“So Vane isn’t the reason the portal is failing?” I’ll admit, it had occurred to me that the demons running riot might be part of his fucked-up plan.
Zane scrolled through his phone in silence. “Wow, Vane’s trending on every social media channel. Reddit thinks the speech was AI and he’s really a lizard shifter.”What the actual fuck?“Quite a few people are claiming the demons are fake too.”
“If only,” I muttered. We had enough problems dealing with Tiberius Vane without the threat of demons stealing my little mate away.
If only the storm mage had stuck around. I could have done with the mage’s input regarding his father. Nobody knew the bastard better than his only son, with the possible exception of Brianna, his wife.
“Vane will be searching for your mate. Losing her has likely caused him a massive headache and disrupted his plans.”
“He can search all he likes, but he’s not taking her from me again.” My bear surged forward, and my chair creaked under the strain.We can’t shift here, I reminded him. The room wasn’t big enough, and I was not in the mood to leap from a window several hundred feet up the side of a mountain.
“No, but she’s the most effective tool we have to lure him somewhere he can’t escape from.”
I folded my arms defensively, not liking where this conversation was going. “Like where? Even if he fell for such a plan, he wouldn’t come alone, and I’m not putting my mate in danger again.”
Olaf scoffed. “Your mate is a powerful hybrid witch who eliminated an entire facility of enemy mages.”
“Her magic is unpredictable, so no, it’s too risky.”
“Olaf is right,” Rasmus said, much to my surprise. “You underestimate our mate. She’s strong and resourceful. Treating her like a scared little witch that needs protecting does her no favors.”
Was he right?
Perhaps, but my bear mulishly refused to listen to either of them. It was our job to protect our little mate, and if that meant coddling her, so be it. I refused to apologize for wanting to keep her safe.
While she’d not told us much about what she’d gone through while in Tiberius Vane’s custody, I knew it couldn’t be anything good. Not from the little I’d overheard in Olaf’s dining room.
Many of the magicals we’d rescued had whispered about experiments using siren magic, having their blood siphoned, and worse.
I shuddered at the thought of my mate being poked and prodded by sadistic mages. Thank fuck the ones who’d hurt her were now dead.
The door behind me swung open, and a tantalizing hint of cherries and vanilla wafted in. My muscles locked in place as a small witch wearing bunny-patterned PJs stomped past me.
“If you guys are planning a hit job on Tiberius fucking Vane, I want in!”
32
Raven
How fucking dare my mates make plans to murder my worst enemy without my input! Did they not understand I was now their badass bitch witch leader?
Waking up to discover they were having a strategy meeting had pissed me off big time.
Zane grinned when he caught me glaring at him. “I’m on your side, pet,” he assured me before placing me on his knee. “But I’m down for punishment if you feel the need to spank my ass.”
A hot flash almost incinerated my PJs, making me squirm in embarrassment as my mind played a film reel of what he’d just described.
“You have the concentration of a sun gnat,” Kenji said,“so why you think you have the skills to lead a dangerous mission escapes me.”Goddess, Kenji was right. Not that I planned to tell him.“Of course I’m right. I’m always right.” I glared at him but he was too busy licking his butt to notice.
My bear coughed and shuffled uncomfortably on his chair.
“So what’s the plan?” I snapped, yanking my thoughts back into line.
Rasmus flashed me a fang and winked. I got the impression he enjoyed it when I went into ballbuster mode. Well good. This was the new and improved me. Now that I’d unleashed my kick-ass magic and entered my badass era, I planned to take no shit from anyone.
Least of all my mates.
I led, and they followed.
