Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
RAJ
I plaster a smile on my face as I say goodbye to Felicia and the others and jog to my car, but as soon as I’m sat behind the wheel I yank out my buzzing phone.
I have the pack’s numbers all memorised—a precaution when I’ve only got this Dhiren phone most of the time—so I recognise the unknown number as Kit.
There’s an immediate tightness in my gut, because they’re not supposed to call me on this phone, especially when they know I won’t be home yet.
I really hope this emergency isn’t about Bryn. I saw his message when I went to the loo this morning and have been worrying about him ever since. I know he’s perfectly capable, but Poland is over a thousand miles away and I’m not sure what kind of range dragons actually have.
I swipe to answer and put them on speakerphone before shoving the car into gear and shooting out of the space. “What’s wrong?”
Kit’s voice is low and urgent. “Bryn’s been attacked near the Polish border. Get to the airport as fast as you can.”
My tiger snarls and my heart tries to beat its way out of my chest, the panic clawing its way up my throat and making me want to throw up. “Attacked by who? How badly injured is he?”
“I have no idea. The camera’s currently stationary, showing what might be a close up of his wing.
The attack literally just happened. I promise I called you the second after I alerted Ethan.
The team are already making plans to get us all there.
Ayo’s making calls to charter a private jet, Ethan’s persuading Doc P to come with us, Skye’s filing a flight plan, and Cal and Jet are gathering weapons, passports, and warm clothes for everyone. ”
I’ve never been more grateful for my pack.
I belatedly realise I’m not going in the right direction for the airport and take the next left, trying to focus enough to get there safely when my tiger wants to rip the world apart.
“We never should have gotten him involved, Kit. What if this was our fault?”
“Honey, that’s bullshit and you know it. It was hard to tell on the camera because of a storm, but it looked like he was attacked by other dragons, and they stole the shipping container. They were after the cargo.”
I let out a guttural yell, my hands clenching around the wheel. How dare they attack my dragon? And how dare Far Out Freight put him in this situation in the first place?
I’m barely paying attention to the road as Kit talks to me, the background sounds changing as they leave the office to head to the airport with the rest of the pack, which is why it takes me far too long to realise I’m being followed.
“Kit, we’ve got a new problem. I’ve got a tail.”
“I assume you don’t mean you’ve suddenly developed the ability to partially shift.”
“Not today.”
“Bringing up traffic cameras in your location now. Follow my directions.”
Fuck, we could really do without this delay. My tiger growls, furious with whoever is trying to keep us from rescuing our dragon.
I follow the directions Kit gives, which quickly prove I’m not imagining things because this isn’t a sensible route to anywhere.
The unmarked white van following me was keeping a couple of other vehicles between us, but those have gone and now it’s just me and the van on a quiet stretch of road near the back of the airport.
“We’re two minutes from you. Ethan says don’t head to the airport car park yet in case we can maintain your cover.”
“Copy th—” I swear as the van suddenly accelerates and rams the back of my car, the old metal crunching as I try to keep from fishtailing off the road.
They ram the rear left corner, sending me into a spin that I could correct given more time or a better vehicle, but instead I’m shaken violently when I hit something solid, metal screeching and airbags deploying.
I manage to unfasten my seatbelt just as my door is ripped open. I’m dragged out but fight back, struggling against the three strangers who look human but smell distinctly like fae.
“Quick, get him in the van before anyone comes,” one of them yells as I elbow his friend in the stomach.
“Let me go! Help! They’re dragging me away! Help!” I yell in my Dhiren accent, because although my pack will be here any minute, even now I want to maintain my cover.
My tiger disagrees with my methods, ready to shift and bite them for daring to lay hands on us, but that’s not an option in a place where humans could pass by.
Instead I kick and thrash, careful not to show too much skill and give away my Special Forces background.
Far better that they see me get rescued than I save myself.
“Who is he yelling to?” Another of the fae asks, a grimace flashing on her face when I kick her kneecap.
Just as they get me concerningly close to the open side door of the van, a Soldati Security SUV rounds the distant corner of the road, a second right behind it, both travelling at insane speeds.
“You called the fucking task force?” One of the fae snarls at me, then punches me in the face. All three drop me on the ground and rush to climb in the front doors of their van.
