-Already did.
-Change of plan, I’m taking the dagger now. It’s time to get this shit show moving!
-You’re making me hard with your fighting talk again!
-Got an untamed lion in here, Cole and Marco have him for now, but we might need Hunter.
-He’s on his way.
Lykos stood and gestured to Marco and Cole to get rid of the lion shifter. Taking his lead, they manoeuvred themselves to the other side of the table and flanked the man. He struggled when they each took an arm, looking to his friend for assistance. The other shifter averted his eyes and backed away, having decided he wanted no part in the action.
“You will not shift!” Aurora called out, loudly, realising if he did shift there would be a loose cannon in the form of a lion running around the city.
It was clear by his erratic behaviour that this shifter was unpredictable. His words, although sounding sincere, were lies. He wanted her to secure him a place in the tournament that her father had arranged. She couldn’t think about that now, the dagger was her current priority, the rest would have to wait. Aurora rounded the table, moving to the front of the room where Lykos now waited for her. Eldon stood as she approached, a smile on his face that he expected to charm her with.
“It is an honour to be in your presence again, Aurora.”
“Eldon,” she nodded and her eyes moved on to his companion, also a vampire. “Ray, I believe?”
The vampire bowed his head in a nod. “We have met.”
“I remember. You left your friends to die, didn’t even attempt to assist them.” She lifted a hand to stilt his response and boredom laced her tone when she looked back at Eldon. “Where is the book you took from Shadow Fen?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Eldon’s smile never wavered.
“Don’t bullshit me, Eldon, I knew you couldn’t be trusted the second we met.” The vampire’s eyes widened momentarily, realising he hadn’t fooled her. “It takes more than a pretty face and a bit of flirting to get one over on me. As it happens, I’m not here for the book. I have my eye on something else, as you well know. You’re a little further down on my to do list. I’ll allow you to leave, but bear in mind, I will be coming for you.”
Aurora turned her attention to the auctioneer, stunned into silence by the sudden outburst. Turning her back on the vampires, she walked towards the man. She smiled, seductively, as she approached him knowing her presence not only excited these people but scared the life out of them. She needed them to see her as a protector if she were to gain their support, but they also had to see that she wasn’t a sweet girl who could be conned and controlled.
“I’m here for the dagger. I’m more than happy to pay whatever the owner wants but I will be taking it now. Ambrosios Stratitori knows how to find me when he’s ready to talk money,” Aurora told the auctioneer.
Having made her intentions clear, she continued past the man. Smiling at Lykos and running a hand across his chest as she passed, the action let him know he should follow, she made her way to the doors at the back of the room. She reached out and opened the doors, knowing who was on the other side.
Hunter’s grin greeted her as the doors opened all the way. “Heard you might be in need of some muscle, bird girl.”
“He’s over there.” Aurora tilted her head to the side in the direction of Marco and Cole. “His intentions aren’t clear but he’s lying through his teeth.”
“Got it,” Hunter nodded.
“I am Marius Kneidhart of the Lowery Pride. We are the fiercest, most prestigious pride among the lions, we own land all over the world and my king has sent out his men to take you back to him. Without a mate, you are a woman of no importance. A man to control you is what you need,” the lion shifter addressed Aurora.
“I don’t give a fuck who you are, dip shit, that is not the way to address a queen. Lowery Pride, huh?” Hunter reached out and pushed down on the man’s shoulders, forcing him to his knees. He leaned over the man and spoke low in his ear. The man paled, his skin turning a sickly shade of grey and he nodded frantically. Hunter straightened. “This is the part where you shut the fuck up.”
“My queen, you may of course have the dagger, a gift, I will accept no payment.” Ambrosios reappeared in the doorway that led back into the exhibit room. The same door Hunter had entered through. “I merely request a place in the tournament your father hosts. A chance to win your heart in battle.”
“There is no tournament. I have a mate,” Aurora told him. Lykos stepped in beside her.
