Redemption (17 page)

“She had no allegiance aside from her own agenda. Though my heart swells with joy, duty binds my soul to the protection of my pack, which will always reside with the reigning King of Paraspecies.”

“As it should. You and your pack are forever in my favor for your protection and shelter. Please, stand. Everyone.”

“Perhaps we should take this discussion inside,” Kane suggested.

“No.” Trent stepped forward and withdrew his sword. Camryn growled and closed the distance between her and the two men. Adrik stepped aside so the gryphons could close rank.

Mira tugged on his sleeve and stage whispered again. “I’m confused. Who is he?”

Trent knelt and held his sword above his neck with both hands, gaze cast downward to the ground. Kadal did the same, his face awash with tears. Kane knelt and mimicked the poses, but Mira noted the lack of emotion on his face. Weird.

“My heart rejoices, Commander. The sword of our people is yours to command, my King.” The gathering crowd shout with glee upon hearing Trent’s statement.

King?

Mira’s belly fluttered as the tension in Adrik disappeared. He and the sentinels all shouted in revelry as Trent and Kadal stood and the three men embraced.

“This is lunacy,” Camryn growled. “We must get him secured inside.”

Trent regarded the succuba mage. “By all means, let us head inside. There’s much to discuss. I trust you can handle containing the crowd while we discuss Paraspecies business,
succuba
.”

Camryn bristled under the harshness, but stepped away without a word. Mira wanted to go after her, but Adrik’s hands were firmly holding her in place.

“Yes, there is.” Deimos smiled and slapped Trent on the back. “It’s good to see you, man.”

“Better to see you, Bredon. Trust me. No day will ever surpass this one.”

Bredon. Funny how a name changed so much. He resembled a Bredon. Strong. Confident. Everything Deimos had been, yet so much more. Raw energy, almost euphoric in its purity, zinged through the crush of people.

A king.

Dear God, what had she done? He’d been in hiding because he’d been betrayed. She’d called him a coward, dared him to step forward and help Bessa. If she’d known who he was, what he was. Everything made sense now.

She fled to the corner of Medical’s alley and purged the guilt in her belly. Nothing would absolve her from what she’d done. She’d put him at risk. Her naiveté could get him killed.

By one of his own.

Oh God.

Since he was in Redemption his security rested on Adrik. What had she done?

“You spend too much time with the ill, Mira. I hate seeing you sick.” Adrik drew her into his embrace, but tensed when she began to cry. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything. I didn’t know who he was or I wouldn’t have pushed him. I swear. I didn’t mean to risk him. I just didn’t want to see Bessa die when I knew he could save her.”

Adrik’s gaze darkened. “Don’t blame yourself for something no one could control, Mira. Bredon is a fierce warrior. Whatever you said put him on the path he needed to be on. Nothing will happen to him. Or me.”

She nodded and inhaled his strength.

“I think Bessa could use you at her side right now. Jarvis will have to attend the meeting. Lynette and Peyton will be there, but I’m sure she could use a friendly, less stern friend right now.”

“Of course.” Mira nodded. Fear settled inside her. “I love you.”

The admission made her clench, terrified how he’d react. Excited utterances in the middle of the square probably weren’t the wisest thing, but it seemed the thing to say. The future wasn’t guaranteed. Nothing was.

Despite Adrik’s reassurance, Mira couldn’t shake the tendrils of unease choking her. Her interference, the push she’d given Deimos—no, Bredon—could harm the pack a thousand times more than Bessa’s loss would have.

“I love you too, Mira. Never doubt that.” Adrik kissed her then followed the flyers toward Headquarters.

“Stay.”

Adrik halted and then sat. Bredon. Fuck. He was alive.

Shock rippled through the pack. News of his survival would move fast—faster than desired. Heaviness hung in the room, a cloud of questions and suspicion they’d harbored for years.

Bredon sat beside Trent, neither man choosing to sit at the head of the table, as though they were both reconciling themselves to the impending issue of who was to reign over the Paraspecies. Not that Trent had left much to doubt about his intentions to cede command with his quick display of fidelity.

The man was a damn good warrior. They both were. Having them both at Command Central would calm much of the chaos within the realm.

