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MAX

T he Audi R8 purred beneath Max and Kyra as he guided it along the highway. The car was pure indulgence, a low-slung beast that could hit sixty miles per hour in 3.2 seconds. Not that Max needed such speed for daily life, but five centuries of existence had taught him to appreciate life's pleasures when he had the opportunity.

It had taken some maneuvering to get a car that was not the standard issue most clan members had been given, and then having it modded with the custom self-driving and specialty windows required of all village vehicles for security reasons. Luckily, Toven had paved the way by getting two specialty vehicles first, so there was a precedent, and then Kalugal followed, getting himself a Mercedes-AMG S63 sedan. Once the floodgates had opened, many more village residents ordered fancy rides and the necessary custom modifications for them .

Kyra hadn't seemed to notice, though, and she hadn't commented on the superb vehicle, which was disappointing. After all, what was the point of having a luxury car if it didn't impress the ladies, right?

Instead, she was busy scanning their surroundings.

"Not many people on the road this early," she observed, her voice cutting through the comfortable silence that had settled between them.

"One of the few perks of leaving early," he said, downshifting as they rounded a curve. "But that will change as soon as we hit the freeway. Fortunately, we are going in the opposite direction of the morning rush-hour traffic, so perhaps it's not going to be that bad."

She nodded, her fingers touching her amber pendant. "I've never been to Los Angeles before," she said after a moment. "Or at least, not that I can recall. It's different from what I expected."

"How so?"

She gestured toward the sprawling cityscape stretching inland. "It's more vertical than I imagined. All those buildings clustered together in the center, reaching upward."

Kyra had only been to downtown Los Angeles, so she thought that the rest of the city was like that as well, but most of it was spread out horizontally rather than vertically.

"I'll give you a proper tour when we get back," he said .

Her lips curved into a small smile. "I'd like that."

Max navigated the car onto the highway that would take them inland toward the foothills. Nestled among them was the airstrip that the clan maintained for their private use.

"Nice car," Kyra finally commented, her hand running appreciatively over the leather dashboard. "Not exactly inconspicuous, though."

Max chuckled. "I'm not a spy, and I don't use it on missions. It's for my private use." He cast her a sidelong glance. "What's the point of accumulating wealth if not to spend at least some of it on indulgences?"

"I wouldn't know." She looked out the window. "I've never had much."

That made him feel like a spoiled brat, and that was not how he wanted her to see him. "There's something to be said for driving a vehicle that can outrun almost anything on the road."

There. A legitimate excuse for spending an insane amount on a car.

"Planning on making a getaway?" Kyra teased, one eyebrow arched.

He shrugged. "One never knows. Five centuries of fighting has taught me that every advantage, be it a better weapon or a better escape vehicle, can mean the difference between victory and failure, life and death."

She laughed—a sound he was finding increasingly addictive. The way it transformed her face, softening her hard edges, made his chest inflate with an emotion he was still getting used to.

"That's an awesome excuse to get a fancy toy, Max. But I get it. You've earned it. Enjoy."

They fell back into comfortable silence, and as the scenery changed into a boring urban sprawl, Max let his mind drift to the previous night.

After Kyra had fallen asleep, lulled by his singing, he'd spent nearly an hour just watching her, marveling at how peaceful she looked in slumber, how the fierce warrior facade dissolved into something softer, more vulnerable.

It had been intimate in a way that transcended physical connection.

Sex was easy. Max had centuries of experience in that department, but this was new territory for him. The fact that she'd asked him to stay, to simply hold her through the night, meant more to him than if she'd wanted him for sex.

Fates knew he'd had enough of those kind of nights and not enough of what he'd shared with Kyra last night.

"You're smiling," she said.

"Am I?" He glanced at her, not bothering to hide his grin.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Last night," he admitted. "Holding you while you slept."

She held his gaze. "It has been a long time since I've slept so soundly. Usually, I keep one eye open, so to speak." She paused, then added, "I don't remember ever feeling so safe."

