Chapter 56
It was finally happening. They were going to take care of his father once and for all. He’d have vengeance for what that monster did to Jamie. They could finally live in peace. Aiden would be able to breathe easily for the first time since he learned that Jamie had been kidnapped on his father’s orders. He could finally stop worrying that Jamie would be taken from him again.
From his seat on the couch next to his mate, he looked around at everyone that had become like a family to the two of them in less than a year’s time. Iris sat with May and Beau on one side of the room. May was scribbling on a sketch pad, Beau worked on his laptop, while Iris flipped through stacks of paper that May had previously covered with drawings.
Leah and Piper sat on the rug, leaning up against another sofa, intensely chattering about magic and teleporting. Mac was glued to her cellphone as she walked back and forth between the living room and the kitchen. Deacon and Finn sat at the table that they’d set up as a makeshift desk on the opposite end of the room; they were on their phones, taking notes. Heath and Jasper strode between them and the other groups, taking their own calls and notes.
Aiden tilted his head to see Jamie’s face better. He was observing each of the groups, a small grin on his face.
“What’s up?” Aiden asked.
Jamie jumped.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Aiden chuckled. “I didn’t realize you were off in your own world.”
“I guess I was. It’s just nice to see everyone working together for a common goal. It’s just so different than when we worked for your father. It was such a toxic atmosphere. Now we have people who have our backs.” He wiped at his wet eyes.
Aiden wrapped his arm around Jamie’s shoulders and pulled him against his body. “Come closer, you big softy.”
Jamie huffed a laugh and glanced between his legs. “You know, when you pull me close to you like this, that word is sooo not accurate,” he whispered in a husky voice.
Aiden laughed.
“You guys are too cute,” May said. “All cuddly and cozy.”
Iris nodded enthusiastically.
Beau rolled his eyes.
May climbed up onto her knees and wrapped both arms around Beau’s back like she was a human backpack. “I know, I know, focus, focus, focus.”
Beau heaved a sigh of a long-suffering man.
Heath ended his call and peered around the room. “Mac!”
Mac strode from the kitchen, still on a call. She held up her hand to indicate five more minutes.
“Does anyone know where Frankie is?” Jamie asked. “I thought she was coming. I promised her we wouldn’t keep our plans from the seniors.”
Finn glanced up from the papers spread all over the table. “I already explained the prelim plans to her. She and Edie are spreading the word to their friends. They’re to act like nothing is out of the ordinary. They know the five shifters in town to avoid if they happen to see them. They’ll be awaiting Leah’s arrival to take them to the safe location. Mom and Edie have already designated a group of the elders to manage the evacuation centers.”
“And have you guys figured out where I’m taking the entire population of Grey Lake?” Leah asked, staring at Heath and Jasper.
“Not the entire population,” Heath said.
“No, I know. Just all the seniors at the senior living center, the students at the college, and the non-critical patients at the hospital,” Leah said. She sighed. “It’s a lot of people.”
“So, everyone else will be hunkered down at their homes?” Iris asked.
“Yeah, most of the homes have basements,” Finn said. “We’ve been telling residents to head down to their basements at the prearranged time.”
“Which we don’t know yet,” May chimed.
Finn ignored her comment. “They’re to stay there until one of us gets word that it’s safe. They’re to fight if attacked. We’re making sure that anyone with any concerns about doing that can be evacuated to safety.”
“So, where’re the seniors, college kids, and patients going?” Jamie asked.
“I just got the OK for us to use some safe houses we have up in Cold River Junction,” Jasper said.
“Vermont?” Iris asked.
“Safe houses ?” May asked.
Jasper nodded. “About sixty miles from here, there’s a small lodge, three large condo units, and several homes close together. The buildings look completely abandoned on the outside. The compound was a ski resort that fell into disrepair about a decade ago.”
“Paxon’s Peak?” Beau asked. “I figured that place had been torn down years ago.”
Jasper nodded. “That’s the one.”
“I skied there when I was a kid a few times. The hills were on the smallish side, but it was fun. I think it was a family-run business,” Piper said.
“Yeah, it was,” Jasper said. “The SCB bought it about five years ago, using a shell corporation to hide their identity. The outsides of each building still look aged and neglected, but the insides have all been redone with top notch security. They typically use it to house high profile shifters that are in witness protection or just need guarding for whatever reason. The Lakers’ll be safe there until this is over. The seniors and the students will have to help protect the compound if they’re found out. We’ll send a group of wolf shifters to help, but we’ll need most here.”
