12. Hail
Hail
I was stunned by what Allie told me. Art forgers. A criminal organization. People who would kill to get what they wanted. My sweet mate had been running from these people for months, terrified and alone.
The protective rage that surged through me was unlike anything I’d ever felt. Every orc instinct I possessed roared to life, demanding I find these people and tear them apart with my bare hands.
“My house,” I said firmly. “You’re staying with me where I can kee-keep you safe.”
“Agreed,” Greel grumbled. “I’ll speak with the others. We’ll set up patrols, make a plan for them if they come looking.”
Allie stared between us, her eyes wide. “These aren’t petty criminals. The Vexalar Syndicate has resources you can’t imagine. They’re dangerous.”
“And we’re orcs,” Greel said. “They have no idea what they’ll deal with if they try to hurt one of ours.”
The simple way my brother stated it, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, made pride swell in my chest. This was what family meant. What belonging meant. Allie was one of us now, and orcs protected their own.
“You could get killed.” Allie looked directly at me. “Because of me. Because of secrets I should’ve told you from the beginning.”
“Hey.” I cupped her face, making sure she was looking at me. “No one is going to get k-k-killed. We’re going to handle this.”
“How can you be so calm?” Her voice cracked. “They killed Simon Blackstone, my father’s partner. Shot him in his own gallery because he couldn’t tell them where the missing art was hidden.”
“They won’t get near you,” I said simply. “Someone is threatening you. That means they’re threatening me. And I don’t lose.”
Greel made a sound of agreement. “Neither do any of us. These humans think they can come into our territory and hurt someone under our protection?” He shook his head. “They’re about to learn how wrong they are.”
Allie looked between us again, and I could see the exact moment she made her decision. Her shoulders straightened, and some of the fear in her eyes was replaced by determination.
“Alright,” she said. “I’ll stay. I’m tired of running, tired of being afraid. And…” She met my eyes. “I trust both of you.”
The words hit me harder than any declaration of love could have. She was putting her life in my hands.
“You won’t regret it,” I said.
“What about her car?” Greel asked. “If they’re tracking it?—”
“They could be,” Allie said. “I’ve been careful, but they have endless resources.”
“We can’t risk you driving it to my place,” I said. “If they’re tr-tr-tracking it, we’d be leading them right to you.”
Greel nodded. “I’ll arrange for it to be moved to a secure location.”
“Where?” Allie asked.
“It’s best you don’t know,” my brother said.
“Hail,” Allie said, and I realized my hands were shaking with suppressed rage. “I’m alright. They haven’t caught me yet.”
“Yet.” The word tasting bitter. “They came too close tonight.”
“Which is why she’s going home with you,” Greel said. “Where she’ll be protected.”
Tressa, who had been watching our conversation, padded over to press against Allie’s legs. My wolf had excellent instincts about people, and her immediate acceptance of my mate meant everything.
“I’ll help you co-co-collect your things,” I said to Allie.
“It won’t take long,” she said. “I don’t have much.” Tugging a car key fob from her pocket, she handed it to Greel. “Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.” She named the color and make of her vehicle, plus told him where he could find it.
With a sharp nod to me and a sympathetic glance at Allie, Greel left.
I followed Allie into the hotel room, stopping in the doorway to take in the destruction. Whoever had searched this place had been thorough and vicious. Clothes lay scattered everywhere, the inside of her suitcase had been shredded, and even the pillows had been slashed open.
“Fates,” I breathed.
“They were angry.” Allie moved through the wreckage, picking up things, tossing them onto the bed. “They thought they’d find something here, and when they didn’t…” She gestured at the carnage.
The idea of these people laying hands on her belongings made me want to howl. “What if you’d been here? What if-if you’d w-w-walked in on them?”
“Then I’d probably be dead by now because I don’t have the answer they’re looking for.”
The matter-of-fact way she said it nearly brought me to my knees. This was her reality. It had been for too long. Living with the knowledge that any day, any moment, could be her last.
I would do anything to keep her safe. Anything.
“Why would they slash the pillows? You wouldn’t hide artwork there.”
