Chapter 55
Aiden led him to one of the sofas in the living room and sat him down. Jamie relaxed as his mate tucked him securely against his side. Leah was sitting in one of the recliners nearby. He was safe. They all were safe, for now. Jamie sighed as he leaned into Aiden’s chest and tried to calm his racing heart. What he’d seen in that monster’s head was bad. He was desperate, and desperate monsters were the most dangerous kind.
Heath and Jasper burst into the room followed by Piper, rousing him from his thoughts. “How’d it go?” Jasper asked.
Aiden’s arm tightened around his body. “He did it. Everything went according to plan.”
“I knew he’d get it done.” Heath studied him. “Are you OK?”
Jamie nodded and turned, still under Aiden’s arm, to face the others. “Yeah, just a little shaky. It went easier than I thought.”
Heath and Jasper shared a glance.
“Do you think he knew you were there?” Jasper pointed to his head. “Could it be a trap?”
Jamie sat up straighter and considered the question before answering. “At first, I was worried. Everything seemed to go too well. Once I started pouring through his memories though, I realized he was distracted. I think that’s why I was able to slip in without needing Aiden or Piper to boost my powers.”
“Distracted? He seemed so confident on the stage during his acceptance speech,” Piper noted. “He may be a horrible creature, but the man does have charisma when he wants to. The audience was eating his words up.”
“That’s probably why it’s so easy for him to attract people to his cause,” Leah added.
“His men are planning multiple attacks at once. His thoughts were desperate, almost frenzied. I couldn’t figure out why so I kept sifting through the files.”
Piper and Leah frowned. Jasper scrunched up his face in confusion. “Files?” he asked.
Jamie waved a hand. “Yeah, when I’m in someone’s mind sorting through their thoughts, it looks as if I’m pulling paper files out of a file cabinet.” He shrugged. “I think it’s my mind’s way of rationalizing what’s happening.”
“So, what did you find out? Why is he so frenzied about these attacks? He’s lived a long life and has had many battles according to Tessa. Why would he be in a frenzy now?” Heath asked.
“Because he’s dying,” Jamie said.
He was met with silence and stunned expressions. It was as if his words sucked all the energy from the room.
Piper was the first to speak. “Thank God,” she said. She caught Aiden’s eye and then winced. “Sorry, I know he’s your father.”
Aiden held up a hand. “Don’t be sorry. I’m glad to hear it, too. I was hoping to be the one to put him down, but this works, too.”
Jamie slapped a hand on his own thigh. “But it’s not good. First, he’s not dying fast enough. And second, his own fear of death is making him act more dangerous. He can’t figure out why he’s dying. It’s not from an advanced age. Remember, he’s about a century younger than Tessa was. He has no idea what’s happening to him, and he can’t find anyone skilled enough to help him. He’s furious that his powers are weaker. He’s still strong enough to destroy Grey Lake, but he’s noticed things.”
“Like what?” Aiden asked.
“He’s not healing as quickly as he used to. He can’t get predictions with as much clarity as he once could. Teleporting isn’t as easy as it had been,” Jamie said.
“Wait a minute,” Piper interjected, “he can do all of those things? Without Guardians?”
Jamie nodded. “Yeah, seems like it. We knew Tessa could see the future. Maybe it depends on the individual phoenix shifter as to what advanced shifter powers they have. Perhaps, Aiden’ll be able to do these things as he explores his powers more.”
“Who knows?” Aiden mused.
“I did see some of his memories about Guardians, but they were from his distant past. The files were thin. The shifters that served him are long gone.”
“Served him?” Leah asked.
“That’s how he thought of them. They were like his primary servants.”
“From what I’ve read, the Guardians worked to support their phoenix, but they weren’t considered servants. They were like leaders in the military supporting the big boss,” Piper said.
“Like the knights of the round table,” Aiden said. “At least, that’s how Tessa described it to me. She didn’t think of you guys as servants. I certainly don’t. Not that you’re my Guardians. I know you’re Amber’s. I’m just a temp.” He huffed a laugh.
“I don’t think that’s necessarily true,” Jamie said. “But to get back to your father… He’s desperate to get his hands on Amber as part of his resurrection process.”
“He wants to become Amber?” Heath asked. “She’s an infant. She doesn’t have any powers yet that we know of. Even if she did, she couldn’t wield them effectively.”
Jamie squirmed. “He needs Amber and Aiden for his plan.”
“Me?” Aiden yelped. “What for?”
