Chapter 56 Maddy
MADDY
Istood in the shower, letting the warm water cascade down my body.
I did not want to get out. There was something comforting about being there.
The glass door was closed, steam filling the room, the steady static-like sound of the splashing water at my feet.
It almost helped me zone out and forget about the envelope still sitting on my bedside table. Almost, but not quite.
Nico and I had been back for several days, and I still hadn’t opened it.
It wasn’t just that I hadn’t opened it—I hadn’t touched it.
Like it was radioactive or venomous. Every time I walked into the bedroom, I actively tried to avoid glancing in its direction.
I was being stupid, and I knew it. That envelope most likely held all the answers I’d been so desperate for.
Now that it was right there, literally at my fingertips, I couldn’t bring myself to open it.
Dunking my head under the spray, I let the water drum onto my head, blocking out the sound of my own thoughts. It would have to be soon. I felt the pull of the moon more and more every day. Maybe today?
Setting my jaw, I cranked the knobs and turned the water off.
Once I was dried off and had my robe on, I headed out to the bedroom and stood in front of the nightstand, staring down at the envelope.
My determination faded as the brownish-yellow color of the package sapped all my resolve.
Fear overrode any curiosity I might have had a moment before.
Sighing, I turned away to get dressed. Maybe not today?
Once I was dressed, I glanced out the window and saw Nico leading a group down to the field to train.
The pack had become much better at working as a cohesive unit since Nico started getting everyone to spend several hours each week working on fighting.
Instead of simply relying on their natural strength and speed, they were able to work together seamlessly.
I decided to go down with them and watch again.
It would give me something to do to get my mind off that damned envelope.
Dressed and with a piece of toast in my belly, I headed down to where I could hear the training.
The first thing I heard, though, made me frown in worry.
Nico’s voice was loud and broke through the din of the practice.
He sounded irritated. By the time I got close enough to make out his words, I knew something was off.
“Mateo? What the fuck are you doing? You cut off Greg, for Christ’s sake. If you did that during battle, you’d both trip over each other's feet. Jesus, this shouldn’t be this difficult.”
Mateo lowered his head and looked abashed, kicking at the grass in frustration.
The group started again, going through some maneuver where half of them remained in human form, and the other half shifted, and the two parties worked together.
Another group seemed to be pretending to be enemy soldiers.
“Stop! Stop, goddamn it!” Nico shouted as he picked up a rock and threw it in frustration. “Gabriel, can you please think about what you’re doing for one second? You were supposed to be in the group that stayed in human form. Why the hell did you shift?”
For the second time in ten minutes, Nico had chewed out one of his brothers.
This wasn’t like him. He was usually very patient with the guys, especially his brothers.
He was stalking around the field, looking like he wanted to break something.
As I glanced around, I saw his behavior had everyone on edge. What the hell was up with him?
During the next forty-five minutes, I watched him snap at two other men for simple mistakes. Finally, Nico called for a break, and everyone moved on to grab some water, a snack, or go to the bathroom. Nico didn’t look happy. I needed to talk to him and figure out what the hell was going on.
“Nico?”
At the sound of his name, he turned toward me and walked toward me. “Hey, what’s up?”
“That’s what I was going to ask you. What the hell is the matter with you?”
He frowned at me, looking surprised. “What are you talking about?”
I gestured toward the field. “All that. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Nico glanced around and seemed confused. “What?”
Sighing, I pointed toward his brothers, who stood in a clump, pulling bottled water out of a cooler.
“You chewed Mateo’s and Gabriel’s asses out for some pretty simple mistakes.
Then you made that kid over there feel like shit for just stepping wrong.
Everyone out here is walking on eggshells around you today because you’re snapping at them left and right. What’s going on?”
As I spoke, I could see Nico’s face go from a defensive scowl to an embarrassed frown. He sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s the stress. It’s almost too much to handle. I didn’t even realize I was being like that.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Nico shrugged. “It’s a big day. Luis is supposed to call this afternoon.”
Once Felipe had returned with the brothers from the reptile shifter clan, Luis had gone to work setting up the plans to infiltrate the safe houses.
