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It was as if his words released the men from their shock. Ilar turned to the nearest wall and began to pummel it. From the crunching Ari heard, he was certain the fae's hand was shattered. Cadoc went to him and struggled to pull him away from the wall. Despite being a bear shifter, he could barely keep the fae from hurting himself. "Monty! Some help!"
Montgomery Sandalwood, Cadoc's Vanguard witch, raced forward. "Sopor!" Moments later, Cadoc was lowering the sleeping fae to the floor. "Godsdammit!" he exclaimed, clearly upset at Ilar's pain.
Kyran collapsed next to Ilar. "I will watch over him. Please help my people," he begged, unable to look at the bodies. His request seemed to give Cadoc an avenue for his anger. "I swear I will do all I can for them." He walked over to where Manon Decker, his squad's vampire, was already on the phone with Cameron.
Ari knew that Aiden, and even Cadoc, was treating this as a crime scene, but his mind was racing forward. "Aiden, can you call Darian here?"
Aiden's eyebrows shot up. "You would have me call him here? With this?" He pointed to the bodies.
Ari nodded. "Yes. We need his ability to open a portal directly to the palace." He lowered his voice. "We can't carry seventy body bags thru the portal to be paraded through Éire Danu."
Aiden looked ill. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. Thank the gods you're with us." He painstakingly typed out a message for a few moments then tossed him the cell. "I texted Darian a brief sit-rep and told him we had injured that needed to return. "Call whomever you need. I'm putting you in charge of getting them home without causing mass panic."
Ari caught the phone. "You got it."
He jogged back to where his men waited for him. Kincaid looked a lot steadier on his feet. "What can we do?" he asked.
"We need to arrange the logistics for getting them home." He turned to Gage. "Can you call the fae you know from Houses Orthames and Liordon. Have them report to…" He looked around. "Micah! I need your mate's phone number."
Micah glowered at him. "If you think for even one second about asking her to come here—"
Ari shook his head. "No, I need her to act as a point of contact in the palace along with Amelia in arranging support." He pointed to Ilar and Kyran. "They will be treating cases of shock and dealing with the aftereffects the grief will cause."
Micah frowned. "I'm not sure that's much better. I'll tell her myself, so don't worry about getting her up to speed." He turned to Aiden. "If Serenity will be using magic to treat loads of people, I need to head back."
Aiden didn't even hesitate before waving him off. "Darian should be here any moment; you can return via his portal."
As if Aiden's words conjured it into existence, a glowing portal appeared, and the fae princes stepped through, immediately followed by the Ashleigh brothers.
Thane looked around until he spotted Ilar and Kyran. He whispered a few words, and the sleeping fae rose and headed toward the portal. "Since Aiden's text mentioned injured, Serenity is standing by to treat him."
"Kyran, you're to return with Ilar to Éire Danu and stay with him until we get back," Aiden ordered.
Kyran nearly sagged forward with relief. "Sir, I…"
Aiden's expression softened. "That's what warrior brothers are for. I support you when you need it, and you help me do the things I cannot. It all balances out. Now, go."
Kyran was too choked up to respond; he simply placed his fist over his heart and followed Ilar thru the portal before it closed.
Ari watched as the Ashleigh brothers walked over to Kendrick as Darian and Oron moved to stand next to Aiden, they all looked sick at the sight before them.
"Right." Ari turned back to Gage. "So let Houses Orthames and Liordon know that Serenity is on standby at the palace and to report in to her." Gage nodded and walked a few feet away to make his calls.
Ari looked at Priest and Kincaid. "I'm going to call my brother to mobilize the Lionharts so we can help those who may be affected by so many deaths. Can the two of you stay close to Aiden? There's no way in hell I'm facing Meryn if her mate returns with so much as a splinter. Kincaid, if he gets even a paper cut, heal him."
Kincaid gave him a sour expression. "You're just saying that because you know that healing is the only spell I don't fuck up."
Ari lowered his voice. "And it will keep you close to Kendrick and the Ashleigh brothers. You may not get many more chances to watch them at work."
Kincaid blinked. "You're right." He practically ran back to where Aiden was standing with the witches. Ari winced at Kincaid's enthusiasm. Priest clapped him on the shoulder. "I got him."
"Thanks, Priest."
Ari watched his unit brother walk away and dialed the one number he knew he could always call, no matter what.
"Hey, baby brother. How's the mission going?" Rex asked when he answered the phone.
"I need your help."
