Casey completely ignored my sarcasm, her reply as professional as always, “Yes. Alpha Hunter was working on a prototype that might do that. It’s here in Reeves?—”
I hung up the phone and moved my ass over to where Kellan had started to scale the wall to reach the second floor. His beast was as weak as mine though, and he could barely keep his strength up long enough to pull one hand over the other.
“Kel,” I called, and he glanced down, arms visibly shaking. “Casey said Hunter has some sort of prototype in the office that might be able to cut through magical shielding.”
He let out a yelp as he released the side of the building, and I managed to break his fall before he broke his neck. We both stumbled our weak asses up.
“We need to get to the office,” he said. “The enforcers are here if Emme makes it out, but it’s more likely she won’t unless someone destroys the shielding.”
My gaze lingered on the side of the house, not wanting to be so far from her, but Kellan was right.
“She will hold on long enough,” Kellan declared, and I wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince. No doubt both of us.
I called out the plan to Horton, who waved us off as I followed Kellan to his car. The Bugatti roared to life, and for once he didn’t give the engine a chance to warm up, tearing out of the street. “Emme will hold on,” I repeated, needing to say it out loud too. “If the witch wanted us dead, she can no longer use our bond with Emme to do it. Surely, she’ll now want to use her as bait, right?” For my own fucking sanity, I had to believe that was her next plan, and not that Jewels would realize that by killing Emme she’d effectively destroy us all anyway, bond or not.
Kellan eyes were wide and dark as he raced through the streets. “That new plan would make sense. We just need this prototype weapon to work.”
“And hope it’s easy to use since the tech-bro side of our quintet are currently unavailable.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Kellan said, determination lining his golden features.
He broke every traffic law in the city on his way to Reeves Industries, and when we slammed to a halt out front, we took off inside, leaving the vehicle doors wide open. The front desk staff called out welcomes as we raced past, which we ignored on the way to the private elevator.
This was used exclusively by the top-level staff, and we burst into the foyer to find Casey waiting for us. Her face was drawn, and I skidded to a halt at the sight of tears on her cheeks.
“Alpha Kellan and Alpha Finley,” she said in a rush. “I tracked Hunter. Did you hear what happened?”
Kellan shook his head, eyeing her closely. “No, we haven’t heard from them.”
She twined her hands together over and over. “I—I’m—I don’t know how—I?—”
Despite our lack of time, I found myself adopting Dr. Karen’s manner of calming, as I held both hands up in front of me. “Breathe in and out with me,” I said, exaggerating my breaths so they were slow and steady. When the panic faded from her gaze, I nodded. “Okay, now start again and tell us what you found.”
“His plane went down,” she choked out, swallowing roughly. “I confirmed that they lost tracking and signal—” She glanced at her watch. “Maybe twenty minutes ago.”
Twenty minutes.
Kellan glanced at me. “When Emme broke the bond.”
We’d all been annihilated from the force of our loss, but Hunter didn’t fly his own plane…
“Slade and Talon,” I murmured, coming to the only logical conclusion. “Their dragons lost control.”
Casey stared between us, and I wasn’t sure how much she followed, but she didn’t interrupt us.
“We need more information,” I said, unable to focus on my brothers while Emme was in danger. “Can you find out everything that happened?”
Casey’s drawn features were once again a mask of professionalism. “Emergency services are on their way from multiple cities, and I believe humans are on scene too. There was nothing I could do to stop that. I’ll update you within the hour as I learn more. Will you be making your way there with Omega Emme? I can arrange another plane.”
I shook my head so hard my neck cracked. “Emme’s in trouble too. We’re here for that prototype weapon you said Hunter was working on.”
Casey straightened, her focus intense. “It’s in Lab One. I’ll take you.”
No questions. No wasting our time.
There was a reason she’d survived working with Hunter for so many years.
Her heels clacked on the floor as she hurried off, and none of us spoke. The news of the Reeves plane going down was clearly not widely known, as the office staff went about their normal day. I tried my best not to think about whether our pack mates were alive or not.
