Chapter 24
Rosewood Keep, Realm of Calderre
Joy and gratitude nearly brought Connor to his knees as he hugged Ryan to him. He’d known his partner had survived, but seeing him, feeling him breathing, made it true.
“Zevat, Con!” Ryan’s eyes filled as he embraced Connor. “We thought you were dead. Gone.”
“You’re not the only one. I’m so glad to see you alive, Ry.” He returned the hug as Ryan squeezed him tightly.
Thalia came forward with the barest hint of a smile.
Her eyes were hollow shells, void of the vibrant glow they used to emit.
His heart clenched hard with grief. Memories of Thalia and Jax together flooding his mind—both out in the field on missions with the team and at home.
The two women had been inseparable. He couldn’t fathom losing one’s mate as Thalia had.
“Glad you made it,” she said solemnly.
“Tals.” Pulling her into his chest, he hugged her briefly before releasing her and framing her face with his hands.
Looking into her eyes, he led with his heart, speaking the words he would have wanted his mate to hear after a mission gone so horribly wrong.
“We rescued them. We saved the girls, Tals. The little ones Jax died protecting.”
“We did?” Her eyes searched his for the truth.
“Yes, we did,” he affirmed. “Veda and Opal. They’re both safe and healthy. Thriving. And loving their magic.”
Thalia swallowed hard and glanced away, the first hint of real emotion in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“I know it doesn’t change things. But you should know, the choice we made mattered. It made a difference. Jax made a difference. And the girls know it. They remember. I told them stories about Jax so that they would know their protector.”
“You don’t hesitate before you say her name,” Thalia whispered. “Everyone else does, or they say it with pity, and I hate it.”
“A very wise woman reminded me that loving Jax, and fighting beside her, was your choice. A choice you’d likely make again, even knowing the outcome. I know Jax would too.” His own grief at losing Daya swelled, lending honesty to his words.
Thalia’s eyes blurred with intense emotion as they filled with tears. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I would.”
Ryan put his hands on each of their shoulders, joining the three of them. All that was left of Team Onyx.
Connor looked his teammates in the eye in turn. “I need your help. That last attack wasn’t a normal merc team. We were betrayed. We have a traitor in our midst.”
Commander Galen had joined them in a secluded room in the family wing of the Rosewood estate for their meeting.
The man’s face had hardened with each new revelation about what had occurred since their team had been attacked.
Particularly when he described the atrocities that the children had suffered during their captivity.
Morgan pinned Connor with his silent, penetrating gaze when he described the meeting with Devryn, not even blinking when Ryan blew up loudly.
“You let him go on the word of a child?” Ryan asked incredulously.
“Hers and Midnight’s,” Connor admitted.
Ryan’s eyes flashed darkly and his jaw hardened, bitter anger emanating from him at the mention of his lost horse.
“Honestly, I thought there was a possibility he was one of ours at first,” Connor said. “Defected from the teams or something. It’s rare, but it happens. Then, I remembered seeing him with Samir.”
“Still—”
“Ry, it’s Alison. My Alison. She finished raising me after Mom died. Taught me to use a sword. I don’t want to believe any of this! But how can I ignore it?”
Connor sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. He felt like he was breaking a confidence, discussing Alison this way.
“These are serious allegations. We need proof about the extent of Alison Mekray’s betrayal before we accuse her,” Morgan said.
“She’s highly connected, both within and outside the military.
Assuming she is, in fact, a traitor, she’ll have a plan in place to avoid taking the blame, or in a worst-case scenario, a way to disappear.
We start by finding evidence of what Devryn claims.”
“If she betrayed us, I want her dead,” Thalia said quietly. “For Jax and the others she killed by selling us out.”
Connor felt the same, yet he didn’t. He was struggling because of who it was. Wasn’t sure he could stomach killing his own family. Someone he truly loved.
“We need to know who else is involved, and why she’s doing it first. How deep this goes,” he said instead. “Otherwise, everything we’ve given our lives for is at risk. I can’t imagine she’s working alone, not when Commander Varice outright lied to my family about my death.”
“We protect our teams and the refugee program,” Morgan agreed. “But you missed a step. First, we have to clear you with the military.”
“Do you have a plan for my grand return? Because I do not relish the possibility of disappearing into the depths of military headquarters, never to be heard from again.”
His faith in the fidelity of their military had plummeted with all that he’d learned recently. If someone he knew and trusted could murder his team and others… there was no telling what they would do if they suspected he knew more than he should.
