Chapter Thirty-Seven
Roman
Last night had been perfect. Oakley and I stayed up most of the night, touching, kissing, licking, caressing, playing around, and just having fun together.
We ended up going four rounds—thank Scales for a dragon’s recovery time—before we finally fell into an exhausted but restful sleep.
Neither of us had gotten enough sleep last night, but it was totally worth it.
Oak met my gaze. “Definitely worth it, babe.”
I sent them a smile and kissed their temple, burying my nose in their hair for a long breath.
We’d only left the tower an hour ago, and we had a long way to go to get to the Olkport Territory.
Thank the Mother of Scales we’d gotten out of there quickly. I’d been sure Garrick would hold onto Oakley for a million years, but luckily, Oak managed to free themself after only a few minutes. Tan had held them almost as long, which was sweet, and I knew Oakley thought so too.
Ailin, Sebastian, Thayer, Toby, Basil, and Hiro all came through the portal at Remi’s house this morning, and every single one of them looked like they were ready for battle.
It made me feel better about the whole mission. They were experienced in ways some of the other guards weren’t, and the power they all emitted was massive. When I’d walked into the meeting room to meet them, it almost made me stumble backward.
Their powerful magics would come in handy when we went up against blood witches.
I fucking hated blood witches.
Ailin and Seb greeted us with huge hugs—dad hugs, according to Oak.
Thayer was all smiles and gave a hug, Toby was shier but happy, and Basil and Hiro were both nice but a little more standoffish.
I was pretty sure that was only because we were going on a mission.
Whenever I’d visited the Ellwoods, the two of them had been very welcoming and much more relaxed.
But if they wanted to focus, I wasn’t going to stop them. It only meant they’d be ready for anything, ready to protect Oakley if they needed to.
We were in a blue SUV with Jed and Beshiro—the two of them up front, and Oak and me in the back seat—and the rest of the team, including Phaeron, were split between four other vehicles.
We’d decided to take all different types of cars so we wouldn’t stand out and look suspicious to anyone who might be watching the border crossings.
The last thing we needed was someone recognizing us as law enforcement.
So instead of driving around in five large SUVs, right in a line, we had two cars, a minivan, a van, and one SUV. Two of the cars even took a different route.
It would take us at least half the day to get to the Olkport Territory, so I’d gone ahead and bought a shit-ton of road trip snacks to keep my viramore happy.
They got restless after being still for too long, and a long trip wasn’t great for them.
So I’d also brought a few books filled with puzzles and things.
The first time I saw Oakley start to wiggle their fingers on their knee and move their body around, I reached into the back and pulled out my giant bag of goodies.
“Alright, here we go. Are you ready for a snack or a game?”
They blinked at me for a moment. “Uh, both. Obviously.”
I snorted. “Obviously.” I gestured at the bag. “What do you want?”
They glanced inside and dug through for a few seconds before they paused and stared at me. “You… you bought all my favorites.”
I shrugged even though I felt my face heat, which was ridiculous—I was far too old for blushing. “I did. I wanted you to have a nice road trip.”
They surprised me by smiling and leaning over to kiss my cheek before they plucked out a chip bag and one of the puzzle books and leaned back in their seat. With a grin, I grabbed a pencil and passed it over, then grabbed my own snack and puzzle book.
“Do you have more of those book things?” Jed asked, turning in his seat and staring at me.
“Sure.” I grabbed out another one without looking and passed it over.
“No fair,” Beshiro said. “I can’t play while I’m driving. You have to keep me entertained.”
I snorted and pulled out yet another book, passing it to Jed. “What about this?”
It was a dad joke book that was probably going to be absolutely horrible and ridiculous, which would likely make us all laugh. Hopefully, that would work for Beshiro because I couldn’t really help him other than taking a turn at the wheel.
Jed chuckled, opened it, and started reading.
Before I knew it, all four of us were cracking up at how bad the jokes were.
We had both sides of a duplex this time around since there were so many of us. We picked a neighborhood with lots of townhomes and a high turnover rate, hoping we wouldn’t stand out.
Ideally, we’d all stay in the same house, but at least we were right next door and could easily slip back and forth unseen through the backyards.
With so many of us going in and out, we felt one house would be suspicious.
It wasn’t often you’d find a house with sixteen grown adults, all different species, living together.
Even this many split between two houses could draw attention, so we were going to have to be careful.
But at least we had enough beds with all the couples doubling up.
After stopping at our safe house we decided to scope out the property the traffickers were using.
We had all of the surveillance footage from the previous team that we’d watched before we’d even left Sedoba, and we’d had a very thorough briefing with Kharis, so we had a good idea of what we were walking into.
Kharis had wanted to come with us, but Garrick had asked him to stay with him and help out with the other dignitaries coming to the tower today. Everyone, including Kharis, knew it was only a ploy to keep him safe after a traumatic event, but he’d still agreed. I was glad for it.
