“I have Shade blood in me, so does Tatum. We can use bracelets like Indigo and Emery to conceal our Lumen powers and get through their wards. Indigo is a Shade, so she could go, Gage is a demon.” Dash tipped his head toward Gage. “Sorry, man. I don’t mean that personally, it’s just that the wards shouldn’t be an issue for you, so you could go as well.”
Gage just lifted his chin and folded his arms over his chest and nodded. Dash didn’t mean that as a slight against him, but I knew it probably still bothered Gage to be referred to as a demon.
“Anyway,” Dash went on, “the four of us should be able to get in. Not to mention we’ll be less conspicuous than a larger group. You, Jacob, and Marlow just have too much Lumen in you to hide what you are. Bracelet or not, it would trigger the wards. I’m sure of it.”
Drea’s brows lowered and her mouth pinched as she glared at Dash. “I don’t like that plan one bit. We’re a team. We should stick together.”
Skye raised her hand, even though I was the only one who could see her. “Wards can’t keep out spirits. I’m getting bored, so I’m gonna go scout. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
She disappeared and I didn’t bother letting everyone know, because Drea was shooting eye daggers at Dash. The tension in the room was reaching DEFCON 1, and neither one of them looked like they were going to back down. As much as I would’ve liked Drea and the rest of the Angel Gang’s support, if they couldn’t make it through the wards, what help could they really be?
The door burst open then and Indigo entered. She frowned when she saw Gage in his cell, but then her gaze skipped over him to Drea. “The New York Shades have finally declared Arthur dead rather than just missing. We’re expecting a possible retaliation. Aurelia’s ordered a lockdown and has called all Lumens around the city to come back to the compound until the threat level can be assessed.”
I snapped my gaze to Drea. “I’m not staying here. I have to go find my sister before Apollyon does.”
If he hasn’t already, I thought, and a wave of nausea rolled in my gut.
Drea turned to me, indecision splashed across her face for a couple of seconds until it cleared. She nodded once, a determined glint in her eye. “Okay. You guys will go look for Harley in LA. Jacob, Marlow, and I will stay to help deal with any fallout from this Arthur stuff.”
Dash released a breath and then pulled Indigo aside and started to fill her in.
Drea shook her head. “My mom is going to besopissed when she finds out I let you guys leave during a mandatory lockdown.”
I winced. “Sorry. I owe you one.”
Drea waved me off. “No you don’t. You’re my friend and part of my team. This is what we do for each other. We have each other’s backs. Always.”
My heart filled with so much love and appreciation for her I swear it was about to burst. Drea, and the rest of the Angel Gang, including Indigo and Gage, were truly the best. I’d had a lot of bad stuff happen to me, especially over the last couple of months, but gaining these lifelong ride or die friends made it all worth it.
With a tentative plan of action in place, Drea messaged Jacob and Marlow to collect weapons for us and then went to find a magic-concealing bracelet for Dash—I was just going to borrow Indigo’s.
Dash was on a mission to find some tranquilizers we could keep on hand in case Gage hellhounded out again. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but tranqing him worked last night, so we were betting it would work again if Apollyon decided to try and mess with him.
Indigo dragged me to her room and dressed me in some of her clothes. Apparently, Dash gave her the directive to make me look more like a Shade because my normal attire wasn’t cutting it. Less than a half hour later I walked back into the prison section of the armory’s basement in a satin corset, denim shorts that barely covered my butt cheeks, fishnets, and a pair of black combat boots. I also had red lips, smoky eyes, and my hair was pulled back into a sleek high ponytail. Every part of my Shade transformation was courtesy of Indigo.
The whole Angel Gang plus Gage, who was still inside the cell, stopped talking when we entered. Jacob released a long and low whistle, which prompted a growl from Gage and streaks of fur to run down his forearms.
Jacob cast a smirk over his shoulder at Gage, knowing there was nothing Gage could do to him while he was behind bars. I shot Jacob a scathing look and then glanced at Gage, who was staring at me with a glazed expression. He almost looked starved, but not for food, forme.
Okay, I don’t hate that look, and I wouldn’t mind some more alone time with him.
My body temperature spiked as his gaze continued to smolder, and I may have added a little extra swing to my hips as I moved toward him. When I drew close enough, he reached both arms through the bars and tugged me closer, but it wasn’t close enough with these damned metal bars between us.
Lifting a hand, he ran his thumb along my jaw and then down my throat and traced my clavicle to my shoulder. His gaze tracked his movements, and I’m pretty sure I saw his eyes flash yellow and a hint of a fang dimple his bottom lip.
It was probably awful that I thought it, but there was something really exciting about knowing that just looking at me and the slightest touch could make Gage lose a little bit of control on his hellhound.
“You lookinsanelyhot,” Gage said, his words a low rumble, and caused a shiver to shoot down my spine. “How about you get me out of here so I can properly show you how much I appreciate your outfit?” he whispered with an arched brow.
Oh boy, I needed a fan, quick, before I combusted.
“Really, Indigo?” Marlow said, her voice cutting into my Gage-induced haze and reminding me that we weren’t the only two people in the room. “That’s supposed to make Tatum less conspicuous?”
I pulled away from Gage, my face radiating heat like a furnace.
Dash cleared his throat, answering for Indigo. “Yeah, believe it or not, it will.”
“Okay, everyone,” Drea said, clapping her hands together once. “We’ll cover for you guys as long as we can, but my mom is most likely going to notice that Gage is missing sometime today, so there’s going to be hell to pay when you get back. It’ll be worth it though if you can find and retrieve Harley.”
