Page 4 of Shattered Galaxies (Tears of the Siren #6)

Cash

“I don’t fully understand how this works,” I admitted to Zander. The siren currently had a large, aged map spread out over the table in front of us, the cabin of the private jet dimmed with the exception of the sconce to our left.

Half of our group, including Lorcan, had knocked out, leaving Zander, Desmond, Adriel, and myself awake.

I wanted to join Lorcan in the primary suite, but I couldn’t afford to miss out on any of the logistics in our game plan.

There were already too many unknowns as it stood, and I needed to know every detail so I could determine what would aid or lead to the downfall of Lorcan’s security.

I needed to know exactly where we were going and why.

“I’m pretty sure this map is outdated,” Adriel pointed out.

That was an understatement—it was beyond outdated.

I didn’t recognize anything on it; not even any modern city names.

I’d never been to Dubai, but I knew that they’d gone through a massive period of growth in the mid-sixties—something the map did not reflect at all.

“It doesn’t matter. It’ll most likely be underground anyway. Whether it’s a natural landmass or skyscraper, any archive we need to reach will most likely require work to reach.” I was very much hoping it would be just in a basement or tomb like last time, but apparently that was unlikely.

“Alright, so how does it work?” I asked Zander.

I hadn’t seen the man’s magic work very often, so I was curious.

I could tell Desmond was interested as well, but he was also scrolling through a tablet.

He was staying in contact with River and his crew, the group of them having recently reached Turkey.

Instead of answering, Zander closed his eyes and allowed his magic to seep out over the map.

Now I understood why the older map wasn’t a problem—he wasn’t using it, not in the traditional sense.

It provided a base, the general shape of the land, while Zander’s purple and orange magic formed structures, a full 3D map of the city glimmering under the low lights.

“It’s what I can see when star traveling,” he explained. “Now I’m going to pull on the largest concentrations of magic within the city.” I appreciated Zander explaining the process as he went, because if he hadn’t, I wasn’t sure I would have understood what the fuck was going on.

For minutes we watched the map shift and change, certain buildings or spots lighting up in gold as Zander sorted through them.

By the time he was done, there were only two spots on the map that were left untouched.

Zander swept everything but those two structures away, the others sinking back below the map, leaving a skyscraper and a resort near the ocean.

Or at least that’s what they looked like to me.

Zander opened his eyes, and I had to resist the urge to tense defensively. My leopard innately recognized him as a threat. His eyes had turned completely black, and there were frozen stars, tiny, that were suspended in the air around his head—barely visible but very much there.

My gaze moved back down to the map and, for just a moment—the lights playing tricks on my eyes—a flash of Lorcan appeared on the map in front of both locations.

Her tiny 3D form seemed curious as she looked around the skyscraper before disappearing through the door.

My heart beat rapidly, imagining all the danger she could encounter.

When her image hovered near the resort, the map shimmered strangely—like something below had noticed her.

Fuck that. In a poof, as I tore my eyes away, her form vanished.

“One of these is it. The skyscraper has a huge mass of energy, but I don’t recognize it as elven. We shouldn’t rule it out, though. The other is much smaller, but it’s underwater. Considering we’re looking for siren archives, I would assume that’s our winner.”

“The skyscraper may be more easily accessible,” Adriel noted, “but that doesn’t mean it’s safe. If someone purposefully built over it, they are no doubt guarding it. Trying to keep it hidden.”

“And finding an archive in the fucking ocean, resort or not, is going to be a pain in the ass,” I agreed. Neither option was ideal. With my words, the map shut with a snap, the images disappearing along with the paper into thin air. I stared blankly at the spot where it’d sat moments before.

“You’re right. It will be dangerous,” Zander said. “I would prefer for Lorcan to stay away from these places altogether, but her bloodline is the key.” That was the grim acceptance that most of us were facing.

All of our heads turned as the door of the primary suite opened and Lorcan groggily made her way down the aisle.

She checked on Dean—who I highly fucking doubted was actually sleeping—Draven, and Rhett in passing, adjusting blankets as she went.

My eyes ran over my kitten’s oversized shirt and her sweatpants, her hair mussed from sleeping nearly ten hours.