We also knew where the last team had hidden, so we were going to different spots in the hopes that no one would see us and follow us back to the safe house.
I was surprised that Phaeron hadn’t tried to stop us from going so soon. But he honestly seemed just as eager to take these assholes down as Oakley did.
It made me wonder about his past, but there was no way in hell I was about to ask him. We’d both been alive for a very long time and had crossed paths on occasion, but I didn’t know him well enough to pry. Even if I did, I doubted he’d tell me anything.
Plus, I honestly didn’t want him prying into my past either.
Tragedy had a way of sticking with you and making you act in unpredictable ways, and bringing it up mid-mission could be disastrous.
Everyone paired up before taking position. Normally, we’d all fan out and take a spot alone, but after what happened with the last team, we wanted to have a lookout as well. Of course, Oak was partnered with me.
Maybe we should’ve taken two different partners since we were both leading this mission—that way, if something happened to one set or they were compromised, the other could still lead the team—but there was no way I was letting Oakley out of my sight while we were here.
And if Oak’s determined expression was anything to go by, they didn’t want me out of their sight either.
There was a business district pretty close to our safe houses, and apparently, that was where these guys set up. They blended in with the other businesses on the street, but we knew what was really going on inside.
We already had plenty of evidence showing that they sedated—either with drugs or magic—their victims, and from what we could tell, they had soundproofing spells all over the building.
No one to hear their screams.
We had lots of pictures and videos from the last team, but we didn’t have anything from inside the building. And we really needed to get in there.
We watched the building for a long time and only saw what looked like business people walking in and out—we knew better. They were dressed in suits and dress clothes, but I noticed a blood stain on a witch’s shirt when he exited the building, so I pointed it out to Oak.
I had no doubt they were using those poor people for their spell work in there.
Oakley grunted beside me. “I know him,” they whispered.
“That’s Master Brinik Norfiel—er, I mean just Brinik Norfiel.
He was kind of high up in the chain of command, so it’s possible that he’s the new grand master.
” They sucked in a breath. “I wish I could get closer. I’d be able to tell if I was close enough. ”
My brow furrowed. “How?”
“The grand master gets power from the others in Gepisha’s Iron. He’ll smell like the blood of dozens of people at any given time. We used to have to donate blood to the grand master every few days. It used to make me want to gag when I was near him.” They shrugged, but I was horrified.
Every time I thought this damn cult couldn’t get any worse, it did.
“We have a lot of spells from Tan and the Ellwoods. Things that cover scent and everything. Maybe we can go back to the safe houses and make a plan to infiltrate.”
They nodded. “Alright. Let’s go back.”
I gave the order over our comms, and everyone met back at our cars that were parked well out of hearing range, even for the most sensitive supe or the best hearing spell.
“Team meeting in our house as soon as we get back. I want everyone there.”
The others nodded, and we all got into our vehicles and drove back to the safe houses. It took a few minutes to get everyone inside, but soon we were all standing around the dining room table where we had photographs and case notes spread out.
I said, “We need to go through our spells and see what we have. Oak knows some of the people coming in and out, but we need more information. We need to see what’s going on inside that building so we can plan our attack.
We have the blueprints, but they’re decades old and likely not as accurate as we need. ”
Basil said, “I can get a small team inside without being seen. We’ll just need some spells to cover our scents.”
“How can you…” I trailed off when he pulled on his magic and seemed to disappear into the shadows, almost melting into the wall—or so it looked like. One second, he was there, the next, it was only shadow. “Wow. Okay, that’s perfect.”
Basil reappeared beside his viramore with a nod. “Great.”
“Let’s get an inventory of our scenting spells. I think we should move out in the early morning before the fake cover business is open. We know from the last team that there’s a lot of movement at night, so it might be better to check the building when there are less people inside.”
Everyone agreed.
“Basil, how many can you take with you?”
“Three others for sure. I could do more, but it’ll be harder to blend in with a large group.”
I glanced at Oak, and they said, “Rome, me, Basil, and one more?”
Hiro stepped forward. “I’ll go.”
I wasn’t about to try to separate viramores, so I was fine with it. Oak must’ve had the same thought because they nodded. “Perfect.”
Agreements were given, and Ailin said, “I think the rest of us should retake our positions around the building as overwatch and backup.”
I gave him a nod. “Agreed.”
After a little more discussion, we called it good, and everyone either went to bed or went for some food.
Of course, Oakley decided they were hungry, so I ended up eating as well before I cuddled with them in our bed.
It was tiny for two adults, but I didn’t mind.
It just meant they had to sleep right up against me all night long.
My heart was in my throat at the thought of bringing Oakley inside that building, of them having to face others from the cult, of them possibly getting hurt.
But they would never want to be left behind, and I would never ask them to stay. I was scared, but they were capable.
And I’d be right there to protect them the way I knew they’d protect me.