“There’s good tree cover, too, so no nosy flight shifters working for Williamson will notice any new visitors,” Heath said. “We’ll obviously try to keep everyone inside, but with that many people…”
“Any word from your brother?” Heath asked Leah.
She shook her head. “I’ll just have to teleport everyone myself.” She frowned. “It’s OK. I can do it.”
“Of course, you can,” Finn seconded. He beamed at his mate.
“One of us could help boost your powers if you want?” May suggested.
Leah nodded. “Thanks.” She turned to Jasper. “Will you bring me to this safe compound soon? I’ll need to see it before I’m able to teleport people there safely.”
Jasper glanced at his watch. “Give me twenty, and then I can take you up? We can be up and back in less than a couple of hours. It’s mostly a straight shot. It’s not that far from the highway, but it’s easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there.”
“Fine with me,” Leah said.
“I know we’re asking a lot, but can you also teleport our five assassins right into SCB custody?” Heath asked.
Leah shrugged. “That’ll be easy. I could even do that tonight if you’d like.”
“Great,” Heath said. “So, we can get the citizens out of town and the assassins off our backs.”
“Jamie, I wanted to ask for your help with something else,” Jasper said.
“Sure. What?”
“Once I have those five assassins processed by my agents, I was wondering if you could scan their minds and see if we can gather any more intel.”
“I can do that,” Jamie said. “Just tell me where to go.”
“Tell us where to go,” Aiden said. “I may need to boost your powers,” he added.
Jamie squeezed his hand.
Jasper winced at Leah. “It’d be really nice if your brother was around to help teleport,” Jasper muttered. “That way, we can also use your powers in an offensive way, too.”
Leah looked around with watery eyes. “He won’t listen to me. I’m not sure why.”
“What do you mean won’t listen to you?” Aiden asked. “Have you spoken with him?”
Leah shook her head. “No, it’s a twin thing. He’s always known when I was in trouble, and vice versa. It’s like he’s ignoring me now, though.”
Pop!
“I’m not.”
Aiden jumped at seeing a tallish, lanky younger man with close-cropped light brown hair in a dark hoodie, jeans, and combat boots appear next to Leah.
“Quinnie!” She jumped at him.
Aiden sucked in a breath. He was the one who had saved Jamie from his father’s lab, but he’d left him on the streets stuck in his beast form and near death.
“Stay calm,” his phoenix urged. “Need his help. Not a threat.”
Aiden focused his mind on relaxing thoughts, like being on the ocean with Jamie once this was over. He needed to stay calm. These people were depending on him. Jamie was depending on him.
Quinn caught her in a hug. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I had some other stuff to take care of where I live now.”
Leah released him and slapped his shoulder. “More important than saving the town?” She scowled at him.
He nodded. “This town isn’t the only one in trouble from renegade shifters.”
Aiden caught Jamie’s eye. They both groaned.
Jasper, Deacon, and Heath strode up to Quinn.
Quinn held his hands up and took a step back. “I’m here to help, that’s all. I’m really sorry about before.”
“We can’t forget that you set those fires. Iris couldn’t get out,” Heath said.
“She could’ve died if Leah hadn’t saved her,” Deacon said. His jaw was tight.
“I’m alright,” Iris said. She walked over to her mate and gave him a hug. “Besides, he apologized through Leah. And we need his help.”
“Help your sister, and we’ll call it even,” Jasper said.
Iris strode up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Just don’t screw with us again. My bear is itching to fight.” Iris’s bear growled at him. “There won’t be a second chance.”
Quinn held up a hand. “I won’t. I meant it. I really am sorry.”
Aiden slowly stood up from the sofa and stalked up to stand in front of Quinn. He fought to keep his voice calm. He needed to say this, but he would keep his fury from erupting. “Are you also sorry for what you did to him?” He pointed to Jamie.
“Aiden!” Jamie said. “He saved me.”
“Yeah, I got him out of there,” Quinn said. “They were going to kill him. I had to get him out.”
Aiden shook his head. “No, that was good. But you left him on the street in Providence. He was hurt. He could’ve died.”
“That’s why I brought her out there,” Quinn said, looking at Iris. “I knew she’d take care of him.”
“What?” Aiden asked, frowning. “How?”
“I just knew. Besides, I didn’t leave him there. I was hiding, but I still watched over him until she came out of the restaurant.”
Jamie appeared at Aiden’s side. “Thank you for saving me,” he said to Quinn.
