Chapter 25 Aurelia
Aurelia
“Don’t ask me why I was there,” I say firmly as we all meet in my pack’s suite. “But half the council—and for all I know, all the council members—are drugged captives of Mace Naga at their new house.”
Marduk regards me mildly from where he sits on the dining room chair. “That would explain why Ablo is not returning my calls.”
My phone rings, and I yank it up to see Rufus’ name. I glance at Beak before picking up. “Rufus,” I greet. Beak and Yeti stray closer to hear better.
“My lady,” Rufus says, and my hackles raise as I sense the tension in his voice. “Early this morning, there was an incident at the subdivision of the enterprise we refer to as Blue Bird. Council agents bearing Naga insignias raided five chain stores and took possession of all of them.”
I can barely hear him over the war drums in my head. “What…subdivision is this exactly?”
Rufus lowers his voice. “We are cleaning money through Blue Bird, my lady. This is a chain of confectionary stores.”
Money laundering. I shouldn’t be surprised. I cast Minnie a dark look, and she goggles her banker-family eyes at me. “Right, so what do we normally do in situations like this?” I ask, feeling fully out of my depth.
“Just one extra thing. Those bank accounts are now frozen. You’ll likely find yours frozen too, my lady.”
I cringe. It’s not like I was ready to go on a shopping spree anyway, and the academy provides everything I need already. “Okay, I can handle that.”
“Funds are no issue due to Mr Xander’s secured treasuries; however, normally we are able to negotiate agreements around this type of interference. It seems that’s not an option at this stage. Our only option is to lie low.”
I take a deep breath while he lets me process this. My father thinks I’m powerless without my mates. That he can move in and simply snatch our funds. He thinks I won’t make a move. “Mr Rufus, lying low is not an option. Rest assured, I will take the necessary action. Is that all for today?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Very well. We will speak again in two days.”
I hang up and calmly cast my eye about the room. “My father’s plans are advancing. I need to execute the rescue tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Minnie exclaims, throwing a pillow across the room. “Where’s the plan? What’s the plan?”
“Shush,” Stacey says, clutching Eugene to her chest like a hot water bottle. Henry is perched on her shoulder alongside her own nimpin. “There’s a plan in Lia’s Boneweaver eyes; I’ve seen it growing.”
The rooster has been avoiding eye contact with me, his bejewelled goggles sparkling under the sun’s light.
On the other hand, since the Clawson incident and the Jewel of the Jungle incident, Stacey has relegated me to the position of Wild Goddess.
I love her for it, but I’m not going to let it get to my head.
There’s a lot I don’t know, after all. A lot that could still go wrong.
She almost died because of me, but I’m trying hard not to think about that.
“I’ll need all the nimpins,” I say. “But otherwise, I’ll be doing this solo.”
Minnie leaps to her feet at the same time Stacey does.
Sabrina pushes back her hood and narrows her dark eyes at me.
“Absolutely the fuck not!” Minnie exclaims. “Lia, this is not a solo mission. This isn’t the Jewel, where you’re walking on neutral ground.
You’re going into her lair, where she has ammunition and guards who can jump high enough to pluck you from the sky.
Not to mention her river full of gnarly crocs! ”
The backs of my eyes burn as I meet Marduk’s and Yeti’s eyes before looking back at my best friend. “I expected to do this alone, Min. It’s going to be dangerous. I can’t risk more people I love.” I look at them all pointedly.
“Well, you’re people I love too!” Minnie stomps a pink-sandalled foot. “I won’t have it!”
“She has a bloodlust now,” Sabrina says, nodding at our tigress. “She wants more blood on her teeth after the Clawsons, and frankly, so do I. These fuckers have gone on too long with their power unchecked.”
I stare at her. “I can’t ask you to kill people, Sabrina.”
“You’ve killed for me,” she replies firmly. “If I get the chance to kill for you, I will. I have nothing left to lose, Lia.”
“This has all taken a dire turn,” Yeti tries to reason with us. “Who says you’re killing anyone?”
Minnie rushes at me, grabbing my hand and addressing her mates in a tone of great finality. “We’re blood sisters now, Lia and me. I’m going to help get her mates back.”
I sigh, taking a moment to adjust my plans in my head. It will be easier with a team, even I can admit that. “Alright,” I say to myself. “Alright,” I say to my friends, bringing out the clinking bag. “This is my weapon of choice.” I reach in and show them my prize.
Yeti takes the vial and looks at it. Eyes of the palest blue flick up to me, and he raises a white brow. “Really, Aurelia?”
“What is it?” Minnie says, plucking it out of his hand and reading the label. Her face sobers. “Oh dear.”
“As a result, none of the males can come,” I say firmly. “Even as backup.”
