“What the fuck is going on?” Ryder demanded, his dark eyes searching for and landing on Willow. He immediately knelt beside her, his intense stare taking in every inch of her lithe form.
I understood that look.
Primarily because I’d given it to Lily countless times.
Cam just forgave Cane,Lily whispered, concern vibrating through our bond.He also said he’s using Izzy for her link to his memories and that she’s not his mate.
I considered that for a moment, my mind automatically placing myself in his shoes.He’s protecting her.I knew that because it was what I would do in his situation.He doesn’t want Cane to know how much she means to him.
I don’t know,Lily said slowly.He was pretty believable.
Vampire politics are all about riddles and games,I reminded her.You can never trust anyone’s word.
You trust Khalid.
Do I?I mused.Or do I tolerate him?
“We need to go now,” Luka said, interrupting my mental conversation with Lily.
“Go where?” Ryder demanded. “Someone had better start explaining, and soon.”
Damien touched his jaw, his golden irises swirling with amusement. “We’ve apparently partnered with the lycans to take down the compound. Welcome to the party.”
Ryder’s eyebrows shot up. “How long was I out?”
“Too fucking long,” Damien drawled. “But these arrangements were made before the lycans shot you.”
“Cane’s pet lycans,” I clarified before Ryder could react to that last bit. “Luka and the other alphas took out the unit that assaulted you. They’re all tied up in the hangar. It remains to be seen whether or not their minds can be saved. That’s also a conversation for another day.” I looked at Luka. “Is your team in position?”
“Yes.”
“Then we should begin,” I agreed. “Damien?” His technical skills were superior to mine, something I openly acknowledged. I’d merely had the benefit of playing with Khalid’s tech before—which I’d used to spy on Damien and the others. But now that Damien had access to the same instruments, we were playing on even ground, where he easily proved to be the expert.
“Who made these arrangements?” Ryder asked as he stood, pulling Willow up along with him.
“Khalid and Cedric,” Damien replied, his gaze now on the computer schematics rather than on Ryder. “Message sent.”
“What mess…” Ryder trailed off, his gaze flicking down to his wrist as said message scrolled across his watch. “This is related to all the crap you spewed at the meeting earlier?”
“The plan I presented to Jace and the others?” I rephrased. “Yes. But we’ve since escalated it.”
“You mean you always intended to escalate it,” Damien countered before looking at Ryder. “They only presented the political part of the idea to the others. Meanwhile, Cedric went to talk to Luka, and Khalid recruited you.”
“He failed to mention we would be working with the lycans.”
“Is that going to be a problem for you?” Luka asked, his tone indicating his annoyance. “Because I’m happy to leave you here.”
“My problem is, I was not fully informed on the true nature of this mission,” Ryder replied, his tone uncharacteristically flat. “As for the new objective, I’m absolutely not sitting this one out.”
“Then stop complaining and let’s go,” Luka fired back. “You can take the nuances up with Khalid later.”
“Oh, I will,” Ryder said.
“Just as I imagine Jolene will take all of this up with you,” Damien murmured, his words seeming to be for Luka.
Because apparently Luka hadn’t informed the other alpha of our joint plans. From what I understood, he’d done it so Edon and his mates wouldn’t find out.
It seemed there was a bit of a rift happening between the Clemente Clan triad and the other alphas.Trustwas the heart of the issue, something I gathered was a result of Edon’s mates having close relationships with the vampires.