Coming from Kyra, who had survived two decades as a resistance fighter in one of the world's most dangerous regions, the admission felt monumental.

Max reached across the console to take her hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm glad that I make you feel safe."

Her fingers intertwined with his. "Yeah, me too. It was nice knowing that someone I trusted was watching my back. Literally."

When he turned into the unmarked dirt road that seemed to lead nowhere, Max slowed, carefully navigating the luxury sports car over the rough terrain.

"This vehicle is not exactly designed for off-roading," Kyra noted, bracing her hand on the dashboard as they bounced along.

"Don't worry, it's only about half a mile of this, and then we hit the paved section. This is just to confuse the enemy, so no one suspects it actually leads anywhere." Max patted the dashboard apologetically. "Sorry, baby."

Kyra snorted. "Do you always talk to your car like it's your girlfriend?"

He grinned. "Guilty. I get lonely sometimes, and Melinda here is a good listener."

"Right." Kyra rolled her eyes, but the amusement in her voice was unmistakable.

They soon reached the paved section of the road as it wound through a stand of trees, eventually opening up to reveal the airstrip and the large hangar in the back.

Despite them arriving almost half an hour early, the jet was already on the tarmac, and its engines were running.

Max pulled the car into a parking area, where two other vehicles were already parked—a van and a car probably belonging to the pilot. He would need to arrange for someone to pick up his baby and bring her to the parking garage either in the keep or the village. He wasn't leaving her out in the open.

After grabbing their bags from the trunk, they walked toward Yamanu, who was waving them over.

"About time," he said by way of greeting, though his tone was light. "I was beginning to think you'd decided to skip the mission and elope instead."

"Careful," Max warned, though no real heat was behind it. "I'd hate to have to kick your ass in front of everyone this early in the morning."

"You can try, buddy." Yamanu laughed, then turned to Kyra. "I have a gift for you." He pulled a package out of his duffle bag. "A new clan sat phone, pre-loaded with all the contacts you'll need."

"Thank you." Kyra took it, examining the sleek device. "Is it secure?"

Yamanu grinned. "It's encrypted six ways from Sunday, according to William. You can even call your rebel friends."

"I wouldn't. Not directly. "

"Max can show you how it works. And now, for the big gift." He handed her a large shopping bag. "Compliments of Eva, our master of disguises."

It was heavy, and as Kyra unzipped the bag, she found a folded black abaya and niqab and then another garment that looked like the torso of a fat woman with large breasts. "What is that?"

"That's a fat suit," Yamanu said. "You wear it under your clothing to change the shape of your body. Eva used to do undercover detective work before she joined the clan. She's still in that business, but she mostly manages it these days. Now that she's a mother, she has a crew of young immortals doing the fieldwork for her. Mey called her yesterday about Iranian traditional clothing, and she suggested pairing it with this. You can hide a lot of weapons under these fake boobs and that belly, or anything else you might need to conceal, for that matter. It can't fool a scanner, but it can pass a pat-down."

A slow smile spread across Kyra's face as she examined the garment more closely. "That's ingenious," she said. "No one looks twice at a heavyset woman in conservative clothing. This is perfect camouflage. And you are right. I can hide all sorts of weapons under it."

"That was Eva's thinking," Yamanu agreed. "She says it gets a little sweaty inside, so take that into consideration."

"Tell her I said thank you." Kyra put the items back in the bag. "This will make things much easier for me."

"You can tell her yourself." Yamanu pointed at the phone. "Eva said to call her if you have any questions about how to strap it on or anything else you need. She has a lot of experience working undercover."

"I will. Thank you."

"And this one is for you." Yamanu handed Max a small bundle. "You'll need a little makeup if you don't want to draw attention to yourself."

Max frowned at the package. "Is that what's in here? Makeup?"

Yamanu laughed. "It wouldn't do the trick without the proper clothing, right? We are going all out."

"Don't tell me that I need to wear a caftan. How am I supposed to run or fight in that?"

