Page 15

After scouting the territory and not finding lurking threats, and still waiting for an update on Hunter, Vero sat back in his chair in the small conference room in the main lodge, watching Lyrica click through a meticulously crafted and very colorful PowerPoint presentation. How in the world had the female created that in less than three hours? Im pressive. Very.

Both he and Paxton drank hot chocolate, which wasn’t nearly as good as the sp arkling water.

“Point three,” she said, her tone even but firm, “bribing the females is not only more cost-effective, but it also ensures their cooperation. We maintain goodwill without the messy side effects of mind wiping.” She paused, her fingers tapping the sleek remote in her hand. “Screwing with somebody’s mind leads to all sort s of problems.”

Well, for humans. The Kurjan technology remained infallible. But he couldn’t share that fact with her. He watched her, suppressing a smile. The female was in her element. Slightly bossy, a bit impatient. Polished. Structured. Organized to the point of near-perfection. The slides were clean and logical, with bullet points laid out like stepping stones in a crystal-clear stream. Based on what she’d told him of her uncertain childhood, of wandering with her father and living out of cars or shelters, this made sense. How she thrived in the chaos surrounding them. Order in a world of uncertainty.

Still, he wanted to ruffle her. Jus t a little bit.

“Hypothetically,” Vero drawled, tilting his head, “what if one of the females takes the bribe, signs the NDA, then runs to the press anyway? Humans love drama, and this sounds like a social media post that could go absolutely viral. Especially if one or more of them wo rked together.”

Lyrica’s fingers gripped the remote tighter. “If you’d let me finish the presentation, you’d see I’ve accounted for that possibility.” She clicked to the next slide, a sharp movement betraying her irritation. “That’s why we have follow-up monitoring. Discreet, thorough, and noninvasive. It’s pretty simple, even for you.”

How adorable. He leaned toward her, invading her space. “Simple? Sounds like a lot of work, to be honest.”

She blinked, caught off guard, and for just a second, her voice wav ered. “I—what?”

Ah, there it was—a small crack in her armor. He affected her as much as she did him. “W orkload, baby.”

Her jaw went slack. The word “baby” did it, huh? He liked that.

She regained her footing. “It’d be worth it, and I’m more than happy to head up t hat committee.”

Paxton glanced at Vero, no expression on his face. “Do we ha ve committees?”

“No, but if anybody could start one, it’d be Lyrica, ” Vero drawled.

“Thank you,” she said crisply, clicking through more slides about cost analyses and the fragility of the human brain. “I’m sure you have advanced medical procedures, but nobody, not even you, can fully anticipate how any given bra in will react.”

There was some truth to that statement. He nodded. “Go on.” The more he watched her, the more he felt a prick of unease. Lyrica had immediately emerged as a leader of the kidnapped females and now held a high position in the Kurjan nation as an advisor to both the king and his enforcer. That made her a target, especi ally right now.

He glanced at Paxton, whose gaze was fixed on Lyrica with the unreadable intensity Vero had come to expect. Paxt on knew it too.

“Your analysis is solid,” Paxton said finally, his deep voice breaking the silence. “You’ve done your homework, Lyrica. No one’s arguing that. But don’t forget—this isn’t just about numbers. It’s about people. Humans aren’t predictable, no matter how many pie charts you throw at them.”

“I’m aware,” she said, her voice clipped. “But this is t he right path.”

Vero needed to put more protection on her. In fact, he needed to keep her close to him. Very. “This is good work, and you’ve made your po int. Nice job.”

Relief relaxed her expres sion. “Paxton?”

“Agreed,” Paxton said. “Thank you for this.”

“Good.” She powered off the presentation, pleasure lifting her pretty mouth. “I’m sure we’re out of coffee with the construction going on, so I’ll go make some. Thank you for changing your minds.” She bustled out, her butt adorable in dark jeans.

Paxton looked at h im. “Thoughts?”

Vero thought through his options. “We bribe them, wipe their minds, then send them back to their lives. Our methods are safe.” As safe as possible, anyway. “I’ll destroy all records of them, so nobody will be able to surveil them.”

Paxton winced. “All right, but let’s keep th is between us.”

Most definitely. Vero hadn’t lied to her because he hadn’t promised. Even so, he’d rather she didn’t know. Ever. He hoped for another presentation from her soon, although the weight on him grew even heavier. Structure could only take her so far. In their world, turmoil always found its way in. And Lyrica, whether she realized it or not, was now at the cru x of the chaos.

