Chapter 11 #2
I lean dangerously far out of the open door of the search and rescue helicopter Skye somehow managed to talk the Polski Rz?d Nadprzyrodzony—the Polish equivalent of the BSG—into lending us for a few hours.
“Anyone see him yet?” I yell into the headset.
My question is ridiculous because they’d have called out if they had, but I’m going to vibrate out of my skin if we don’t find Bryn soon. The storm has passed, leaving the mountains covered in a fresh blanket of snow and adding to the growing worry that Bryn could be buried in it.
No one has taken their eyes off the uneven terrain, including Doc P, who’s leaning out of the opposite side of the helicopter next to Jet, scanning the snow-covered ground lit only by our searchlight.
Ethan grips the back of my neck, scenting me, while still looking out at the undisturbed landscape. “Kit, can you give us more accuracy on that tracker?”
Kit’s voice is tense. “Trust me, I’ve tried everything. The search area I gave Skye is the best I can do.”
We’ve flown over the search area twice now and haven’t spotted anything. Not Bryn, and no trace of the dragons who attacked him.
I watched the replay from the camera obsessively on the flight to Wroc?aw. They simply appeared out of the storm, outnumbering Bryn and getting him on the ground before he had a chance to defend himself.
Every rewatch filled my veins with ice. As soon as Bryn is rescued, safe, and healed, we’re going to track those dragons down and make them regret their life choices.
I see a flash of something, a break in the snow. “There! Skye, on the right!”
Skye immediately slows the helicopter. “Everyone back inside.”
I prepare to direct Skye as we all duck back in, but Cal is already angling the searchlight towards the area as Skye turns the helicopter.
My breath catches as the light illuminates the unmistakable shape of a dragon splayed out on his side, one wing curled protectively around himself, blood darker than his scales splashed across the snow. “Bryn,” I breathe, my heart seizing.
“He’s alive,” Doc P says as Skye brings us in lower and Ethan attaches the winch to the harness I’m already wearing. It’s too dangerous to land, and although I could jump, we don’t know the depth of snow or surface underneath. This is the safest option.
“You’re sure?” I ask urgently, unable to tell whether Bryn’s chest is rising and falling.
“Yes, he’s still generating heat. Hook me up; I’m going with you.”
Bryn’s heat must be why he isn’t covered in snow. The relief at finding him alive is outweighed by the fact that he’s been out here for hours, and there’s so much blood. My tiger snarls, desperate to leap down there to check on our dragon, not happy when I resist the shift.
“We’ll lower you one at a time,” Ethan says as he gives Jet a nod.
Jet helps Doc P into a harness, the jaguar’s cheeks pink as he does his job efficiently.
“Raj, you know what to do.” Ethan hands me a rifle.
Usually my job on rescue missions is to attach the person to the winch so they can be hoisted up to the helicopter. That’s not possible with Bryn still in his enormous winged form, so I’ll assist the doctor in any way I can. Once Bryn’s back in biped form, we’ll get him on board.
The moment my feet touch the ground and I deem the surface stable enough to disconnect from the winch, I wade through the snow, checking around me for any indication of enemy dragons we might have missed.
There’s nothing, so when I reach Bryn I hurry over to his massive head, my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest.
His eyes are closed so I touch his snout with my gloved hand, rubbing back and forth, willing him to wake up.
The eye closest to me snaps open as his giant body tenses and a warning rumble comes from his chest, but he calms when his gaze locks on me.
Then he nuzzles my hand, the barest of movements.
I let my rifle hang from the strap and strip off my bulky gloves. ‘I’m here. I’ve got you,’ I sign, not sure how well he can actually see me. With this amount of blood everywhere, I’m sure he’s in a lot of pain.
Doc P rushes across the snow, not sinking in the way I did. He slips beneath Bryn’s wing, strips off one of his gloves, and lays his hand on Bryn’s scaly chest.
I narrate to Bryn what’s happening, trying to keep my hand movements steady even as my fingers stiffen up in the freezing temperatures.
‘Doc P is with me. He’s checking your condition.
We have a helicopter. Can you see the searchlight?
The whole task force are here to rescue you. We’ll get you to safety.’
Bryn’s huge red eye flickers, his attention drifting as his snout seeks my hand again. I rub it, the warmth emanating from him keeping my fingers from going numb.
“How is he?” I ask Doc P as Jet joins us, eyes trained on the sky, rifle at the ready.
Doc P’s jaw tightens. “He has severe lacerations, several broken ribs, and a partially collapsed lung.”
