AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Back inside, I found Leif sitting. He looked strained and upset, though not as bad as when I’d left him.
“How’s it going?” I asked him.
“Not good,” Leif said through gritted teeth. J.D. sat beside him, rubbing his back. “My head’s fucked up. Elianna—er, Eli—is helping, but it’s not enough.”
“I’m trying not to put him to sleep,” Eli explained as she waved her hands over him. “I’d like him to be aware and able to help if there’s trouble.” She shook her head bitterly. “Whatever that fucking scientist did to make him feral is something I’ve never encountered before.”
“How the hell did you end up on Bloodstone, anyway?” I blurted to her. It had always been too busy for me to ask questions, and Crew’s second-in-command seemed far too capable to be relegated to a place like this for certain death.
Eli sighed. “Bad luck, and too much honor.”
“What does that mean?”
“Before I lost my wings, I was an archangel,” she explained. “A soldier tasked with guarding another angel. An envoy, if you will. One of our kind who deals with diplomatic missions. During one of our missions, we escorted our envoys to the headquarters of the Tranquility Council in Fangmore City. During this week-long exchange, I discovered several of my brothers and sisters in the archangel regiment had become entangled in some shady dealings with a few of the high-ranking members of the council. It turns out several members of the council wanted my envoy to…” She gritted her teeth and shook her head in disgust. “To meet an inglorious end. Something that would tarnish their reputation, and in doing so, also leave them dead. I tried getting involved, to expose the truth, when I discovered my cohorts were planning to stab one of our own in the back. I didn’t realize how deep the rot went. When I tried to voice the issue, I was framed as a double agent, trying to jeopardize the diplomatic mission. The main councilmember and several other archangels testified to it.”
Eli’s eyes were distant and troubled, as though remembering the situation was as bad as living through it again.
“I was stripped of my wings and my title, then they dumped me here to be dealt with quickly and quietly. Crew found me. That was a little over a year ago. Part of why I want off this island is to reveal the truth about the corrupt councilmembers and the archangels in their pockets.” She shrugged. “That’s the story. My story.”
Hearing how deeply corrupted the Tranquility Council had become was like a punch in the gut. I’d spent years of my life dedicated to the organization, doing my best to keep every mission and every member of my team honorable and on the straight and narrow. Yet, hadn’t I been terminated because one of Jayson’s relatives had pulled strings? It had been obvious that I was innocent of any wrongdoing, but they’d still let me go. All because of the Ninth Pack’s influence within the council.
Maybe it wasn’t only the pack system that needed to be torn apart. Maybe our entire society, from Heline and the council to all the way down, was out of line.
An hour later, Crew had spread the word that we’d be attacking at dawn in the hope that we’d catch most of Simon’s people unaware. Wyatt and Crew were gathering everyone together, preparing them for the hour-long hike to Simon’s lair. Wyatt moved among the survivors, checking on each one. A hand on a shoulder there, a kind word here, a whisper of something to this one or that one.
Despite being born into one of the most corrupt packs, Wyatt was a true leader. The kind of person people looked to during a crisis even if they didn’t know him well. Something about the way he carried himself and seemed to have time for everyone made it easy to see he had a strong moral compass.
Sensing my eyes on him, Wyatt sent a smile my way. Leaving the group he’d been talking to, he strode over to join me a few yards from the cliff’s edge.
“Ma’am?” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye. “I couldn’t help but notice the way you were undressing me with your eyes. Is there”—he looked me up and down before licking his lips—“something I can do to you—uh, I mean, doforyou?”
I rolled my eyes. “Ugh, you’re so full of yourself.”
“What’s that?” Chelsey’s voice called out from the cave entrance. She stood, hand outstretched, a finger pointing out to sea.
Following her gaze, I immediately noticed what she was talking about. Hundreds of yards out in the ocean, blinking lights hovered above the water, flying toward the island with relative high speed. It took a moment until I realized the noise: thethwap-thwap-thwapof helicopter propellers.
The eagle shifter Zoe had told me about stepped forward and looked out to sea, squinting with his enhanced vision. “Choppers,” he said. “Big ones. Look like transports.” He turned to Crew. “Is this the shipment run you guys were talking about?”
“Shit,” Crew muttered. “It came sooner than we thought.”
We didn’t have days or even hours. We had minutes. The choppers would land, and it would take time to get the bioweapons and creatures aboard them. But if we had any hope in hell of hijacking those helicopters before they took off again, we’d have to move. Now.
Forgoing quiet for efficiency, Crew cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “We go! I broke you guys into groups earlier, so fall into your platoons now. Wyatt and Kira will command group one, I’ll take group two, and Eli and Mika will lead group three. This is it, people. It’s time.”
Nervous and terrified murmurs ran through the crowd. Leif, who’d been standing off to the side with J.D. and Eli, flinchedat the sound. I gasped as his face crumpled and his eyes became wild.
“J.D.!” I shouted. “Get away from him.”
The group went silent and turned in time to see Leif shift. He fell to all fours, snarling. J.D. stepped backward, falling over on his ass. Eli, seeing that J.D. was helpless, stepped between him and the now fully feral Leif.
Leif lunged at her and snapped his teeth. Eli jerked back, just barely dodging Leif’s teeth. The group of survivors shouted and called out for help. The noise sent Leif into more of a frenzy. Thankfully, instead of jumping into the group, he turned and sprinted off into the jungle. He was headed straight for the volcano.
“We have to go now,” I said. “He’s headed back to the lab. As soon as he gets there, Simon is going to force him to tell him where we are and what we’re planning.”
Crew nodded grimly. “We out of time, folks. Move. We go fast. There’s no other way. Be as silent as you can not to draw attention, but speed is our ally here, not discretion. Let’s go.” With that, Crew turned, shifted, and bounded down the hill to the jungle.
I took Wyatt’s hand, squeezed it, and led my team into the jungle after him. Above us, the helicopters swooped across the trees, sending waves of wind down onto us as they thundered toward the volcano.