* * * *

Late afternoon, Lyrica ran out into the snowy day toward the softly humming helicopter, her boots slipping on ice beneath freshly falling snow. Her arms windmilling in her ultrathick coat, she skidded to a stop near the open d oorway. “Hope?”

Hope emerged from the rear of the copter and into the doorway. “Hey. I was just getting Hunter situated. We need to keep him stationary for his neck to heal.” The female’s blue eyes deepened with worry, but she held her shoulders back, and she moved with her customary grace. She sat in the opening, her boots kicking back and forth. “Thanks for coming to see me off.”

Lyrica angled her neck to see Liam in the pilot’s seat with Collin next to him. She could finally tell them apart. Their primary duty involved protecting Hope, so it came as no surprise to see them accompanying her and Hunter home. “I wish you didn’t have to go, Hope,” Lyrica whispered. Their friendship had formed in necessity and from a joint need to take down the former Kurjan leader, and Lyrica didn’t want to continue this work without Hope. They made a great team. “When wil l you be back?”

“When it’s safe,” rumbled a low voice from behind Lyrica.

She jumped, turning with her hand clapped to her upper chest. “Paxton.” How had he mov ed so silently?

The young king moved toward his mate, brushing snowflakes out of her hair with a gentleness that had Lyrica feeling slightly bereft. Happy for her friend, but still. Paxton was six and a half feet of dangerous muscle with silvery-blue eyes and thick black hair. She could see the resem blance to Vero.

Hope placed a hand on his muscled chest. “We don ’t have to go.”

Paxton leaned over and kissed the top of her head, lifting her out of the craft at the same time. Smoothly. Easily. “You need to go with your cousin, and I don’t mind having you safely back at Realm headquarters until we find who’s trying to kill me.” Then he kissed her, walking toward the back of the helicopter, apparently having no problem with rather heated public display s of affection.

Lyrica glanced up to see Collin rolling his eyes, a nd she grinned.

“You need to get going to miss the next big storm,” a deep male voice said f rom behind her.

She yelped and whirled around to see Vero standing tall and solid in the winter day. “For the love of all that’s holy, you both need to st op doing that.”

One of Vero’s dark eyebrows rose . “Doing what?”

Her mouth watered. He wore a black leather jacket over jeans, his jet-black hair dotted with snow and his blue eyes the hue of a mysterious ocean. “Sneaking up on people. You should make a little bit of noise as you move—just to be polite if nothing else.”

“Noise gets you dead,” Vero said, gracefully moving past her to jump into the helicopter. Crouching to keep from hitting the roof, he strode down toward where Hunter lay on his back, unconscious on a stretcher with a blanket covering his body to his wide chest.

Lyrica lean ed in to watch.

Vero sat on a bench fastened to the side of the craft, leaning over to look at his friend. In profile, Vero’s jaw clenched as he stared at the bandages around Hunter’s neck. Other than angling his head to the side for a better look, his muscled body didn’t move. But tension rolled from him, hotter than a damaged steam pipe. Up front, both Liam and Collin turned to watch Vero, no expressions on their immortal faces. But their green eyes showed an understanding of sorts. As one, they both turned back to the front of the craft and began a preflight check of all the blinking button s and readouts.

Feeling like she was spying on Vero, she stepped away from the craft just as Paxton returned with a rosy-faced Hope, who looked like she’d been thoroughly kissed. Still in Paxton’s arms, Hope leaned over to hug Lyrica. “I’ll miss you. Is there any chance you want to come with me to Realm headquarters?”

What a temptation. But Lyrica’s gaze caught on a still-silent Vero, her heart aching for him. “I’d love to visit another time. For now, I still have a job to do.” She’d happily taken the offer to serve as liaison with the kidnapped females and the Kurjan leaders as well as Kurjan female mates. Until each of those women found their chosen safe haven, her mission remained active. “Besides, I’m sure it’ll be safe here soon.” By the fierce look in Paxton’s eyes, he planned to root out those would-be assassins—and probably without a hint of mercy. They could’ve killed Hope, and that seemed to be his line in the sand. Or snow.

Vero cleared his throat. “Pax? I know you want to stay here, but y ou need to go.”

The king looked at his brother. “What are you talking about, and why have you waited until right now, in front of my mate, to bring this up?”