“Then I will take his head, as is also the wish of your father.” Ambrosios looked at his brother.
“As much as I’d like to see you try, we’re on the clock here and I don’t much like you, Ambrosios, you give me bad vibes.” She looked at Marco. “A bit like those two vamps that are sneaking out the back door now.”
“On them.” Marco and Cole, leaving the lion shifter with Hunter, tailed the vampires out of the building. Marco grabbed Melaina by the elbow on his way past, taking her with them. They might not have come for the book but if they could leave with it, they would. Eldon, Aurora had no doubt, would be a matter she had to deal with later.
“Take the car, we’ll make other arrangements,” she told them, implying that they should continue to the airfield when they had the book.
“Step aside, brother,” Lykos told Ambrosios who was blocking their path to the dagger, he would not be making things easy for them.
“Plan B?” Aurora suggested.
“What is plan B?” Lykos asked, feigning confusion, and knowing exactly what plan b entailed.
“Plan A but with less people,” Aurora said, turning to make sure Hunter was up to speed.
“I fucking love plan B,” Hunter grinned.
But plan b didn’t go quite as it was supposed to…
The explosion hit just as Aurora was preparing to move in and take the knife. Lykos moved to shield her from the debris now falling from the ceiling. Ambrosios had other ideas and stopped Lykos in his tracks, revealing the dagger from behind his back and slashing at Lykos, opening a wound across his chest.
-Jax, get in here!
Aurora moved to Lykos’s side, taking up a protective stance. Hunter slammed a fist down on top of the head of the other lion shifter, sending him into a comatose state and vaulted over the table that stood between him and Aurora.
“Bad move,” Aurora told Ambrosios. His men surrounded them and the remaining auction guests scattered, looking for exits. A few lingered, whether to assist either Aurora or Ambrosios or merely to see the show was unclear, but she paid them little mind. Her main focus was Lykos and getting him out of there before he bled out.
“Lykos, shift!” she demanded.
“I cannot,” Lykos strained, weakly. “Silver, the blade was laced.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t expect it,” Ambrosios sneered. “It’s fitting after all, since you disposed of our father in the same way.”
“Shit!” Aurora hissed. The whole thing had been a set-up, just not in the way they had thought. This was all about Ambrosios killing Lykos, it was personal. She felt Jax enter the building, not through their bond because that would be too subtle for her mate. No, Jax let a grenade off and entered following the explosion, through a cloud of smoke.
“Can’t leave you alone for a minute, can I?” Jax smirked, coming up beside her and leaning down to kiss the side of her neck.
“A grenade? Dramatic much?”
“There was nobody to give me a drumroll,” he quipped, then continued the conversation silently.
-You ok, wild thing?
-Yeah, I’m fine.
-Good. You stink!
-Shut the fuck up!
-What happened to him?
-Silver.
-Fuck! He going to be ok?
-Yeah, I think I can help him if we can get him away from Ambrosios.
Ambrosios moved two steps forward, the dagger raised and lunged at Ly
kos again. Lykos darted left and avoided the blade, hissing in pain as the wound stretched and opened further. He could feel the silver seeping through the wound, swimming through his blood and diving into the depths of his veins. He didn’t have a lot of time but he could certainly use it to Aurora’s advantage and ensure Jax could get her out of there. This time, when Ambrosios lunged, Lykos caught the arm holding the dagger and squeezed at the wrist in an attempt to loosen his brother’s grip. Ambrosios twisted and took Lykos in a sleeper hold, turning to face Aurora.
Ambrosios’s men moved in to surround Jax and Aurora, weapons drawn and ready to fight. Jax turned, putting himself and Aurora back to back. He pressed himself against her, ensuring she felt the gun tucked into the back of his waistband. They faced three men on each side. Six on two, they weren’t great odds but he’d take them. Knowing he and Aurora were both more than capable of taking the six men on, he wasted no time in taking the opening shot. Whipping out his weapon, he took out the man directly opposite him with a bullet to the knee. The man fell to the floor, holding his leg and moaning.
