I catch Jet’s eye, then dart a glance at the pouch containing the fae grenade he picked up. His mouth forms a sly grin.
“Want to see what a fae grenade can do?” I murmur to Ethan barely loud enough for Cal to hear, but the vampire blurs back to us immediately.
Ethan’s eyes flash with his wolf. “I have questions.”
“No time,” I say, indicating Ember’s too-close-for-comfort position. She’s still advancing, although us firing at her has slowed her down so perhaps iron bullets can penetrate fae fire.
Jet won’t throw the grenade if Ethan says no, but it’s probably our best option at this point. We’re low on ammo, very little’sgoing to penetrate enough to fully incapacitate Ember, and she doesn’t look like she’ll run out of power any time soon.
Ethan comes to the same conclusion. “Do it.”
Rather than pull the pin, Jet darts across the open doorway and hands it to me. “You should do the honours.”
I don’t hesitate. I depress the safety lever, pull the pin out, and after taking a second to aim just behind Ember, lob the grenade into the room.
Nature explodes. Trees sprout from tables. The vines on the floor become snakes who turn on their creators. A sandstorm engulfs Aire where her wing is pinned to the wall by Cal’s dagger, a wound on her leg still bleeding. And torrential rain falls from the ceiling, soaking everyone including Ember, who becomes invisible behind a thick wall of steam.
I target Ember by her furious screech, lifting my rifle and using one of my two remaining tranqs. The noise level reduces drastically when her screech cuts off, and there’s a thud from within the steam.
I lower my rifle. I have a particular fae in mind for that last tranq.
Ethan and Cal tranq the others, and we’re finally able to escape the heat of the inferno at our backs where the lab used to be. As we make our way across what’s left of the room, Ethan smashes the butt of his gun against the fire alarm on the wall, breaking the glass. A shrill alarm sounds but no sprinklers start up, which is unfortunate, but I’m less concerned with the unconscious fae we left in our wake than who we still need to find.
My tiger snarls in agreement, still desperate to shift and resolve things with teeth and claws, and not understanding why that’s impossible.
The four of us reload our Glocks, take position, and breach the door. It’s another corridor, this one empty and with blank walls. We race along it, turn a corner, and head through the next door.
We enter a large room with six barred cells, every single one occupied. The shifters I’ve been searching for ever since Inali Liška was reported missing are all alive, thank goodness, albeit in bad shape, and Milo and Zara seem relatively unharmed except for the temporary loss of their dragon side.
But where on earth is Bryn? My stomach drops as I realise that of all the fae we’ve seen down here, we haven’t encountered Lance. Has he got Bryn somewhere?Fuck.
Milo, Zara, and Jay stagger to their feet when we rush in. The other cell occupants don’t look capable of moving and barely stir when we shoot the locks. As Ethan, Jet, and Cal move to help the others, I yank open Milo and Zara’s cell door. “Where’s Bryn?”
Both of them are unsteady on their feet and Zara sways, almost stumbling into the wall as she leaves the cell. “Lance took him. We need to hurry.”
My heart stops at the confirmation. The most likely reason to separate Bryn would be for weapons testing, if our latest theory about that is indeed correct. And judging by everything we’ve found down here and the state of these shifters? I’m going with yes.
My tiger rises to the surface, sharpening my vision and hearing, urging me to move, to find our mate and destroy anyone who’s hurt him.
When Zara tries to follow me I waste precious seconds steering her towards Cal. “Let the professionals handle this. My colleague will get you to safety.”
“We’re not leaving without our brother.” Milo is paler than normal, eyes tight with pain. Then he properly looks at me and his eyes widen a fraction, finally registering that I asked about Bryn by name, albeit in my normal accent instead of the Cockney one he’s heard me use before. He takes in the uniform I’m wearing. “Huh.”
“You need to let us do our jobs.” I’m very conscious that every second getting them to stay here means more time Bryn could besuffering, but I know he’d want them safe and out of the firing line. “I promise I’ll save him.”
“And we’ll help,” Milo insists.
“What he said,” Zara says as she tries to move past me.
I block her path. “We’re highly trained task force officers with shields and weapons. You two are barely standing. Trust me to get him out. Please.”
Milo rubs his forehead and looks at the other shifters, who clearly need assistance to even leave their cells. He gives me a reluctant nod. “Hurry.”
“Wait—” Zara says.
Cal gently holds her back as I run to the other end of the room and through the door. It’s time to save my dragon.
Chapter Twenty-Three
