Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
CONNOR
I pass through the lighthouse that marks the portal between Cardinal Island and Earth and dial Seb before I’ve even made it out of the building. My heart is pounding so hard I barely feel the ache of my wounds.
“Where is she?” I bark as soon as he answers.
“Morwyn said you’d be another day.”
“Fuck Morwyn. Where is she, Seb? Were you able to track her?”
He groans. “Have you ever in your life followed a rule?”
“Seb! She’s in trouble. I saw things down the bond. We have to get her out of there now!” I reach down the bond again but feel nothing. My dragon twists anxiously inside me.
Seb seems to hear the distress in my voice now because he says, “We’ve tracked them to his property on the Rhode Island coast. But it’s tricky. The place is defended like a military base.”
“Give me the address.”
“You can’t go in there alone, Connor. You’ll never make it out.”
“Give me the address, Seb.” He does, thank the creator. “Thank you. I can’t ask for your help. It’s too dangerous, and if I die, the brotherhood needs you to lead.”
“Fuck off, you prick. I’ll see you in Rhode Island as fast as I can call in the others.”
“Creator bless us.” I disconnect the call and grab my key, cloaking myself and launching into the sky. Pain branches out from my wounds, and I acknowledge that Morwyn was probably right about me needing another day to heal. Then I remember that fucker Roman kissing Fiona. Touching her. And when the magic of the key opens a portal to Rhode Island in the sky, I fly faster through it.
I find the house on a rocky beach surrounded by about five acres of heavily patrolled land. Blue-uniformed security guards with visible weapons pepper the property as the early-morning sun splashes across the saltbox architecture of the mansion. Even if we can use our camouflage to get past the guards, there’s a lot of square feet of space in that house. No telling what’s going on in there. I land on a neighboring rooftop and am relieved when Seb, Remus, and Ellison, dressed in their fighting leathers, appear beside me.
“What’s the plan? Aside from admiring Ellison’s ass on the rare occasion it’s not covered by a suit jacket?” Seb asks through a wry grin.
Ellison flashes him an obscene gesture.
I give a low growl. “There’s no cover, there are guards everywhere, and we don’t have eyes or ears inside,” I say. “Oh, and this place is laden with dragon-killing weapons.”
Remus grunts. “If we had more time, I could find some humans to bug the place.”
“Not waiting. I’ll go in the front door if I have to,” I grit out.
“And be shredded to pieces the moment someone with a ring senses you through your illusion,” Ellison says.
“Then I’ll shift, bite the head off every guard, and burn the entire place down.” My skin tingles, and I get to my feet, ready to be a one-dragon wrecking crew.
Seb rolls his eyes. “You do that and you’re libel to kill Fiona. You have no idea what room she’s in or if she’s locked up or not. You start a fire or start knocking down walls and you could kill her.”
“He’s got a point,” Remus says, rubbing his laughing-devil tattoo.
Ellison draws his phone from his pocket, thumbs the screen, then lifts his eyes to me. “Tell me I’m your favorite brother.”
“Why? What did you find?”
“I’m waiting.”
“You’re my favorite brother, you filthy prick.”
“Apparently Roman hasn’t given up on marrying Fiona, because a friend of a friend says a judge is on his way here to perform the ceremony and pick up the license.” Ellison grins.
“How the hell did you find that out?” I ask.
“Believe it or not, even judges don’t like rich pricks paying them exorbitant fees to perform a marriage on demand. Disgruntled people talk. They talk to other disgruntled people in the legal profession. People like me. I only needed to roll some stones in the area to find this worm.”
“Can we intercept this guy?” I scratch the healing wound on my chest.
“I think so,” Ellison says. “I know what he looks like, and there’s only one road in. Do you think you can hold an illusion strong enough if we find a way to… detain him?”
“As long as I need to,” I say, though impersonating a human is more difficult than regular camouflage for a number of reasons. Voice, mannerisms—those are things that take time and practice to imitate. “How well does he know this guy though?”
Ellison frowns. “Let’s hope not very well. If he’s wearing a ring, we’re in trouble.”
I scowl. The Aries dragon in me isn’t accustomed to thinking first and acting later. Aries are known for being daring, courageous, and dynamic. We’re the ones who solve a problem before the other signs have met to discuss a plan of action. But for me, under stress like this, daring often turned to recklessness, courage turned to impulsivity, and being action-oriented turned to impatience. Everything is different now because of Fiona. I had to wait for her. I had to work for her. Even now, when my anger and bloodlust burn in my veins, I know I am capable of calculated action because of her, and if there’s ever a time to use the control she’s taught me, it’s now.
“Fine. It’s the best idea we’ve got. Let’s find this guy.”
As we set up the roadblock and transform ourselves to look like police officers, I try to remember the last time the Zodiac Brotherhood had to go on the offensive like this. We’ve trained. Some of us have performed rescue missions, like the day I helped Mason recover his mate, Reagan. But we’ve relied on the peace accord for a long time. We’ve trusted the sanctity of it.
And now that trust is gone. All communication between us and the Order is finished. They came onto my land and stole my mate. War is here. It is with some sadness that I wait for the black Mercedes and the judge driving it, knowing that we stand on the brink of dark days. Thinking back, I’d hoped I was wrong about Lucy. A small part of me wanted the Order to apologize and admit to a rogue incident. I would have rather we patched a rift than shred the accord. And now we’re in unnamed territory. Fighting an undeclared war. A pit forms in my gut as I consider my mate will now have to live in a world at war, that we won’t go home to the life of peace we’ve enjoyed so far.
“There,” Ellison says, adjusting the brim of his cap and stepping out into the road to block the car. I take a good look at the man as Ellison pulls him from the car and pushes him up against the back doors, getting in his face so he can slip into his mind.
“Do you know who I am?” the judge says with a tip up of his chin. That defiance lasts only as long as it takes Ellison to invade his mind. The man’s arms fall limp against his sides. Ellison really is a damned pain in the ass, but I’m glad the guy is on my side. Everyone needs at least one friend who challenges them, and he’s mine. Not to mention his fucking mind is a weapon of its own. The judge slumps in his arms, asleep.
We check his hand. No ring.
I take one more look and transform myself into Judge Adam Burk. My chest aches as I do it, but when I’m done, Seb confirms it’s a good likeness. I slide behind the wheel and peel out of there, back toward the house, watching my brothers and the real Judge Burk blink out of existence in the rearview mirror.
I’m coming for you, Fi. Hold on, baby.