Kyra chuckled. "If I can do all that in an abaya, niqab, and a fat suit, you can do it in a caftan."

Max groaned. "You're right, but I don't have to like it." He put the bundle inside his duffel bag and zipped it up.

They followed Yamanu to the jet, where the rest of the team was gathered. Jade stood with the two pureblooded Kra-ell females, Rishba and Asuka, and the hybrid males, Dima and Anton.

As they approached, Jade turned to them. "Good morning."

Kyra handed the bag with her new disguise to Max and stepped forward. "I want to thank all of you for doing this. I know you're risking a lot to help rescue my family, and I'm grateful."

Jade waved away her thanks with a dismissive gesture. "We're doing this for fun," she said, and though her tone was flat, there was a gleam in her large, dark eyes. "And for the clan. We owe them a great deal."

"Still, thank you," Kyra insisted.

"Okay, people," Yamanu said. "We can continue chatting on board."

As the team began boarding, each carrying their personal gear, Max hung back with Kyra, allowing the others to go ahead.

"Nervous?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, but not about the mission per se," she said. "I've done extractions before, which were much more complicated than getting civilians out of their homes. Also, we have a good team with extraordinary abilities in addition to good intelligence." She paused, her fingers unconsciously reaching for her pendant again. "I'm more concerned about my sisters' reactions and whether they'll come with us willingly or fight us so we don't take the rest of the children."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Max said. "There is no point in speculating about the unknown, right?"

"I know it's pointless, but I can't help it." Kyra started up the stairs.

Max followed her into the jet's spacious cabin .

It wasn't nearly as luxurious as Kalugal's, but it was still quite nice compared to a commercial aircraft. The clan's private jet was configured for both comfort and functionality, with seating arranged in conversational groupings and side panels that could be pulled out and turned into tables or desks.

Max led Kyra to a pair of seats near the middle of the cabin. "These are the most comfortable," he explained, stowing their bags in the overhead compartment. "And they can recline fully if you want to get some rest during the flight."

"How long until we reach Tehran?" she asked, buckling herself in.

"About fifteen hours, give or take." Max settled into the seat beside her. "We'll make one refueling stop where the clan has arrangements." He gave her a sidelong glance. "You should try to get some sleep during the flight so you'll be sharp and ready when we land."

"I doubt I could sleep," Kyra admitted. "I'm pumped with too much adrenaline."

"I could sing to you again," he offered with a half-smile. "Or we can do it together." He pulled out his phone. "I have a karaoke playlist we can sing along to."

"Maybe later." She adjusted her seatbelt and reclined her seat by a few degrees.

The engines increased in pitch as the pilot prepared for takeoff .

"Have you ever flown before?" Max asked. "I mean before we rescued you and the others?"

Kyra shook her head. "Not that I remember, but I had to, if you think about it. I didn't swim to America when I came to study here, right? And I didn't swim back to Iran." She gazed out the window as the jet began to taxi. "It's strange, having this big gap in my life. Sometimes I feel like I'm living someone else's story."

The raw honesty in her voice touched Max. He reached over for her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "You're living your story now," he said. "And from where I'm sitting, it's a pretty amazing one."

She turned to him, her amber-gold eyes meeting his, and for a moment, everything else faded away—the mission, the jet, the team. There was only Kyra, with her quiet strength and fierce determination, looking at him as if he might hold answers to questions she hadn't even formed yet.

"You're good at that, you know," she said finally.

"At what?"

"Saying the right things." She squeezed his hand. "It's annoying, actually. Makes you irresistible."

Max laughed. "I'd say that it was five centuries of practice and my natural charm, but the truth is that I'm like that only around you."

"Don't push it with fishing for compliments," she warned, but there was humor in her eyes .

"It's true," he insisted. "Ask Yamanu. He'll tell you how much of an ass I am."

She patted his hand. "I doubt that."

The jet accelerated down the runway, the force of takeoff pressing them back into their seats. Kyra's grip on his hand tightened slightly, but her expression remained calm as the ground fell away beneath them.

