Redemption (8 page)

“I’ve rested for more than twenty-four hours, Adrik. Y’all are here to help, not coddle me.” Though she was okay with the coddling. Truthfully, she’d missed the protectiveness they’d always exhibited around her back then. Seeing small bits of it returning relaxed her.

“I’d rather cuddle you,” he whispered as he drew her into an embrace. “Are you feeling better?”

“Surprisingly, yes. It’s been so long since I didn’t ache all over I’m not sure what to think.”

“Doc did what he could, probably too much. He said he’d work with your leg when we returned.”

“It’s fine.” Nothing would undo what they’d done to it.

She studied him for a moment, noted the tension in his shoulders and the lines across his face. “I didn’t mean to spring that stuff on you, about the guards.”

His jaw twitched. Her heartbeat rattled to a quickened tempo when he cupped her face. “Fuck, sweetheart. I’m gonna admit it—I’m not handling the thought of those fuckers hurting you.”

“I-I don’t remember many of those details, but it wouldn’t matter if I did. Those animals are nothing like you, Adrik. Nothing they did to me could take away whatever this is between us. I’m not going to lie and say there won’t be residual shit I have to handle, but I’ll do it because I know now I’m safe.”
Because of you.

With you.

The thought of being intimate with someone after what she’d endured terrified her, but the truth was she didn’t remember the attacks in granular detail. She remembered parts, conversations, surroundings. Deimos had done something, made her forget those moments when he’d invaded her mind and ripped her away from the suffering.

All she recalled were the conversations, his soft whisper in her mind. The warmth. The security his presence offered.

But she couldn’t share Deimos’s intervention with Adrik, which made the already difficult discussion about intimacy even more challenging. How could she explain away her seemingly blasé attitude? Just the notion of someone aside from him touching her made her skin crawl.

But the embers of her past attraction had burned bright during her captivity. Every moment she suffered at the hands of the NAH made her want him more, long for his lips on hers again. She’d lived for this moment. Well, not this one exactly. She looked around and captured Peyton’s hateful leer.

She definitely wasn’t digging the grouchy bitch on a bus. Of all the six sentinels he had, why did he have to bring her?

“If I’d left her there, her rank would’ve put her in charge since Ren and Marek are with me and the dragons are out on a mission. Doc would’ve hurt me. Peyton is a damn good warrior, but she’s not cut out to handle leading Redemption.”

“Did I ask that aloud?”

“Yes, you did,” Peyton answered.

Oops.

The levity of the moment burst through the bus. First Ren chuckled. Then Marek. Adrik grinned and drew her closer. “In case I forget to say it a million times later, it’s great to have you back in our pack, sweetheart. Fuck but I’ve missed you.”

The words sent a shrill of pleasure through her as she drank in his handsome smile. She drifted in the golden swirls of his mocha gaze. Any residual doubt melted under his fiery intensity. Going straight to Redemption hadn’t been a mistake.

We’re coming for you, Deimos. Hang on. Adrik will save you, even if I couldn’t.

“This shit stinks worse than the backed-up cesspool behind the bath houses,” Marek grumbled.

Adrik couldn’t agree more. It’d taken a couple of hours of questioning locals in the hovels outside Baton Rouge, but they’d tracked down the mythical Blade. The name alone had made everyone respond in a hushed whisper, as if the man would hear them.

While he admired the man’s ability to garner respect, they didn’t have time for the unfolding drama. They’d tracked him down at the bustling former restaurant, which turned out to be a soup kitchen of sorts. The man hadn’t seemed too surprised to see them.

“And all he said was to wait for him outside?”

“Yep. Then he went to dishing up bowls of gumbo as if he hadn’t just been tracked down by an Other.” Adrik crossed his arms and stared across the street at Mama Pierre’s. The crowd had thinned out over the past hour they’d been waiting.

“This is bullshit. We should go in and drag his ass out,” Peyton said as she paced.

They’d hidden the NAH bus a quarter mile down the road and left Ren with Mira. Adrik hated leaving her behind, but until they got a full read on Blade he wasn’t putting her at risk. While they were waiting, though, he might as well air the laundry with his sentinels. He couldn’t have dissension within the ranks, especially if he wanted the pack to support Mira.

