The door opened and the men walked in.
Lucien whisked Leah out in a whoosh. Callum went directly to Sonia.
Abel came to me as Wei and Xun went to Jian-Li.
He looked fine. Tired but fine. Both Wei and Xun looked the same (though, Xun had a bandaged hand).
When Abel got close, he lifted both hands to cup my jaw, dipped in, ran his temple along mine, caught my eyes, and whispered, “It’s all good.”
I nodded, clutching his tee at its sides, staring into his eyes, and believing him.
It was all good. Everyone was alive, breathing, and fine.
Thank God, it was all good.
For now.
And this was great at the same time it sucked, because I knew as for tomorrow being good, we would have to wait and see.
Chapter Nineteen
At All Costs
Abel
“I don’t know how it happened,” Abel watched Patricio say to his phone, which he had held up in front of him and on speaker. “It’s like they knew the golem were to attack.”
Abel was in his room with him, though he’d mind-controlled Patricio into not seeing him, as well as putting the call to his superiors on speaker so Abel could listen.
It was the morning after the attack.
They’d sent a shit-ton of golem. And golem were huge, strange-looking, lethal motherfuckers that Abel hoped he never encountered again. They’d sent so many because it was clear they meant business. It wasn’t an exercise. They meant to annihilate The Three, or as many of them as they could get.
And the golem who showed absolutely meant business. It was lucky they’d found the traitors, or Abel didn’t know what the outcome would have been.
It could have been ugly.
It could have been the end.
But it wasn’t and that was where they were now.
Still alive.
Still breathing.
Now they had to move the fuck on.
They just didn’t know to where.
“Bjorn?” the voice on the other end asked.
“I can’t ask him, seeing as he was killed in the fight,” Patricio answered.
This was true. Bjorn lost his head and he’d done it to Wei’s sword. Abel had been close. It was unavoidable. It was Wei or Bjorn and Abel thanked God it came out the way it did.
“As far as I know, he was faithful to The True until the end,” Patricio finished.
“He was killed by golem?” the voice asked.
“I wasn’t there, but as our orders were to remain covert, which meant he had to at least pretend to fight them, I can only assume that’s the case,” Patricio told him.
That wasn’t the case. When they’d met the surprise attack with prepared force, things turned pretty quickly for the golem, which meant Bjorn switched sides pretty quickly, to his detriment.
Press for details of what they’re doing next, Abel ordered.
“What are your plans?” Patricio asked into the speaker.
“None of your concern,” the voice replied. “Find out if they knew about the attack, and if they did, how.”
Keep pushing but be smart about it, Abel commanded.
“I could be of further help if I knew what Etienne was planning for his next move,” Patricio said.
“I’m not certain how that would be or why you’re requesting this information, Patricio, when you know it isn’t yours to have unless we feel it pertinent to share it with you,” the voice returned.
Back off, Abel demanded.
“You weren’t here,” Patricio snapped. “They were merciless. You sent two hundred and fifty golem and only seven survived the fight.”
Those seven didn’t know either. They’d had their mission and that was all they had. Abel had gotten that information out of them the night before.
Though, there were more golem allied with The True, and what they were up to was anyone’s guess.
“Do you fear for your safety?” the voice asked.
“They have no idea I’m True,” Patricio replied.
“Then do your job,” the voice ordered. “Watch. Listen. Report. If we have anything for you, we’ll be in contact.”
“Right,” Patricio said into the phone, but he was talking to no one. The voice on the other line was gone.
You’re needed, Abel, immediately. In the hall. Keep Patricio in his room as you leave.
This came into his head in Lucien’s voice, the first time he’d done that to Abel, and Abel tensed when it started. Then he gave his orders to Patricio and walked out of the room, seeing Lucien just outside the door.
Lucien caught his eyes and immediately moved down the hall, doing it quickly, his body language communicating urgency.
Abel followed in the same way.
Lucien only stopped when they were all the way down the hall and had descended half a flight of stairs.
“What?” Abel asked before Lucien could say anything.
“Moose has returned,” Lucien told him.
“Shit,” Abel clipped, his stomach tightening. “Is he okay?”
“He’s perfectly fine. The three humans he brought with him, however, are not.”
Abel stared at the vampire.
“Come,” Lucien murmured and again began to descend the stairs.
Abel followed all the way to the front door, out it, down the steps, and to an SUV that had a wolf behind the wheel.
Lucien got in the backseat and Abel angled in beside him.
They barely closed their doors before the wolf hit the gas.
He turned to Lucien. “Wanna tell me what’s goin’ on?”
“I don’t know,” Lucien replied. “This was called in. They didn’t give details, just asked for us to come to where Moose is and where they’re holding the humans. Callum was out with his wolves and he’s on his way. We’ll be at the barracks where they’re holding them shortly.”