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He confirmed that he and a couple of other fire elementals would join us. I could feel his anxiety down the phone, vibrating between us. He was desperate to get his cousin back, and who could blame him? We agreed to meet a few houses down from Charlize’s property, on the field that the locals referred to simply as The Green. Around it were a number of beautiful Victorian houses, in one of which Charlize and her compatriots had secreted the children.
I decided against notifying the dryads. Joyce had said that their magic was not offensive in nature, so there was no point in bringing them and I’d be risking their lives unnecessarily. I toyed with alerting Krieg but decided against it; the more people involved, the messier this could become, and above all I wanted to ensure the children were rescued safe and sound. We needed to hit hard and fast. And okay, I was still desperately pissed at Krieg for pulling that shit about my mother.
I briefly thought about contacting Voltaire but dismissed the idea just as quickly. We had no proof that the missing vampyrs were taken by any of this motley crew – and I didn’t trust him.
I took Liam, Archie, Elena and David from the pack and, of course, Greg. I needed people I could rely on at my back and that was the sum total of my known allies. Sonia, Bobby’s mum, would obviously want to come but she was very emotional and therefore a risk.
I had Mrs Dawes, Noah and Tristan on our security desk. Mrs Dawes was on standby to alert Sonia and Joyce if we were successful. I made them all swear to stay together – I trusted Noah and Mrs Dawes to keep Tristan out of trouble.
Tristan had been the one to find James and bring him to the mansion. I couldn’t risk them knowing each other somehow, so I collected the phones fromallof the wolves, myself included, with the weak explanation that they could be tracked or hacked. I locked them all in my safe. I didn’t want word of our coming raid getting out. Sure, I was being paranoid, but it’s only paranoia if they’re not out to get you. And someone was definitely out to get me.
I felt a skitter of trepidation as I saw Thea at her bedroom window. I met her eyes and she darted back behind the curtains. Shit. If she was involved, the kidnappers would know that we were on our way. I didn’t think that she was – she was too timid, too broken to be behind this – but I should have secured her first. Just in case. How many more mistakes would I make? I prayed that they wouldn’t cost the kids their lives.
‘We need to hurry up. Let’s move it,’ I barked to Greg. He put his foot down on the accelerator a little harder. ‘Faster,’ I urged. Pressure was bearing down on me. We needed to rescue those kidsnow.
‘We’ll be no good to anyone if we get arrested by the Common police for speeding,’ he said softly. He was used to adrenaline pouring into his system when he needed it, and he remained calm and collected.
‘Faster, Greg, please,’ I pleaded. It was hard to explain the urgency thrumming through me, but he took one look at my face and pushed his foot flat to the floor. The car roared forward.
When we arrived at The Green I was both relieved and irked to see that the elementals were already there. They were earlier than the time we’d agreed – but then again, so were we.
After we left the car, I tugged at the collar of my shirt as a signal and my people started stripping obediently. It would take some of them up to five minutes to transform onto four legs, and we needed that clock to start ticking.
Greg and I stayed on two legs. I stayed upright because I could shift in seconds; Greg did the same because he was just as deadly on two as he was on four. Sometimes guns are handy.
We waited for Amber DeLea to arrive. In true Amber style, she turned up precisely on time. In concession to the raid, she was wearing black leggings rather than her usual swish of colour, and she’d foregone her peasant-style top for a leather jacket. I approved. She looked kick-ass, not a look I’d seen on her before. She wore an old tool belt at one hip, each loop containing different pots. On her other hip, she had something like a quiver, which held an array of paintbrushes. She looked like an emergency artist.
Maxwell stood next to Roscoe and a couple of the guys whom I recognised from Rosie’s. Roscoe was gesturing to his team, looking like he was totally in charge. That rubbed Esme up the wrong way – this wasourop.
Now isn’t the time to get territorial,I said to her.
It is always the time to get territorial. That is how we get more territory.
We don’tneedmore territory. We just need to keep ours safe.
For now,she agreed. I felt her settle down.
‘Maxwell.’ I greeted him with a nod. Normally I’d have smiled, but I was so damned tense.
He stepped forward from the cluster of elementals and pulled me into a massive bear hug. ‘Thank you for calling me,’ he whispered hoarsely. ‘Thank you.’
I squeezed him back just as hard. ‘Let’s get these kids back.’
‘Do you have a preferred strategy?’ Roscoe called out.
‘Hit them hard and fast and grab the kids,’ I suggested.
‘So no, then,’ Roscoe replied glibly.
I glared.
‘We’ll mix teams of wolves and elementals,’ Greg suggested. ‘Bastion and Reynard can go in high and fly in to the top floor. Half of us take the front door, half of us take the back. Bastion and Reynard will create a distraction, while we find and secure the kids. They are the priority.’
Roscoe gave an approving nod.
‘And where do you suppose we should be?’ came a call from the shadows that instantly put my back up.
‘Voltaire. This is nothing to do with you.’
