Page 22 of Risen (Love and Revenge #6)

Sanka

T he trip to Detroit went smoother than I expected it to.

No one attacked us, and everything went exactly to plan.

Which was just fucked up, honestly. Where was the cult?

With all the black magic and demon bullshit they were using when we last saw them, they should have figured out where we were by now.

Or at least laid some traps around town to let them know when we showed up again. But nothing.

I think Robin was as surprised as I was.

The threat of the rest of the court being attacked while we were traveling was the only reason she hadn’t turned into a dragon and flown ahead to meet our allies under the cover of darkness.

But thankful as I might be for her staying with the group, whatever reason the cult had for leaving us alone… I was sure it wasn’t good.

We staggered our arrival at the old Detroit City Airport to minimize the risk of drawing attention to ourselves, cars arriving with muted lights at spaced out intervals.

It was still pretty fucking obvious that a bunch of powerful paranorms were amassing right now, if you were looking for the signs.

The naga had sent a troupe of twenty warriors with us, and Robin had called in her biggest favor, bringing in some serious muscle.

But the syndicate was a bunch of twats, so I wasn’t really surprised that their security and intel was this shoddy.

We were in their territory, but this part of town was abandoned, peopled only by “worthless” unaligned and the homeless. So it was beneath their notice.

The great thing about a corrupt organization like the syndicate was that eventually, they got too sure of their own power.

Even if they knew a bunch of unaligned paranorms were gathering here, they wouldn’t care.

Oh, they might muster the effort to come fuck with us just for the fun of crushing “weaker” unaligned who couldn’t defend themselves.

But they wouldn’t believe there was any credible threat to them or to their precious all-powerful emperor.

And that made it stupidly easy for a bunch of ass-kicking baddies to gather right under their noses.

The car bumped over the cracked asphalt as we slowed to a stop at the main entrance of the brick building that had once been a popular hub for people traveling in and out of Detroit from all over the country.

The place was closed down in the 70’s, as the area around it became more and more of an unaligned wasteland, and the syndicate and the well-to-do paranorms and humans in the area moved on to using the more modern airport on the other side of town.

Robin bought the place at auction under an alias about thirty years ago, once it was considered well and truly abandoned.

She’d been buying up abandoned properties using the funds we acquired through all sorts of shady means over the decades. I was pretty sure she owned more of Detroit than the syndicate did at this point, but no one knew it, because things were always handled under aliases and backroom dealings.

I kept an eye on my alpha as we unloaded from the car.

She was struggling. Ruya’s enhanced omega influence helped, but the fluctuations in Robin’s aura said her magic was about one step away from consuming her.

And if I was being honest… the rest of the court wasn’t doing too hot either.

We were all feeling the strain of the current situation, on top of the shifting bonds and connections within our inner circle.

Unlike some of the others, I wasn’t too worried about how the relationship stuff would all pan out.

We were all meant to be together. We were a family now. Shit would sort itself out accordingly.

But man did it ever fucking suck in the meantime.

Dusek and Yukio flew off to do a perimeter sweep, and I cast a simple detection spell that told me there were no obvious magical traps waiting for us inside.

This place wasn’t on Robin’s list of safehouses, but it never hurt to be cautious.

We still didn’t know who had shared the safehouse details with the cult or what else they knew.

My magical checks complete, I glanced at my alpha, giving her a nod to signal all was well. I tried not to let my emotions show on my face. If she knew I was worried about her right now, she’d probably kick my ass for fussing.

Robin looked every bit the strong, poised princess she was.

Her long legs were encased in supple leather pants and knee-high thick-soled boots, and her tailored black long-sleeved shirt fit like a glove, clinging to every lean, deadly inch of her torso and arms. Her long red-gold hair was pulled back in a high, tight braid.

She had a dagger strapped to her thigh, and a handgun at her hip, but I knew her best weapons were invisible.

The knife and gun were a good backup, but our alpha came with her own built-in weapons—fire, claws, and teeth were more than adequate.

And maybe it would do the beast inside her some good to mete out some bloody justice with her bare hands.

A rush of heat flooded my body as the demon side of me responded to that thought.

I shifted my weight. Don’t go gettin’ a hard-on right now, dude.

There’ll be time for that later. But damn, my alpha was a sight to behold when she really let loose.

And I knew tonight she was going to fully unleash on the bastard emperor.

Her golden eyes met mine, their glow and their slit pupils hinting at how hard the dragon was riding her right now, even if her demeanor didn’t show it.

She raised one perfect eyebrow at me as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Focus, sorcerer,” she sniped, flipping her braid over her shoulder and turning to snap out orders at the gathering that was turning into a small army.

I didn’t miss how she seemed to move in Ruya’s orbit, always keeping an eye on our omega without appearing to, turned away from her but never moving more than six feet from her.

“Snake!” she drawled, in that tone that probably tricked most people into believing she was completely relaxed, when in reality she was wound tight enough to snap.

“Keep your mate at your side. I don’t have time to waste making sure she stays out of trouble. ”

Neither Sadavir nor Ruya reacted to the insulting words, clearly aware it was just Robin’s way of expressing her worry.

She wouldn’t ban Ruya from participating tonight—she respected our omega enough to let her make her own decisions about her safety.

But it had to be driving her mad. I wasn’t even an alpha and the thought of Ruya in the middle of a battle with the syndicate made my entire body clench with the urge to protect her, swaddle her with bubble wrap and hide her somewhere until it was all over.