“I assume they must think my father had a safe or a secure location with a key or something.” She shook her head as she studied the devastation.
“I went through all his things, but I don’t remember anything that might point to where he could’ve hidden something.
We weren’t close, however. Over the years prior to his death, he pushed me away, and now I know why. ”
“He may have been try-try-trying to protect you.”
She shrugged and started picking up clothing, shaking each item out and carefully folding it, laying it on the bed. Most were wrinkled but intact, though a few shirts had been cut in the searchers’ frenzy.
“I can replace these,” she said, holding up a ruined top.
“You shouldn’t have to,” I growled.
She gave me a lopsided smile. “It’s clothes, Hail. I’m alive. That’s what matters.”
I helped her collect her things, though I wasn’t as good at folding as she was. I also placed all the torn items in the trash, grumbling about the pillow stuffing covering half the floor. I didn’t care about the pillows, of course. Only Allie. But I kept seeing her lying on the floor instead.
She checked each item carefully before deciding whether to keep it, even adding a few items with tears to the pile, rather than the trash. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to pack after a search. The practiced way she sorted through her belongings told a story I didn’t want to hear.
“Do you have things in the bathroom?” I asked when we’d finished placing her clothes into her damaged suitcase and collected everything else off the floor.
“I was using the free toiletries from the hotel.” She looked around the destroyed room one more time. “I’ve learned to travel light.”
I stared at the single small suitcase, the worn purse, the battered laptop bag. That was it, all my mate owned in the world.
The realization hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. She had almost nothing. Only the bare essentials needed to survive on the run.
“Allie.” My voice came out strangled. “Do you have more things in the car Greel can bring to us?”
She followed my gaze to her meager possessions and shrugged.
“Already emptied it out. I try to keep everything I own with me, just in case. Sentimental items can slow you down, make you hesitate when you need to move fast. I’ve had to leave a few times with nothing but my purse, keys, and what cash I always keep with me.
” Sitting on the bed, she opened her purse and gently removed a tattered photograph.
“This is Mom. She died giving birth to me, and I only have this one picture of her.”
I sat beside her and studied the face. Allie looked like her, from the shape of her eyes to the color of her hair. They had the same sweet smile.
“I’m sorry she died.” My words felt paltry compared to her loss. I wasn’t very close to my parents, but I knew they loved me.
“I wish I could’ve met her.”
I put my arm around her and tugged her close, resting my chin on the top of her head. And I held her, giving her the only things I had to offer: my arms, my protection, my comfort.
Leaning back, I held her shoulders, meeting her eyes. “Do you have other things from your old life hidden somewhere?”
Her smile was heartbreaking in its emptiness. “There is no old life. There’s just survival.”
My mate, who should have been treasured and protected, had been reduced to nothing more than a photo, the clothes on her back, and a desperate need to stay alive.
I thought about my own house, filled with pottery I’d made, books I’d collected, little treasures my brothers had given me. My workshop was full of tools I’d brought with me from the orc kingdom. An accumulation of memories and meanings.
Allie had almost none. They’d taken everything from her except her life, and they were still hunting for that.
“We’ll get you new things,” I said. “Whatever you need, whatever you want. You’ll have a real-real home again.”
“Hail—”
“Please, I wa-wa-want to help. You deserve to have things that ma-ma-matter to you. Things that make you happy.”
She stared at me with those brown eyes I loved, tears about to spill over.
“I’ve forgotten what that feels like,” she said. “Having things that matter.”
I pulled her into my arms again, holding her against my chest while Tressa pressed close to both of us.
“You matter,” I said into her hair. “To me. To my family. You’re not just surviving anymore, Allie. You’re home.”
She clung to me, her shoulders shaking.
I reluctantly released her, though I kept one arm around her shoulders. “Ready to leave? We’ll take an indirect route to my home.”
She wiped her eyes and picked up her suitcase, squaring her shoulders with determination. “I am.”
As we left, taking the back stairs to the alley behind, I made a silent vow to the fates.
By stone and shadow, by blood and bond, what threatened her threatened me.
What harmed her destroyed me.
What hunted her would find me instead.