As they climbed into the sky, Max studied Kyra's profile—the proud line of her jaw, the slight furrow between her brows, the subtle curve of her lips. He was struck again by how quickly and completely she had inserted herself into his life, as if the Fates had carved out a Kyra-shaped space that had just been waiting there all along for her to fill it.

He'd lived long enough to recognize when something significant was happening, and this thing growing between them was monumental. It wasn't just physical attraction, though there was plenty of that. And it wasn't the shared adrenaline rush of going together on a mission, though that certainly strengthened their connection.

This was something deeper, something he'd observed in other couples of the clan but had never expected to experience himself. That cosmic connection that Jasmine and Ell-rom shared, that Kian and Syssi had found, and now it was his turn.

The Fates had opened a door, just as he'd told Kyra the night before. And he'd walked through it willingly and eagerly .

"You're staring," Kyra noted without turning from the window.

"Can you blame me? You are stunning."

As she turned to him, he expected a rebuttal, a tease, but not the vulnerability in her expression. "This is all new to me, Max. Not just us but all of it. Having a daughter, nieces, a family. Confirming my immortality and finding out how it happened. Fighting for something personal instead of a cause. I'm trying to wrap my head around it, but it almost seems like I'm inside a drug-induced hallucination. Like there is no way all of this can be true."

"It's a lot to take in," Max acknowledged.

"And yet it feels right, somehow. Like pieces of a puzzle finally fitting together."

As the jet leveled off at cruising altitude, the clouds spreading out beneath them like a vast sea of puffed-up cotton, Max turned to Kyra, reaching for the phone Yamanu had given her. "Let me show you how this works. It's fairly straightforward, but there are a few features you should know about."

He guided her through the basics, and Kyra picked up everything quickly.

"This is much more advanced than anything I've used before," she commented, scrolling through the contact list. "I've usually had only burner phones."

Max smiled. "William is a genius, and he has an entire team of brainiacs working with him. The phone is just the tip of the iceberg. When you come to the village, I'll show you some of his other inventions."

"I'd like that." She leaned back. "Anything else that I need to know?"

"I've pre-loaded the maps of Tehran with the locations of your sisters' homes marked," Yamanu added, walking over and leaning down to show her.

Kyra studied the map intently, her eyes narrowing as she processed the information. Max could almost see her mind working, plotting routes, identifying potential extraction points, and assessing risks.

Why did he find this so incredibly sexy?

Well, that was obvious. His mate was a warrior queen, and he had won the mating lottery.

Was he jumping the gun?

Probably. But he knew what he knew, and he had no doubts.

"This will help," Kyra said finally, slipping the phone into one of the many pockets of her tactical pants. "Thank you."

Yamanu took a seat across from them. "We should go over the plan," he said. "Turner sent over some updated intelligence this morning."

Max reluctantly released Kyra's hand, shifting into mission mode. "What's changed?"

"Security has been tightened at all four residences," Yamanu reported, pulling out a tablet. "Soraya's husband has called in some high-level favors. There are now four armed guards posted at the houses of those with children and one guard attached to each of the sisters whose daughters were taken. They work in three eight-hour shifts, so the family is watched around the clock."

Kyra frowned. "That complicates things, but it doesn't change our approach. I still believe my best chance is to make contact as a distant relative coming to offer support during their time of distress. The traditional clothing and padding will help."

"Don't forget that you have me." Yamanu spread his arms. "I'm like a genie full of wonders."

Kyra sighed. "I wish I could see what you can do, but Max explained that your mind tricks don't work on immortals."

"Regrettably, they don't," Yamanu said. "But your disguise does, even on immortals."

"That fat suit is something else." She smiled. "What's our timeline once we reach Tehran?"

"Forty-eight hours," Max said. "Any longer, and we risk being detected, but we have the option to extend if needed."

"The safe house is ready," Yamanu added. "It's a small apartment building that has enough room to accommodate all the families temporarily, and it's in a secure location."