The journey hadn’t taken long at all. Baltazar had driven, following the shadows that whizzed along just in front of the car. Luckily, the shadowkin seemed to know what a sensible speed for a vehicle was.
Dean had awkwardly dressed in the back seat. He didn’t know if the vampire had thought to bring him clothes or if it had been part of Silas’s orders, but he was grateful either way.
When they had first arrived at their destination, Dean’s first thought was annoyance at how close Ash had been all this time. So near, yet so far.
Baltazar hadn’t been able to get out of the car, as the sun was still up. So Dean and Silas had climbed up the small hill by themselves and had been standing there frozen in mute horror ever since.
“We need to attack,” said Silas calmly. Finally breaking the silence.
Dean winced. “We can’t reveal ourselves to humans.”
Silas turned to glare at him. “The sign says Medical Research Laboratory, they aren’t even trying to hide it. My son is in there, probably being tested on. These humans already know paranormals exist.”
Dean could only stare back hopelessly. He didn’t know what to say or even what to think. His whole life he had been taught to never reveal himself to humans, as it would be a death warrant to all paranormal kin. Silas had a point, but setting aside a lifetime of belief wasn’t so easy.
Dark eyes seemed to register Dean’s hesitation, and Silas’s glare intensified.
“What’s the fucking point of being an evil overlord if I can’t summon an army to save my son? And who says we can’t reveal ourselves? That is a Council rule. I am the Council.”
“You’re not our absolute ruler,” argued Dean. There was some democracy in the Council.
“Maybe I should be,” said Silas darkly.
The hairs rose on the back of Dean’s neck, and he shivered. He had long suspected that his mate was even more powerful than he let on. Right now, Dean could almost taste it in the air. So far, Silas had chosen to be benevolent. Content with the political power he had, happy to lead by consent.
If anything was going to flip his switch and make him choose to say ‘fuck it’ and rule them all by absolute power, it would be the need to rescue his son. Their son. Dean could understand Silas’s point of view. Even if he didn’t, he’d always have his mate’s back.
Dean took a deep breath. “Angel, if you wanted to burn the world down, I’d hand you the matches.”
Silas stared at him, his dark eyes intense and glinting. A slow, malicious grin spread across his face. He stepped up to Dean, twined his fingers into his shirt, and yanked him down for a hungry kiss. Dean squeaked in surprise and decided not to remind him about the troll blood.
The necromancer stepped back. “Let’s go assemble an army.”
Dean nodded in agreement. Silas was a dark star he would follow forever.
Chapter twenty-seven
Silasprojectedhiscloakingspell carefully, his footsteps silent as he padded down the white, soulless hall. He could feel Dean’s panic and alarm through the bond.
“Stop distracting me!”Silas sent.
The immediate quiet from Dean was a little disorientating, but it made Silas smile. Dean had not been happy about Silas’s decision that it should be him to go into the human lab, but he had soon understood that Silas was not being gallant or pig-headed, he simply was the best man for the job. He had years of experience of creeping around unseen. And if he was caught, he had his formidable magic to fall back on. No one else could combine the two.
Right on cue, sirens started to wail and red lights flashed. His little paranormal army was attacking the perimeter. All good so far.
Silas flattened himself against the wall as all the guards ran past on their way outside. Exactly as expected. Silas grinned. It was perfect.
Now that the coast was clear, he picked up his pace, keeping the cloaking spell up for the CCTV cameras. The human they had kidnapped yesterday as he left work had drawn a map of the building’s layout and circled exactly where Ash was, so Silas knew where he was going.
He unerringly made his way to the room Ash was being kept in. The white metal door looked like the entrance to a prison cell. Silas scowled and typed in the code the human had given them after a lot of persuasion.
The door unlocked with a clang and Silas swung it open. It was like a whitewashed prison cell inside. The pup lying in the narrow bed sat up, his dark eyes holding Silas’s steadily. They had shorn his hair off, but there was enough stubble to see it was dark.
Silas stared back hopelessly for a moment, a whole storm of emotions swirling through him. His son. He was finally looking at his son. He could see it in the pup’s cheekbones and nose. It was unnerving and wonderful.
“Who are you?” asked Ash calmly.
Silas was so relieved that the pup didn’t seem obviously physically hurt or emotionally traumatized that he couldn’t think of an answer.
