Crimson Covenant (Onyx Assassins 1)

“Lyric is in there. I can feel her.” My knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, and I fought to keep my temper on a leash.

The engine of the Escalade was quiet as a church mouse thanks to Benedict’s obsession with all things vehicular, and we’d killed the headlights as soon as we’d pulled off the interstate. It wasn’t like I needed them to see where I was going, anyway.

“It’s one of the Moorehouse facilities,” Valor said quietly from the passenger seat. The woman had grit, and her sense of loyalty to Lyric helped soothe a little of the rage simmering in my veins, but not entirely.

My mate’s best friend was part of the family that held my wife, and I hadn’t known. Whatever tracks they’d had were covered over so well that even Ransom hadn’t picked up on anything during the background check. Think about it once Lyric is safe, I reminded myself. Right now, that was all that mattered.

I turned my focus to the compound itself. My bond with Lyric had grown stronger the closer we’d driven, but it was still…off, even being only a hundred yards away. That meant wherever they were holding her had to be lined with iron and steel, or they’d dosed her with Night Thistle. Either way, her newfound vampire strength wouldn’t mean shit. She’d be as weak as a human in there, and anything could happen to her. The pounding, relentless drive to save my mate was as constant as my heartbeat, and the desperation was almost enough to overcome the common sense that told me we needed a plan. I’d be no good to her dead.

I killed the engine, got out of the Escalade, and opened the back hatch.

“One of the Moorehouse facilities?” Benedict questioned, coming around the back end of the car as I slid the Kevlar over my chest.

“How many fucking facilities do you have?” Lachlan growled, grabbing vests and throwing them at Benedict and Hawke.

“We’re a billion-dollar company, so do you mean for production, distribution, or sales?” Valor spat back, pinning him with a glare.

“That’s my queen in there, human,” Lachlan said, low and slow, the threat obvious as he leaned closer.

“She might be your queen, but she was my best friend first,” she countered, narrowing her eyes. “And if I had any idea this was going to happen, I would have stepped in. I should have stepped in the second she disappeared for a month and showed up married, but I had no clue that her Alek was Alekxander Markov!”

“And if you had known?” I strapped my holster over my shoulders.

“I would have kept her as far from you as possible,” she admitted, meeting my eyes. “Look what’s happened to her.”

Every one of my Assassins went still.

In that moment, I couldn’t blame her for speaking the truth, so I holstered my weapons and put another at my thigh. “How many men are inside?”

“Probably three dozen,” she answered. “Usually only a couple at this hour, but they know she’s your queen.”

I checked my extra clips as the others strapped up. “Hopefully no one you love is on duty because they’ll be dead in the next five minutes.”

Her breath left in a puff of steam, as if she hadn’t thought this through to its logical conclusion. “I’m coming with you.”

“Like hell you are,” Lachlan growled.

“You’ll need my codes to get through the door. That building is lined with steel, iron, ruby dust and silver. It’s not like you can just poof yourself inside.” She folded her arms across her chest.

Benedict muttered a curse.

The hairs rose on the back of my neck. They weren’t just vampire-hating assholes. They were educated assholes who knew far more than they should.

“Prepared for vampires, werewolves, and witches, are you?” Lachlan shoved a vest over her head and tugged the straps across the Velcro to fasten it. “Strong cage you've built over there.”

“My father and brother said it was to protect us—to keep you out.” She looked over her shoulder, down at the well-lit compound.

“More like keep us in,” Hawke accused, cracking his neck like a pregame ritual.

“I can see two armed guards patrolling the perimeter inside the fence.”

“Do they know we’re coming?” Lachlan asked Valor, tipping her chin toward him when she didn’t look away from the building. “Did you warn them?”

She shook her head and swallowed, then shuddered slightly and took a deep breath. “Of course not. I just want Lyric safe.”

Lachlan’s gaze narrowed. “We’ll see about that, lass. You’re right. We’ll need your codes, so you get to tag along, but you’ll be at my side. You run, I kill you. You warn them, I kill you. You betray us—”

“You kill me. Got it.” She lifted her hair free from the Kevlar. “Do I at least get a weapon?”

Lachlan scoffed. “No, and if you so much as take more than three steps away from me, I’ll put a fucking leash around your waist. You understand?”