9

ROWAN

I WATCHED her leave like a coward. The urge togo to her, to take her in my arms and chase away the fears and nightmares plaguing her almost consumed me. But, like the weakling I was, I stood there and watched her disappear.

As soon as she was out of sight, my eyes shuttered close and I tried to remember the last time she’d touched me. Was it that stupid day after her coffee date with Adrian, when we’d collided in the hallway? Surely not. Yet I couldn’t dredge up any other situation where I’d been able to feel her skin against mine, to hold her voluptuous body and breathe in her intoxicating scent.

Nothing. I sighed heavily, and my eyes opened. Navya, Jay’s panther shifter and tracker, cocked a brow. “You still with us, Archer?” she asked, resting her hands on her lithe hips. There was a teasing glint in her black eyes that I might have once played with, but now, it did nothing but fill me with disgust.

I shrugged and checked the bindings around my knuckles. “I need to check in with Tig about watching over her.” Tig, the other shifter still here at the safe house, was a fox shifter on Jay’s team. He hadn’t been at the fight, but he was stealthy enough that Jay left him with Navya here to rotate boundary shifts.

“Seems a little reckless to let them go out there.”

I stiffened; I knew Navya’s game. She was a good agent, a great fighter, but like her beast, she was catty and had a nasty streak. “She’s safe here, and at least two others are on shift right now.”

The panther shrugged as she circled the punching bag, trailing her fingers against the material. Her dark eyes assessed me before flicking to the now empty doorway where Ivy had been standing. “More now than ever, she needs to be careful.”

“Obviously,” I replied, my voice guttural, coming out like a growl. “What’s this about, Nav?”

Her eyes met mine, her irises shadowed with something dark. “It’s not like it’s news.” She came to a stop and crossed her arms, leaning her hip against a piece of equipment. “There’s a reason she’s here and not on her way to Avalon.”

My stomach twisted. Jay had only left the agents he believed were completely loyal to Nyx. But with the way Navya was speaking, I wasn’t entirely sure. Was she just jealous over not being the only desired female? Back when Adrian had been party-boy princeling, they’d had a fling that hadn’t lasted longer than a week. He’d been a man-whore, thanks to the terrible influence of one of his brothers, and Navya had always been open about her love of sex during our time training.

I watched her closely for a long moment. Her jealousy would be easy to uncover, but she was an agent first. We’d all had that drilled into us as soon as we’d entered the training facilities of Phoenix.

Her nose lifted as she spoke again. “Look, I’m not saying this to be an ass,” she muttered, her eyes shifting to look over my shoulder before moving back to mine. “But your team needs to deal with whatever crap they have going on—you included. Everyone at the fight saw what happened with Kingsley, and that’s trickling down the ranks. But other rumours are starting, and it doesn’t look good for you guys.”

My brows furrowed, but the scar on my stomach twinged. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The corners of her lips twitched up into a smirk. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Archer.” With that, she pushed herself away from the equipment and winked. “I’ll go relieve Tig from rounds and send him your way then.”

I gave her a terse nod but didn’t move as she slipped from the gym. Her words seemed to trail after her, almost mockingly, as I let my eyes slip shut, and brought Ivy back into the forefront of my mind.

Fuck, I was an idiot. But was I worthy of her? She represented everything good in our world, and I was a coward who would rather watch her from a distance than actually step up and be what she needed.

It was getting more apparent now that our meeting hadn’t been an accident. With my mother involved, anything was possible.

But for now, I’d hold back.

Even if it killed me inside to watch her from afar.

~

My thoughts were tangled threads that led right back to Ivy. I was assaulted with my own advice, reminded of the words I’d spoken to Adrian not even a few days ago. Step up and be there. I shook my head. It wasn’t like Ivy needed me; she had enough on her plate with Adrian and their bond. Not to mention her mother and those kids. She didn’t need to be worrying about me like I knew she was.

