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I just grinned, watching Hunter yell orders as everyone continued the loading of weapons, water, medical supplies, and everything else we needed.
“What kind of idea are we talking?” Nathaniel asked. Curious wolf.
“It involves a spell I created a while ago. Similar to a look-away spell. But I’ve only ever held it for a few minutes at a time. This will allow us to get out of Durham, and I can use it wherever there are most likely to be traffic cops and when we enter West Virginia. I thought about trying to use something similar the other day when HFE was after me, but there’s no way I could concentrateandfocus on the spell. Also, it’ll drain me. I won’t have much power left when we get to the lab.”
“We’ll have Aubrey on our team, along with several demons and our wolves. I’m pretty sure Finvarra will find a way to end up at one of the most important labs as well. Hiding the bus is the smartest use of your power—we won’t get near the lab if we tip them off. And we don’t have time to drive the speed limit.” He leveled me with a hard stare. “But if you’re going to be drained when we arrive, you stick to me like glue. No exceptions.”
I ground my teeth, annoyed at the order. Nathaniel just waited me out. Thanks to the bond, I knew he wasn’t flexing his Alphaness. And he wasn’t ordering me around simply because he felt he could.
No, he was worried.
“We go in together,” I agreed. “But if you try to shove me behind you like you did at Eachann’s, I’ll kick your ass.”
He shook his head at me. “There will never come a day when you walk into danger ahead of me.”
“Then walk next to me. Partners, remember? Plus, last time I checked,Iwas the one with the magic.”
“Magic which will be drained.”
“I’ll still be able to ward.” I eyed him. “Are you going to be a dick about this?”
He sighed. “No. I’m trying. We’ll walk in together. Partners.”
I beamed at him, and his eyes softened. “Partners.”
* * *
Evie
The wolves movedlike a well-oiled machine. Within an hour, the bus was loaded with weapons; I was strapped into Kevlar—hot and heavy, but unlike the wolves and the demons, I wouldn’t shake off a bullet wound—and Aubrey had gathered the team he was taking into this lab with him.
Samael had sent Asmodeus, Bael, Abaddon, and Vas with us. They’d take to the air once we passed over the West Virginia border. The demons were our scouts for all of the labs, ensuring we would immediately know if someone tipped off HFE. They’d also pick up the unseelie from the closest portal, so our team would be intact by the time we needed to move.
Each of the demons needed two seats to themselves, thanks to their wings. None of them looked pleased to be confined to the bus, but they were dealing with it.
Meredith was sitting next to Vas, who wore a backward baseball cap and a content smile. It was good seeing him so happy. Things had gotten dark there for a while.
Mere waved at me. She’d be staying on the bus, but she’d use her tech magic to take down the HFE communication systems.
Hannah boarded, ignoring the way the wolves stiffened at the scent of her black magic. Nathaniel had already made his expectations clear, and none of them said a word as she chose a seat halfway down the bus and gazed out the window like someone’s grandma on the way to bingo.
I took a seat at the front of the bus. Kyla snorted at me as she boarded the bus. “Nerd.”
“I get car sick, asshole.”
Nathaniel sat next to me and wound his arm over my shoulders. If I ignored the ruckus from everyone else as they filed past us and sat down, I could almost pretend we were taking our own road trip.
“I was always into the nerds,” he murmured into my ear.
“Oh yeah?” I smirked at him, but the smile dropped from my face as Aubrey stepped onto the bus with several of his seelie behind him. They continued walking, and he took the seat across from us.
I’d never seen him look so desolate before.
“Are you…okay?”
“I will be. It’s difficult, knowing my king has been sending our people to be tortured. It explains why so many were terrified of speaking their minds. He used to have a council who would give him their opinions. Each of them was an expert in a different part of seelie life. But one by one, they disappeared, replaced by sycophants. Now it’s easy to see why. But…there are few things worse than betraying your own people, especially to a human hate group. It’s difficult to see how we can come back from this.”
“I’m sorry. But the actions of a few don’t represent the many. Taraghlan is rotten at his core, and his rot has spread. But you can remove that rot and save your court. You, ah, may want to talk to Samael.”