“Fuck.” My tiger growls, still desperate to shift so we can better protect Bryn, but it’s the wrong choice up here on a remote mountain where any threat would come from the sky.
“Quite. He should have been up and flying under his own power by now, but his natural healing hasn’t kicked in.”
My heart clenches. “Why not?”
Doc P meets my eyes. “The foreign magic from the explosion severely compromised his immune system. Until it recovers, he’s more vulnerable. I apologise. I should have expected that. I should have warned him.”
“No one’s blaming you for not realising,” Jet says without looking down, his voice firm.
As terrifying as it is that Bryn is severely injured and won’t heal on his own, Jet is right.
“We don’t expect you to be perfect, Doc. I trust that you did your best for us that day, and I’m beyond grateful that you agreed to come on this rescue mission.”
Doc P stills for a moment. Then his eyes flick from me to Jet before he refocuses on Bryn. “Raj, once Bryn is safe and healed, I’ll check your immune system as well. I didn’t pick up on anything when I healed you on the way here, but I wasn’t looking for this.”
“No rush.” We have bigger priorities right now.
Ethan joins us on the ground, eyes trained on the sky in the opposite direction to Jet, rifle raised. “Ayo’s put a temporary dome ward over us. We’re protected if the dragons come back, but it’s not mobile.”
Meaning we’ll be exposed when we move. “Can Bryn shift back?” I ask Doc P. I want to get Bryn out of here as soon as possible.
Doc P doesn’t lift his hand from Bryn’s chest. “With my assistance, yes, although it’ll cause him significant pain.”
Before I can reply, Cal’s voice comes over the radio. “Papa five-three, Papa one-seven, over.”
Ethan taps his earpiece. “Papa one-seven, go ahead, over.”
“The PRN just contacted us to say this airspace is about to become highly dangerous. They’re recommending immediate evac, over.”
Shit. We have an arsenal of weapons in the helicopter, but we’re still far too exposed out here and with Bryn so badly injured, we don’t want to get caught in the middle of whatever is about to go down.
As reluctant as I am to cause Bryn additional pain when he must be in agony already, I need to get him out of here and to a safe place so that Doc P can do what he does best. My tiger agrees, nudging me to hurry.
“Copy that.” Ethan turns around and meets my eyes, waiting until I give a sharp nod before he speaks again. “Lower the stretcher. Over and Out.”
Jet remains next to us while Ethan goes to retrieve the stretcher now being lowered on the winch.
“Ready, Doc?” I ask.
He gives a tight nod. “I’ll help as much as I can, but Bryn needs to initiate his shift.”
As soon as I stop touching Bryn so I can sign, he refocuses on me. ‘I need you to shift back so we can get you out of here. Doc P’s going to help you.’
I’m not sure if Bryn understands me, especially when he closes his eyes. Doc P hurriedly rummages in his messenger bag and removes a gold disc about the size of his palm. He places it on Bryn’s chest, his hand over the top.
A moment later Bryn lets out a roar that becomes a pained cry as he shifts to his biped form.
It leaves me too far from his head so I scramble over and strip off my borrowed jacket.
Bryn’s work hoodie is soaked with blood and his eyes are open, his chest heaving.
I lay the thick waterproof jacket over him, well aware that he’s generating plenty of heat and that even injured he’s not going to freeze, but my tiger is insistent that we cover him in our scent.
It takes longer than I’d like because Bryn weighs a ton, but between us we manage to get him onto the stretcher and loaded into the helicopter. The moment we’re all on board, Skye gets us out of there.
I stroke the fuzz of Bryn’s hair as I watch the hypnotic rise and fall of his chest. I barely notice the hard plastic chair or the chill in the small treatment room.
We’re currently imposing on the kindness of the local branch of the PRN while Bryn recovers enough for the flight back to the UK, giving us a chance to find out exactly what’s going on over here.
I should probably be out there, interpreting for the team as needed, but I can’t bring myself to leave Bryn’s side.
He passed out in the helicopter and hasn’t woken up yet.
Doc P said he’d managed to boost Bryn’s immune system enough that he’d be able to heal on his own.
I’m not exactly sure how the doctor did it, but at this point I’m not questioning it.
Doc P looked pretty drained afterwards, so Jet ushered him off to get breakfast and some rest. I still need to have my immune system checked as well, but if it takes that much out of Doc P to solve the problem it can definitely wait until he’s recovered.
I don’t even realise I’ve closed my eyes until movement under my hand jerks me back to awareness. Bryn’s awake and watching me, dark circles under his pale blue eyes.