The skin on my wrist tingled, and I glanced down at the usually bare flesh to see the communication rune appear. The dark lines were stark against the usual golden complexion of my skin; a dull, yellow glow traced the rune, signalling the incoming communication.

I glanced around the quiet hallway I’d stopped in before swiping my thumb over the mark and held my wrist up to my face.

“Kingsley, Archer, Beckham. Meet in the basement, now.” Maeve’s voice sent a shiver down my spine. The words were cold, assertive, more so than usual. And she referred to us by our surnames.

Something’s wrong.

My heart leapt into my throat as I stalked towards the basement door. Before I could make my way down, I glanced out the window at the end of the hall; it overlooked the back of the house where Ivy was setting up her picnic. She was already there with Eloise, their backs to the house as they laid out a large rug they’d found and added pillows to the sides.

I forced myself to look away when they hugged and punched in the pin to the basement door. The metal latch clicked as it opened, and I pushed inside the small stairwell. Lights flickered on automatically, guiding my descent, and I used the short walk to steel myself for whatever Maeve had to say.

When I hit the basement floor, I found Maeve, Elias, and Adrian gathered around one of the SUVs. Boss lady had her arms crossed and a stern, no-nonsense look on her face that barely hid the anger shining in her blue eyes. She was dressed, per usual, in slacks and a silk blouse, but Adrian and Wolfy were in their gear.

A frown tugged my lips as I joined them. Maeve barely spared me a glance as she nodded. “Good. You’re all here. There’s activity in town that isn’t from any of our people. I believe there are unknown creatures tracking us, and they’re too close.” Her gaze cut from me, to Wolfy, then to Adrian. “With the sun being too high, I can’t go out there myself, so I’ll be coordinating from here. You three will go and flush them out. Find out if they’re here for Ivy, or if they’re travellers. Remove if necessary.”

I swallowed hard and gave her a nod. It took me less than a minute to change into my gear, and in under five, we were in one of the non-descript SUVs. I felt Adrian strengthen the wards around the estate as we passed through them as a counter measure for our departure. I hated the idea of leaving Ivy in the hands of Jay’s team, but I had to remind myself that Maeve was still on the property.

It didn’t feel like enough, though. Then again, nothing felt like enough anymore.

The vehicle remained quiet until we entered town and turned down one of the residential streets. Elias pulled the car off to the side and put it in park. “We go on foot from here.”

There was a hum of energy between the three of us. It made my blood pound in my ears, my heart race, and drew my magic to the surface. Anticipation fuelled our hunt for the creatures in town. Grey clouds rolled over the sky, darkening it with the threat of potential rain, and a sharp wind cut through the small, dilapidated houses. As we passed peeling exteriors, Elias led our team, keeping his wolf close to the surface. With each step, I noticed the tensing of his muscles and the slow extension of his claws. He, like Maeve, was focused, still, and prepared for anything.

The uneven paved streets were eerily quiet, the surrounding houses almost lifeless as we passed. Trash rolled down an alley between two buildings, the sound almost jarring compared to the silence I was getting used to. I glanced at Adrian, who walked beside me with a tablet in his hand. His brows were drawn, lips pursed, and he kept looking up to search the area before returning to the map on the screen.

I turned away from him to take in the street again. There was something deeply wrong with this area.

Elias stopped in the middle of the road and held up his right hand in a fist. Adrian and I paused as we flanked either side of him.

“What the hell is going on?” Adrian asked quietly, slipping the tablet under his arm.

The shifter rolled his shoulders back, green eyes glowing, nostrils flared as he scented the area. “Four different scents that aren’t human. They’re doing a lot to hide themselves, but not enough.” He breathed in deeply and released it slowly before turning to us. “They’re three houses down on the right.”

I did a quick count of the peeling exteriors and found the one he was referring to. The roof shingles were a dark grey, with patches of missing tile. The exterior was like the other houses surrounding it: peeling blue paint, off-white windows and front door, a small porch with wooden beams eaten away by mites, and a yard overtaken by nature.