Morgan leaned back in his chair and smiled broadly. His usually laughing demeanor had an eerie, predatory gleam to it. “I’m going to walk you straight into the highest command office and get you debriefed and cleared by people I trust. Preferably before Mekray and Varice even realize you’re back.”
“You’re sure that’s the best way?” Ryan asked, worry tensing his voice. “Command held us for days with questions before releasing us. Connor returning from the dead isn’t going to sit well.”
“It’s the only way I can even remotely control, so yes, it is absolutely the best way.
I believed Celina would succeed in her mission to bring you home, so I’ve been making preparations.
I had no idea the betrayal delved this deep, but I knew something was wrong, the way it was handled.
Cass and Celina’s relationship is going to save you, Connor.
With the strength and visibility of their friendship, no one will question why Cass led a rescue mission to retrieve you after I was unable to assist Celina when she came to me for help.
Especially not when Cat and I made it very clear to certain military personnel that was what happened. ”
It was a good story and held an unquestionable core of truth.
Morgan leaned forward and gave him an intense look. “They didn’t just tell your family you were dead, Connor. They actually issued your death certificate. Someone specifically didn’t want you coming back.”
“Guess the rest of us don’t rank,” Ryan joked.
His partner’s easy humor failed to lessen the turmoil building inside Connor. The fact that those in power above them had all but ensured his death spoke of desperation.
“Desperate enemies are the most dangerous ones,” Thalia said, voicing his concern. “They don’t have much to lose.”
“Why me?” He stared at Morgan, waiting for his theory. The man didn’t speak lightly, so he had to have one.
“I know you don’t want this to be personal, Connor. But it might be, at least in part. Celina is a highly respected matriarch. Cat is one of the favored aspirants competing for the queenship. And you’re one of our most elite warriors, save that you’ve never accepted a captain’s responsibility.”
Ryan’s brow rose in surprise at the last revelation, his gaze snapping to Connor’s.
“Fact is, the three of you, combined, hold a lot of power, resources, and connections. Access to information. Royal blood in your veins. You’re a threat, Connor.” Morgan eased back, taking most of the air with him. “Moreso than the rest of your team ever could be.”
Ryan’s parents were historians, and Thalia had no living family with Jax gone. Connor was the one capable of investigating nefarious activity and making accusations stick.
“I should have stayed dead.” He tunneled his hand into his hair and gripped his head. Rather than protecting them, coming home had jeopardized the people he loved. “My family is in danger now.”
“If Alison is really behind this, then they were always in danger,” Morgan said.
“I want Cass in on this. She can help protect them.”
Rather than balk at additional non-military personnel being involved, Morgan inclined his head in agreement. “I’d planned on it.”
“What about the children? What danger is there to them? I won’t let them be intimidated or harassed, even if it means I have to submit to some military demands, or we have to change tactics.”
“There are different laws for private rescues. Old ones that pre-date the military protocols. We’re going to take advantage of them.
You can thank your sister for that. Cat helped me with the legal research.
I have a stack of paperwork to ensure the children don’t get taken for questioning or forcibly removed and routed through the refugee center’s regular protocols.
Althea and I will sign to officialize them before you leave Rosewood. ”
“Good.” Opal would be legally as safe as he could make her. It would have to be enough. “We just need to get them home to Ravensmere then, where Cass can protect them.”
“If I know Cass, then they’ll be getting a Wolflumen escort to take them home.
We can’t close ranks around them without it being suspicious, but her people can.
They’ll be well-protected while we’re dealing with the military at headquarters, and it will reinforce the way the rescue mission was led and handled. ”
“Alright.” Connor nodded his agreement, believing that Morgan could do as he said.
Getting cleared and back home quickly would be a small miracle.
He was confident that Cass’s clan would protect Celina and the children while he was detained, but it wasn’t the same as being there to protect them himself.
“Get some sleep, Connor. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow,” Morgan said, ending their meeting. “You two disappear and act the part when you see him next. Then we’ll start our hunt.”
“This needs to be fast. No time for them to hide or stop us,” Ryan said.
“Agreed.”
Morgan bid them goodnight, leaving the living members of Team Onyx to themselves again while he went to brief Cass on events to come.
Thalia stood as soon as he left and looked at them both in turn. Her eyes were cold when they met his. Her voice had a deadly calm when she spoke. “Investigate all you want, but if she’s the traitor, Mekray dies at the end of this. Her life for Jax’s.”