It was a long flight from Bora Bora to Dubai, and I knew she was exhausted.

I wasn’t sure if it was the influx of magic or just because of everything she was going through, but Lorcan had been sleeping a lot.

If she’d had any other symptoms or appeared sick, I would have been highly concerned, but as of right now it just seemed like an energy thing.

I planned on keeping an eye on it, though.

“Morning—or night.” Lorcan frowned, slipping into my lap.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I tried to relax my breathing so that any anxiety I had over her safety would be kept under wraps.

It wasn’t that I didn’t feel comfortable telling her about it, but she had enough on her mind.

I wanted to be the person she turned to whenever everything went to shit, which meant I had to keep my own shit together.

“About five in the morning,” I said, my words muffled against her shoulder. “But we’ve had a massive time change, so you’ll probably feel off for a bit.”

“Makes sense,” she murmured. “So how long until we land?”

“Around three hours,” Desmond said. Lorcan leaned back against me, clearly set on not moving—and I sure as hell wasn’t going to make her.

The three hours went by faster than I would have preferred, and before I knew it we were changed and ready for the day, buckled in for landing.

Lorcan kept her place next to me, intertwining our fingers as we glided down from the sky and landed in Dubai.

Already, the heavy heat and intense sunlight pushed through the plane window.

Both locations were known for warm weather, but I had a feeling that Dubai’s heat was going to be very different from Arizona’s.

“Are we going directly to our potential search sites?” Lorcan asked as we stood up, everyone preparing to depart the plane.

I made sure that I was at the front of the line, and Lorcan stayed directly behind me.

I loved her closeness, but I didn’t love that it didn’t give me an opportunity to ensure there were no threats first.

“Hotel,” Dean answered. “I want somewhere safe to keep base at.”

And a place to hide from the media during the day. Dubai had a large socialite scene, and in a resort like the one we were staying at? Seeing celebrities wasn’t novel, but that didn’t mean people would react accordingly. I was well aware of the hold Lorcan had over people, despite her hating it.

I held her against me as we approached the black SUV that awaited us, offering the driver a nod before placing her in the car. After everyone got in, the vehicle started its path out of the private airport and toward our hotel.

Although calling it a ‘hotel’ felt like a huge understatement—it appeared to be more of a castle.

I had been in my fair share of opulent and luxurious locations, but this was an entirely new level of grand.

As we pulled up to the marble entrance, the stairs leading up to the lobby glowed a reflective warm tone from the sunlight.

Above the shaded entrance, hundreds of feet of silk rippled in the wind, like waves welcoming us in.

“This is beautiful,” Lorcan whispered as I nodded in agreement, my hand intertwined with hers.

Already I could feel eyes on us, and I found I wasn’t exactly comfortable being out in the open.

I’d prefer to be back home, but we didn’t have that luxury—not until this was all over.

Then I would probably keep her in our house for at least a week until I got over the fucking concern that everyone—from stalkers to cosmic beings—was after my kitten.

“When all of this is done, we can come back and visit,” I found myself saying, unable to resist the urge to give her what she wanted. Lorcan had been around the world, but her memories were clouded by the fog of drugs, and I knew she wanted to be able to experience them anew.

I’d just have to find a way of giving her that while maintaining my sanity.

As we entered the lobby and Dean went with Desmond to check in, I made sure to keep Lorcan insulated between us.

I was so distracted scanning for threats that I didn’t even realize Lorcan was trying to get my attention until she smoothed a hand up my chest and went up on her toes, brushing her lips against my jaw.

“You need to relax,” she said gently. “Seriously, no one even recognizes who I am here. No one is paying attention to us.”

They were, but she may have been right about that first part. For now.

“I can’t relax with you out in the open like this,” I admitted. “I don’t like the idea of you having to do any of this dangerous shit. I would much rather you let us handle it.”

“You know that’s not possible.” Lorcan’s gaze filled with understanding. “And I want to be part of this. I want to be part of the fight to survive, Cash.”

Inhaling sharply, I brushed my lips against her forehead. “I know, kitten. And I’ll always give you what you want.”

Even if what she wanted might end up killing her.