Turning back to Elias, I asked, “What’s the plan?”

“Most of these houses have two entrances. Front and back. I want to flush them out. You and Kingsley will take the back, I’ll take the front. We’ll know quickly if they’re our people or the enemy.”

There wasn’t much that needed to be discussed after that. This was what we were trained for. Our teams were created to primarily go out into the human world and not only protect the creatures of Nyx, but also humankind. This reminded me of the earlier missions Adrian and I had completed when we’d first graduated from the Phoenix Training Centre; we would go out into the field and locate stray vamps who were Changed against their will, or track demons hunting in large cities and take them back to Avalon.

Another shiver of anticipation ran down my spine. My blood hummed with renewed energy. I pulled a short, curved dagger from my belt and called to my magic. Runes along the blade’s side glowed a dull orange before settling into the Fae-steel.

As we approached the house, Adrian and I stalked towards the back, while Elias stayed at the front. The prince and I didn’t need to speak—we knew each other too well, and we had our own way of communicating during missions.

The back porch—if you could call it that—was just as run-down as the front. We took the steps two at a time until we reached the decaying door, and as soon as we did, a different kind of shiver ran down my spine.

Fuck. They had wards. Unless there was someone adept at charms in their midst, no regular creature would think to put up wards unless they specifically wanted to hide from our teams.

Adrian and I shared a quick look before he worked to dismantle the shields around the house. I heard nothing from Elias’s end, so that meant he was waiting, had recognised the potential danger, too.

“Whoever set these up was good,” he muttered, a bead of sweat running down his face, “but I’m better.”

His magic unspooled from him and into the workings of the wards. It took him only a minute to have the magic fracturing like glass and crashing down around us. The front door kicked in a second later, the sound jarring compared to the silence, and we followed, shouldering the door open and spilling into the house.

We entered through a dingy, rotten kitchen, where cabinet doors were missing, and rats scattered at our appearance. I lifted my mask over my nose at the stench permeating the small space. Adrian grunted, doing the same. Grimacing, I tightened my grip on my dagger as Adrian flexed his hands. Our eyes met, and when he nodded, we stalked into the next room.

A darkened figure jumped out from behind a chair and bared sharp teeth. Shifter. Claws extended from his hands as he swiped at my chest, the tips barely scraping the material of my gear. I danced back and brought my dagger up to defend myself, blocking another direct blow to my upper body.

“I’ve got this one,” I grunted, dodging another strike from the shifter, who barely acknowledged Adrian. “Get the others.”

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Adrian’s hesitation, but I didn’t have time to assure him I was fine. The shifter cocked his fist back and swung; I ducked, motioned for Adrian to keep moving and clear the rest of the house, and struck with my dagger. The blade cut through the shifter’s stomach, but it didn’t deter him. He was lithe, maybe some sort of small predator if I had to guess. It was almost like he didn’t feel the pain of the cut.

The shifter pounced and collided with me, sending us to the ground. We rolled as he tried to pin me, but I knocked him back and forced him to the floor. Blood from his stomach coated my hand, which I wiped away in disgust.

“Death to the Queen,” the shifter spat, dark eyes meeting mine. “Your little bit—”

Before he could finish, his head rolled. I lowered the dagger as the magic within the runes subsided. I suppressed a groan as I rose to my feet, sparing the body one last glance before leaving the room in search of the others. I couldn’t wait until these assholes were dead or trapped in prison where they belonged.

The sound of Elias’s growl echoed through the house, spurring me on to the front of the building. The smell of rotting flesh and trash burned my nose and made my eyes water despite the mask, and with each step, I felt the floorboards rattle beneath my feet.

Turning the corner, I barely missed an elbow to the head. I reared back; my heart crashed against my ribs, but I pushed aside the sudden wave of fear aside. I huffed and flipped my dagger in my hand, slamming it into the spine of the creature. Blood rushed from the wound as I pulled the blade free. Based on the short, dying wave of power, they were a witch.

