Chapter 62
Valens
No pack present had a missing wolf, and after two hours of spreading word around the grounds and all the attending Alphas helping to call others, it was determined that our captive was a lone wolf, packless, and, as far as anyone could determine, without a family.
Kane made the call for us to go ahead and try to get the collar off him, since all attempts to communicate with him directly about his wishes had been fruitless.
He snarled and snapped and clanged against the bars.
So, I stood back in the dungeon with Brielle and Olivia at my side.
Elodie had been unsettled when she’d seen him before, so I’d encouraged her to spend some time in the bunker with Bence and Patty and get to know them.
Councilwoman Rubix had assured Lucien that once Ransom was dead, the collar clicked open uselessly, with no fire.
It had also gone dark, as if the magic had evaporated from it, which meant I needed to read it before we removed it.
Brielle lifted the dart gun, which held the carefully dosed tranquilizer she’d prepared. “Say when.”
I exhaled, lifting my hand to the latch on the cell door. “When.”
She aimed and fired, landing the dart neatly in his upper shoulder on the first shot.
“Nice shot,” I said as I watched him sway on his feet, shaking his head angrily and trying to charge again.
“Not my first tranquilization, unfortunately.”
I arched an eyebrow her way, but she didn’t elaborate, just stared grimly through the bars. It only took a few minutes for the lone wolf to fall under the dart’s influence, and when he collapsed, I swung open the cell door.
After checking he was well and truly out, I waved the two healers in. They got to work examining him, while I focused on the collar.
It was absolutely crawling with magic. Three strands, just as Rubix had said. It wasn’t going to be easy to interpret, let alone unravel. “How long until he wakes up?” I asked, twisting the collar carefully so a new section pointed up.
“Less than twenty minutes. Fifteen is our safety limit.”
Damn. That wasn’t long. I whipped my phone out of my pocket, turned on the microphone, and started reading off everything I saw.
Worst-case scenario, I could review it later.
There was a smithy here, and I was sure I could borrow it if it meant possibly forging a tool to help release the captive supes.
There were sigils in gnomish for making the wearer return to the sender, dwarvish strengthening runes, and a word repeated over and over in a steady stream underlying it all in sparkling pixie magic.
Obey.
Motherfucker. I read as quickly as I could and had made nearly a full circuit when the wolf’s ear twitched.
“I’ve got movement,” I warned, wanting the women to stay clear. I’d promised both of their mates I’d keep an eye out.
Olivia glanced at her watch. “We should have three more minutes. Can you take it off him? We’ll have to wait a few days to tranquilize him again, or we risk his health.”
I squinted at a tiny inscription written along what I believed to be a jagged seam, where the metal had been welded into place. It looked more like a carpentry dovetail joint than any metalwork I’d ever seen, but magic augmentation made almost anything possible.
Goddess, we’d gotten a break. One of the creators had hidden a removal spell on the seam. Did the pixie king know that, or was this a microrebellion from one of his captive crafters? I hoped it was the latter, because fuck tyrants.
“I believe we can remove it.”
“Give me a ratio,” Brielle ordered.
I winced. What if this was a trap, set to kill the wearer instead of releasing them? “Sixty-forty.”
“Sixty success or sixty failure?” Brielle asked.
“Honestly? It’s a toss-up. This talent is new to me.”
She grimaced. “Do it. If there’s a chance, we need to try. I don’t want him stuck down here three more days if he doesn’t have to be.”
I nodded, quickly unsheathing my guardian’s blade. I spun the collar until the seam I’d found was facing up, and carefully aligned the very tip of my sword at the seam.
I read the sigils aloud as slowly as I dared, pressing down on the sword, applying steady pressure.
The whole collar began to glow green, and I heard a sharp inhale from one of the women.
I kept reciting from memory, encouraged that the collar was responding. The tip of the sword slid forward, about half an inch into the thick collar.
A paw twitched, a low growl coming from the wolf’s throat, and I had a decision to make. I couldn’t send the women out and keep reading. But I was only halfway through, and he might also move and impale himself on my sword if he woke before I finished.
I jerked my head toward the door, urging the women to leave, but neither budged.
I recited faster, my tongue tripping over the unfamiliar gnomish language as he began to move more. The sword slid down another quarter inch.
Almost there, almost there.
His eyes popped open, and he turned his head to look up at me, orange eyes calling forth my own wolf’s turquoise gaze.
I was nearly at the end when he lunged at my leg.
I leapt back, trying my hardest not to lop his head off with the sword poised so carefully above his neck. Brielle and Olivia both scurried behind me, edging toward the unlocked cell door.
