Page 90 of Damien’s Mate

They summoned the portal, all but the final step that would connect it to the Lion Guard base. Brandon, having finished his fucking chat, assigned them positions, with himself as the first through. He put Damien near the back, with Titan.

Damien started to object, and Brandon said, “Shut up. The rest of us have battle experience and are used to working together. You’ll get your chance to fight.”

Damien’s lion growled, and Brandon stared him down. “Don’t fuck this up, Lion. Your mate’s life is at stake.”

Like he didn’t know that?

Brandon gave him one more steely look, then went to the front of the group. They activated the portal, readied their weapons, and ran through.

Lila crouched in an alcove beneath a stone stairway in the Lion Guard base, seething with frustration. She’d managed to disable another guard and steal his uniform, but it was too big for her. She was trying to make it look as parade-ready as possible, so that she’d have a chance of passing through the other guards unnoticed.

It was not working very well.

She’d also found a burlap sack to carry the artifact case in. Disguising herself as a guard was risky, but it was the only way she could think of to get back to the portal room.

When she first left the cell she’d tried the direct route, but she’d had to detour around the Lord High Commander’s office, where his personal security detail was gathering to escort him out to greet Prince Herrick.

Dodging patrols as the shifts changed had taken her further out of her way. Now she was all the way on the wrong side of the quadrangle that made up the Guard base, with a huge open courtyard between her and the portal room. She had to cross that, or find her way halfway around the base, through an unknown warren of rooms and hallways.

Either choice was filled with risk, but the route across the courtyard was much shorter, with no chance of getting lost.

She just had to time it so that she crossed while everyone was watching the prince fly in, but before he landed and was near enough to sense the artifacts.

It was going to be close.

The alcove was halfway up the staircase, and held an arrow slit that could be manned by a shooter if the place was attacked.

In the courtyard below, she could see the honor guard assembling to greet the Draken prince. She better get down there now.

Taking a deep breath, she slid the artifact case into the concealing bag and headed for the courtyard door.

When the Wild Blood Crew arrived at the Lion Guard base, there was only a token guard at the portal room. Probably everyone was out waiting for the Draken prince to arrive.

Brandon and Kitty took the guards out easily, as the others exited the portal. Damien’s lion wanted to kill the guards—hell, he wanted to kill everybody.

But Brandon just gagged them, tied them up with zip ties, and stuck them in the neck with heavy-duty tranquilizer darts.

Colt was at the door to the hallway, peering out. “Clear,” he said quietly.

They moved out through the hallways, which were eerily silent and deserted. Dragon Boy, in his ghostly state, was in the lead, showing them the way.

They came to an intersection. One corridor led to the Lord High Commander’s office, and one to the central courtyard, where the Draken prince would land.

Brandon was checking the receiver for his magical tracker. It was moving—they’d had a stroke of luck, in that the Lion Guard hadn’t found it on Lila. They could follow it straight to her.

On the down side, it seemed like she was in the courtyard, not waiting in the office. There was no way to tell until they got out there whether she’d been recaptured or not.

“She could still be free,” Colt said. “Just making her way to the portal room.”

“Or they could already have her,” Damien snarled.

Brandon nodded, frowning. Then he said, “We need a backup plan. Dragon Boy, see if you can find Lila and report back to Damien. Colt, Kitty and I will head for the Lord High Asshole’s office. I have an idea.”

He turned to Damien. “When you find her, it’s your call what to do. But if your lion loses it, Brock’s in charge of the others.”

Damien nodded. Brandon turned away, and then Damien grabbed him by the arm. He pulled off his necklace. “If we get split up, you’ll need this to activate the portal.”

“But what about you?” Kitty asked.