As the body crumpled, I glanced away from the body to take in the rest of the room. Glass was scattered across the ground, and apart from the witch I’d killed, the last two Elias had sniffed out were already on the ground.

“They weren’t ours,” I said, catching Adrian and Elias’s attention. Both looked up from the unmasked soldiers. “They were after Ivy.”

~

Clean-up was easy enough to secure, and based on a search of the house, we found no evidence of other enemy agents in town. Nothing in the building indicated to us that they’d alerted their leader about Ivy being here, and there was no evidence they’d located her, either.

But still, it made tensions run high.

“We don’t need to tell her anything,” Elias said as he pulled the SUV into an empty space in the basement garage.

I stiffened, but from the front seat, Adrian replied, “You really think that’s the best plan?”

“We handled it.” Elias pulled himself out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind him. Through the rear-view mirror, Adrian met my stare. I had to wonder if he was fighting the same internal battle as me. I knew Elias was partially right—the danger was under control, we knew there weren’t any other trackers in town, and it hadn’t looked like there were any others we should be aware of. Yet, I hated hiding something like that from her. I was already keeping the visions from her for her own peace of mind, but now we also had another secret to keep.

Adrian looked away first and finally slipped out of the SUV without a word. I blew out a slow breath and followed, trying to ignore the dried blood on my hands, the way my body ached from being slammed into the floor. Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself out of the car and joined Adrian and Elias, who were standing with Maeve at the base of the basement stairs.

Her eyes dragged over me critically, before meeting mine. “Any damage?”

I rolled my shoulders back, testing the aches in my joints. When nothing happened, I shook my head. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

Maeve nodded once before redirecting her attention to Elias. “Are you certain there are no other enemy agents in town?”

“We spent hours combing the streets and came across no one else. No sign of other creatures either,” Elias replied. “We’re safe here—for now.”

My stomach twisted at that. “They mentioned the whole Death to the Queen bullshit,” I added, bitterness coating my tongue. “You don’t think we should move on?”

“Not with Kerry Sullivan in her comatose state, and certainly not with Ivy’s power so potent. We also run into the issue of not being close enough to the next full moon.” Maeve glanced between us before sighing. “The crossing isn’t open. I won’t risk leaving this safe house until then.”

I couldn’t help but release a frustrated breath. The four creatures we’d killed today had been too close for comfort, and it felt like we were waiting for something bad to happen. I couldn’t shake the shifter’s words. The primal need to protect Ivy burned fiercely in my chest. Yet it felt like there was nothing I could do to protect her—not while we were here.

Maeve released us as soon as the briefing was complete. I felt the pressure of everything pressing down on me, suffocating as it gripped my lungs. Sucking in a breath, I found myself staring out the same window I’d watched Ivy out of earlier. But rather than putting together a picnic, she was outside in the gloomy afternoon packing away the remnants of their activity.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her; the way her hair was pulled back from her face in a messy knot, highlighting the softness of her features and the way her eyes brightened when she looked at her sisters. There was a pinkness to her cheeks I badly wanted to kiss; to feel the warmth of her flesh against mine, even for a moment.

My eyes shuttered as I willed the feelings away, but they were as potent as the first day I’d seen her. They were overwhelming in an all-consuming way.

A hand clamped down on my shoulder, drawing me out of my thoughts. I spun around and raised my fist but dropped it when Adrian grinned. “You seem a little jumpy there, Ro.”

I blew out a harsh breath and shook off his hand. “Funny.”

Adrian’s smile slipped as he glanced behind me out the window. “I might not always agree with Elias, but we can protect her. I know we can.”

I clenched my jaw and looked over my shoulder at Ivy. She and the children were making their way back towards the house, while Jay’s shifters followed at a distance.

I’d never doubted before if we could protect her, but after the kidnapping, I wasn’t sure if I trusted myself or my abilities around her. The others might have been more than capable of protecting her, but I’d already proved I couldn’t. It was a matter of time before she figured that out, too.