“We have the authority to use any force necessary to gain entry,” Max continued.
Yates scoffed. “No way a human judge signed off on that, and you can’t barge your way in here on the say so of a non-human. I know the fucking law too,Detective.”
“We have Larissa Wells in protective custody.” Max said it in the same tone as if he was commenting on the weather, but his words hit Yates like a lightning bolt.
I watched with smug satisfaction as the consequences of Max’s statement began to sink in.
If we had Larissa, then we knew that she was being threatened by Yates’s hunter group.
If we had Larissa, then that meant Yates had no hold over Zane.
If we had Larissa, then Zane was free to tell useverything.
I saw the exact moment Yates made his decision.
And so did Max.
“Kill them,” Yates hissed at the same time as Max ordered his witches to break through the gate.
I called for my daggers.
Magic crashed against our shield, the sound echoing around us like an explosion. The shield held, as unfortunately did the gate when Cara directed her magic at it.
Max whipped his phone out, calling for magical reinforcements, and no sooner had he ended the call than more people appeared behind us dressed in paranormal police tactical gear. They immediately took up positions beside the three police witches, focusing their magic on the compound gate.
“You didn’t want to bring them to start with?” I asked Max, raising an eyebrow at him as the gate began to glow under the onslaught.
“I needed Yates to attack first. I lied,” he said with a smirk. “I only had permission to use force if he used magical force against us.”
We watched as the metal in the gate began to buckle and melt.
Yates saw it too and yelled for everyone to get back in the car. They spun the car around and sped off, gravel spraying everywhere as they disappeared around the bend back into the compound just as the six-foot gate collapsed backwards on to the ground.
“Now what?” I asked, twirling my daggers, itching to chase after them and hunt them down but not moving a muscle. I knew a trap when I saw one.
Yates’s compound was surrounded by a ten-foot perimeter metal fence. The gate we’d just destroyed led to a short driveway that curved around the bend before opening out into the main compound. “They’ll be waiting for us.”
“I know.”
“Are the others through?” I asked, cracking my neck and shaking out my shoulders. I wanted to fight.
Max checked his phone. “Almost.”
As soon as we engaged at the front gate, another unit from the Ravenshead department had trekked through the forest and attacked the compound from the back.
Yates might have witches working with him, but did he have enough magical fire power at his disposal to fight us on two fronts?
Max and Gabriel didn’t think so, and CI Thornton had agreed with them.
I wondered what Yates stood to gain from trying to fight his way out of this when he knew his days as a hunter were finished. Where did he plan on going if he did manage to escape?
I didn’t like it.
In my experience, a cornered man had nothing left to lose. They either gave up or fought to the death with everything they had.
Yates didn’t look like someone who wanted to spend the rest of his life in a fae prison. Because that’s where he was headed, and he knew it.
“They’re through,” Max said, checking his phone again. He turned to face everyone. “The aim is to take Yates and his people in for questioning, but do not hesitate to defend yourself if under attack. We have permission to use all magic at your disposal and to shift at will. Stay in your pairs and do not search for the refining building until all of Yates’s crew are accounted for. The other unit will meet us inside.”
