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I adjusted my thigh holster and made sure my knife was secure. Shifting from foot-to-foot, I glanced out the hangar door as White's jet taxied down the runway and prepared for boarding. There were a couple of odd symbols etched in the side that I didn't examine too closely.
I was trying hard not to think about how I was trusting some sort of demon with the lives of myself and my entire pride.
And the demon in question was nowhere to be seen. His secretary stepped up beside me to watch the jet approach. "Mr. White keeps his equipment finely maintained, Miss Lionheart," he informed me in his soft, alluring voice. "You can rest assured you will be safe."
I gave him the side-eye. "What makes you think I want to talk about White's fucking equipment?"
The incubus tucked his caramel-colored hair behind an ear and one corner of his pretty mouth twitched upward as he smirked with the good half of his face. "The jet, Miss Lionheart. And the weapons."
I heaved a sigh and went to look over Con's rig for the millionth time. He left off whatever he'd been saying to Hisashi and watched me with the same fond, patient expression he'd use on a toddler as I checked the buckles, unholstered the gun, checked it all over, and put it back.
"He's fine, Gesa," Hisashi said with a chuckle in his deep voice.
I glared at him. "You have your sai in easy reach?"
He smiled a taunting smile. "Yes, alpha Lionheart."
I growled and turned to Kai. She held up a hand before I could speak. "No, I don't have a gun. Yes, I've got a dagger, and I'm not telling you where I put it so you can fuss over that too." She patted her body down, drawing my eyes to all her curves, outlined in pretty leather. "And the tentacles are all packed away. Now go worry somewhere else."
I glared. Fuckers.
Black chuckled behind me. "Your pride is lovely, Gesa. It must be nice to be so surrounded by love and affection."
I snorted. "Surrounded by assholes, you mean."
I fiddled with my thigh holster again. "Who's flying this thing?" I asked, my skin itching to shift, to move, to fucking do something. White insisted the fae wouldn't drain Oisin until solstice, and that we needed the time to get our shit together, but we were cutting it close.
The incubus put a gloved hand on my shoulder, and I noticed he didn't seem as fearful of touch as he had once been. His time with me and my pride had loosened him up. A little. I was pretty sure White only sent him to us that first time because he had some sort of agenda. But it really had helped the incubus find some self-confidence. "Mr. Granite is flying the jet, with his second as copilot."
I gaped at him. "Granite? The gargoyle?" I'd met the leader of White's little hitman squad when we were working on a case that turned out to be shifter murders. It had ended with White's overeager gargoyle executing a group of humans like we were in some sort of bad mafia movie.
Black lifted his one visible eyebrow at me and nodded. "Yes. Is that a problem?"
I ground my teeth together. We needed all the help we could get, and beggars couldn't be choosers. Still, I wondered what kind of aftermath we'd leave behind this time. "No. No problem."
"Come on, Gesa," Hisashi called, waving me toward the jet. I met his eyes and felt his determination. He still looked young as hell in his t-shirt and hoodie, but he was standing taller, more confident in his power. The guilt that had been weighing him down had eased.
I joined my pride as we boarded. My eyes lit on each of them and I tried to burn their faces into my memory. I was determined to get Oisin back. But deep inside, I was afraid we wouldn't walk away from this unscathed. Chances were, we'd all end up dead. Fae were killers at heart. Lethal, beautiful predators who'd been around as long as the earth existed. The rest of us were like children to them. And, even if they finally realized what their leader was up to, they were still likely to defend him. The fae court hierarchy was some serious shit.
I had considered leaving Con behind. He was the most vulnerable of us all. But I knew it was important to him to be included in this. He loved Oisin too. And as much as I couldn't bear having my pride in danger, I also couldn't stand the thought of us being divided right now—any more than we already were with our one missing member, our linchpin.
Halstead pushed past me, his broad shoulder nudging me roughly. "Are we getting on this fucker or not? I thought you all were chomping at the bit to get going. Now you're lollygagging like a bunch of octogenarians."
I sighed and followed him. It was going to be a very long flight to Montana. Even if it was only a couple of hours. Save the murdering for the fae, I reminded myself. But my gryphon side really wanted to eat a mage right now.
