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“There,” Kane said. “The shelf.”
As I focused on the shelf, I realized he was right. A small light outlined it completely. Because why wouldn’t the creepy basement of town hall have a secret door?
“Well, we might have found his lair,” I said as Niko brought the light back. Levi stepped forward and ran his hands along the edge closest to the wall. A loudclicksounded, then the scraping of stone as the metal wheels creaked along the cement floors.
“This feels a bit tooNational Treasurefor me,” I muttered.
Kane laughed. “You’ve seen it? You didn’t strike me as an action movie fan.”
“Shut up, it has history, mystery, some asshole villains, and Riley. What’s not to like?” I mused.
He snorted. “You would be a Riley fan.”
“Come on, he practically made that movie,” Levi agreed as he moved forward, not waiting for the alphas. Niko huffed in annoyance, but Levi ignored him, exploring further.
The light settled near the ceiling, giving off enough of a glow to make it all out. We’d found some sort of data center. Tablets, screens, and a few journals rested on the tables he’d brought in. Avi moved around us and started waking them up. While he worked on that, I moved over to check out one of the journals.
“Guess he was working with the board after all,” I announced as I read about his plans. He’d bribed the men who’d ruined my mates’ reputations and made them run for their lives.
“What could he have offered those rich bastards?” Levi scoffed.
“Power. Apparently, he doesn’t just hoard them. He can gift them as well,” I revealed. “He just doesn’t like doing it, so he never followed through on the deal. This says he escaped before they could collect.”
I flipped back several pages, stopping when Kane’s name appeared among the other words.
“What else?” Niko asked reluctantly. I could have handed it over, but I read out loud so they could all hear the details.
“Kane took out an entire squad. The way his magic reacts to battle is a form of art. I speculate his physique is not just genetic, but magically enhanced as well. I’ve always been drawn to intellectual powers, but this one could prove very useful. I’d already set my eyes on his counterpart's power for illusions, and this would make me unstoppable.”
A loud thud sounded, followed by the groan of metal as Kane took his anger out on the closest shelf, the metal bending under the force.
“That fucking tool. Replace us, my ass. He wasgroomingus, strengthening us, gaining our trust just so he could fucking harvest us,” he growled. “You know I saved his life once?! The fucker tried to bite off more than he could chew, and he lashed out during a private meeting. That wolf could have taken his life without any harm done to me, yet I took him out for my boss.Killedfor him. What the fuck does that make me?!”
Hating the sight of my strong warrior in so much pain, I wrapped my arms around him.
“It makes you loyal, Kane. You didn’t know he was evil until after all of that. Protecting your own is what alphas do, especially you, and there’s no shame in that,” I promised him vehemently. He released a long breath as the words sank in, then he brushed a kiss over my forehead.
“You, my omega, are the strong one here,” he said gently.
“He was planning on making us watch,” Levi announced. his voice was oddly hollow, so we all moved closer. He’d picked up the journal I’d abandoned and was glaring down at the pages. “That motherfucker was going to chain us to the wall so we’d be forced to watch him suck the life and power out of us one by one. He was going to save me, theweakone, for last,” he said bitterly. “Cadmus and I would have ended him easily.”
“You would have,” Niko agreed, “and now you can. Let’s keep going. The past needs to stay in the past, or we’ll never be able to do this.”
“He wasn’t going to kill Avi,” Levi whispered. “He wanted to sell him back to the dark witches to gain their favor. The dick was fascinated by the untapped potential in him, so it wasn’t an easy decision to make, apparently.”
“Of course he was,” Avi said from behind us. We all jumped, but he didn’t react to our surprise. “The hall was quiet, and you were taking too long. I got nervous.”
“You okay?” I asked him. He shrugged off my touch, and I worried my lip with my teeth as I watched my men close in on themselves. They were so fucking strong, and I hated how this coward’s unfinished plans were making them doubt that.
We made our way back to the stairs before heading down another flight. The air was stale and musty, colder than the other floors. The landing was the same, with a door leading to another flight down.
“How far down does this go?” I wondered out loud as I glanced down into the inky darkness below.
“Too far,” Levi answered with a shudder. “Let’s clear this one. I’ll stand watch this time.”
“You sure?” I asked as the others passed. He nodded, and I reluctantly walked away when he offered me no words.
“He’ll be okay,” Avi promised as he pulled me into his side. “He’s just always been left behind, and it hurt when the Arch Mage betrayed us.”