Today was the day they’d planned on attempting reconnaissance of one of the houses.
I knew it was important, as well as dangerous, but that didn’t make it any easier to see Nico like this.
“I really just want Luis to call and let me know if things went well,” Nico said.
Luis and the brothers were going to fly into a nearby city and drive the rest of the way.
It would have been quicker and more efficient to fly directly into the city they were being held in, but the royals were smart.
They’d likely be watching incoming flights.
Plus, with the kind of money and influence they had, they could just pass along a few bribes to get the passenger manifest to any flight they wanted.
They'd know Nico or his friends were on the way before they ever landed.
Luis was doing this the safe way. It simply made things take a lot longer.
Thankfully, both safe houses the royals had used were in the United States. The final meet at the end of the month would also be in the States. At least that's what we all thought. I knew it didn’t really matter where that final meeting took place—it wouldn’t end well.
“I think you need a break,” I said. “Let one of your brothers or Felipe run the training session the rest of the day. What do you say?”
Nico looked pained and glanced back at the field. I knew he wanted to stay.
“Listen, you were pretty hard on everyone today. It might be best if they take a little break from you.”
Nico sighed sadly and gave me a single nod. “Yeah. Probably for the best. Maybe I can do better tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll be in a better mood.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” I said, relieved that he agreed with me.
“Felipe?” Nico called as we walked toward his friend.
“Yeah?” Felipe was in the middle of eating a granola bar.
“I need to blow off some steam. Can you take over for me?”
Felipe raised his eyebrows and glanced around to make sure he couldn’t be heard. “So, Maddy told you to stop being a dickhead?”
“Shit,” Nico hissed. “Basically, yeah. Can you make sure we run the op I was talking about? Out in the woods with limited visibility?”
Felipe waved him on. “Got it, got it. Go relax.”
Nico took my hand, and I led him up to the house. I could tell he felt bad about how the day had gone. By the time we got to the back porch, he was in a pretty pathetic mood.
“I hate that I was so hard on everyone. I’m the alpha, but the Lorenzos have always led by being calm, kind, and levelheaded. Like my dad and my grandpa before him.”
I stopped walking and put a hand on his chest. “Hey, it’s okay. Everyone has a bad day. Even an alpha. I bet if you asked your dad, he could tell you some stories about times he was a really annoying asshole.”
Nico laughed at that. Seeing his smile was better than the depressed frown he’d been wearing.
It gave me a happy little flutter in my stomach, knowing I’d been the one to lighten his mood.
I wanted to kiss him. The moment for that disappeared as his phone chirped in his pocket.
He yanked it out, and his eyes went wide.
He glanced up at me. “It’s Luis.”
“Answer it,” I said in a hushed whisper, as though I might ruin the mission if I spoke too loud even though they were hundreds of miles away.
We stepped inside the house as Nico answered the phone on speaker. “Luis? It’s me. Maddy’s with me.”
“Hey. All right, we landed about two hours ago. We’re going to get settled for a day or two, maybe do some exterior recon first. These guys can shift into pretty small lizards, so the plan is for them to infiltrate and do as much recon as they can.
I’ll be nearby. Hopefully, we can figure out whether it’s Maddy’s parents or Abi being held here.
They say they’ll do their best to get us what we need.
Once I feel confident that we’re safe to go in, I’ll let you know it’s time.
At that point, we can go over what they saw. ”
There were lots of different kinds of shifters.
It was one of those things you knew but never really paid attention to, like all the different languages in the world—you understood they were out there, but it wasn’t something most humans really focused on.
I’d never heard of reptile shifters until this, and I was completely fascinated.
It made me wonder what other types of shifters there were out there.
Sharks? Bats? I made a mental note to ask Nico about that someday.
“Sounds good,” Nico said. “I want updates. Stay safe out there. I owe their father a massive favor, and I want to make sure his boys come home safely. Remember, they didn’t have to help us.”
“I know,” Luis said. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Good luck,” Nico said.
“Yeah, good luck,” I added.