Granite came out of the cabin to greet us, looking just as he had when I last saw him, burning the bodies of the humans he'd ordered shot. He was short and compact, his grayish brown hair trimmed just shy of a military buzz cut and his gray eyes sharp. He looked small, but I knew from experience he was as solid as a rock. Hah.
A hulking brute of a man came out behind the gargoyle, ducking his head to avoid hitting it on the ceiling of the plane. His skin color was kind of sickly, almost green, and as I stared at his long arms and knobby hands, I realized I was looking at a glamoured troll. Gods, White didn't play around.
Even if he was too fucking chicken to get his own hands dirty.
"Miss Lionheart," Granite said with a stiff bow. "Pleasure to see you again."
I gritted my teeth but managed a tight smile. "Thank you for flying us out," I ground out. "Just try not to murder any humans along the way."
Con elbowed me in the ribs. Hisashi and Kai looked puzzled.
The gargoyle only shrugged one shoulder. "I'll do what I need to do to get you all back home safe. As ordered."
I moved closer and looked down at him. If I was in gryphon form, all my feathers would be raised. That sure as shit didn’t sound like a promise to not kill people. "Look, I've seen first-hand how you follow orders. That shit is not going to cut it. The only thing you're allowed to execute like a fucking Nazi is anyone who's harmed one shiny red hair on Oisin's head. Got it?"
He blinked up at me, completely unfazed by my posturing. "Sit down, Miss Lionheart. The plane will take off in five minutes."
He spun on a heel and made his way back to the cockpit, the troll lumbering along after him like an obedient mastiff.
I growled and flopped into my seat. "Asshat."
Con sat down next to me and let out a sigh. "Gesa, we need his help."
I turned to look out the window. "Doesn't mean I have to like it. Or let that fucker make decisions about who gets to die."
The flight was uneventful, and our little jet touched down on a private runway a few miles from our destination without any issues. I didn't put too much thought into how White had access to private jets and secluded runways and flight crews.
Now that I had an inkling of what he was, I really, really didn't want to know the full extent of his power. Or what kinds of fucking games he was playing. I got the feeling that everyone and everything around the demon was just a chess piece, moved around at his whim.
Granite emerged from his cockpit as soon as the plane had come to a stop. He pulled out guns and knives from an overhead bin and started handing them out like candy, pausing to buckle some onto himself. "The wards on the jet are picking up unfamiliar magic. Possibly hostile, but it's unclear." The troll took out a pair of brass knuckles and slipped them on each of his big hands. "Careful with the guns," Granite advised. "I would use them only as a last resort. Fae magic has a way of making things explode."
I stood and joined the gargoyle and the troll. "The rest of you stay back until we know what the hell we're up against, okay?" My pride grumbled but fell back behind us as we approached the jet's exit door. Damned Derek fucking White and his assurances that the landing site would be safe. Why was I stupid enough to trust a demon?
I unsheathed my knife.
A diminutive, golden-haired fae appeared from out of nowhere, walking toward us slowly with their hands upraised. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. A slender female form, encased in some sort of khaki suit, with a pair of small blades strapped to her hips. Her long golden hair had been cut to chin-length and tucked under a woolen cap. I froze, causing the heavy men behind me to bump into me and send me stumbling forward so I nearly fell on my face, like the bumbling opposite of the graceful woman before me.
"Gesa, finally," the woman said in a sweet, French-accented voice. "I knew you'd come."
I gaped at her. "Evalyn? Aren't you supposed to be in fucking Japan right now?"
She smiled, but it didn't reach her purple eyes. "I told Oisin I wasn't going. But he just wouldn't listen. And now we see who was right." She nodded at the men behind me, eyes flitting past them to land on my pride. "Tell your people to stand down, consort Lionheart. I come bearing gifts from the Silverleaf fae."
She lifted a hand and dropped it. Behind her, a wall of magic shimmered and fell away, revealing about a dozen various fae in different shapes and sizes and in all manner of odd dress. They all toted swords and knives, bows and spears. "We would like to help you get our prince back, alpha consort Lionheart."
"Holy shit," I said, ever the graceful and eloquent female.
Behind me, Kai laughed and called, "girl power," earning a grin from Oisin's little sister.
"Indeed," Evalyn said, turning back toward her entourage. "Come. We've plans to make."