26. Remy

26

REMY

“You understand that Silas is going to have my head for this, right?” I ask as I clean the cut on Fiona’s forehead. The bruising under her skin is already starting to lighten with her healing abilities. Luckily, she’d only received a glancing blow.

Fiona glares. “I’m pretty sure you’re the boss of him. He’ll live.”

I huff. “Shows what you know.”

“He’s not going to care,” she mutters.

Now I laugh. It’s a short one full of disbelief. The situation that we are in is not a lighthearted one even if it was successful.

“Just do me a favor and keep out of his sight until that cut heals,” I say, and Fiona sticks out her tongue.

“The Council is going to hang you out to dry for meddling in a territory that’s not yours,” the lion shifter currently under the heel of one of my people spits. He’s probably a Leonid, if distantly related to Stella. The Council does hate when territory leaders overreach. It can threaten war between territories, and that would be very inconvenient for them.

But why they thought I wouldn’t chase down and retrieve my own people in a different territory is beyond me.

The other man involved is fae. He’s iridescent with pointed ears, but he’s not as talkative. Neither of them has given up any information. We know that two is too small to be the entirety of the operation, but they were easy enough to overpower once Fiona distracted them.

After narrowing down the location to within a ten-mile radius, the tracking witches were able to use the children’s clothing to bring us to this rundown apartment building only a few blocks away from the fae gate in Lobo’s city.

“Now why do you think I’ll bring an issue as inconsequential as this to the Council?” I ask, amused when both of the men’s faces whiten. Probably because they know well enough that it’s easy to make people disappear when you don’t involve pesky things like governing bodies.

“But we aren’t in your jurisdiction,” the shifter whispers like that matters.

Fiona snorts. “What the dog doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

I glance over at the two children my guards are inspecting for injuries. The girl can’t be older than thirteen and the boy looks to be six. Celeste and Timothy Sova were being kept in the equivalent of a magic blocking kennel. The girl takes after her sirin mothers with white-blonde hair and fair enough skin that the bruise on her cheek is vibrant.

I’ve already sent a message to Ben asking if he’ll teleport them back to the territory, not wanting them to have to be forced in small quarters for the hours it will take to return home. The boy giggles at something one of the guards says, but it does nothing to dispel the shadows in the girl’s eyes.

I would prefer what occurred today to hurt Lobo.

He’s either guilty of colluding with my enemies or negligence.

I tsk, keeping the anger from my voice. “We have a set of cozy cells for you. No need to involve anyone else in this.”

The door swings open, and an air settles over the space, my people still. Only one person in this territory would have the authority to ask the tracking witches to stand down and allow them to pass. A couple of wolf shifters enter, their yellow eyes flashing before they part, and the man of the hour enters.

His stance isn’t aggressive, and I narrow my eyes.

“Stoneheart.” Lobo nods in acknowledgment. “I received complaints about the noise.”

“Noise tends to happen when retrieving children taken from my territory.” I keep my tone cool.

Lobo glances at the scene before him. The perpetrators with hands bound behind their backs and the children my people are standing in front of, before shrugging. “Get them out of my territory. I have no wish to be party to their actions.”

“Their parents were taken through the gate,” I grit out. “If it’s too much of a hassle to watch out for all the people in your territory, I’ll gladly take it off your hands.”

Lobo’s glare holds no heat to it. “Careful, gargoyle.”

“Have a care with your allies, wolf.”

Lobo’s mouth twitches. “I have no allies.”

His yellow eyes are tired. There’s a familiar sorrow there that causes a sick sensation in my gut. I’d spoken to Stella just this morning of the catastrophe that the loss of love is for someone who has people depending on them. To see evidence of it now is eerie.

“I’ll return if you can’t find the will to live enough to do what’s right,” I say and ignore Fiona’s arched brow.

I catch the flash of relief on Lobo’s face before he muffles it around his personal guards. Whoever or whatever the wolf lost may indeed pull him down along with.

But that isn’t my problem.

“I’ll endeavor to stay off your schedule,” Lobo says before turning on his heel and leaving. His wolf shifters are slower to leave, casting looks at each other before following their leader.