Ruya just rolled her eyes. Sadavir shook his head at the dragon shifter and signed, “ You don’t have to tell me to look after my true mate, princess.”

Robin gave them both one last narrow-eyed glare that said just how much she feared for Ruya’s safety before silently turning away to bark orders to the naga general and his troupe.

I went to our pile of gear and started triple-checking every item with magical enchantments as Martina laid the things out in orderly rows on a table for the court and our allies to grab when it was time to go.

When I was done with this, I’d head down to the basement to do a check on the weapons and goodies Robin had collected over the decades.

We usually kept them stashed in hidden locations all over the city, but Robin had tasked our contacts in the city with moving everything to this staging location.

I hadn’t done inventory and maintenance on the shit for a while, and it wouldn’t do to have something malfunction at a key moment.

I paused, though, when Yukio flew through the entrance and landed lightly on his toes before Robin.

“They’re here,” he said calmly, but I could sense the edge of excitement that flickered through his icy aura. Even the most stoic person got a little giddy when they were about to meet one of the legendary races.

Robin squared her shoulders and ran her hands down the front of her body as if she was wearing an evening gown, rather than tactical gear. Then she strode off toward the side exit, toward the runways.

I huffed. Damn it. I needed to check over our toys... but I wanted to see the pretty birdies too.

Fuck it. Turning, I hurried after Robin and Yukio. Just a quick peek, then I’d fuck off to do my job. I passed Josh on the way, and reached out a hand to snag his arm and drag him after me on impulse. “Come on, bud, you don’t wanna miss this.” He could use some cheering up.

He gave me a wide-eyed look, but didn’t protest as I dragged him along.

Poor fucker. He had waited weeks to finally be rid of Acacia.

I couldn’t even imagine the let-down he was feeling right now.

But hey, while it would have been preferable to have his bond severed before we tore Acacia’s fucking head off—to prevent any harm to him when she died suddenly—she would be dying tonight.

That had to count for something, right? And maybe the flying kitties would lift his spirits.

“Sanka,” he whispered, and I thought I saw just a tiny hint of an exasperated smile flit over his pretty lips at my antics. “Where are we going?”

I grinned at him. “To greet Robin’s allies. Do you like cats?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Cats? What-- I... suppose?”

I laughed as we reached the far side of the terminal and exited out a door with a faded sign stating it wasn’t an exit. “Look,” I said, pointing to where Robin, Yukio, and Dusek stood beside the long L-shaped landing strip.

Darkness and cloud cover hid them until they got fairly close.

Then the moonlight glinted off their wings, turning the golden color to shining silver.

The first few beasts gracefully touched down on the runway, trotting right up to where Robin stood, then assuming a guard position as they waited for their leader.

“Are those... griffin shifters ?” Josh breathed in wonder. “They’re supposed to be extinct!”

I scoffed. “So are naga. And yet...” I jerked my head behind us, back toward the building that currently housed a naga prince and a whole troupe of naga warriors.

“The syndicate attempted to wipe them out, the same way they did the dragons, and any clan of creatures powerful enough to stand up to them. But like your clan, this one managed to escape and go into hiding.” I winked at him.

“We may have helped them in exchange for a favor or two.”

Josh pulled his attention away from the griffin leader who was now shifting back and bowing politely to Robin as they greeted each other.

The vampire’s hazel eyes flashed with that eerie sheen of a predator who was comfortable hunting in the dark, but the expression on his face pure human-like awe.

“She really does plan to take out the entire syndicate, doesn’t she?

Not just the emperor. I thought... well, you all said so, dozens of times, but I thought that was more of a… long-term goal.”

I grinned and slapped him on the back. “Oh, Joshie, the rebel court never does anything by half. You’re about to be part of history.”

Twenty-some massive, battle-trained lions with eagle wings had now gathered on the runway.

Josh swept his eyes over the group, then looked to the sky as if to confirm that was it.

He glanced back at the building behind us, where the naga troupe was waiting—another twenty or so allies.

I saw him adding things up, trying to figure out how many syndicate shifters, fae, or vampires a single naga or griffin could really take on.

Then he met my eyes again. “There’s more. There has to be.”

I grinned. “Now you’re finally starting to appreciate what we’ve been doing all these years, yeah?

” I leaned in closer to whisper in his ear.

“Salamanders. There aren’t any dragons left in this country, besides Robin.

And the ones overseas are too insular to get involved in our little war.

But salamander shifters are close enough, don’t you think? ”

He blinked at me, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

Yet another extinct race. How many more were hiding out there, biding their time, presumed dead by the syndicate?

I shrugged. “Enough,” I said in answer to his unvoiced question.

“They just needed a reason to move. A spark to start this fire. Someone willing be the detonator.”

I shot a meaningful look toward my alpha. If anyone could be the sark that started an explosion...

Josh’s shocked expression finally cracked as he started laughing with sheer disbelief.

I patted his back again, noting the way some of that heavy despair had lifted from his aura. “Acacia dies tonight,” I promised him softly. “They all do.”

Then I ruffled my fellow beta’s hair and turned back to the building to go do my job. “Hey,” I said over my shoulder. “Wanna see the anti-vampire gadget we stole from the syndicate back in the 1950’s? It’s neat.” I waggled my brows.

He glanced between me and the griffins one last time before turning and jogging to my side. “There is nothing I’d love more.”