AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Riaz was very confused by the antics of two of their normally most reserved citizens. It was woefully out of character.
Kane’s voice brought Riaz back to attention. “We’re in a poor position. They’ve got our number and we’ve nothing to show for it. We didn’t even get a chance to compromise their supply in Estes Park.”
“Somehow they knew we were going to blow the building,” Riaz countered. “They exited that space only hours before we’d have leveled it.”
“A mole?”
Riaz shook his head, angered at the prospect and certain it wasn’t true. “The only people who knew of the attack we’d planned were me, my lieutenants, Remmus, and Cortana.”
A pregnant pause.
“No, that isn’t true,” Drake replied. “Riaz, both Aidan and I knew as well—because you sent us a text.”
Riaz fisted his hands in frustration as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. “And they have a hacker.”
Obscenities spewed from the lips of several dignitaries, but it was Cortana who broke through the chorus of curses. Straightening in her seat, she said, “But now we know, and we can use that knowledge to aid us in the future.”
Aidan nodded. “If we plan attacks in the future, we’ll need to use non-technological means to communicate. Telepathy is probably the safest option.”
All eyes went to the Raeths in the room … to find that none of them were paying attention.
Isaiah was pawing at Rukia, who was batting away his hands like he was a naughty kid. Kaien was rubbing his temples, glaring at the ground. Behind him, Nero had gotten up and was now pacing the length of the room behind the row of chairs, gritting his teeth and his thumbs flying over his phone. Zeke and Nina, surprisingly, wore matching grins, unable to keep their hands to themselves.
Confusion splashed over the faces of those assembled as they watched the Raeths’ behavior continue to escalate. Aidan, fortunately, knew most of them well enough to break the stalemate.
“Nina.”
Enough chastisement rung true in the word for the woman’s attention to snap toward Riaz’s alpha. Instead of laughing it off or merely refocusing on the task at hand, her expression darkened to a sinister degree.
“What, wolf?” No nod to Aidan’s name, nor his position, nor his status as her adopted brother. Nothing.
Riaz had never heard such a scathing tone come from Nina, nor had he experienced the primal chill that iced up his spine following the blatant threat that underscored her words. All humor or mirth at the situation dissolved. The vampires, Elementals, and werewolves cast wary looks at each other, sensing the danger that’d suddenly shadowed the assembly.
Aidan stood slowly, attempting to be casual when his concern was anything but. The wolf appeared behind his eyes to study his sister. Instinctively, Riaz knew that it was taking everything within Aidan to keep his posture nonaggressive. His voice, thought tight with tension, was deliberately gentle.
“What is wrong with you?”
It was as if all the air was sucked out of the room when Nina mirrored his stance—except the Raeth lowered her chin as if sizing him up. “Nothing is wrong with me, Aidan.”
Aidan’s attention shifted to where Kaien sat. “Kaien?”
At his name, the Raeth opened narrowed eyes, throwing Aidan’s exact same tone and infliction back in his face. “Aidan.”
The single word answer did nothing to quell the growing unease in the room, and Riaz shifted slightly so that Cortana was behind him. Aidan, however, remained undaunted. “Why are you all acting like this?”
“Acting like—”
Nina stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening when a flash of energy, bottomless and heavy, flared through the room. Every Raeth suddenly gasped, jolting against the impact.
With no time to spare, Nina spun and clasped hands with Zeke, the pair teleporting away without a word. Kaien and Nero disappeared within the same moment, and when Riaz looked to Isaiah, he had swathed Rukia in a bear hug and promptly teleported out.
“What—” Aidan stopped when another presence filled the room, directly in front of Lucius.
“Circe?” was the only word out of Lucius’ mouth before he and his mate followed the same pattern, disappearing in a single displacement of air.
The entirety of the charade had taken ten seconds at most, leaving the remainder of the group in a stunted silence, pondering what the hell had just happened.
That was when Aidan threw his head back and laughed, bellowing to the ceiling.