“You shouldn’t have expended so much energy.” Doc’s censure broke the entombing silence of the room.

Bredon stared out the windows, his gaze focused on something below. “Tell me about the succuba.”

“Camryn.” Adrik responded. “You now know what we do. She’s ancient blood-lined, half mage, half succuba. She inserted herself into the rescue operation when we reached out to local resources to fill in manpower for the facility breach.”

“We’d assumed a small presence of our kind in the region would go smoother,” Kadal offered. “She and the team of Impures she’d mounted provided support to Adrik and his sentinels to get the rescued Impures to Redemption. None of us expected there to be so many.”

“Yet she remained here when they left.”

“Yes. She’s been somewhat stubborn in her protectiveness and even more so in sharing information,” Trent groused.

“There’s more to her than appears,” Bredon stated. “I’d like to bring her with us to Command Central, whenever we return.”

“We should do so immediately, call the Shifter Council and quadrant Alphas immediately,” Kane stated.

Bredon tensed. His hands fisted behind him. “Or perhaps we should remain here and help defend Redemption from the force you summoned when you sensed my survival. Personally, I’d rather face whatever attack you have planned with a pack I trust at my back.”

What the fuck?

Kadal drew his weapon and stood. The tip pressed against Kane’s chest, but the gryphon’s gaze focused on Bredon. “Explain your accusation.”

The golden dragon turned to face the gryphons. “Rum River was chaotic, charged with terror and outrage, as I’m sure you remember. We flew into a trap. I knew the moment we did someone within my command had betrayed us, put us at risk. Surprisingly, I survived because of the fledglings.

“None of the first-year warriors charged with mentoring noticed their charges’ exhaustion, their apprehension and the way they’d added distance between themselves and the squadron. It wasn’t because they were culpable for what happened, but because they were young and ill prepared for the battle we thought awaited us.”

“So you were to the rear of the squadron, rather than at the head as expected,” Trent said.

“Yes. When we crested the rise the majority of the squadron had been slaughtered, dissolved to ash before our eyes. The sheer number of ancient succubae sickened me. I saw Kadal fall and knew we wouldn’t survive.”

“I’d been lax in my guard, too focused on training my successors to note your location within the squad. I assumed you were at the head, and had fallen to the collective power drain before I had.” Kadal’s voice held years of pain, moments of joy. “It was the fiercest display of power I’d seen. Ever.”

“Agreed.” Bredon turned and leaned against the glass. “King Varden lives.”

A collective gasp consumed the oxygen in the room. Adrik’s wolf growled. “How?”

“I don’t know, but he was there. His power downed the squadron. His minions did the work afterward.”

“But his reemergence doesn’t explain what happened to you,” Trent said. “He may be the most powerful succuba around, but their kind shouldn’t down an ancient bloodline like you so easily. It makes no sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. That part took me over a year in my cell to figure out. The NAH fuckers holding us filled in the blank spots for me without realizing. The experiments they ran on me and Mira, they offered the evidence I needed.”

“Mira?” Adrik pressed.

“The human has genetic coding remarkably similar to a golden dragon without being a Paraspecies. One of her ancestors must’ve been from my kind. Somehow the abnormality presented itself. Once I was captured they moved in to seize her for some reason I’d yet to fully comprehend. All I knew was they tested their new weapon on her before they’d use it on me.”

“Weapon?”

“During the battle a metal net of some sort was thrown over me and the fledglings before I was aware it was even there. The alloy was unlike anything I’d seen and burned my flesh, rendered my powers ineffective. The fledglings were affected instantaneously.”

“The resulting weakness kept you imprisoned,” Trent stated. “And Kane?”

“He’d cried off from the battle, claiming illness. But I scented and tasted his presence in the air before they sedated me.”

“You’re mistaken. I would never betray you, my liege.” Kane’s voice spewed hatred. “Don’t blame your poor judgment on me.”

“My decision to remain in the rear with the fledglings is the only reason they or I are alive,” Bredon whirled and closed the distance. His massive torso leaned over the table until he was a mere foot from the man he accused. “I heard you when you spat on me and denounced me for failing to save your sister.”

