24. NINETEEN

NINETEEN

Wren

“Damien…”Myvoicecame out shaky as the freezing air skimmed over my nose, and I shivered.

It took a lot to make me cold. But being this deep in the south was just as bitterly cold as up north.

“Don’t worry, little bird. This is it.” Damien winked as his shadows came forth and brushed the snow from the ground in front of us to reveal a metal hatch.

“There’s only about twenty humans in here, at least there was yesterday.” He smirked, his gaze skimming down my body before meeting my eyes again. “Speaking of yesterday, did you have a good time with Kian and Lachlan?”

“Yes, I did.” Heat flushed my face. “It would‘ve been nice if you had joined, though.”

“Miss me?” He smirked, but longing flooded the bond.

“I always miss you if you’re not with me, especially lately. I really appreciate all the work you’ve been doing to find my dad, but I have missed you a lot.”

A low whine left his throat as he leaned down and brushed his lips over my cheek. “It’s been killing me. My mind has been in shambles. Ever since that fucker decapitated me at the dig site…” My heart lurched in my throat as he continued. “But there’s one constant, and that’s you. I love you so much.”

I moved forward and wrapped him up in a tight embrace as tears gathered in my eyes. “I love you too.”

Heat filled the atmosphere as we looked up to see a phoenix flying through the air and transforming into Samson.

“Where are the others?” Damien asked, keeping me flush against his chest.

Samson’s gaze slipped from him to me, and I could see the heartbreak all over his expression. It didn’t take much to know that he was thinking of Callie. “I told them not to worry about it. You said there were only twenty. Right?”

“Yesterday, but it could have changed.” Damien shrugged. “Don’t blame me if that’s the case.”

“Whatever. I can take care of however many humans there are myself anyway. You two just focus on getting her dad. I’ll have all of my focus on eliminating the humans.”

“Fine by me.” Damien’s telekinesis flipped open the hatch with ease.

Samson didn’t say anything further. He just stalked toward the hole in the ground and jumped inside.

My breath whooshed into the air visibly. The screams of the humans could be heard from outside of the hatch immediately, and the blazing heat sweltered out from the opening.

“There was one closed off area that I couldn’t quite slip into. Bright fluorescent lighting made for little shadows to stay concealed in there without giving away that there’s a shadow demon about.” He winked, and his shadows engulfed us.

We stepped into a very bright room with a medical table and two humans surrounding one supernatural who was tied to the table. He was a fox shifter from his scent, and one human sliced a scalpel into his stomach with a steady hand.

My shadow struck first, knocking the scalpel out of his hand, causing it to clink to the floor with a piercing sound.

We couldn’t hear any of the screams from outside the room, screams I was sure were happening, and I assumed it was because the room was soundproof.

Disgust curled in my stomach as I watched the fox shifter heal the cut.

Relief swept over his gaze. The man was younger than my father would be—maybe in his early thirties.

His hair was long and red, and he had dull green eyes.

My shadow cut through the binds that kept him bound to the table.

Damien’s shadows sliced the humans into tiny fleshy pieces of bone and tendon.

“Thank you.” The shifter wheezed as he pushed up off the table.

“Have you seen an arctic fox shifter here anywhere?” I asked.

He sucked in a sharp breath as he scrunched his face. “Cooper?”

“That’s my dad!” My pulse raced in my veins, and my ears and tail popped out from the magic swirling with excitement inside of me.

Damien’s arm hooked around my waist and pulled me into his chest. “Where is he?”

“Rescued,” he croaked, rubbing his throat.

I turned and dug into my bag to pull out an entire tincture of healing and handed it to him. “This will help with healing and pain. Who rescued him?”

He took it carefully before opening up the lid and sniffing it. Then he downed two droppers full of it. “Humans. A different faction. Ones who want to co-exist with us.”

“What?” I gasped, and Damien pulled me tighter against him.

He gave a dry chuckle, and pain flared in his eyes. “There’s been talk about them from the other humans, but I didn’t believe it until they attacked the facility about a month or two ago. I don’t know for sure. Time goes by differently in captivity. But I’m the last supernatural this facility has. I was being experimented on when they came, so I wasn’t able to be rescued, unfortunately.”

“I’m so sorry, but you’re rescued now. There’s an agent of the Supernatural Council here—”

The door flung open as fire blasted through before flickering out. Samson stood in the doorway with not an ounce of blood on him, but the scent of death hung around him. “That’s me. Come with me, and I’ll get you home.”

The shifter shot Damien a questioning look.

Damien nodded. “He will take you back home.”

“Do you know where they took my dad?” My voice cracked.

The shifter’s gaze settled on me and softened. “No, but he’s looking for you. You’re all he talked about. He was my roommate. There’s no way he won’t find you.”

Tears burned in my eyes as I nodded, a lump lodged in my throat.

“We talked about our daughters a lot. My daughter is hopefully at the village waiting for me.”

“I’m sure she is.”

He slipped off the table and hobbled toward Samson, the tincture clutched in his hand. “You were the only thing on his mind. However, the woman who rescued us… she… they seemed taken by each other. I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but I believe they were mates.”

“Mates?” My heartbeat echoed in my skull. “My dad has another mate?”

“Well, we are fox shifters.” The man forced a chuckle as static drowned out everything else around me.

Damien leaned down and nipped my ear, sending pain through me and cutting through the static as I blinked back at the shifter.

“My name is Jackson, please let Cooper know that I made it out and that I’ll be in the fox village if he ever wants to visit.”

“We will,” Damien assured him before his shadows engulfed us both. “I’m so sorry, little bird,” he rasped in my ear, but hope and uncertainty mingled in the back of my throat.