“Somehow, he needs Amber as part of a way to increase his powers. He also needs to find a powerful witch to extract her powers. He hasn’t found this person yet,” Jamie said.
Heath scowled. “What else?”
“He also needs Aiden. He thinks he can siphon some of his latent phoenix powers out of him and somehow magically transfer them to himself,” Jamie said. “He also wants to find out if a very strong witch can simply transfer his mind and his powers into Aiden’s body,” Jamie said.
“Freakin’ great,” Aiden spat. “Well, he can’t have my body.” He gave Jamie a searing look. “Besides, it doesn’t entirely belong to me now does it?”
Jamie felt his cheeks heat. Ugh, his face was probably beet red. He shook his head to clear it. “He still doesn’t think you can shift into your beast. I think if he knew that, he may come right after you directly. I’m not sure,” Jamie said.
“So, I should continue to refuse all contact with him, I’m assuming,” Aiden deadpanned.
“Yes,” Jamie hissed. “No going near him yet.”
“Tell us more about these attacks he has planned. Do you know when they’re supposed to take place?” Jasper asked.
“Soon.” Jamie winced. “I kept finding the words ‘two days’ in his files. I can’t say for sure what’s happening in two days, but there were plans for multiple attacks on the next few pages in the same folder.”
“Where?” Heath asked.
“I saw plans for three main locations: Grey Lake College, Grey Lake Hospital, and the area near the mountains where a lot of the bear shifters in town live. During these attacks, there will be a small group of his super soldiers sent to kidnap Amber. He still thinks she’s in town, but he doesn’t know where exactly.”
“Is he sending anyone after Aiden, too?” Piper asked.
“Not that I saw,” Jamie said. “But he has individual files on the Guardians. He’s sending paid killers to take us out right as the battles are about to start. He’s still not sure if I’m alive so there was a question mark on my file. The people he’s sending after the Guardians aren’t his super solders, though. They’re normal shifters.”
“What do you mean normal shifters?” Jasper asked.
“Well, like people that seem like good solid citizens. He paid and bribed them to work for him. They’ll be armed with phoenix fire guns.”
“People who seem like good citizens,” Piper repeated. “You mean like spies?”
Jamie nodded. “He thinks of them as spies because they’re actually from Grey Lake. He’s super confident that we’ll never see them coming. He’s sending someone for May, Mac, Piper, Leah, and me. I didn’t see any mention of Iris.” Jamie squirmed uncomfortably.
“Spies? From Grey Lake?” Leah asked. “Did you see pictures of them?”
Jamie nodded and looked at Heath. “And you’re not going to like it.”
Heath folded his arms across his chest. “Who?” he asked through gritted teeth.
When Jamie told him the name of the five Lakers that he’d seen with the words SPY under their names, Heath let loose a litany of curses that Jamie had never heard before.
The alleged spies were seemingly happy shifters that had lived in Grey Lake for at least five years, with one of them being a resident for the past twenty years. Two were grizzly shifters, two were falcon shifters, and one was a wolf shifter. The wolf shifter was the only female in the group. Jamie had recognized each of them as customers of Tessa’s Treats. He’d seen all five there at least once.
“I can’t friggin’ believe this. Two of them worked, still work, with my mate!” Heath bellowed. “And two of them are distant cousins of Beau. He’s going to kill them himself.”
“Any ideas on the time of the attacks?” Jasper asked.
“I didn’t see anything specific,” Jamie said.
“Time of day would even help,” Heath added.
“I’m sorry,” Jamie said. “I don’t know.”
“Damn it,” Heath shouted.
“He doesn’t know,” Aiden yelled, standing up. His eyes burned bright orange-yellow. Orange flames danced in his open palms.
“Aiden!” Jamie shouted. “No, no, no.” He moved to stand between Aiden and the others. “No, calm down. We need to work together.” His voice was firm. They didn’t have time for posturing.
Aiden clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his normal bright blue eyes. “Sorry,” he choked out to Jamie. He glanced to Heath. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to.”
Heath held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at your mate. I was out of line. I apologize.” He then addressed Jamie. “I’m really sorry. You did great today. It’s just that… we need to figure out a plan real quick.”
Aiden turned to Leah. “Can you locate all the Guardians? Tell them we need to have an emergency meeting right away. We’ll also need Beau, Deke, and Finn.”
“Sure thing,” Leah said.
“Wait!” Aiden shouted. “Have Finn bring his mom, too. We’ll need the seniors’ help for this.”
Leah grinned. “Got it.”
Pop!