AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shook my head and was about to make a comment when Uncle Lalo and Aunt Kassie doubled over, along with a few Guardian Moon warriors, all of them covering their ears.
“Adrien,” Aunt Kassie cried, her eyes red and fangs coming out. Uncle Lalo looked as anguished as she did; like something was tearing their hearts out.
“They’re on the third floor. Let’s hurry,” Uncle Lalo ordered.
“That’s where Traci said Tori was,” Evie said, paling.
“No. No, not Tori. Not her,” Aunt Kassie whispered, and then she was gone, using her vampire speed. I disentangled myself from Uncle Lalo, and one of our warriors came and took his place.
“Go, Uncle Lalo. We’ll catch up,” I told him, and he nodded before using his own gift of speed to catch up to his mate.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kassie
Mayahuel kept pacing in the back of my mind as we waited by the airport for Zi to confirm where we were headed. She wanted out. Like me, she didn’t like to wait and it would be another hour or two until we got to San Diego, or whatever other city we needed to reach.
I hadn’t felt this type of anxiety since the night Lalo was almost killed, long before we were shifters or mates. The night I thought he had been killed. I didn’t want to make up my mind only to be told it was too late again. That night and my indecision cost me two hundred years next to my mate.
“We’ve got an address. Let’s go,” Markus called out to everyone. We filed into the airplane, and once we were in the air, I unbuckled and curled into Lalo’s lap. I needed his comfort.
We listened to Zi’s phone call quietly, and I managed to laugh a little at the price she had to pay for the information we needed. I’d sell feet pics too if it meant getting Tori back, but James looked like the man asked for their firstborn.
‘I would totally take feet pics, too,’ I mind-linked Lalo.
‘I’d help you set up. Hell, I’d add a few dick pics in the mix just to fuck with the man,’ he added, making me snort. The flight settled into a reflective quiet and too many thoughts were flowing through my head.
‘I’m scared, Lalo,’ I admitted, cuddling closer into his chest.
‘I won’t let anything happen to you, Muñeca,’ he said, his arm tightening around my stomach and I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. Still, I placed my hand over his, a small smile forming on my face that I hid in the crux of his neck.
‘I’m not scared for me, you dingus. I am scared for Tori, Violet, Cory and Evie,’ I told him.
‘They’re strong, just like their parents. Just like our kids.’ He rubbed soothing circles on my lower back, coaxing a sigh from deep within my soul.
We were quiet for a bit, but at least Mayahuel had retreated to the back and was sitting still, talking to Dario through the mate bond. It eased some of my anxiety because she wasn’t pacing, but barely. There were so many balls in the air that I was afraid one of them would be dropped and cost us precious lives.
We were flying almost thirty warriors with us, but even that didn’t feel like enough. We didn’t know a lot about what we were walking into, and while I was fine with that most of the time, the lives of my family had never hung in the balance so precariously. Not since that fight against my mother almost thirty years ago.
‘Is there a way to convince you not to walk in guns blazing here?’ Lalo mind-linked when the plane started to descend.
‘I don’t carry guns. Unless you’re talking about these.’ I curled my arm to show him my bicep. On the outside, they didn’t look very impressive, but my vampire traits made my body look deceptively fragile and delicate. Helios still struggled to beat me some days, and he was technically the god of war. Even if he was, as I liked to remind him, somewhat retired from his days of old.
‘Muñeca...’ he chided.
‘I won’t take any unnecessary risks, I promise,’ I said, trying to appease him.
‘We should tell them,’ he said, but I shook my head slightly. If we told them, I’d likely be benched and I had useful skills that could save lives.
‘It’s not the time, Lalo. Not until we get the others home.’
Lalo sighed and didn’t respond, but simply kissed my shoulder and held me for a moment longer before I sat back in my seat and buckled up.
We drove out to the warehouse and I was tied up in knots, so I resorted to my old tricks to calm down and meditated until Lalo informed me that we had arrived. Seb had already dealt with the guards outside, but I was surprised by the savagery with which Adrien dealt with the woman in charge. My sweet Adrien. The pain and fear of having Tori taken was tearing him up at the seams. The groups split up, and mine headed toward the fourth floor to look for the kids.
The floor was empty when we flooded in, but it wasn’t too long after we arrived that a group of ten guards and witches came barreling out of the elevators. Lalo pulled me out of the line of fire, taking a bullet to the back. He groaned, but he shook his head at me. It wasn’t silver. That was at least a fucking relief. He was going to say something but the amulet around his neck currently dangling between us lit up like a Christmas tree as it absorbed a spell, and we both looked down at it.
“Shit, Kassie,” he said, knowing not everyone in our group had amulets.