My head is ringing, my lip bleeding. “Saw you following me, you dickheads!” I yell at them as I stagger to my feet.
The fae speed off without looking back, and one of our SUVs chases after them as the other screeches to a stop next to me. Ethan, Jet, and Kit jump out and rush over to me.
“Are you okay?” Kit asks.
“I’m fine, but Bryn isn’t. We need to get to him.” I dab my bleeding lip. It’s tender, but it’ll heal quickly enough. We can’t let this distract us any more than it already has.
“I’m going to fucking murder those bastards,” Jet snarls, his fists clenched.
“Get in line,” Ethan growls, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and steering me to the SUV. “I saw that punch, Raj. How bad is your head?”
I debate saying I’m fine again, but it’s probably best I tell them the truth given the flight we have ahead of us. “About as bad as the time we drank that entire bottle of shifter-strength tequila in Mexico.”
Fae may look similar to earth species, but they have an underlying strength that makes them a nightmare to fight hand-to-hand, and I wouldn’t risk shifting in public like this.
As much as I don’t want to admit it even to myself, if my pack hadn’t been close by there’s a chance I might have ended up in that van on the way to who-knows-where, even if I’d brought my full training to the fight.
As it is, I only have a pounding headache.
“I will murder them dead,” Jet mutters.
“I’ll track them down for you once we’re back,” Kit says to Jet, patting the jaguar’s shoulder before turning to me. “Skye, Cal, and Ayo are going to chase them off for now then meet us at the plane.”
“I’m sure they’ll ditch the van,” I say. I can’t believe they tried to kidnap me in broad daylight.
“Please, you know better than to think a little thing like that will stop me,” Kit says.
Fair point.
“We’ll get Doc P to take a look at your head during the flight,” Ethan says as we climb into the SUV.
“I’m arranging for someone to come and pick up your car and take it to a bodyshop,” Kit says from the front passenger seat as they type on their laptop. “Someone needs to hide the keys in the wheel well, then we can go.”
I’m grateful that my pack share my priorities, because between the attempted kidnapping and Bryn being injured a thousand miles away, my adrenaline is sky high. I want to get in the air as fast as possible.
“Grab my Dhiren phone as well,” I call after Jet as he heads for the mangled metal wrapped around a tree.
He returns quickly, sitting next to me and pressing his shoulder against mine. I’m not sure if he’s reassuring me or himself, but either way it helps.
“We’ll get Bryn home,” he says firmly.
“Whatever it takes,” Ethan says from the driver’s seat, glancing at me in the mirror as he pulls back onto the road.
I nod sharply, every muscle in my body tensed and ready for the next fight. Whoever dared attack Bryn is going to regret it.
Kit shows me their laptop from the front seat.
One section of the screen shows a camera view of something with a leathery texture, crimson in colour.
Kit’s right that it looks like part of Bryn’s wing.
Another section of the screen shows the team chat, messages popping up from Ayo as we drive.
He, Cal, and Skye have judged that they’ve chased my would-be kidnappers far enough away, and are now heading to the plane so that Skye can start the preflight checks.
And the third section is a map with a flashing green dot in the Sudetes; a mountain range on the border of Germany, Poland, and Czechia.
Kit turns to talk to me. “This is his location, although interference from the storm means it’s not as accurate as I’d like. The closest international airport is in Czechia, but because it has restricted hours we’re flying into Wroc?aw and arranging a helicopter from there.”
“There’s nothing closer?”
“Small airstrips with no access to a helicopter. We’re lucky—Wroc?aw airport only recently reopened after being closed for months.”
I scrub a hand over my face and try to tell myself that Bryn could be fine, simply stranded due to an injured wing, the camera somehow dislodged and pointed in the wrong direction. “And you’re sure Doc P is coming with us?”
Jet presses his leg against mine, a silent support. “Yeah, he agreed immediately. He just finished up with a patient in the airport, so he’s already here. He’s meeting us at the plane. We’ll find Bryn and get him to safety, whatever it takes.”
Jet can undoubtedly feel how on edge I am—a combination of pure rage and devastating fear that we might be too late.
We’ve faced down every conceivable situation before and can handle anything thrown at us, but the idea that I could lose my dragon when I just found him…
There are no words to describe how much it guts me.