Fuck. Was he really considering her as a mate? It’d been less than two days since she’d reentered his life.

“I’m gonna borrow the lecture Doc gave me when he was patching up Mira. Whatever issues y’all got with her, get over them quick.”

“You asking us as a friend or telling us as our Alpha?” Peyton asked.

“Whichever gets results faster. We need to get on the same page before we find the facility.” He wouldn’t risk anyone because of dissension. He’d seen too many warriors lost during battle because they didn’t agree with their Alpha’s decision. “Our pack survived The Rending with far fewer losses than the others because we always trusted each other, were of one mind and thought.”

“Look, I understand she’s important to you, man, but Peyton’s got a lot of good points. The mysterious reappearance after two
years
of being gone—especially when the flyers happened to be at Redemption—is way too convenient. And she remembers her time in a facility no one’s ever heard about before?” Marek shook his head. “We have a right to be leery.”

“Yes, you do.” Adrik sighed. “But don’t let anger or whatever you feel about her disappearance blind your judgment.”

“Back at you, Alpha,” Peyton said.

He leaned in and growled. “Sounds like a challenge, wolf.”

“It’s a reminder. Don’t let the man’s desire choose the leader’s path. Remember Jarvis’s lectures?” Peyton reversed a couple of steps. “Her vanishing act a couple years ago nearly undid you. I can’t stand aside and let it happen again.”

“Why are you so quick to assume what she says is lies?”

“Because it makes no fucking sense, Adrik. Come on. Think with the brain on your shoulders. We’ve treated thousands of people who were in facilities and bussed to us afterward to trade their pathetic credits for provisions. None of them remembered a damn thing. Very few of them sustained injuries anywhere near hers. And not a single one of them had even a hundredth the credit she did.”

His wolf snarled.

Everything Peyton stated made sense, yet he refused to believe Mira would lie—not about something as serious as torture. Rape.

Fuck.

Just the thought of his pack—his sentinels—discounting what she’d survived made his wolf snap with a need to defend her. Fortunately Blade appeared from the restaurant and headed their way.

For an Impure the man was massive. A couple inches taller than six foot, the man had the wide shoulders of a flyer. Straight ebony hair drifted along his shoulders. He paused a couple feet from them and looked around.

“You didn’t bring many warriors with you. Three and a half wolves aren’t gonna help much,” Blade commented.

Marek whistled.

Peyton lunged, but Marek grabbed her by the waist.

“Like I said, three and a half.” Blade chuckled as his gaze swept over Peyton, whose fierce snarls filled the area. “We need to get a few things straight before this meeting proceeds. First off, I’m not happy you didn’t bring more warriors. I’ve got men, but they aren’t well trained compared to your pack and given the fact Mira’s wanted by The Alliance, I can’t call them in on this.”

“How the hell do you know about Mira?” Adrik demanded.

“It’s my business to know, wolf. I can assure you I know more about this than you do for now. That’ll all change soon enough, though. Until then, you and your…men need to play nice with mine. You disrespect someone in my group, we’re done.”

“Exactly what is your skin in this?” Marek asked.

“My business isn’t your concern.” Blade’s jaw twitched. “I’ve been itching to hit this fucking facility since the first day I saw Mira with those two guards.”

Adrik growled. He couldn’t handle hearing that shit, especially from a stranger who’d seen it, let it happen. For two fucking years.

As if sensing the tension within him, Marek stepped forward, putting himself partially between Adrik and Blade. The man regarded his second a moment.

“Right. Okay, I get it. I shouldn’t go there with the conversation.” The man sighed. “Fair enough. I figured you’d have questions and it’d be better to hear from me than her. Obviously y’all process differently.”

“So there is a facility,” Peyton stated.

“Yes, in the outer bowels of the bayou a few miles south—well inside Hell’s Playground. I’ve been supplying them for a little under two years after their previous procurer became gator bait. The NAH sucks ass, but their credits help the cause.”

“Which is?” Marek asked.

“Again, my business, but we have a common goal. I want the NAH gone. So do you. We work together and go our separate ways afterward.” Blade motioned toward the overgrown vegetation to the west. “When I realized the extent of their…atrocities, I got someone inside the facility. Then I realized something wasn’t right with Mira.”

