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Just before the call ended, Uriel thought he heard a baby babbling.

“Fuck,” he said, scrubbing his face. “I didn’t realize he has a baby now.”

“He didn’t tell you?” Bruiser looked surprised.

“No, but...” Uriel winced. “Plenty of reasons he might not have.”

“That’s your lock picking friend, right?” Bruiser said shrewdly. “We could set off right now, but we need to set things up in case more truckloads of omegas show up at this facility.”

Uriel froze. Then he wanted to smack his head against the wall. “Fuck. I can’t believe I forgot about that. Our friends are back home, 4 hours away. And where I’m headed—”

“Where we are headed.” Bruiser straightened his shoulders, his jaw set.

“Fine. Where we are headed, I’ll be too far away for the tripwire spells to ping me. Too far away to act on it too. Except I didn’t lay down the tripwire spells, or the freezing spells this time around.” Uriel remembered being too distracted by his heat as they left. “What are the chances that no one will show up in the 22 hours it takes us to rescue Fenn?”

Bruiser hummed. “We do have one person here.”

They looked at the cabin windows. Hunner.

“Please don’t tell me he’s going to smother them with pickup lines,” Uriel said.

“Fine! I won’t tell you,” Hunner yelled back.

Bruiser pulled out his phone and sent a few messages. After a while, it buzzed. “I’ve got transport handled. C’mon, let’s go save your friend.”

20

AN EMBARRASSING CHILDHOOD STORY

They flew on Uriel’s broom to the nearest big town. Because the trip was a full 40 minutes, Uriel had modified the seat so Bruiser could share it, instead of hanging from the broom shaft by his hands.

“This is a lot cozier than I expected,” Bruiser said, his chest pressed snugly to Uriel’s back, his arms wrapped around Uriel’s waist.

Truth be told, Uriel hadn’t realized that flying by broom could be this intimate, or this comfortable, especially with Bruiser’s thighs cradling his hips.

When they touched down behind a large department store, Uriel was secretly disappointed. The broomstick wouldn’t be necessary for the next leg of their journey.

Bruiser nuzzled Uriel’s ear before he stood up. “Thanks for the ride.”

“You owe me one,” Uriel said.

Bruiser smirked; it sent a jolt of heat through Uriel’s gut.

“What kind of ride?” Bruiser purred.

A car honked, startling them. Then it honked again.

“Our friends.” Bruiser rolled his eyes. He led the way to the SUV, opening the backdoor for Uriel.

“You guys,” said the alpha behind the wheel, his eyes twinkling. “Finally?”

“Finally what?” Uriel frowned.

The other alpha made a circle with his thumb and forefinger, poking a finger through the circle.

Bruiser flipped them off. “None of your business.”

His cheeks were pink though.