“Shift!” Ambrosios ordered. The man on the ground began to blur as his wolf clawed its way up.
“You will not shift!” Jax’s voice reverberated around the room, weaker shifters cowering in its thrall.
He knew the man would have to obey despite the fact that Jax wasn’t his alpha. His power was stronger than that of Ambrosios and, like Aurora, he could command any shifter. The wolf’s shift halted and Jax winked cockily over his shoulder at Ambrosios. He felt Aurora reach behind her, pulling the other weapon free. She lifted the pistol, aiming at the men she faced. Jax did the same on his side.
“Now, nobody else wants to get hurt, so here’s how this is going to work,” Aurora said, cheerfully. “Your boss is going to let my warrior go and hand over the dagger, then we’re all going to put our weapons away and go home, because I could really use a drink and a decent night’s sleep, okay?”
“I’m not sure they’re up for that, wild thing,” Jax smirked.
Another man joined the circle surrounding them, pointing his gun at Jax. Jax raised an eyebrow at him and directed a sideways look towards the writhing body on the floor. The man gulped, but stood his ground, although clearly unhappy about it.
“I already told you, my queen, the dagger is yours in return for a place in the tournament,” Ambrosios negotiated, reasonably.
“What part of she already has a mate did you not get?” Jax threw over his shoulder.
“My brother is not her mate!” Ambrosios snapped.
“Well, you’re right about that. I’m her mate!” Jax’s voice remained calm, in contrast with the bullets that flew from his gun. One after another, in quick succession, he took out the three men on his side, then turned to stand side by side with his mate. Having cleared their exit, he aimed the weapon at Ambrosios. “Frankly, I don’t give a shiny shite what happens to him, but my mate has a soft spot for him. I think she likes his fur, it’s soft and very fluffy. Like a bunny rabbit, y’know? So that means I have to back him up, that and the fact that I think you’re a fucking moron.”
-Three, Jax began a count in Aurora’s head.
“And we need the dagger,” Aurora pointed out.
“Yeah, that too,” Jax agreed.
-Two, Aurora continued.
“The tournament…” Ambrosios began.
“Isn’t fucking happening!” Jax snarled.
-One, they finished together.
Aurora let a round fly in the direction of the man to her left. The bullet hit its mark and she threw the gun over her shoulder. Jax snatched it out of the air, as she shot forwards, bending at the waist, and kicking one of the men in the stomach. He flew backwards and hit the wall behind him, landing slumped on the floor. Before the other man could react, she twisted and swept his legs out from under him. Standing, she knocked him out with a punch to the face.
Hunter, meanwhile, had been working his way around the edge of the circle that had formed, to position himself behind Ambrosios. Aurora had been tracking him, concerned with the silver laced blade, she closed the distance between her and the men. Anticipating her plan and knowing the danger from the silver, Jax moved in the same direction. If he was touched by the silver, Aurora could heal him. She couldn’t heal Hunter and he knew she would already be anxious over the fact that Lykos had been exposed to it.
Hunter reached around Ambrosio’s neck and grabbed the hand that held the knife. While it wasn’t the strength of an alpha, Hunter did possess an enormous amount of power and was able to put pressure on Ambrosios to drop the knife. It fell to the floor, landing at Lykos’s feet and Jax quickly grabbed it by the hilt. Ambrosios roared and flung Hunter off him with one arm, while tightening his hold on Lykos.
“You will die by my hand, runt,” Ambrosios sneered into Lykos’s ear.
“Go,” Lykos told Aurora in a harsh whisper. “Take the dagger and leave.”
“Oh, no, old man, that’s not how this works. You don’t get to sacrifice yourself for me. Six warriors. That’s what the prophecy says and I won’t have less.” Aurora let her wings spring from her back and the room silenced at the sight. Two steps brought her closer to Lykos and Ambrosios. She felt Jax and Hunter nearby and didn’t need to look for them.