“No males?” shout Yeti and Beak at the same time.
“No males,” I say carefully, watching them pass the vial around. “I’m going to call Hyacinth Dabu and see if she’s willing to help us break them out. Since Savage broke them out of prison, I’m guessing she’ll say yes.”
“You’re going to use this,” Sabrina deadpans as she holds up the vial, “as what, a distraction?”
“Naturally,” Marduk says, though his eyes are glinting at the idea. “This is mad, Lady Boneweaver.”
“Of course it is,” Sabrina says. “That’s why it’s brilliant.”
“Tomorrow night,” I say, clenching the bag in my fist. “We do it tomorrow night.”
When I get ready in my room the next afternoon, I look around the empty space.
Their scents are still here, fainter than before.
I refused to change the sheets this entire time, sleeping on a different spot every night, burying my nose in each pillow.
Their absence has left a hollow yawning at the centre of me.
Soon, Savage’s laugh will fill the space.
Soon, I’ll feel Scythe’s piercing gaze on my skin.
Soon, Lyle will be soothing my legs with Tiger Balm.
Soon, Xander will be moping by the windowsill, casting me longing looks.
But that can only happen if I get this right. Only if I can kill Katerina Crocodylus, The Collector.
My power drapes around me, its wings flicking outward, the tough skin settling firmly in place. I would be bulletproof with my dragon hide, but that doesn’t mean a harpoon won’t bloody hurt.
I close my eyes and send out a request, carried on tongues of mythical flame. Tonight, is the night that more animas than one might get their revenge.
My phone buzzes with a notification, and I glance at it before saying goodbye to the empty room. “We’ll be back soon,” I tell it. “Be ready for me and my pack, and until then, look after the students within the academy walls. If my father or Ghoul comes here, don’t let them in.”
The wind is cool on the animus dorm roof where Hyacinth and her mates—the slender Sifa and bleached blonde Teylani—await us under the late afternoon sun. With them, we animas make a team of seven.
Stacey and Sabrina wear stretchy black catsuits they stitched up in a hurry.
Sabrina gets a hood on hers, drawn tight so only the moon of her face shows.
Stacey’s hair is in a tight bun, but she’s dressed herself in black lipstick.
She downs an entire can of energy drink and hands it to Eugene, who pulls it towards him with a claw.
Stacey might have recovered from her ordeal, but she still feels the long-term effects of poisoning, including fatigue.
Minnie wears black leggings and a zip-up jacket.
She’s got a black strap to tie her pink curls back so she looks like a karate master.
Hyacinth and her pack watch this with raised brows, but when they see me, they straighten as one.
As if I’m some war general, ready to give them their orders.
I hone in on their bodies, looking for any signs of weakness or lack of focus.
“Focus,” I say. “The flight will be just under an hour by dragon wing. Five minutes from the compound, we’ll begin.”
They nod as Marduk, with the nimpins huddled on his shoulders, gestures for them to step backwards.
He, Yeti and Beak frown from the sidelines, clearly not happy about being left out.
Beak tried negotiating with me. He wanted to go in with a group of avian forces, attacking the property from the air.
Yeti wanted to bring military trucks and surround the place with brute force.
Marduk, for his part, remained silent, understanding that I need to do this and obeying his regina when she told them to cease their protests. They listened thankfully, and Beak bowed his head when I stared him down. I was always going to do this my way.
My dragon form bursts from my skin, lungs sizzling, my blood heating as the building becomes mine. There is no roar for me to release tonight. I keep it all within. I save it.
Marduk and Yeti levitate everyone onto my spine, and I wait for them to settle, flexing my claws out one at a time. “Are the earpieces working?” I ask into their minds.
Marduk sourced us the FBI-worthy comm devices as easily as he sources everything.
While I can talk into their heads, my friends not being able to respond has made things difficult in the past. Because animalia have excellent hearing, I have to make sure any communication is not heard by enemies around us.
“What does a dragon in heat look like?” Minnie’s voice is clear in my left ear.
“I dunno, what?” Stacey pipes.
“Godzilla. Lia is going to be Godzilla tonight.”
“It’s giving Jurassic Park,” Stacey snickers.
“It’s giving, this is serious,” Hyacinth warns. “People are going to get hurt tonight.”
“We’ll be invisible. It’ll be fine,” Sabrina drawls.
“I signed the consent form I made!” Minnie protests. “We all did.”
“We’re also all adults.” I project to them. “If at any point you want to get out of there, you’re allowed to. You just have to tell us.”
“We’re all good, Lia.” The earpiece makes Sabrina’s deadpan sound like it’s right next to me. “Let’s do this.”
Without another word, I wrap them in my shield, bend my knees, and we’re off.