
In answer to his call, the waters rise in a rush and the serene river behind us is now white with rapids. Shit. I watch the rush of whitewater coming and grip the handles tighter. My heart pounds against my ribcage as I wait for the thundering current to hit.
Right before we’re caught in the tidal wave, I dig in. “Hold on, everyone.”
The tsunami knocks us hard and we pitch forward in a rough wave. Everyone lurches but has a good hold and soon the momentum drags us into its wake.
I fight the force of the rush, trying to keep the raft in the center of the river.
Another shot cracks.
It bounces off the protective field. “I seriously love you right now, Lukas. Mad, manly love.”
Hawk rolls back to his knees and grabs my abandoned paddle. “The good news is the tear is fixed.”
“What’s the bad news,” Brant growls. “Beyond us getting shot and drowning in this fucking river.”
Hawk lurches to the side as the raft shimmies and bounces. “No one’s drowning, Bear, I promised you. The bad news is they know we’re here. Odds are they’re set up to take us out where we planned to land the raft and go inland. We’ll have to dock upriver and hump it to where we think the portal gate location sits now.”
“News flash. Getting off this fucking river early is not bad news.”
Calli is paddling hard as water sprays up in her face. “At least they’ll be on the wrong side of the river, won’t they?”
“I’m hoping so.” Hawk pushes a floating branch away with his paddle. “But Hunter was at FCO long enough to know I requested a science team to investigate the diverting of this river. He might’ve come to the same conclusion as I did.”
I grunt. “Unlikely, hotness. Your half-brother is a lazy tool. I doubt he has a quarter of the instincts you have.”
Hawk flashes me a sexy grin. “You flirting with me, puss? I have to warn you, I do love adrenaline moments.”
Brant’s bear lets off a furious growl. ”Seriously? Can we focus on the clusterfuck that is our lives?”
Despite Brant’s panic, we’ve got control of the raft and are shooting fast and furious toward our destination.
“Check the coordinates, Bear. Dock us one or two miles upriver from our original goal. Tell us when we need to shift left and look for a place to land this thing.”
Brant scowls. “You expect me to do the math when I’m having a coronary?”
Hawk chuckles. “Or switch places with me and paddle.”
Brant lets off another growl. “Asshole.”
Hawk
Call me sadistic, but Brant in a panicked rage is kind of funny. I know phobias and fear are nothing to laugh at, but there’s no way I’d let him drown. We have a greater chance of being shot or blown out of the water by launched missiles—which is not out of the question. My father’s militia seems to favor that as a weapon of mass destruction.
“How are you doing on those coordinates, Bear,” I ask, fighting the magically boosted waves as we are propelled down the river. “Are we close?”
“We’re three miles out in total, so if you want to land one to two miles upstream and a raft like this one moves at around nine miles an hour we’ll be in position in about ten minutes, give or take.”
“So, not time to steer left yet,” Jaxx says.
“Not yet, Jaguar,” Brant says. “We should watch the shoreline. If we see a break in the bank we can use as a landing point, we’d be wise to take it when we see it.”
I smile. The bear might be full of bluster and fight when he’s scared but give him a problem to solve and people to take care of, and he’s focused once again.
Calli said it a few weeks ago when Brant was working on his mating bonds. He’s our strength, but that goes deeper than his muscles. His truest strength is his determination and commitment to protecting the people around him.
Even if he’s scared shitless.
“Well done, Bear. Keep your eyes on the horizon and let us know when we’re getting close.”
“How did Black Knight know we were coming?” Calli asks. She’s at
the front of the boat across from me, paddling like a trooper. “We didn’t tell anyone, and we still have people shooting at us.”
“Lukas will need to work on tracking that once we get back. The leak must be in my logistics team or my vehicle pool. Or maybe the enemy was already here to do their gate destructo act. Or maybe it wasn’t them and just some crazy fae that doesn’t like rafters. I honestly don’t know.”
My gut tells me everything that happens to us and around us is my father’s doing but that might be paranoia more than reality. Life taught me hard lessons on not underestimating how cruel and driven the man can be. I might’ve gone the other way and be giving him too much credit.
“Okay, Jaxx,” Brant says, pulling me out of my musings. “Start easing left and I’ll watch for a landing spot downstream.”
Jaxx works the stern paddles, gradually moving us to the left of the ever-bending river.
“I researched the shoreline of the river on Google Earth this morning,” Kotah says, paddling behind me. “As of the time the last aerial shots were taken, there seemed to be a large tree that fell along the bank close to where we might need to be. If we can’t find an open spot, maybe we could grab hold of it somehow and use it to pull ourselves up.”
“I’d prefer to have access to the forest and take the raft right out of the water,” I say. “Hiding our insertion point is an advantage if people are looking for us.”
Jaxx nods. “Yeah, if they know we’re coming and then we don’t show up, they’ll backtrack. This raft is like a giant yellow flag for them to find us.”
Calli stops paddling and flops against the hull for a rest. “The more we can do to slow them down the better. I’m still not one hundy on what I’m supposed to do to open a gate.”
“If there’s even is a gate to open,” Jaxx says.
“I think there is,” I say, unsure where the sudden optimism is coming from. “I know that’s a big if, but I believe in us, down to the marrow of my bones.”
“Aren’t bird bones hollow?” Brant asks.
I roll my eyes at the bear. “Now who’s the asshole?”
Brant chuckles and points. “There’s Kotah’s tree. Are we taking that as our inland route or passing it for the hope of finding a clearer landing point?”