“Don’t you have enough problems?” Fiona asks, poking my stomach. “The Council won’t allow you to try to claim his territory.”

“I have no desire to take on his pack,” I muse, though I wouldn’t hesitate to do just that if this continues to be a problem. “Perhaps they will intervene before he self-destructs.”

“You think it’s negligence?” Fiona asks.

I only nod. Sorrow like that holds a particular stench similar to decay.

One moment the space next to me is empty, and the next it holds Ben. He may be scentless, but the sight of him causes a ripple of warmth in my chest.

That ripple doesn’t hit everyone the same because my guards pull weapons and shout in surprise. Ben raises his hands, his eyes widening and his form blinks semi-transparent for a moment before I call out an order that has the room easing with muttered curses.

“Sorry.” Ben solidifies, not needing to leave because of a threat. “I came as soon as I received your message.”

“I thought you would need to get more details to find us,” I say.

His lips twitch with something that’s not quite a smile or a wince. “It seems not.”

He doesn’t explain further, and I shrug. The demon takes in the room, his eyes hardening on the cage. The energy of him hums along my skin, but he doesn’t outwardly react.

“Are those the children?” Ben asks.

“Yes. Thank you for agreeing to transport them.”

“Of course.” Ben frowns as if he hasn’t told me multiple times that I’m not the boss of him. Though, I didn’t doubt he’d be willing to help. There’s an integrity that’s similar to how he holds on to responsibility with single-minded determination, but it serves this situation.

Our arrangement began with Stella’s need of him but has quickly evolved. He’s the only one I implicitly trust with my mate…and it’s occurring to me now in the presence of subdued enemies, I’m as concerned for his well-being as I am with Stella’s.

When did that happen?

“We won’t need your assistance with the prisoners,” I say to keep myself from further appreciating this demon’s character.

Ben stares hard at the men on the ground as if running through his mental Rolodex to see if he recognizes them before he shakes his head at me.

“Our benefactor has something special planned for you,” the fae one snarls at me.

I smile, but Ben stiffens before lowering himself with a deadly grace, his eyes showing his demonic nature. The fae flinches and squirms under the guard’s knee.

“And just which fae lord is your benefactor?” Ben asks. “We’re all dying to know.”

The fae glares with such hate at my demon that I can barely stand it.

“Ben.” I set a hand on his shoulder and not bothering to remove it when the guard kneeling on the fae takes note. My instincts want everyone to know that this demon is mine.

Ben stands, his frustration churning under my hand.

“You’ll wish you were dead,” the fae one says, his eyes burning on me.

I squeeze Ben’s shoulder when he tenses, wanting to impart a calm with my touch that neither of us has.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to regal us with all the details,” I say, nodding to the guard to remove the prisoners. Which they do after smacking a silencing charm on the men. No need to invite the likes of Lobo back here.

“Focus on the kids,” I murmur.

Ben glares at me. “You risk too much coming here, putting a target on your back.”

“Out of all the targets our enemies could select, I’d rather it be me. If they have a special treat in mind, I’m sure we’ll be able to get them to talk.” I smirk, a part of me wanting to instigate Ben further. I didn’t think he’d feel so…protective.

Instead, he takes a couple of steps back and takes a breath, hiding his worry from me and the world. “Where do you want me to take them?”

“To the penthouse for now. We don’t have the accommodations set up, but I’d rather we kept them close with the territory being the way it is. Where is Stella?”

“At the Rowan’s. She and her guards are probably heading back soon.”

“Good. Can you keep an eye on them until we get back?” I ask, nodding to the kids.

Ben shrugs. “Sure. I’ll let Silas know. Maybe he can get someone who knows what they’re doing to question them.”

I frown, not wanting to pressure the boy and girl if we could help it. “See if they are open to talking about it first. I don’t want us needing to rely on what they witnessed. I have a meeting with the harpies later. They apparently have allies past the gates, and with the Sovas being sirin, they’re under harpy representation.”

Ben’s face softens. “Good thinking.”

He takes a few steps toward the kids before hesitating and turning. “Be safe, Stoneheart.”

“I’ll try,” I murmur, but he’s already across the room, trying to put space between us.