AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Colby nodded. “Yeah; Will the weasel-shifter.”
“He’s a marten-shifter, although weasel is probably a better description. He’s the bartender at the Workshop, isn’t he? How would he know.”
“The only thing we can figure is that we all got so used to Mystic River being our safe haven, that somehow he overheard something and was able to get the information to Strode. Scott will handle things at his end. We need to remind people to be careful about being overheard.”
“Do you think the Phantom Fire will offer us a ride?” asked Winter.
“I don’t know that I’m ready to call them in for that. We have a stealth gunship that could carry a strike force. Hayden’s been in and out of there, so we have that going for us.” Looking at Hayden, Colby continued. “You don’t have to go…”
“No; I think both Caye and I need to go. We need to make sure Strode is banished to a part of the underworld from which he can never escape.”
“What about Adriana’s mate?” asked Caye.
“I think we need to ensure that Strode can’t use him to track her or to force her to move against us.”
Brie and Winter laughed, and Winter explained. “I think you vastly underestimate Adriana’s strength and power. She did what she did to protect us.”
Colby nodded. “Agreed. Our attack on Strode’s fortress will have two goals: retrieve Adriana and put down the bastard who turned her against her will.”
After further discussion, they all agreed to meet come morning and finalize the plans with the goal of launching at sunset. Brie planned to take a run to try and find some peace. But as she turned to head down the hall, Colby gently grasped her arm and led her to their bedroom.
“You’re not alone, anymore, sweetheart. I know you’re more upset than anyone else.”
“I failed her, Colby. While I was settling things with you, they got the drop on us. If I’d just admitted to myself what I knew to be the truth, we wouldn’t have been down in the cellar.”
“And who’s to say how that would have turned out? You have to know you are at the top of Strode’s hit list. You’re an abomination to him, which, by the way, I find incredibly erotic, but he hates you and everything the Shadow Sisters stand for. There’s no way to know that things wouldn’t even be worse, so let it be. We will attack Strode. He will learn once and for all that he cannot attack those I care about, and then he will be dead. We will get Adriana back, and we will kill the cur that turned her against her will.”
“I would like to point out that when you kill Strode, he won’t learn anything.”
“Who said we were just going to kill him? Evil like that is hard to kill and banishing him even to the deepest level of Hell won’t get it done. But Hayden has another idea. They will separate his soul from his body and burn the body in the deepest depths of hell. His soul will be torn apart and banished to the shadowlands where it will wander for all eternity, searching for its corporeal form.”
“But if it’s burned to ash, there is no form.”
“Precisely,” Colby said with a chilly smile that would be at home on the tundra.
“Did I mention I find it incredibly sexy when you’re battling evil forces?”
Colby chuckled. “Not yet. Why don’t you get naked, and we’ll discuss it at length.”
CHAPTER 18
COLBY
The following morning before the others had arisen and while Brie slept peacefully sated in his bed, Colby thought back to the phone conversation he’d had with Oliver Halsey, the venerable alpha of the Hampton’s pack.
“Reynolds? Do you know what time it is?” growled Halsey.
“Good god, Halsey, is midnight past your bedtime? You’re getting old.”
“No, you smartass sonofabitch; I have a gorgeous mate, and I’m just getting started.”
Colby laughed. “Yes. Having your fated mate in your bed where she belongs is a wonderful thing, is it not?”
“You finally claimed that hellion head of the Shadow Sisters?”
“I did, indeed. But I’m not calling to invite you to our bonding celebration. I’m afraid that will have to wait. I need a favor.”
“Finally calling in that debt?”
