Something did feel ominous about the call. “Luis? It’s Nico. What’s up?”
“Hey,” Luis’s voice sounded strained. “Have you guys seen the news?”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “Been a little busy, bro. What’s going on?” I clicked the speaker button so the others could hear what he had to say.
“Multiple reports are coming in of so-called feral shifters. Reports say the shifters attacked innocent bystanders. First was in Austin, Texas. A wolf shifter ransacked a Christmas parade. Three adults and one kid were injured. A bystander ran her down with a truck and killed her. Second report came in less than ten minutes ago from San Diego. A dragon shifter went bat-shit crazy. Plowed through a grocery store. The SWAT teamgot called and pumped god-knows how many rounds into him before they brought him down.
“Shit’s getting intense. The royals must have guys all over, randomly injecting shifters with this poison of theirs. Already heard rumors of protests starting across the whole country. People are demanding that the government move up their deadline for shifters to turn themselves in or go ahead and start rounding us up. A small protest is happening right now at the Clearidge town hall. Nico, it’s getting bad. What do you want me to do?”
A chill descended upon me. Things were escalating, and here we were on the other side of the globe. Sebastian and Felipe looked worried, Tiago appeared to be calm as he leaned back in his chair, but his eyes betrayed his own fears. I sighed. “Okay. We need to get a message out. Put all our members on lockdown. They’ve got a day to get into the pack lands before we shut the doors. No one gets out—no one gets in. Check in with all the other alphas who came to the meeting and make sure they’re on the same page. We have to be smart. We can’t give Viola or any of her goons a chance to inject one of our members. Increase the guard patrols. I know we have extended fences and cameras, but I want guys patrolling the forests as well. No chances.”
“Okay, will do. How’s it going over there? Do you have the vial yet?”
Sebastian groaned and shook his head. I grimaced. “I’ll fill you in when we get home. All I’ll say is it isn’t good news.”
Luis cursed under his breath. “Okay. Are you leaving soon? When will you be back?”
“As soon as possible. Work with my family to keep things together until we return.”
I ended the call and shoved the phone into my pocket. Felipe motioned toward the stairs. “You’ll probably want to check on her. We’ll start packing up.”
“Right.” I headed toward the stairs.
When I opened the door, I could see the fire inside Maddy had died. Instead of the raging, red-eyed alpha shifter who had been downstairs, she was sitting on the bed with a look of defeat. Her head hung down, her hair hiding the sides of her face, hands limp between her knees.
I sat beside her and stroked her back. “You know this isn’t your fault, right? I feel like you’re trying to hang all this on yourself when you shouldn’t. There’s no way any of us could have known Edemas would play this extravagant game.”
Maddy breathed out a dejected sigh and turned her weary eyes up to meet mine. “What if there is no vial, Nico? What if it never existed? This could all just be one big mindfuck to screw with the royals, but we’re falling for it too.”
That thought had occurred to me. The moment I read that vial on the boat, the idea had started worming its way into my mind. Could Edemas have planted all these clues and legends as one last middle finger to the royals before they cast him down off his throne? I refrained from mentioning it to Maddy. She didn’t need me feeding her with more negative thoughts.
I put a hand on her thigh and squeezed. “We’ll figure this out. Either way, we’ll find out what’s going on. But first, we need to get back home. Luis called. It’s getting worse.”
Her face softened. “More feral shifters?”
“A few. We need to get back and hunker down as best we can. We can’t risk one of the royal agents finding us and injecting us with this poison Viola’s developed.”
Maddy stood. The depressed expression she’d had when I came in was suddenly gone. She seemed ready to do anything as long as it wasn’t thinking about what had happened. “Okay, I’ll pack all our stuff. You go try to get us tickets home.”
“Will do,” I said, giving her my best attempt at a smile.
88
MADDY
The world had gone insane. The entire flight home was buzzing with conversations about the alleged shifter crisis. That was nothing compared to what awaited us when we landed. I was packing up my personal bag when the pilot came on the intercom as we docked at our gate.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I want to inform you of a possible security issue inside Tampa International. There may or may not have been a feral shifter inside the airport. The TSA, FAA, and DHS have informed us that they do not want passengers to remain on the plane but do want you to proceed with caution as you make your way to baggage claim and exit the airport.”
I turned and saw Nico’s eyes widen in surprise and fear. The noise in the airplane doubled as conversations broke out everywhere. The flight attendants tried to calm everyone down, but the chaos was already happening. We all sat still as the entire plane nearly stampeded out onto the boarding bridge. Sebastian, Felipe, and Tiago looked as worried as we did. Once the plane was empty, we stood, grabbed our bags, and exited. The attendants hadn’t even waited for the last passengers to exit;they were already gone, along with the pilots, which had to be some kind of breach of protocol.
“Don’t let go of my hand,” Nico said as we made our way down the bridge.
He didn’t have to tell me twice. Before we even got out into the airport proper, I heard screaming, yelling, and panicked voices. Once we were out in the waiting area by the gate, we saw even more of a frenzy. People were running, dragging their bags, or even leaving them behind to sprint to the exits. Armed security guards were doing their best to restore order and get everyone out in one piece.
Our group stayed close and tried to meld into the flow of the crowd. A woman to my right was tugging a young teenage boy along. Their conversation was barely audible above the noise.
“Mom, why are we running? What’s happening?” the boy asked.