‘Treasure,’ he signs, his hand movements sluggish.
My tiger surges, desperate to shift and curl up beside him. Since that might risk hurting him I resist the impulse, just like I’ve been doing for hours.
A lump forms in my throat. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like I flew a thousand miles then crash landed on a shipping container.’ It takes him a while to sign it, but then he smiles softly at me. ‘I’m glad you’re here. Wherever here is.’
‘We’re in Wroc?aw. The local branch of the supernatural government have been extremely helpful.’
I lean over and scent his neck as I kiss him gently, beyond relieved that he’s awake and able to communicate. I hope this means his body is mostly healed, but I definitely want Doc P to check him over again.
‘Thank you for rescuing me.’ Bryn’s hand movements are slow but emphatic, his eyes intense.
‘Always. Besides, I owe you one.’
Not that I’m keeping score. His instinct was to protect me when we hardly knew each other, at huge risk to his own life. I’d go to any lengths to save him.
I send a quick message on the group chat to let everyone know Bryn’s awake, then another to Doc P.
There’s a knock at the door a minute later. Ethan comes in with the head of the local division, who I met earlier. He’s a male wolf shifter with dark hair, a thick beard, and a welcoming smile despite us descending on his facility in the middle of the night.
‘This is Wojtek, the head of the facility here,’ I tell Bryn. ‘Do you feel up to a conversation?’
Bryn nods, taking in Wojtek with an assessing gaze.
‘May I interpret for you?’
Another nod. ‘Thanks.’
Ethan comes over to stand beside me, facing Bryn. “It’s good to see you awake. Do you need anything?”
Bryn’s eyes harden. ‘To find out who attacked me.’
Wojtek folds his arms across his broad chest, looking like he could be Ethan’s younger, paler cousin. “There is a group hidden in the mountains, they call themselves Zbrodnia Smoka. We believe they are responsible.”
‘Why them?’ I ask.
His expression is grim. “They are dragons who traffic drugs to supernaturals and special blood to vampires. Recently they changed tactics. They became more violent. We found bodies with unusual stab wounds and poison in the blood.”
Stab wounds? When we speculated Far Out Freight could be shipping weapons, I assumed they’d be modern in nature.
Explosives and guns with magical enhancements, perhaps something more hard-core depending on who they’re selling to.
Bladed weapons didn’t cross my mind, and Kit’s dark web searches turned up nothing like that.
‘So you think they stole a weapons shipment before yesterday’s attack?’ I ask Wojtek.
He nods. “Yes, but we did not know who from until now. After you borrowed our helicopter yesterday afternoon, we contacted our informants. We discovered that a group of fae nearby somehow learnt their latest shipment was stolen by the Zbrodnia Smoka. They went to retrieve it.”
“Which is why we had to leave in a hurry,” Ethan says.
‘Did the fae find them?’ Bryn asks.
Wojtek smirks. “Yes, and my people followed. After they exhausted themselves battling each other all night, we arrested them. They are in cells in the basement.”
I sit back in the plastic chair, not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, I’m glad the dragons responsible for hurting Bryn have been caught. On the other… I would have preferred to hunt them down myself.
‘Can we question them?’ I ask.
Wojtek gives a sharp shake of his head. “PRN laws prevent other international agencies from questioning prisoners. However, I am willing to pass on a list of questions to the agents investigating the Zbrodnia Smoka, and we can provide you with the interview recordings. Ethan says you speak Polish?”
‘I do. Thanks, Wojtek.’ Not even being able to question the Zbrodnia Smoka or the fae who were the intended recipients makes my jaw tighten and my shoulders tense, but Wojtek and his people are being so cooperative that I can’t hold it against them. ‘What about the cargo Bryn was carrying?’
Wojtek grimaces. “The Zbrodnia Smoka worked too fast. We suspect they already had a buyer lined up this time, perhaps over the border. We found several well-used fae weapons that match the injuries sustained by their recent victims, but no trace of your shipping container or the boxes that were inside.”
Bryn frowns. ‘What does that mean? They only kept weapons from a previous shipment?’
Finding old fae weapons with the Zbrodnia Smoka supports the theory that Far Out Freight are moving weapons rather than artefacts, but isn’t useful information otherwise.
I sigh, my hand movements tense. ‘Exactly that. It means we have nothing to link the freight you were carrying to weapons trafficking, and without evidence, we have no authority to make arrests at Far Out Freight.’
Bryn could have died, and we’re no further ahead than we were before. One thing I do know? I’ll do everything in my power to protect my dragon from further harm.