Page 44 of Against the Veil (Endangered Fae #3)

‘Don’t you even think of cutting us out of this now, Morrison,’ Kevin had growled. ‘Or so help me, I’ll kick your ass so hard, you’ll need a GPS to find it again.’

He really should have known better.

With Angus and Sionnach’s arrival, along with the rest of Faolchú’s mix of Fomorian and sidhe warriors, it was time to get down to brass tacks.

Zack planted himself in front of the fountain, arms crossed over his chest, and pulled out his best sergeant voice. “All right, people, listen up!”

Gratified that all chatter died immediately, he let everyone gather closer before he went on.

“We’re going into a hot zone here, and one built like a rabbit warren, so not the easiest site to secure.

Our point of entry is most likely on a lower level, possibly even a basement, so I anticipate our moment of greatest hazard will be when we’re bottlenecked on the stairs.

You all know your assignments and your squads.

Stay the hell with your battle group and remember what our goal is at all times.

Subdue and secure. Watch each other’s backs and protect yourselves, but remember these are human youngsters.

They can’t fade into the Dreaming to heal and most of them aren’t Vamps or Weres. They’re fragile.”

He stopped for a breath, letting them absorb his words.

“That said, remember we’ve assembled an amazing pool of talent here.

Some of the fiercest fae warriors from both courts, magic users with thousands of years of experience, humans warriors with expertise in non-magical weapons and tactics, and human magic users, hell, a human coven , which I’m told is a unique and powerful force.

We’re doing this to prevent tragedy, to head off disaster and to stop the world’s sudden need to trample the rights of magic users.

We can’t screw this up. Too much is riding on it. Everyone still with me?”

A deafening roar of assent washed over him, human and sidhe voices mixed with the howls and shrieks of Fomorian warriors. His werewolf hearing picked up the whisper when Faolchú leaned over to Finn to say, “Now that, Fionnachd, is how you bolster the troops before battle.”

Finn’s mournful response would have been funny at any other time. “I don’t feel particularly bolstered. Not a whit.”

“Are we ready, Sarge?” Nate asked, with a hand on Zack’s sleeve. The kid was definitely a toucher. Probably tugged on adult sleeves to snag their attention when he was little.

“Yep. Where do you want me?”

“That’d be a loaded question for some people.” Nate ducked the swat Kara aimed at him. “Right in the middle. Minky’ll hold on to you.”

“Where’s Finn go?”

“Behind Minky, hands on her shoulders,” Finn supplied. Then he wrinkled his nose. “But the vampire needs to move away.” He pressed the back of his hand against his nose. “His scent…”

Jasper turned to Nate. “But I—”

“He’s not saying you stink, Jazz. I think your scent is gonna make him sneeze. And that would be epically bad. Uncontrolled shifts that look like someone screwed with the film editing or something.”

“Oh.” Jasper dutifully scrambled out of the way.

“We’d tell Nate to back up, too, Jazz, but at least he finally showered,” Kara called after him and Jasper snickered.

Jazz? We already have a nickname for our vamp foundling?

Zack shook himself, trying to silence all the stray thoughts.

He had to concentrate now, in a way that wasn’t normal for him.

The coven joined hands around him, though they left the physical circle open between Will and Kara, since Will would have to open the door.

Nate closed his eyes and started to pull magic to him.

All the short hairs on Zack’s body stood on end, his nerves quivering from being so close to an actual working.

He followed Nate’s example and shut his eyes, thinking hard of Lugh, reaching for him, throwing all his love and anxiety into his call.

“Lugh? Can you hear me?”

Nothing. Not even an impression of Lugh’s mind.

“Lugh? C’mon, babe, you promised you’d answer me.”

Still nothing.

Zack’s anxiety boiled over. He’d always thought of mental screams as so much bull crap, but now he did just that, practically howling with desperation, “ Lugh! Damn it, this is no time to give up on me! Lugh, answer me!”

A soft touch caressed his mind. At first, he thought his own need had manufactured it, but finally, the whispered answer came. “ Zachary? Love?”

“I’m here. I hear you. You all right?”

“Tired. So…bloody tired…”

“Stay with me, babe. Just a couple minutes, okay? We’re coming to you now, but we need you to be the guide. You gotta concentrate on where you are. Hard as you can for me.”

“I don’t…”

Zack’s eyes stung. Lugh sounded so defeated and weary. He’d obviously overestimated how long it would take him to start failing again. “You’re giving me excuses now? Big, tough sidhe warrior?”

