16

HAWK

I’D only caught a brief glimpse of our supposed future Queen, huddled behind the shifter with two young girls hiding behind her. There’d been a fierce protectiveness in her dark eyes as she’d taken the third child into her arms and stared down the SUV, like she alone could take us on alone.

She probably could, if trained.

I was intrigued but hadn’t said anything aloud to the rest of my team. They’d remained respectfully quiet as well.

Red lights flickered on as we entered the basement garage, the sloping tunnel stifling and dark. Fluorescent lights didn’t turn on until we reached the garage, where a line of vehicles sat, unused, in perfect condition.

Waiting for us, Agent Grey stood with her hands behind her back, chin lifted, and black hair pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She’d always looked a little unnerving with her scar and silver lock of hair, but it had also earned her respect. No one who went through the Phoenix Training Academy left without some knowledge of the vampire sired by the most fearsome asshole known to our world.

Standing beside her was a mage I recognised easily. A problem. Rowan Archer was a cocky bastard because his mother sat second to the Queen, and he knew he could get away with just about anything. Sure, he was powerful in his own right, but that didn’t mean shit when life—and his position—was handed to him.

The other two who were supposed to be on Maeve Grey’s team entered the garage moments later; the shifter looked pissed, but that didn’t surprise me. He seemed a little too attached to the new Queen, which would be a conflict of interest to the higher-ups.

Queen Greer’s son joined Grey, his face carefully expressionless. Guess he’d learnt from the best. Like Archer, he’d been handed everything, and of course, he’d been on the initial search team looking for the new Queen. Not like there were others who were better trained and skilled.

Like myself.

I had forty years on both the mages, as did half my team, and yet we’d been passed over.

I shook my head as we all climbed out of the SUV. Grey strode over to meet us, her eyes narrowed, while the rest of her team stayed behind. There were five of us: me, Jessup, Corbin, Zephyr, and Konrad. We’d been an established team for twenty years.

Like it fucking matters.

“Nash?” Grey’s blue eyes swung to me as I stepped forward. I tried not to bristle over the disrespect. Agent Nash is how I should have been referred to. “You broke protocol.”

My jaw clenched. “We weren’t aware that protocol was still in place.”

Grey’s face gave nothing away, but the rest of her team seemed angry. Honestly, I didn’t blame them. Operatives were chasing the would-be Queen, and they had already gotten to her once.

If it happened again, it was their heads on the line. And now they had to deal with a second team. Must have sucked being told they weren’t going to be enough to protect her.

I suppressed a smirk and instead offered my hand. “Hawk Nash, from the Endora sector. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Grey didn’t hesitate; she took my hand in a firm shake. She didn’t squeeze it like males did to assert dominance. She didn’t need to. Grey knew she was the strongest here. She had years of experience on all of us.

It made sense why she was chosen. The others? Not so much.

“My team—” she motioned behind her to the three males standing stiffly by the door I assumed lead up to the house, “—Elias Beckham, my second. Adrian Kingsley and Rowan Archer, mages.”

I nodded. “Owen Jessup is my second. Lyle Corbin is our tracker. Lark Zephyr and Byrne Konrad, vampire and mage, bring up the rear of our team. We’re all experienced, and we’re dedicated to the cause.”

Grey’s eyes didn’t move from mine, like she didn’t care at all about the rest of the team. “There are a few things you should be aware of before you are properly introduced to the future Queen.” Finally, those intense eyes drifted from me to take in the others. “One: Ivy is currently experiencing magical outbursts. She is anchored to two mates currently.”

My brows shot up. From what I’d been debriefed on, there had been mention of a potential mate, but two already? I found the shifter’s stare, and he smirked.

Ah, perfect. The wolf and the new Queen. Fuck.

“Two: you saw three children in her care. Those are her sisters, and they are currently in the midst of losing their mother because of the attack. We are doing what we can to make their mother comfortable, and it is part of the reason why we haven’t moved yet.”

I felt my team shift behind me. We’d spent a lot of time together holding our emotions back. I felt a pang of sadness for those kids, but if their mother wasn’t going to make it, then it would be better to cut our losses and move on. It would have been best to move as soon as they’d regrouped.

But I didn’t say that aloud. I doubted someone like Maeve Grey needed me to say that.

“Three: keep your opinions to yourself. You can speak to me, but keep your interactions with the future Queen minimal. We don’t want to overwhelm her, especially with her magic. And four: We are being tracked—hence why we are still here. You breaking protocol could have put us all in danger, and we do not have the resources to transfer safe houses at this time.” Her stern gaze turned on me, and for the first time since entering the basement, some emotion entered her gaze. It wasn’t just anger, it was fury. She would do anything to protect the new Queen. “You will be debriefed of what we found.”

