Wrath stood taller. Help him?
“I believe in you Wrath. You’ve been here since existence,” Mac said in a soothing, masculine tone that floated past his many defenses and straight into his head. Wrath didn’t know how to receive it all. The kindness, the sincerity. He did remember Mac when he used to follow them around like an eager puppy, wanting to mimic everything Alek did. While everyone else praised and hovered around Justice, the AZ’s first-born heir, Mac was busy idolizing Alek and making him feel loved and appreciated. It had touched Wrath then and kept him content, and therefore they’d operated as one unit. Then it had all changed in one damn day.
Mac braced both hands on a set of bars, staring Wrath directly in his eyes. “I believe you were sent here to help us the same way Wick’s tiger was sent to protect us. Both of you now have mates and it makes you magnificent in so many ways. Your powers can be boundless with a true mate, Wrath.”
Wrath blinked.
Mac smirked. “I think you like the way that sounds.”
Okay, then. Wrath would try this so-called trust thing and how it goes both ways. He wouldn’t eviscerate Mac to smithereens if he got him the hell out of that cage.
Mac took a slow breath, then in a careful measure he started, “Bell and his army landed in North Yorkshire thirty minutes ago, and already something isn’t right. Justice and Wick are watching a live feed of the mission at a coven that’s about ten miles north of Conway Airport. I slipped out as soon as the army started their trek through the Dales on a path that Bell kept saying was well trampled… recently. By hundreds. Not the few like we saw on camera early this morning.”
Wrath took a stuttered breath and opened up his link to Alek and Wolf.
They were arguing of course.
HEY! Wrath bellowed, breaking them up. He didn’t even care what the feud was about. Most likely him. Listen to this.
Alek snapped, what is my brother still doing here? Did you do any—?
SHUT UP, ALEK, AND LISTEN!
“There could be hundreds there waiting to ambush him, Wrath. Belleron only took sixty vampires with him. If the rebellion already has hundreds… then…”
Wrath didn’t fire off. Not with Mac’s human flesh only feet from him. But, gods was he furious. He held it in while Alek and Wolf staggered at the implication, and what this meant. Bell could very well be walking directly towards his death. Exactly as Wrath had warned. For a moment the three of them felt the exact same feeling—regret, then determination.
We have a deal, Alek. I’m going to fall back and let you handle this. Get us to that coven. Then you do whatever is necessary to get us to Belleron.
Is there still time? Wolf asked him.
I can’t say for sure.
“Why are you so quiet now? Are you talking to Alek? Let me speak to—”
“QUIET,” Wrath barked at Mac.
Mac threw his hands up. “Okay. Okay. I was just…”
There has to be time left. Because if Belleron is already dead… we’d know. Just before Wrath retreated, he added, you remember our deal. When it’s time for me to come out. Don’t stand in my way. I can save him if you just get us to him. Trust me next time.
Wrath relinquished the hold the moment he felt Alek’s acceptance.
They’d been moving for over an hour since the bumpy landing on a piece of private property in Tunstal. Bell and his men knew how to operate without being seen. They broke into small battle groups and flashed in intervals towards the isolated hills that no hiker dared explore, well aware of the known vampire territory. The closer they got to the tombs, the more the smell of death encased them. The stench was thick and choking, causing a strain on their senses. Bell stopped when they finally reached the trenches of the Rawthey Valley, far beyond civilization. Inside the vast hill was their largest tomb. It was heavily guarded, and so far they’d yet to see any disturbances on the surveillance around the tomb, so he’d been confident they’d arrived before the rebels. However, as Bell got his first clear view of the hill’s entrance, Bell reported that six of the guards were down. Killed. Dismembered, and there was destruction, as it appeared explosives had been used to get inside. Twenty vampires had protected this property. Now they were gone. Bell was furious.
He pressed his ear piece deeper in his ear canal. Even through the staticky feed Wick’s concern was loud and clear, “I don’t like the looks of this, Belleron. You should abort. Intel is incomplete. We’re still watching a supposedly live footage of the entrance and it shows the guards still in position. They must have a recording running on a loop. Lord Vega believes our systems may’ve been hacked, which means were dealing with a far more sophisticated group of rebels than we assumed, and we need to regroup.”