Agony gathered in the corners of Rían’s eyes. “Ana…”
“But now I know that Carmichael put them up to it. He encouraged it. He isolated me so I wouldn’t know my situation wasn’t normal, that my life wasn’t normal. He used latency as an excuse for how the others treated me.” I wet my lips. “He knew I was a dragon, but he didn’t understand I had to fledge. When I failed to manifest at puberty, he saw his ambitions going down the drain and decided to let kids my own age beat the dragon out of me to avoid getting his hands dirty.”
Because if he had done it himself, I would have hated him, and his plans hinged on me loving him enough to forgive his lies and do as he asked me. Even when his wishes weren’t ones that should be granted, it chilled me to acknowledge I might not have cared if it earned me his approval at long last.
“That’s enough,” Rían rasped, his fingers clinching at his sides. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I shared this with you all, not to win your support or your sympathy, but so that you understand when I tell you that Carmichael Sartori can’t be allowed to gather his power base or regroup. Not if we want a hope in hell of stopping him.” I jerked my chin higher. “You’re worried for Rían, and I respect that. I’m aware of his past struggles, the same as he knows mine, and I will do my best to protect him. That’s why you’re here. To help me find a way to use my bond to Carmichael to our advantage so we can end this before more innocent blood is shed.”
Murmurs drifted through the gathered enforcers, and Rían pressed a kiss to my temple.
“And if you’re too afraid to go against Carmichael, I get it.” Sloane mirrored Rían’s posture, even going so far as to kiss my other temple. The weirdo. Guess I was lucky she hadn’t peed on my leg to mark her territory. “We’re asking for your help, not your permission.”
“That was a bit harsh,” I whispered out of the side of my mouth.
“Half of them aren’t even looking at you. They’re homed in on him.” She didn’t bother lowering her voice. “They don’t know you yet, so they’re not showing you the respect you’re owed.”
“I’m not Carmichael.” I cut her a frown. “Respect is earned, and I, well, respect that. But you’re also right.” I panned the gathering. “We don’t have time to waste. Carmichael has never expected much from me, so he won’t anticipate this. We need to get the ball rolling, and if you don’t have momentum to lend thesituation, I understand.” I picked at my thumbnail, peering up at Rían from beneath my lashes. “Can I borrow you and Liam for a bit? Maybe Fayne too? I’m sure between the five of us, we’ll?—”
“Count me in, lass.” Seamus walked in from where he must have been standing guard in the yard. I hadn’t noticed the door was ajar, but he had to have heard everything to be wearing that expression. “I would be proud to lend a hand to our future magna.” He bowed to me. “It would be my honor.”
“Thank you, Seamus.” I beamed at him as the fissure in my heart began mending. “I appreciate it.”
“My son was at the party last night. If that man had poisoned the food, and I shared a bite of my meal with my boy as I often do… Ron wouldn’t have survived dragonsbane. You caught what the rest of us missed. You and Sloane.” He crossed to her and ruffled her hair, earning himself a death glare as she finger combed it back to neatness. “What kind of instructor would I be if I didn’t nurture talent where I find it?”
“Count me in.” An enforcer stepped forward. “I want to help.”
“Me too.”
“If Pete’s in—” the third enforcer nodded to the first volunteer, “—then I’m in.”
“Let’s do this.”
As confirmations swept through the others, I was grateful all over again for Seamus’s support. The others respected Rían. There was no doubt of that. But they feared for him too. To the point they came close to questioning his judgment calls where I was concerned, which was valid. The clan had endured a lot to get this far, and they were still on shaky ground as threats continued to pummel us from all sides.
The fact I was the bullseye painted on the Walsh clan made it understandable that they would be more cautious than usual, but they couldn’t place me in a bubble and expect me not tosuffocate. I had lived that life, and I wanted no part of it. Rían didn’t want that for me either.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here grinding his jaw but determined to let me step up and pitch in, to give myself a sense of worth. He had never asked me to prove myself. No. This was all on me. And I welcomed the challenge.
six
One hundred andseventy-five hot wings, five pounds of French fries, ten milkshakes, and twelve orders of onion rings later, we had a plan. Liam, despite being my buddy lately, had put his foot down as maguri. He told me that if I chose to risk myself, I had that right, but Rían was forbidden to come along.
Seamus volunteered to stand in for Rían, which wasn’t a bad trade, and he also nixed the idea of adding Sloane to the team. The rest of the team had experience running ops as a tight-knit unit. He reasoned we had a better chance of success if we stuck with what worked until after Sloane finished her training.
Sloane and I weren’t thrilled with the plan, but we couldn’t argue with Seamus’s logic.
“Meet here at dusk.” Rían leaned forward on the couch next to me. “Standard tactical gear should do.”
“Aye.” Seamus rapped his knuckles on the table. “Team One will be a scouting party to test the accuracy of Ana’s bond to Sartori. Should we find him on our first sweep, Team One will withdraw and Team Two will initiate alpha containment protocol. Our goal is to capture him alive.”
Left unsaid was that with an alpha as volatile as Sartori, that might not be possible.
He also refrained from reminding us Team Two would be packing silver bullets, blades, and nets. That was standard protocol when taking down a rabid shifter. Or a rogue alpha. Often there wasn’t much of a dividing line between the two. With the loss of his empire, and me, I wasn’t sure what state of mind Carmichael was in.
“We should take a nap.” Sloane, who had been sitting between my legs, using my thighs like arms on her personal throne, stretched her hands high over her head. “There’s no telling how late you’ll be out.”
“You’re not going, so you don’t need sleep. You’re just saying that because you’re heading toward a food coma after eating your weight in chicken wings.” Liam scoffed, a bare foot of space separating them. “You think Ana can rest with this hanging over her head?”