Aiden rubbed his hand through his hair. He just didn’t understand. “But why didn’t you get him out sooner?” Aiden asked. “The things they did to him…”
Aiden recognized the shame in the younger man’s face. Quinn’s chin lowered. “I did what I could. I was trying to protect my family. I’m sorry.”
Aiden opened his mouth to say more, but Jamie grabbed his hand and tugged him back to their sofa. He pulled Aiden down to sit beside him once again. He held Aiden’s face in his hands and spoke in a low voice, “We can finish this after we save Grey Lake. I know you want more answers, and I do, too. It’s just not the time right now.” Jamie kissed him on the lips. “Please.”
Aiden closed his eyes and nodded once. “Later,” he muttered.
“Thank you,” Jamie said.
Mac finally came out of the kitchen, holding her phone in her hand. “Finally finished all my calls.” She plopped down on the sofa on the opposite side of Jamie. She eyed Quinn cautiously. Her gaze then drifted to the others, finally landing on Heath.
“So, I’m not sure what to do about the patients at the hospital,” she said. “You know, even in wartime, hospitals are usually off-limits to enemy combatants,” she snipped.
“My father isn’t a humanitarian. I doubt he would follow any rules of war,” Aiden said.
“We’re going to move the patients to the safe compound that Jasper arranged, right?” Heath asked.
“We can move most of them, but there are patients in the ICUs and neonatal ICUs that can’t be moved,” Mac said. “We’ll also have the ones who’ll be just coming out of emergency surgery. These patients need high levels of care. I’ll need enough staff to take care of them, too. I’ll also need some staff to tend to anyone injured during this battle.”
“Can we move all the patients staying behind to one area of the hospital and just fortify that area?” Deacon asked.
“Yes, but it won’t help if they destroy the whole building,” Mac said. “I can heal a lot of injuries, but if the entire building collapses or is incinerated, there won’t be much I can do.”
“What if the attackers thought the building was already destroyed?” May asked.
“What?” Heath asked.
May ignored her brother. “Piper, can you create an illusion so it looks like the hospital was all bombed out?”
Piper frowned. “I think so.” She bit her lip as she thought about it. “Yeah, why not?”
“That just might work,” Mac said. “If we stage it so it seems like a bomb went off right as the real bad guys are about to attack, maybe they’ll turn tail. Why waste the effort?”
“Then we could attack when Williamson’s men are on their way back,” Heath said. “We could have the falcon shifters attack from the air and the wolves from the ground.”
“How many people do we have ready to fight?” Aiden asked.
“Enough,” Heath said.
“That’s not very specific,” Jamie said.
“Deacon and Finn have been giving assignments to the wolves. Most will stay and fight, and some will help defend the townspeople once we get them to the safe compound.”
“Is that necessary?” Iris asked.
“I just don’t want to take any chances,” Heath said.
“It’s mostly going to be the seniors in town defending the evacuees,” Finn said. “We’re going to split the wolves into groups. Some will be positioned in the hospital with the patients who can’t be moved. Others will be in the college to try to reduce the destruction there.”
“What about the houses near the mountain?” Jamie asked.
“Bears have it covered,” Beau said. “Well, except for the two traitors. The others have been specifically warned not to mention anything to those two. Though once Leah teleports them to SCB captivity, we won’t have to worry about them.”
“Do we still have Williamson’s soldiers looking for Amber?” May asked. “I’d rather they not tear our homes apart looking for a baby phoenix shifter that’s not there. What can we do?”
“I had a really strange idea about that. Have you heard of a changeling?” Jamie suggested.
“What? For real?” Piper asked, grinning.
“Yeah, why not?” Jamie asked. “They want a baby; we’ll give them a baby.”
“We are not allowing those monsters to steal any baby,” Mac said.
Jamie held up a hand. “I haven’t lost my mind or my heart. What I mean is, we’ll give them something that they believe is a baby.”
“Like a piece of wood magically made to appear like a human baby. Like a changeling from a fairy tale,” Piper said, grinning. “Man, you guys are really testing the limits of what I can do with my magic.”
May guffawed. “You love it. You’ve always been an overachiever.”
Jasper put a large hand on Piper’s shoulder. “Sweetie, do you think you could do it?”
She grinned and patted his hand. “I’ll get started on it right away tonight.”
“Good, that leaves only one thing left,” Heath said. He looked at Aiden.
Aiden nodded. “I need to kill a phoenix.”