Chapter 6 #3
“We got the notification last week, but Lowri and I didn’t want to say anything yet.
” Her eyes flick to where Rennick stands across from us.
“You’ve had a lot on your plate…to put it mildly.
We weren’t trying to keep it from you, Noa.
We just didn’t want to overwhelm you. The plan was to loop you in once we got their ETA and had their admission handled.
We figured you’d step in when you could. ”
This time it’s me jumping up from the couch, the panic and dread mixing in my veins forcing me to move.
I shove my still damp hair out of my face, no doubt making the shorter hairs of my bangs stick up wildly, but I don’t care.
My mind’s already spinning with logistics, trying to find a way to make this work.
“Can you call them, Seren, tell them that coming here isn’t an option anymore?” Rhosyn asks. I’m envious of the level of calm she’s able to maintain while I’m standing here sweating.
“We don’t have a way of contacting them,” Seren admits. “The handlers use burner phones. They text a time, a number, and we prep. That’s how it’s always been. Thalassa said it was safer for everyone that way…”
I whirl around, hands dropping limply at my sides.
“They can’t stay here,” I almost shout, my own anxiety getting the better of me.
“Not when I can’t guarantee their safety in this town or this house anymore.
Or their basic comfort, for that matter.
The sanctuary is uninhabitable. All the supplies we keep stocked to help Nightingales are damaged.
The nest rooms are torched.” I regret the word the second I use it, wincing as the image of the fire snaking toward Lowri’s body flashes through my head.
I risk a look at Amara, but she’s still staring absently out the big window.
“They can’t come here,” I repeat, basically whispering this time.
Seren looks gutted. Guilt written across every inch of her face.
And even though I know she meant well, a sharp flash of anger twists through me.
The Nightingale program is my responsibility.
Yeah, I might be going through it right now and rejected mate syndrome is still eating away at me, but no matter how broken I am, it’s still mine.
She should’ve told me. It hurts to know she didn’t think I could handle it.
Either mentally or physically. Even if, rationally, I know it was coming from a good place.
“They would be safe in my territory.” Rennick’s deep and velvety voice cuts through the tense silence that’d suddenly filled the air. “Bring them there.”
“No offence, Fallamhain,” Seren shoots back, skepticism written all over her face.
“But wasn’t the whole reason you sacrificed your mate bond with Noa because you couldn’t protect your pack’s omegas?
Isn’t that why you need an alliance with that Canadian Alpha cunt, McNamara?
So then why in Goddess’s name would we send more omegas to your territory when you need his manpower to protect the ones you already have? ”
I believe, as the children say, shots fucking fired.
And yet, Rennick doesn’t rise to the bait.
Doesn’t snap or bark back. Instead, he just nods once, and says, “You’re right.
” He looks at Seren first before his gray eyes drift to where I stand.
“But if you come with them, we’d have a better chance at protecting them.
” At first, I think he’s just talking to me, which is confusing since, let’s be honest here, I’m the weakest link in the room with my failing body and inability to shift.
“The Ashvale Coven. The Craddock Pack. All of us. If we form a stronghold there and watch each other’s backs, we have a shot at not just keeping these new omegas safe, but everyone safe. ”
No one moves.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” he questions. “We have the same enemy.”
This gets the room’s attention.
“What makes you say that, boy?” Eldrith asks, hands still folded demurely in her lap. The subdued expression is so out of place on that woman it throws me off-balance to just look at her.
“My omegas are disappearing. Seemingly out of thin air,” he explains. “Somehow, someone is getting past our highly trained patrols and every single one of our security protocols. Their tracks just vanish. Who else could pull off something like that other than witches?”
Heads turn, eyes lock, and the pieces begin to click.
They begin to whisper, their voices becoming a droning hum.
Then Siggy speaks. “Time to sleep, dear.”
The way she says it, it’s almost trancelike. But it lands like a thunderclap that silences the room.
I know these words. I’ve heard her say them before when she told us about the night she was taken from the inlet in Rennick’s territory.
Her big, dark blue eyes seem impossibly wide when she lifts her chin and nods stiffly.
“The compeller,” I breathe. “Evara.”
“She was there when I was taken,” she confirms what I’m thinking. “Dear. That’s what they called us today, too.”
I twist toward Rennick again, adrenaline making my heart pound.
“You’re right, it’s all connected.”