Vero’s shoulders widened. “Because I’m not a moron. The Convexus is five days away, and our enemies are going to ramp up their efforts to kill you, or at least destroy more buildings to make us look weak. We have t o look strong.”

“I don’t care about being safe,” Paxton growled.

L yrica shivered.

“I know,” Vero said calmly. “While I agree with that sentiment, you’re not the only one in danger. This time they took out half the lodge. They could’ve taken out the entire thing, and we’d have more dead. Go for a very short visit to shore up our treaty with the Realm. Make it public. Let the Cyst know that we have the entire Realm behind us, and they’ll be even more willing to negotiate. It’s a good plan, and a reasonable reason for you to leave for just a few nights. Come back on Tuesday night for the Convexus.”

Lyrica thought through the situation. “Also, if there are spies here, they’ll let the Cyst know that you’re meeting personally with the Realm and firming things up. That makes sense. They’ll feel like they’re in a we aker position.”

Vero nodded. “Exactly. Go see you r family, Pax.”

Paxton’s chin lifted. “You are my family.”

Vero didn’t move, but something shifted in his eyes. Something heated and loyal. “Agreed. So please listen to me. For the good of the entire nation.”

P axton faltered.

Hope nodded. “I agree. You know it’s better to meet the Realm leaders in person. My family is j ust like that.”

“Trust me. This is the best move, and it looks like a strong one,” Vero said. An obvious toll showed on his angled face, but as usual, his duty ap parently ruled.

“He’s right. Let’s go, Pax,” Ho pe said softly.

Paxton looked around. “I don’t want to endanger anybody else.” He stared at his brother, at his mate, then at his territory for several long moments before speaking. “All right, but you sta y alive. Deal?”

“Deal. You’re in more danger than I am. I’ll draw up plans for you to arrive back home just in time for the Convexus, hopefully with a signed treaty in hand. If you can get one from the demon, shifter, and witch nations, it’d be even better. While they align with the Realm, we should have our own agreements with them.” Vero moved toward the doorway of the craft, leaning down to stare at his broth er. “Trust me.”

“I do,” Paxton said softly, jumping into the craft with his mate in his arms and placing her on the bench, carefully securing her with chest and lap straps before sitti ng next to her.

Vero partially stood and slapped his brother on the arm before moving t oward the door.

Hope snagged his arm and dragged him toward her, throwing both arms around his neck, even while encumbered by the straps.

He visibly stiffened, then relaxed, returning her hug but careful not to touch her skin. That mating allergy immortals gained after mating sure kept touching somebody else’s mat e to a minimum.

Hope released him. “You’re my brother now, Vero. Hugs are pa rt of the job.”

He nodded solemnly. “Understood.” Then he stepped down onto solid ice before looking over his shoulder. “Just don’t drag me into any dreamworlds at nig ht, all right?”

Hope chuckled. “I haven’t been able to create a dreamworld since Pax and I mated, but I’m still going to try. And this time, when you arrive, I’m going to have you wearing floral board shorts.”

Vero almost smiled, then looked back at Hunter, losing the amusement. “Take care of Hunt er, would you?”

“I will,” Ho pe said softly.

Vero reached for the door and smoothly slid it shut. “Everyone get clear. Liam likes to make a statement when he lifts off.” He gestured Lyrica ahead of him and she turned, following the shoveled but icy path toward the burned-out side of the main lodge.

Liam did, indeed, make a statement as he flew the craft straight up, spinning a couple of times and spraying snow in e very direction.

Vero stepped in front of Lyrica and shielded her from the barrage with his broad back.

She felt small and feminine as he protected her, awareness winging through her abdomen. Through the rest of her too. The sadness she’d seen in his deep eyes as he’d looked at his only friend, one who’d lied to him for years, dug down deep inside her heart. Had Vero forgiven Hunter? She wasn’t comfortable asking him, regardless of the incredible kiss they’d shared.

The helicopter rose higher into the clouds a nd disappeared.

Lyrica turned to face Vero. “Who wants Paxton dead so badly?”

Vero still watched the clouds. “If I knew, they’d already be decapitated.” His voice remained low. Conta ined. Absolute.

Lyrica shivered. The male who’d looked with sorrow upon his fallen friend was gone. This soldier, his voice gritty with determinatio n, he remained.

Vero must’ve caught her movement. “It’s snowing out here. Lyrica, I want you back at the main lodge. I have guards I trust in place. Then later, you and I are going to have a chat abou t your safety.”

Why did that sound like a threat?