Stone smiles, recalling the memory fondly. “I tried to talk to him before his boss came back to warn him that the council was starting to crack down on shifters in the area, so his family needed to lie low or move on. Didn’t even get two words out before he fainted.”
Amara covers up her startled laugh with a fake as hell cough that’s drowned out by my exaggeratedly long groan.
“I wastwelve. And in my defense, I’ve never fainted again. Not like you have room to talk anymore after Amara had to drag your ass four blocks.”
Stone offers Amara a small smile. “Not sure why you think you’re not as much of an asset as the rest of us when you saved me twice in one day, angel.” His smile fades, and he gets a sad, faraway look in his eyes. “When he woke up, he begged me not to tell anyone and apologizedfor being a monster, promised that he’d never hurt anybody.”
I sheepishly rub the back of my neck. “Thought I was going to pass out again when he showed me his claws and scales, but I just burst into tears and broke down sobbing when I realized I wasn’t alone.”
Giving up on his hair, Stone joins us on our side of the fire, dragging Amara off of my lap and onto his. “So I kidnapped him.”
She chokes on her spit. “What?”
“Yep,” I chuckle. “He scooped my pathetic ass up off the floor and walked right out the front door. Didn’t stop until we were several towns away, and I’ve been with him ever since.”
“And Raiden?” she asks.
Stone kisses her cheek. “Picked him up a couple of centuries later and brought him into the fold.”
She pulls back to look at him seriously. “Then you set your sights on me in the hospital.” Turning to me, she says, “I think you’re wrong about my harem. Stone’s the one out here collecting dragons to add to his treasure hoard, we’re just along for the ride.”
“But it’s one hell of a ride,” I tease.
A soft smile graces her features before our attention snaps over to the tent where Raiden’s crouched near the entrance watching us with a warm look. I catch a small flash of silver as he discreetly tucks the camera back into Stone’s bag under the guise of pushing himself upright. It’s difficult, but I manage to keep the shit-eating grin off my face and pretend I didn’t notice.
Striding over to kiss Amara’s cheek first, he takes a seat across from the fire. Opening a protein bar, he asks, “Now that Stone’s recovered, we could head into town instead of camping another night. We’re not too far from Oak Creek, so we could be there by nightfall.”
No matter the reassurances Amara gave, the thought of her removing her mate-mark makes my heart plummet like a lead weight.
Amara sighs. “That pack was confident enough to rob a bank and kill people in broad daylight, guys. Things are devolving faster than we imagined; we have to go back.”
“So are we just going to… tap out? Hunker down in Khalida while the rest of the world goes to Hell?”
Her shoulders slump. “That won’t really work long term either. It’s only a matter of time until the city burns through its food stores.”
“It's not a war of attrition, love,” Raiden explains. “We’ve been around long enough to see how quickly societies can change, and put systems in place so that Khalida would be protected no matter how the world shifted over time. They’re still getting supplies in.”
“Wait, what about the lava moat?” she demands.
Raiden winks. “We're surrounded by mountains, that means tunnels.”
“How do you know nobody will stumble across one and sneak into the city? Especially now that people are gunning for us? What if someone sneaks in as a delivery driver, or-”
I raise a hand and interrupt, “In case you've forgotten, there's a security expert in your legion; give me a little credit here. All the tunnels are blocked off until we need one, along with motion sensors that connect to the security base in town. There’s a series of doors that require different codes along every path, and each team is only given one. Even if we had a mole, unless they turned someone from every damn security team to their side, nobody’s getting in through the tunnels. And deliveries go through rigorous checks, including making the driver taste test foods to rule out poison.”
Studying her face closely, I watch as reality sets in for her. “We can seriously hide there for as long as we need, can't we?”
Raiden’s watching her as intently as I am, and dips his head in agreement. “We can. You wouldn’t be confined to the castle, either; free rein around the city to live your life without always looking over your shoulder. It’s still a cage, though, albeit a huge and luxurious one. But you’d need to stay within the city indefinitely to be completely safe.”
“Just because we can doesn’t mean we have to, though, it’s only one option. We can also carry on as we've been. Between the four of us, with no one to protect besides ourselves, we'll be fine no matter how things develop. You don’t need to be some badass fighter, either. We can focus on honing your reflexes so you can bring up your scales as armor in a blink, as well as your wings. Hell, you could probably make a static shield that would keep people from getting within ten feet of any of us. That gives our legion a healer, defense, and offense; that’s a solid fucking team.”
Stone presses a lingering kiss to her temple. “We could also leave the country entirely. Raiden can create us new identities so we can start over somewhere nobody has an idea who we are. I know it feels like everything is spiraling out of control, but we do have options, Amara.”
A calculated gleam sparks to life in her eyes, and I practically slump in relief that we’re getting through to her and finally setting her mind at ease.
Choosing her words carefully, she starts, “Everything broke because of me-” Amara lifts a hand to cut all of us when we jump in to object. “I'm not saying it's myfault, but think about it. Malcolm turned people against Raiden because of his obsession with me, and not only are his followers after us because they hate you guys, blame me for his death, or whatever’s going on in their deluded minds, but anyone you three have ever pissed off will want to kill me to get revenge as well. Whether I like it or not, I'm at the center of this mess.”
She takes a deep breath, and when she exhales, sits straighter, meeting Raiden’s gaze with steely determination. “It's not only Carina that would have to deal with the brunt of the fallout if we fled the country; it's everyone. Look at how many people have fled to Khalida… and how many more never make it. Leaving angry men with a power vacuum to fill will result in a lot of death, but a hell of a lot more suffering. There's too many people that don't care-” she glances at me with a sad smile “- and too many people that don't have anyone to care about them. I'd like to at leasttryto fix things before we abandon ship.”