They didn’t make it another step before he began to gurgle, blood pouring like a waterfall down his chest and shoulders.
No, no, no!
The wolf’s head rolled right off his shoulders, his lifeless body collapsing in a heap as the collar clanged to the stone floor.
Three blades covered in crimson filled the space where his neck used to be. A single tuft of thick gray fur caught in the collar was the only sign it had been worn by a wolf.
Olivia started bawling. Brielle turned her by the shoulders and led her out of the cell, murmuring quietly to the distraught healer.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but stare.
The pixie king was pure evil, and I had to stop him.
It took me a while to clear my head after the lone wolf’s gruesome death. It bothered me that we’d never learned his name. He’d be buried in an unmarked grave on pack lands, and I vowed to visit him after the war. It was the least I could do after failing him so spectacularly.
Grim, I walked down the stairs to the bunker, trying to rearrange my face into a semblance of happiness along the way. Bence didn’t know about most of what was happening, and, as much as possible, we wanted to keep this a fun adventure for him.
When I reached the main room of the bunker, the genuine smile finally came.
Bence was perched on Elodie’s shoulders, yelling, “Giddyup, Aunt Elodie!” as she raced him around at breakneck speed.
Okay, it was at most moderate speed. But his hair was blowing back, and he was giggling like a madman as she galloped, with the kind of grin that was so wide, it looked like his cheeks could barely contain it.
Leigh and Patty both stood off to the side, covering their mouths as they tried to hide their own laughter at the two of them goofing off.
Elodie spotted me as she turned, her eyes going wide as she began to slow.
“Faster, Aunt Elodie! Don’t stop!”
“Uh, buddy, Uncle Valens is here, and he caught us.”
Bence turned, bouncing hard on Elodie’s shoulders as he saw me. “Uncle Walens! Come play horse with us!”
With an invitation like that, how could I resist?
I kissed Elodie first, followed by a quick kiss on Patty’s cheek and a hug for Leigh. Then Bence demanded to switch horses, and it was my turn to run around the bunker like a goofball for the better part of half an hour.
By the time he was tired and ready for dinner, I’d nearly forgotten what I came to tell Elodie. But after we both hugged him and he was led away by his grandma, it all came crashing back in.
Elodie squinched her forehead, considering me. “What’s wrong? You were happy as could be not five minutes ago.”
I rubbed a weary hand over my face, wishing I didn’t have to tell her. Or Leigh, who stood at her side, studying me with that alpha female protectiveness of hers.
“He didn’t make it. We almost had the collar off, but he started to wake up, and…
” I shook my head, hesitant to tell her the gory details, even though I knew she’d seen and dealt with her fair share of gore.
I wanted to protect her from the ugly parts of life, damn it.
That was what mates did for each other. Softened the blows.
“I don’t know if it’s because the removal spell was interrupted, because I messed it up, or if something else triggered it.
All I know is that we didn’t quite make it, and he paid the price. ”
Elodie stared up at me with sadness in the depths of her eyes. “I’m sorry. That must have been awful. But the fact that there is a removal spell is a good sign. It’s hope, even if it didn’t work on the first try.” She hugged me, pressing her cheek against my chest as she squeezed me tightly.
I felt better, even though nothing had changed. Somehow, we were protecting each other, and it was one of the most comforting things I’d ever experienced.
Our world didn’t have to change to support each other through it. We eased the burden by just… being there. Loving each other.
I blew out a breath when she pulled back, trying to shake off the sadness and regret and anger still thrumming through my veins.
Leigh’s phone rang. “Hey, BD. What’s up?”
BD? I mouthed to Elodie, confused. She chuckled and pressed up on her toes to whisper in my ear. “Baby Daddy. It’s Gael.”
I snorted, but as Leigh’s face went ashen, I forgot my mirth. “What’s wrong?”
She pressed the speaker button on her phone, and Gael’s voice flooded the bunker.
“They’re back on the field and heading this way.
There are significantly more of them this time.
Heavy pixie presence in addition to uniformed ODL enforcers.
Every warrior is needed on the field as quickly as they can prepare, and we need the bunker locked down.
Bring the big guns. No one in or out until the attackers are gone.
Leigh… I love you. Keep our little girl safe. ”
I shared a grim look with Elodie, both of us catching the importance of what this second attack meant. It was confirmation of what we suspected, that the ODL had gone rogue. And since we had outed them to the IGC, apparently, the pixies had decided to directly join the fray.
Leigh pressed a hand over her lips, took the phone off speaker as she turned to answer him. Together, Elodie and I bolted for the stairs.