We all nodded. Would I listen to all her rules? Fuck no. I wanted to know what this new Queen was made of. I’d gotten a look at her fierceness, but was she made to be Queen? Or would she be worthless in the war to come?

“Before you go up, we’re going to do a search. Make sure none of you are compromised.” Grey nodded behind her as two more agents, not from her team, appeared from the shadows. The two shifters stalked to the SUV without so much as a glance at us. “Protocol. You understand?”

The smile I gave her was harsh, but we made no fuss as we were all stripped of our weapons and our gear. Adrian Kingsley checked us for charms and other magic we shouldn’t have, made sure to thoroughly wash us down of anything that screamed danger. Even Rowan Archer stepped in to do a quick reading of us and our intentions.

From what I knew of him, he didn’t practise his mother’s brand of magic often. So clearly, they were all worried about what might be lurking in our pasts.

I even waited for Grey to take a bite of us and check our memories, but she didn’t seem inclined to do so.

By the time we were cleared, over an hour had passed. We were tired, hungry, and wanted to do our own assessment of the situation. Grey’s team might have been the one to find our long-lost Queen, but they had also been responsible for her initial capture. Even if no one else said it, I knew it was necessary to investigate that.

We were guided into the house without a word once we were given our gear and duffels. I itched to change into something a little more…freeing, but I tampered down that need for now.

The basement door opened to reveal a hallway leading into a large open kitchen. It was all modern and dark, fitting the gloomy weather beyond the large windows.

“Are all these windows tinted for vamps?” I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets.

“Yes.” Grey didn’t elaborate, not that I expected her to, but it was good for Zephyr. I knew most of our safe houses had been upgraded for vamps, and I expected nothing but the best for Her Majesty.

Grey guided us out of the kitchen, which smelt pretty damn good, and into a large family room with a giant fireplace and sectional lounge. The two women sitting on it rose to their feet.

My eyes found her first. The woman from outside. Our soon-to-be Queen. Ivy, Grey had said her name was. Without the two assholes hiding her, it was easy to take her in. She had glossy brown hair that hung in waves down her shoulders and wide brown eyes that took everything in warily. She smiled hesitantly, gaze roaming my team before falling on me.

Usually, when women gazed at me, I felt sure and fucking proud. But her stare was nothing like that. It made me want to move from foot to foot. It was undeniable that she was beautiful—maybe not my usual type—but as she took me in, I felt naked and, well, pretty damn self-conscious.

Was it the queen thing? Yeah, probably.

I smirked when her eyes met mine, and her cute nose crinkled. “Hawk Nash, team leader,” I offered, pressing my fist to my chest. “And my team, Jessup, Corbin, Zephyr, and Konrad.”

Her eyes flickered from me to Grey. “Nice to meet you. I’m Ivy, but I guess you kind of already know that,” she said with a shrug. The large t-shirt she wore slipped down her shoulder, revealing the bite mark her shifter mate left on her.

Ivy quickly readjusted her shirt. Her cheeks flushed pink as she looked me over again before rolling her eyes in the shifter’s direction. Whatever he’d said through their bond must have annoyed her because she huffed and dropped back onto the sofa.

The woman beside her crossed her arms. I gave her a quick once over; she was cute, with blonde hair pulled into two braids, eyes that looked blue and green, and a body similar to Ivy’s—curves for days.

“Well, this isn’t awkward at all,” the blonde muttered. “I’m Thea, species unknown, and there’s leftover mac and cheese in the fridge.” She then dropped back onto the sectional as well and shared a look with Ivy, who raised her brows and cocked her head.

“Shut up, I’m being polite. The sooner we get through the introductions, the sooner I can ask someone to get us clothes that don’t smell like weird men.”

Ivy snorted, shaking her head. “So, what’s the deal with the newbies?” she asked, addressing Maeve.

“Queen Greer sent us an extraction team. They’re going to help us when we make our way to the ferry. They’ll be with us until we reach Avalon.”

“All right. Sounds like fun.” Ivy crossed her arms and spared us a look of uncertainty. “Do we still have time or does Queen Greer expect us to move now?”

I cocked my head and watched her, listened to what she wasn’t asking specifically. She probably didn’t realise we knew about the situation with her mother.

The shifter, Beckham, grunted. “We’ve got time.”

The sigh of relief did something to me that made me shift uncomfortably. I turned to Grey and crossed my arms. “Would it be good if my team took a couple of hours to rest before we’re put on rotation?”

The vamp nodded. “Take some time, settle in. We may be here another week at best. Most of the rooms on this floor are free.”

I nodded to my team, who shouldered their duffels. I let my gaze flicker back to Ivy for a moment before following my guys, ignoring the strangeness of my reactions to her. I had a job to do, and I wasn’t going to let some pretty princess fuck with it.