Chapter 3
Aeson
“NET CANNONS LOCKED, LOADED, AND ready to fire,” Herm relays via the com tucked into my ear.
I study the front of the bank for another second before shifting my attention to the other possible exits.
There’s more than I’d like, but I’m not going to wait to call another Wing in for backup and give Ever the opportunity to escape.
Like the well-honed machine they are, my Wing prepares to move in.
A hum of static fills my ear, and then Chastain’s voice comes through.
“Confirmed with the manager, she’s in an office on the southwest side of the building.
She’s been here less than thirty minutes and has no line of sight to the front or back of the bank.
We’re good to breach from both points. Target’s description is verified as tall and beautiful with long orange hair.
The blood they’re in possession of is ranked as ‘Unregistered Dragon.’ We definitely got her, Aes,” Chastain affirms, and everyone locks in and prepares to move.
Scale armor crawls up throats and over faces. Protective ridges, rock-hard convexities, and horns take the place of noses, brows, and cheeks. Talons stretch, sharp and menacing, from fingertips until every member of my Wing looks like the manifestation of someone’s worst nightmare.
“Ogdan and Farrow, you take the back,” I order, and the duo nods.
“Karis, Chastain, and I will enter from the front. Tove and Gatlin, cover the west side. East goes to Jori and Blay. Herm and Sondar, keep watch from the rooftops. Remember, she has a dragon mark now; don’t get too reliant on your affinity.
We’re dealing with a fully revealed Syphon, and we know she plays dirty. ”
“If she shifts, drive her into the sky and put her in range of the nets. We’ll deal with her there, away from all the citizens and buildings,” Ogdan orders, ever the practicalist.
“Got it?” I snap, and a round of “roger” and “got it” converges over my com.
I do one more scan of the busy flyway and the bank entrance. Nothing looks amiss. We were careful to arrive undetected, and from the look of things, no one has been tipped off to our presence yet. Ever won’t know what hit her.
“Go,” I order, and all at once we’re on the move.
Adrenaline nips at my insides, coaxing me to move faster, demanding I corner my prey.
The thrill of the hunt is only matched by my surging temper.
I thought Ever and I were getting to know one another, building something together as Bonded Mates, but none of that mattered when she shoved a dagger through the Matron’s heart.
It’s like she shoved one through mine too, and now I’m left with a festering wound in my chest. One that can only be healed by the truth, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get that from the Syphon that had everyone fooled.
“West side covered,” Tove reports.
“In position on the east,” Blay confirms.
“Entering the back entrance in three?.?.?. two?.?.?. one,” Ogdan counts off, and my anticipation rises with each measured breath.
Karis’s mountain-sized form blocks out everything in front of me.
All I see is his dark-brown scale armor, thick tawny neck, and the ponytail he’s pulled his long black hair into.
He starts to move, and I follow him through the front door with Chastain right on my heels.
We stride confidently into the building to find a woman—the bank manager, I assume—standing off to the side, frantically gesturing down a corridor.
A few surprised gasps fill the lobby of the bank, but we’re barreling down a hallway before the shock of the customers even registers.
Smooth as silk, Karis and Chastain switch places. Karis uses his bulk to help protect me from behind, and Chastain’s affinity is ready for anything or anyone that might come at us from the front. Triumph detonates through me when I spot her over Chastain’s shoulder.
Flame-colored hair spills down her back, and she’s sitting across from a banker who looks like he’s barely holding it together.
I reach for the tenuous bond that’s been silent since the Fae Gate.
I try to examine the frail, almost fragmented connection, but I still feel nothing.
Our tether has always been fragile at best, but I thought it might strengthen in her presence.
It looks like Ever’s deceit has damaged more than just my trust.
The banker locks eyes with Chastain and then Karis, and the blood drains from his ruddy face.
He shoves away from his desk, sending his chair toppling over, but I’m through the door before Ever can so much as turn around and try to make a break for it.
Karis blocks the only exit, and I reach for Ever’s arm, spinning her to face me.
A scream fills the office, and the fear in it pierces the rage and relief coursing through me. “A little dramatic, don’t you think?” I snap at the Syphon?.?.?. only it’s not Ever’s green eyes staring up at me and filling with terror.
The female before me has freckles across the bridge of her nose, thinner lips, and a wider face than my Bonded. She could easily be mistaken as a relative of some kind if she didn’t reek of wolf shifter.
Startled, I release the stranger’s arm as though it just burned me and stagger back. “Who the fuck are you?”
The woman whimpers and tears fill her teal gaze as she cowers away from me. “I’m sorry,” she stammers. “I didn’t know. Please don’t kill me. I needed the money. I had no idea!”
“What are you talking about?” Chastain demands, and the fake Ever shrinks back even more.
“Scion!” Ogdan calls from the hallway, urgently waving me over. His gray eyes are bright with indignation, and his mouth is set in a hard line. “We have a problem.”
“You think?” I seethe, gesturing toward the redheaded Arc, who is most certainly not my mate.
“We’ve got her,” Ogdan declares again, making no sense, but he taps a few buttons on his forearm and a holoscreen pops up.
Green dots light up in multiple cities bordering The Scorch, and Ogdan turns to me.
“We’ve got her here, and in Vacahl, Enoit, Temmeh, Rord, and Croze.
Each one is a bank running a blood sample that’s flagging as Unidentified Dragon.
But here’s the kicker?.?.?. they’re all the same sample. ”
Trying to follow what the fuck is going on, I take in the map speckled in green and then look over at the impostor in the office. She’s crying and pleading with Karis, who’s studying a vial of blood pinched between his fingers.
Then it hits me.
“Fuck,” I snarl, turning on my heel and sprinting down the hallway. “She set us up,” I shout to Ogdan and Chastain, who are right behind me. “We need Flights deployed to each of those locations, and we need them NOW!”