“What do you mean?”

“She remembered me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone knows volunteers don’t remember their time inside, but what no one realizes is their memories are wiped at the end of each day. But she remembered me. Either they weren’t handling her in the same manner, or she was just different. Either way, I knew she’d be the key. She was too observant, too determined to survive. She hadn’t been broken, even in the end.” Pride resonated in his voice. “So I got someone inside to get intel, anything we could use if my hunch was right and someone came to blow the joint. I thought it’d be The Alliance.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Adrik replied dryly. “So, what? We trust you with our back and we head deeper into Hell’s Playground to infiltrate and destroy an NAH facility with intel from an unknown insider from your organization?”

“Pretty much.” Blade looked over his shoulder. “Remember, you disrespect my people, we’re gone.”

“Yeah, whatever. You aren’t in charge, Impure,” Peyton said.

“No. My inside source is. That’s nonnegotiable. You don’t know the layout. My person does.”

Adrik thought about it a moment before sending his thoughts to the sentinels around him.

For now, we do this his way. We’ll take over if things go south so it doesn’t matter what we say here. We get in and get gone.

Fine.

I’m in.

Agreed.

“Fair enough,” Adrik responded. “But we all agree on the plan before we enter.”

“Certainly,” Blade said.

A lone figure appeared from the clearing. As he approached, Adrik noted a few things. First, it was a she. The slight stature, petite frame and long raven curls drifting around a narrow waist made him still in shock. Then the stench drifting forward in the air permeated his nostrils.

“Succuba,” Ren said.

“Mage,” Marek spat.

Great. The last thing he needed. “Explain yourself right now, Blade.”

“Think about it. There’s not a single NAH who’d blink twice if one of her kind applied for a job, especially at a secret facility in Hell’s Playground. Impures and Others would’ve been slaughtered onsite. Who did you think I’d have infiltrate it? Santa Claus?”

I’m not following a succuba mage bitch into battle.

Fuck no.

She’s dead before nightfall.

Great. Adrik sighed as tension settled in his shoulders. His wolf prowled along his skin. A run would ease the knots of unease, but he wasn’t about to leave Mira or his pack while they were in Hell’s Playground.

Let’s play along. For now. Keep the enemy close.
His command to the sentinels was met with complicit silence. They’d always followed his lead, no matter where he led. It’s why he had the most revered packs of all the wolves.

He repeated Jarvis’s lesson a few times in his mind as the woman made her way toward them with a slow, confident swagger that made his wolf lunge within him. Their mission had just entered FUBAR territory and he had no idea how to get it on track.

Well, on a good note, at least Peyton has an outlet for all the rage she has for your girl.
Ren’s humor made Adrik growl in response.

The woman halted her progress a foot in front of Blade, as though silently demanding their respect without Blade’s protection. The tactic made Ren chuckle.

The succuba mage bitch had balls.

“I’m Camryn. We’re short on time and long on tempers, so let’s settle a few things. First off, I’m half succuba, half mage and I don’t take shit off anyone. Succubae wronged your kind, but I’m on your side. If I could purge the poisoned blood from my veins, I’d exsanguinate myself.

“Now, let’s talk about the other half of my blood. Your pack has issues with the mage. I’ve heard enough talk in the Highway to know you were all captives because a mage you trusted turned on you. Again, not my fight.”

She crossed her hands in front of her and looked at each of them.

“Judge me for my actions and not the actions of either of my kind and I’ll do the same with you. You have an issue with me, you take it up directly with me. Otherwise I’ll crawl down your throat so fast you’ll be shitting thoughts of me before you realize I was in your personal space. Are we clear?”

The visual of the threat left Adrik’s mind reeling. He closed the distance until the stench of her kind was all he could smell. “Threaten my pack again and you answer to me.”

“Understood.” She stepped closer until their breaths almost collided. The proximity made his wolf snap. She wasn’t Mira. “Are we clear?”

“Crystal. We have a bus. Let’s head there, discuss things in a more defensible position. I don’t like being in the open.”

“Good.” She stepped back and relaxed her stance. “Blade will gather his men and I’ll accompany you. Once Blade catches up with us, we’ll have a discussion. I don’t repeat myself.”