Kane growled. Kadal angled the edge of the blade against the man’s jugular. “You dare blame Bredon for your sister’s whorish end? She spread her legs for Varden rather than meet a warrior’s end. Anything she endured was her choosing.”

The man growled.

Kadal dragged him out of the room as Bredon watched the door slam shut. Adrik wanted to go rid his pack of the prick’s existence in Redemption, but it was an internal matter he’d have to trust the flyers to handle. Either way, the man wouldn’t live much longer. Flyer justice was swift and unrelenting.

“I scented him another couple of times after my imprisonment, but I’m not sure if it was a memory or reality. I welcomed a warrior’s end more times than I could count at first. The new weapon’s voraciousness was unrelenting when coupled with their hatred. At first it was simply metal forged into knives, swords, restraints. Then they became strategists, turned it into injections. Poisons.”

“Poisons?” Adrik stilled.

Bredon nodded. “The ailment plaguing Bessa had qualities similar to the injections administered at the facility.”

“We’ll need to return there, get samples,” Trent stated.

“The fledglings gathered enough, as did the succuba. Her knowledge of all this, or her ability to discern it well enough to aid my rescue, disturbs me.” Bredon sighed. “For now I wish her no harm. She will remain with us for the time being, until I can figure out what it is she hides.”

“She hides a lot,” Adrik commented.

“Yes.” The man turned and smiled. “You have a worthy mate, wolf. It was her arrival that awoke my warrior beast. He couldn’t allow her to endure the suffering they’d forced on me.”

“Her leg,” Adrik whispered.

“Yes. I’ll spare you all the details for they still make me ill to this day. I assure you she recalls very little of what she suffered. Once I realized their intention, I took the brunt of her sessions and erased her mind of what I could. I only wish I could’ve done more, but her remembering was critical.”

“So her capture shortly after yours was related?”

“I’m not clear on why she was seized. The timeline implies they’d tracked Impures with genetics as close to golden dragon DNA as possible. I wasn’t able to figure out what their end game was with her. I know it was related to me, to the alloy. But the details are unclear.”

Unease consumed Adrik. “They released her, which implies they got what they needed. Yet she was taken after you, so it must’ve been unrelated to the alloy.”

“I suspect they were testing the alloy to see if Impures with Paraspecies DNA were susceptible. Depending on the results, the NAH might consider people like Mira a vital asset to amass an army, strengthen it.”

“Unique DNA immune from the alloy, but stronger that their current forces.” Adrik cursed. “This isn’t good.”

“No. We’ll need to run some tests of our own, figure out the potential end games. Either way, we’ll be ready.” Bredon regarded him a moment. “More importantly, your mate will be secure. No more experiments or testing. She’s suffered enough.”

“I’m eternally grateful for your intervention, my liege.” Adrik would never repay the warrior’s sacrifice. “I’m shamed by my reaction to what you did for her.”

“Your thoughts were justified many times, my friend. She’s a temptation who kept me not only sane, but hopeful, that one day I’ll find a mate as worthy as her.” He sat beside Adrik and leaned to rest his elbows on the table. “It’s why what I have to share next troubles me.”

Adrik shifted restlessly, unable to remain still because of the building tension wafting off the golden dragon.

“I overheard enough discussions with the Doctor, a man named Covali, to know they’re experimenting on Impures with abnormally high genetics in common with Paraspecies.”

“To what end?” Trent asked.

“I’m unsure. I know they’ve gotten far enough along in their experimentation to have some relevant success, though I doubt they realize it.” Bredon sighed. “I violate my scruples here by discussing something I should leave for another time, but I feel it’s imperative everyone be aware of it.”

“Spit it out,” Adrik stated, too agitated by the thought of something or someone harming Mira. Was she ill?

“Her genetics have changed. When I read her now she’s different than she was when I first met her two years ago. It’s changed even more the past month.” Bredon leveled a direct stare at Adrik. “She carries your son. Whether it’s his genetics or their experimentation, or both, her dormant shifter genetics have been activated.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Jarvis asked.

Trent sighed and wiped his face with his hands. “I didn’t even realize something that science fiction was possible.”

“Why would the NAH try to activate shifter genetics in Impures?” Kadal asked.