“My name is Aurora Byrne, I do not need to be addressed as your grace or my queen or any of that other crap.” She looked around the room, knowing she was commanding the attention of everyone in it. “This prophecy and my destiny are as much a mystery to me as they are to all of you. However, I am not unapproachable and I won’t take your head just for speaking to me. If anything good is to come from the situation our world finds itself in, then it is imperative we stop competing with one another and build strong relationships. If there is one thing I do know, it’s that my warriors and I are not here to play games or become embroiled in petty pack wars. We are here to ensure the peaceful future of the paranormal races.”
Working on a hunch (and a whole lot of hope, because if this didn’t work, she was going to make herself look like a complete tool and unleash a room full of angry shifters on the city) she held out a hand and Jax placed the dagger on her open palm. Aurora took the blade and using the tip, sliced her other palm. The room watched breathlessly as she let the blood pool in her palm for a few seconds before she focused solely on Lykos, blocking out every other shifter in the room. Hoping she could isolate her command to him without having to touch the people around her, she put every ounce of alpha power she had into it.
“Shift.”
Lykos shook as his wolf forced its way through, tearing his clothing and leaving Ambrosios no choice but to release his hold and step back. Aurora knelt and held her curled fist over the wound in Lykos’s chest, allowing her blood to drip into the gash before the shift was complete. A few minutes later, where a weak and bleeding Lykos once stood, was now a white wolf, healthy and unaffected by the silver that had coursed through his veins. The people in the room watched in awe as Aurora unfolded her wings from her back, displaying their full span. Lykos, in wolf form and Jax flanked her on either side and she addressed them all.
“We are here for you. My warriors and I will fight for you and your freedom. You have a choice, we will not expect you to join us, feel free to go on your way and live your life as you choose. But know this, change is coming. With change comes resistance. We will fight for you, but if you go against us, we will take you down.”
Ambrosios took the moment of silence to make his move and lunged towards Aurora, reaching for her throat. Aurora moved fast. Gripping the man’s head in her hands, she lifted him and herself off the floor by a few feet. Ambrosios dangled in the air, squirming in her hold.
“You came from poison. You no doubt rule your pack with that same poison. You will no longer defile the alpha honour with your age-old ways in the name of tradition.” Aurora flung him across the room to the floor, where the other shifter still lay unconscious. Ambrosios hit the wall, a sickeni
ng crack accompanied his landing as his spine snapped. He would heal, but not for some time. Lowering herself back to the floor she spoke to the room. “If you were part of his pack, you are free of him. Do not imitate his ways as you move on in life. There will not be a dictatorship within our race.”
Aurora and her warriors exited the building with what they had come for, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that Aurora Byrne was The Raven Queen.
Cole went straight to the parking area of the museum to retrieve their car. Melaina and Marco tailed the two vampires outside to the back of the building, where a car with a driver was waiting for them. Ray disappeared immediately, taking to the shadowed back streets at speed, while Eldon fished something out from under his trench coat and handed it over to the driver. The driver carelessly threw the item into the passenger seat through the open window and moved around to the other side of the car. After watching the car drive away, Eldon continued along the street to a motorcycle which he mounted and sped off in the opposite direction.
“We stay on the car,” Marco instructed the other two, instantly picking up the vampire’s ploy to split them up. “The book takes priority and we do not split up.”
“The driver is human,” Melaina added, having picked up the scent and Marco acknowledged her with a nod, as Cole pulled the car up alongside them.
“They split three ways expecting us to follow,” Marco informed him. He climbed into the passenger seat and Melaina got into the back.
“But we’re not going to do that.” Cole put the car in gear and revved the engine.
“Nope, follow that car!” Marco laughed. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
Cole laughed and let out the clutch, speeding away in pursuit of the vehicle that contained the book. They tailed the car for a good twenty minutes, through the winding streets of the city. The human driver remained oblivious to their presence, until they reached the junction that brought the vehicle to a stop.
The Raven Queen Page 36