Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

"Change of plans. Jacob wants us inside." Orion Templeton leaned over the edge of the roof.

Cadel stared up at him. "What happened?"

"Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to do something?"

Cadel jogged up the fire escape and jumped. His fingers hooked onto the top of the roof, and he swung himself over, landing on his feet. "We need to get Everest out."

"You're on a first-name basis with his royal highness?"

Cadel shot him a glare as they ran toward the door.

Orion laughed. "Jacob said you wouldn't fall under his spell. This means I won the bet."

Cadel had seen Jacob and Orion around the palace and knew they were ex-Coven agents. But he hadn't been sure of their official role, only that they were doing some kind of secretive work for the king. Now he knew it involved finding phoenixes.

Orion lifted his hand .

Cadel had heard it, too. The witches weren't in the dining room the way Everest had ordered.

"How many?" Orion whispered.

"A dozen, including the leader, who was unconscious. Plus, their shifters." While they'd have the high ground coming from the stairs, they wouldn't be able to hold them, and it was their only means of escape. "The windows can't be opened from the inside. Everest said it was an old tech that makes the energy rebound."

Orion nodded. "I'm familiar with the kind. They only work in one direction. Which room is the other phoenix being held in?"

"The end one." Cadel glanced back at the way they'd come. "The fire escape. We can go in through the window."

"I'll let Jacob know."

For a moment, Cadel expected Orion to run off. Then he remembered they were fated mates and could communicate using the bond.

"Move it. Everest is holding the witches off with fire, but he's in bad shape."

Cadel wanted to rush into the fight and tear the witches apart. But that wasn't the smart move. Instead, he ran back up onto the roof and flung himself over the edge and onto the fire escape. He pulled the metal bishop out of his pocket and slammed it into the corner of the window.

Glass shattered, and smoke coiled out through the gap. Cadel kicked the rest of the glass in and stepped through with Orion on his heels.

"Fuck." Cadel's gaze swept the scene. Oliver crouched on the bed against the wall, his hands clutched his head. Jacob was sparking, his hair standing on end, and in the doorway was Everest, conducting a wall of fire and lobbing fireballs while laughing .

"I don't think he's really here," Jacob said.

"No shit." Cadel stared at Everest. He barely recognized him. He looked more like a demon seeking revenge on all of those who'd ever wronged him. Terrifying. Powerful.

"Three minutes," Jacob said. "Can you talk him down, or do I need to temporarily kill both of them?"

Cadel's eyes widened. Jacob was talking about stopping their hearts. That would give them minutes to get out and then restart their hearts.

"Give me one minute," Cadel said.

Orion pressed a button on his watch. "You're on the clock."

They were talking and doing stuff behind him as he walked toward Everest.

At least he wasn't on fire, so he could touch him. But the laughter was something else, and it made his blood run cold despite the fire and heat.

Everest was enjoying this.

Cadel reached out his hand, then stopped. "Everest."

He tried again. Louder, to compete with the yelling of witches and the noise of the flames as they ate the carpet and the walls.

Someone ran through the fire and tackled Everest. The man's clothing burned as he screamed. Cadel pulled him away and tossed him aside. He grabbed Everest and hauled him up, gripping his arms so he was forced to look at him. There was nothing human in his eyes. They were the deadly embers of a phoenix.

"Everest. Look at me."

Blood streaked the prince's face. It rolled out of one ear and down his neck. Everest tilted his head, and for a heartbeat, Cadel thought he was about to become extra crispy.

Then Everest's eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed .

Cadel caught him. Everest's body twitched twice in his arms, and then he went still, which was so much worse.

Orion held a limp Oliver. The window was clear of glass, and the duvet had been thrown over the sill.

"Go, follow Orion," Jacob shouted.

Cadel didn't need to be told twice. He hauled ass.

Behind him, something roared. He glanced back as a bear charged through the now much weaker fire. The rain a witch had created was putting out the flames.

Jacob tossed lightning, stopping the bear in its tracks.

Cadel stepped out of the window. Orion was already halfway to the ground.

"Jacob!" Cadel shouted. They had to be out of time, and they needed Jacob to restart Oliver's heart.

The electricity witch threw a couple more bolts, then leaped out the window. "Run. I don't know what kind of spell is going to go off."

Cadel didn't run. He bounded down the fire escape like a parkour expert, cradling Everest against his chest with one arm, making it to the ground at the same time as Orion. Jacob ran like the devil was on his tail, not unconscious in Cadel's arms.

Without the fire and the manic laughter, Everest was young and slight and pale. Bruises had bloomed beneath his eyes. Was he alive? "Guys…"

His words were swallowed as a pulse of magic rippled through him, lifting him off the ground. He stumbled as he landed, his only concern protecting Everest.

Smoke rolled out of the broken window, but otherwise, the building seemed okay.

"Ride's here," Jacob called from the end of the alley.

An ambulance pulled up, and the door in the back opened. Orion wasted no time putting Oliver on one stretcher, leaving Cadel to follow. He placed Everest on the other stretcher and sat next to him. Jacob jumped in and slammed the door shut. "Go."

Whoever was driving put on the lights and sirens.

Jacob put his hand on Oliver's chest. He turned to Orion. "May I?"

"Let's hope the cuffs don't kill him and us now he's out of the house," Orion grumbled.

"I guess we'll find out," Jacob said grimly, looking like a mad scientist who'd been zapped one too many times.

"That's not a plan," Cadel said.

"If I don't restart his heart in the next thirty seconds…" Jacob stared at him.

Cadel looked away, busying himself by making sure that Everest had a pulse. He did, but it was his mind that was the problem, not his heart.

Jacob took a breath, and so did Orion. The air filled with static then Oliver gasped.

Jacob sighed and kissed the top of Orion's head. "Let's not do this again."

"Agreed. I much prefer boring retirement," Orion said, leaning into his mate.

For a couple of seconds, Cadel envied their connection and the way they worked together.

Oliver opened his eyes and struggled to sit up, pushing against the witch and shifter.

"It's okay, you're out and safe." Orion pushed him down.

"I'm not safe. I saw what he did." Oliver pointed at Everest, who hadn't moved.

"He did it to save you. He spent his last two lives working to save you." Cadel growled. What if Everest never woke up? His throat thickened as he forced the words out. "And it might've cost him this life."

Even if they crossed paths again in the future, in a different life, it wouldn't be the same, and he wasn't ready to admit that this was over. Everest deserved better.

The ambulance came to a stop. Cadel didn't care where they were, as there wasn't a hospital in the world that could help Everest.