4. Tez

4

Tez

Nemi sang in my ear as we left Aurora's chambers.

I cast her a look out of the corner of my eye. My grandmother would have understood how close to the edge I fucking skated. As I trailed after Slade and Victor into the hall, something clicked as it hit the stones beside me.

Slade half turned to glance back, and I hit the damned feather with my foot, sliding it into the crack between the floor and the wall. I held my breath until he resumed walking.

I'd be lucky if I didn't start spitting them out all over the place.

One of the four young assholes that moved ahead of us said, "Looking forward to that juicy bit of tail."

My stomach clenched, and my hands curled into fists. Nemi poked me in the side of my neck with her beak. I didn't know if she was urging me to kill Jaimie, or telling me not to.

"You're a lucky bastard, and that's the truth." Todd glanced back at Victor.

"Yeah, well, you're not the one with the bloody Storm Drake inside you," said Jaimie. "I'm starting to understand why Marcus was such an ass."

"I've volunteered for the Earth Drake. Aurora wants to try the insertion tonight." Todd paused near another doorway.

"You're braver than me. No piece of tail is worth that," a third one said.

"You might be happy flapping around as a Wyvern, but I want more," Todd replied. "You guys aren't hungry yet, are you?"

"Not for food, anyway." Jaimie led them through the door.

The four vanished through it, but I nearly sagged with relief when Victor kept walking past. That set of rooms belonged to Finn, who was a wicked piece of work if I'd ever seen one. The echoing screams from that place were guaranteed to give the devil nightmares. And the four ex-Centaurs spent a lot of time in there.

Fortunately, Victor chose that moment to speak.

"I trust neither them, nor the Dragons, anywhere near her," the underlord focused his gaze on Slade. "The pheromones her Ice Drake will be secreting will be too close to that of Dragons. I need you to oversee her care, personally." His eyes slid to me. "Birdman can help."

I swallowed. I was torn between never returning to where Bree was held, and wanting to burst in there and slice through that chain to set her free.

Was pretty sure I had the sword to do it.

The sword. What the fuck was I going to do with the sword?

As if he was following my thoughts, Victor gestured to the hilt sticking up over my shoulder. "See if you can get the spell off that weapon," he said. "I want it for my personal collection. But it's no good to me if I can't use it."

My brain froze. Fortunately, my lips did not. "Yes, Sir."

Slade eyed it. "Maybe I should take it. I know a guy."

Before I could panic, Victor interceded. "Forget the sword, Slade. You just focus on looking after Bree. She has to be guarded 24/7."

The big shifter's brows dropped. "She can't get out of there if she can't shift."

"It's not her escaping that worries me," Victor said. "I don't want anyone messing with her."

"She's in Aurora's chambers," Slade grumbled. "No one is going to mess with her."

Victor glanced back toward Finn's rooms. "Regardless, I want you to guard her. You and Tez. No one else."

"Not sure what we're going to do against a Drake," Slade growled.

He was talking about Jaimie, who now, apparently, had one prowling around inside him. I'd thought regular shifters were something to worry about. These guys raised it to another entire level.

Victor's stride hitched. "I'll send down a Phoenix. It's trained to find me, if you have trouble."

Slade did not appear amused, but he nodded.

It took effort to keep my expression stoic and my stride regular, but what coursed through me was almost panic. It was as though Fate had me on fucking strings. I was treading a fine line here, between life serving Victor, and death by betraying him.

There really was no middle ground.

So as we climbed the stairs, adrenaline caused my heart to flutter wildly.

Then Slade gestured to me. "Pick up something for her from the kitchen, and then get back there and fuckin' stand guard. Don't touch her, or let her touch you, or you won't be walking out of there. I'll switch off with you in a few hours."

"Roger wilco," I said, pleased that my voice sounded completely calm when I most certainly was not.

He cast me a glare.

"Yes, Sir," I amended.

As Victor and Slade continued on to the upper levels, I pushed through the door to the main one and headed for the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, I descended the stairs with a tray of bits and pieces I'd managed to glean from the kitchen supervisor, including a couple of pastries I thought might appeal to her. It seemed I had an inner soft guy I'd known nothing about.

I bumped into Aurora just outside her chambers.

"Good," she said when she saw me, and handed me a key. "I've got things to do, so I can't waste my time guarding her. But don't get too close, or you'll end up an icicle."

Her words resonated as she stalked away down the hall. Bree had every reason to hate me. I had little doubt that glacierhood was a very real possibility.

I entered the chamber and was relieved to find it empty. Finn and the Amityville Trinity were nowhere in evidence—likely they'd joined the four assholes in the rooms down the hall.

Bree's cell had a simple lock on a very heavy door, and when I swung it open, she was sitting on the bed.

Like most of this fucking place, the air was damp and cool enough that I was glad for the cloak. I'd expected her to be shivering beneath the blanket. But she stood clad only in her sports bra, and glared at me.

She was so beautiful that all I could do was stare at her.

The look she gave me could have frozen hell itself. "So, have you been working for Victor all along?"

I couldn't lie to her, so I nodded.

Her eyes rose to the hilt of the sword, and then away again. As I set the tray down on the floor and nudged it toward her with my foot, I searched for something, anything, I could say.

I settled for, "Victor has a long reach."

For just a second, her eyes flashed a pale icy blue. "Apparently," she said. "How did you fool the Watcher at the academy? They don't let just anyone in."

I shrugged. "I don't think I did." It was true. I was pretty sure the Watcher suspected what I was.

Nemi left my shoulder to flutter close to Bree's face. I stiffened. Would Bree take her anger out on the hummingbird?

But instead, Bree's face softened, just a little. And then her brows dropped. "That sword isn't meant for you."

"No," I agreed. "It isn't."

I saw the barest trace of confusion in her eyes before she turned away. But I'd caught how they'd begun to flash, and I now knew what that meant.

It was a weird sensation, knowing that tall-dark-and-irksome was talking to her without actually being here. I'm sure his comments about me were less than complimentary.

He also had good reason to hate me.

I pulled off my cloak and tossed it to her. "It's damned cold in here."

She didn't move to take it. Her chin lifted, and she said, "Just get out."

Nemi darted back to me. I left the room, shut the door, and stood just outside it. Shaking.

The hummingbird used her wing to thwack me up the back of my head. I winced, and was momentarily grateful that she wasn't a parrot. A sore head was definitely preferable to being told what an idiot I was. Although I had no idea what she thought my options were. The path was clear, if I wished to live.

The Phoenix arrived in a shower of sparks, but the stone counter and floor were impervious. He chirped at Nemi as he settled on the perch designed for him. His bright eyes tracked my every movement.

Fortunately, Phoenixes were smart, but they also couldn't speak. I rubbed the back of my head.

Fucking good thing hummingbirds had small wings…