I look up sharply. “You knew I was going to stun you.”
He shrugs lightly. “I knew you were about to do something. But giving me the note and the collar… It was quick thinking.”
“Not that you needed our help, apparently,” Simon interjects. “After we found your scribe and tracker at the hotel and hit a dead end, we were able to trace the frequency of the collar you left behind and that led us to Blair. I’m sorry it took us so long. There were some… false leads.”
I jerk my head up. “Other collars on omegas around Fairhaven?”
Simon grimaces. “We think so. But once we saw a collar all the way out here, we were sure of where Rad was taking you.”
Saints, other collars are still in play besides the one we just removed from Blair and the five thousand that Rad shipped before the resistance infiltrated the facility?
“A problem for another day, my darling,” Ian says quietly. “Simon found them once. He can do it again. For now, let us love you.”
I nod and let him help me into the back of the SUV, cuddling up between him and Luca the moment they slide in beside me.
Another day. I can live with that.
Problems still abound. We’re no closer to knowing the identity of Baphomet’s Prince and while Radcliffe Industries is in disarray, Rose Pharmaceuticals has remained relatively unscathed. There are still dozens of recently freed omegas hidden away in safe houses and five thousand collars we can’t account for. But we have time.
We all lived to fight another day.
I’m safe. Mypackis safe.
The alpha that wanted to tear us apart is gone, buried under tons of crumbled concrete.
We’re free.
CHAPTER45
Cassian makes me get looked over at Saint Marmora’s, and fusses over me the entire time the healer is examining me. Aside from the burn over Ian’s bite, which is already healing, I’m mainly bruised—and exhausted. I know what I need, above all, is rest. To finally let all the tension that’s been tightening my muscles to ebb from my body.
I need my men and I need to rest and relax.
We stay in the hospital with Bethany and her pack for another two days.
Finally, nearly a week out from the attack on the Council of Nine, Gerard wakes. While his recovery will be long, he’s determined to return to work as soon as he can. Well, as soon as Bethany will let him out of sight for more than a few minutes at a time.
Saints, I understand the protective way she hovers over him, never leaving his side. She helps him in his work, fielding requests for comments from reporters, making the statements herself until Gerard feels well enough to get in front of the camera. She types out the emails he dictates to her and speaks to his aides.
Like Bethany, Cassian spends much of his time at his father’s side, and I don’t begrudge him that, often joining him at Gerard’s bedside. They often talk about politics and strategies to bring down the Soldiers and as I watch them together, I see where Cassian got at least some of his brilliance.
While Gerard can’t openly support his son’s involvement in the resistance, in private, he makes it abundantly clear how proud of his son he is—and how proud he is of me and Simon.
I don’t tell him of my vow to bring down my father and the Soldiers of Saint Aldous, but I think he knows how dedicated I am to this fight.
How dedicated we all are.
Now that the dust has begun to settle following the attack at the Hall of the Council of Nine, we turn on the television in the waiting room. We don’t have to wait long for a press conference about the destroyed facility to air.
Graeme leads it, speaking to the international press about the downfall of Radcliffe Industries and the death of Andrew Radcliffe beneath his own controversial facility. While he’s been able to draw solid connections between the defense firm and the Soldiers of Saint Aldous and paint a damning picture of their collusion, the connection between Radcliffe Industries and Rose Pharmaceuticals is much harder to prove.
My father’s company stays out of the news and free from suspicion, but I know what he’s done. I know his part in all of this.
And I know I have to bring him down.
Not long after the press conference, Cassian receives a text from Graeme and flips his phone around to show it to me.
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