Page 96 of The Alpha’s Heir

We waited in the silence as Marcus pulled up to the curb of a structure that looked more patchworked than an old dam’s quilt handed down from nest to nest. People closed their windows as we parked and kept a wide berth from the vehicle, watching us with distrustful, stolen glances when they hurried by.

“Who is Daisy?” I asked as Marcus raced across the street to a boarded-up building.

“It’s obviously a woman of his.” Justus yawned. Of the four of us, he seemed the only one in good spirits, perking up the closer we got to Ethica. But his face fell when he checked his phone again. “Still no service.”

“Daisy is his wife.” Roman looked at me in the rearview mirror, and I offered my mate a smile.

The ride here had been tense with Marcus refusing to eat, sleep, or stop until we arrived. We hadn’t had much time to do any talking, and Justus refused to sit up front, so Roman and I had been efficiently cock-blocked by my intended husband.

“I’ll drive from here on out.” Roman pushed open the door, scanning the street before he grabbed the rifle perched by his feet.

He doesn’t need that, my wolf growled, irritable that she wasn’t the first thing he looked for when needing protection.

I’m sure that will go over well with his job. I rolled my eyes at my own beast. We were all irritated and on edge after the hours trapped in the car.

It wasn’t long before Marcus came bursting outside onto the quiet street, dragging the arm of a female who pleaded with him to stop.

Daisy—I assumed—was a petite woman with thick black hair and tears in her eyes, but she spat fire in the rapid curses she threw at her husband.

Marcus stopped, turning his back to us.

“We can’t bring her,” he whispered to his wife, so low that a human couldn’t hear him, but I could. “They’ve enacted martial law. She’ll be scanned and denied entry, if not worse.”

“Then I’m staying here.” Daisy yanked her arm away from his hold.

“Please don’t do this,” Marcus tried to reason with her.

“Is there a problem, Staff Sergeant?” Roman came around the front of the vehicle, causing Marcus and Daisy to freeze in their tracks.

“It’s her sister, LT.” Marcus held out an arm, stopping Daisy as she rushed forward.

“Roman, please. It’s Sarah. I can’t leave her here, and she can’t go in. They took away her credentials when she failed…” Daisy’s voice trailed off when she saw the look of horror on Marcus’s face.

I moved to get out of the vehicle, hoping to help with whatever was going on.

“Is that true?” Roman asked Marcus.

The man nodded, seeming to come to some sort of decision as he stood tall. “You go on without—”

“You should’ve said something.” Roman’s jaw clenched. “Go, get your sister, Daisy. We’ll enter through the tunnels.”

“Lieutenant?” Marcus asked.

“That was a command, Staff Sergeant. Move.” Roman slid into the driver’s seat. I tried to catch his eye again, feeling the strange wave of sadness that could only be coming from my mate, but he shut down his emotions as he stared straight ahead.

Daisy and the girl who was at least ten years her junior came running back out with Marcus guiding them.

“Scoot over,” I told Justus.

He grumbled a bit, but did as he was told, and the two ladies climbed into the vehicle.

The door hadn’t even shut when I smelled it.

Magic.

The younger girl sat on Daisy’s lap, trembling as Marcus assured them everything would be all right and Roman drove like a bat out of hell, taking a side street I’d never seen before.

“You’re a witch,” I whispered, staring at Daisy’s sister. The entire vehicle went silent after I spoke.