He felt the equivalent of a mental sigh. “ I will do my best. For you, my brave sergeant.”

An image developed in his mind, one viewed at an odd angle until he realized Lugh was lying on the floor. Cinderblock walls surrounded him. A sturdy door with the hinges on the outside lay directly in front, maybe ten or twelve feet, difficult to tell in the gloom.

“Finn, you got it?” Zack choked out.

“I have it,” Finn murmured. “We have it.” He bent his head to whisper to his granddaughter, “Now you send it on. Put it in a packet and hand it to William.”

An odd sound came from Minky, half-whimper, half-growl, followed closely by a hard, shocked exhale from William.

“I have it,” he whispered. “Oh, my, God. It’s so clear.”

“Don’t lose it, Will,” Kara snapped. “Do it now. While you’ve got it.”

“It’s so different from what we’ve done before,” Will said, his eyes unfocused and wandering. “I don’t know if I can.”

Without losing his connection with Nate, Brandon leaned in to kiss his cheek, his deep voice soft and tender, “Take what you need from us. Everything you need. I believe in you, love. You can do this.”

Will pulled in a shuddering breath and lifted his free hand, palm up.

He stared at it with such intensity, Zack wondered if he was trying to start a fire with his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt it, a dizzying shift in air pressure, a coalescing of magic so powerful, it could have ripped an M1 Abrams apart.

A tiny, crackling band of lightning hovered over Will’s palm.

He whispered over his miniature storm, bounced it in his palm until it gained height then blew a hard breath at it, cheeks puffed out, face crimson.

That’s sure as hell not how Diego does it.

Zack’s eyes stayed glued to the lightning torus as it appeared to burrow its way through reality.

A tiny hole appeared in the air, a darker space amidst the bright afternoon sunlight.

As Will continued to whisper, the hole grew to fist sized, then to the size of a watermelon.

As it expanded, it revealed a dark room with a blanket-covered body stretched out on the floor.

Sweat ran down Will’s face in little runnels, but he kept the door expanding, kept it steady. As soon as it was passable, Zack motioned to the nearest warrior, the one with the otter head. “Go, go! Everyone move! Step through and get clear of the doorway!”

One by one, the assault team stepped over the threshold, with an amazing lack of jostling for position. Finally, they were all through except for the group around the coven.

“Finn, go.”

“I should—”

“Move your ass, Shannon, or I’ll toss you through.”

Finn raised a dark brow at him, but he moved.

Zack hesitated. “How do we get you guys through when you’re holding the door?”

“We’ve got this, Sarge,” Minky told him, though her eyes were on Will. “Go on. Right behind you.”

Zack stepped through the hole in reality and watched in astonishment as the kids seemed to fold their magic closer to their bodies and threaded themselves through the door in what was obviously some prearranged order of precedence.

Kara went first, anchoring their circle in the new location, with Nathan hard on her heels.

Minky eased past Will more slowly, bringing the knotted middle of their magic web with her.

Brandon put one foot through right after her, wrapped his arms around Will’s waist and yanked them both through before the door snapped shut.

Zack fought the growl in his voice as he glared at Brandon sprawled on the floor with Will held tight to his chest. “Did you know that would work?”

“We, ah, had it figured out beforehand, Sarge.”

“You guessed.” Zack shook his head as he turned toward the most important point in the room, the blanket-wrapped bundle. “You kids are certifiable.”

Kneeling on the concrete floor, Nathair peeled the blanket back to reveal Lugh’s head and shoulders. He shivered violently, his eyes squeezed shut. Even in the dim light, Zack could make out his unhealthy gray pallor. He hurried the last few feet and flung himself to his knees beside his prince.

“Babe…oh, damn,” he whispered as he reached over with shaking hands to undo the collar from Lugh’s throat. He pulled the blanket off further, a growl rumbling in his chest at the sight of Lugh’s raw, abraded wrists. “Somebody get those damn cuffs off. I don’t care what you have to do.”

“I got it, Sarge,” Nate’s soft voice shook, his expression grim as he joined them. He pulled out a penlight to make his way over to them, and put his free hand on the cuffs, humming to them. A warm golden glow of magic washed over the steel and the locks clicked open.

“Lugh?” Zack gathered him close, stroking his tangled, matted hair. “You need to go. Can you do it now?”

For a moment, Lugh simply shivered in his arms and Zack worried he might be too far gone. Then he nuzzled at Zack’s chest, whispering, “You’ve only just arrived.”

“I know. I’m sorry. But you’re not looking so good.”

“I’ve missed you.”