Knowing that he was about to be flying thousands and thousands of miles, above fucking water was already messing with Wolf’s head. Alek watched from the back seat as Justice drove them right onto the secluded airstrip. It was dark outside but he had no problem seeing what he was headed towards. Mentioning the word jet and then actually seeing the large aluminum can with wings was a whole other experience all together. Alek took a deep breath and heard his brother Mac do the same.
“This is definitely one of your brightest ideas yet, brother,” Mac said sarcastically.
Alek was surprised that he felt rather calm and he wondered if that was Wrath’s doing. It seemed far-fetched because ‘calm’ wasn’t a word often associated with that name. But, they had an agreement, and part of that was that Wrath would rescue their mate. That meant getting them there safely. Alek had no doubt the strong entity could accomplish that task.
Well thanks for the vote of confidence, Wrath stated.
For the first time in years Wrath’s voice didn’t sound like an angry bass drum pounding at his frontal lobe. It was almost smooth now. Still very dark, but smooth. Alek turned his head to look out of the window so his brother wouldn’t see his lips twitching. Wrath sounded… dare he say, pleased. They were all right there on the surface, the three of them. Not linked, but not at war either. No one was closing anyone out.
Justice stopped his truck beside the guard’s van. Two black SUVs with tinted windows sat to the right, eight serious-looking vampires corralled in front of them, having an intense conversation. They weren’t dressed like the guards. They had on military garb, complete with fatigues and green and brown camouflage jackets. Alek frowned, straining to hear what they were saying.
They are talking about their strategy. They’re good. Experienced. I don’t detect any deceit. This isn’t about power for them, it’s all about money. Nothing more. And the King appears to have paid generously, Wrath informed him.
Alek was wowed. How do you know?
They have no shields. I read their minds.
Now that was some power to have. He didn’t know Wrath had been hiding those abilities from him. But, then he’d never really given him a chance to showcase them, either. If Wrath had wanted out, Alek and Wolf had locked him up. Alek scrubbed his hand over his beard and shook his head. What had he done? This entire trip wouldn’t have even been needed if Alek had heard Wrath out and corrected their separation years ago. Instead, he’d let his grief and anger over losing their parents and pack members consume him. It was obvious Wrath was inside him for a reason, because the Mother had never removed him, even as Alek had refused to acknowledge him. His mind was wide open so Wrath could feel his regret, his self-scolding… and his apology.
Farica stood beside the Lord Protector, with a black, carry-on size luggage propped beside her. She looked as relaxed as ever, maybe even excited. Her hair was swept up into a ponytail and she’d changed into an all-black Nike sweat suit. When Alek got out of the car, he heard Ramon telling her some details about the jet.
“It flies really smoothly. Once we’re at our cruising elevation you’ll hardly notice you’re up there.”
She chuckled softly, and Alek didn’t miss the way the Lord Protector responded. His midnight eyes dropped to Farica’s glossy lips as she continued to go on about how her brothers were the ones who were worried, and not her. It was baffling to Alek how Farica could be so oblivious to the effect she had on people.
“I’m not worried about anything.” Mac frowned. His mouth was saying one thing but Wolf was able to pick up on Mac’s animal shifting inside him, practically clawing at him to get far, far away from that death cruiser they called a jet.
Alek smiled. He was rather enjoying this wide-open link he had with Wolf and Wrath. He was becoming privy to so much.
“What the hell is so funny?” Mac scowled at him, his thick eyebrows dipping.
“Nothing at all. It’s going to be fine,” Alek tried to assure his little brother. “Go over there and talk to Farica while I speak to Justice.”
Mac glanced between his brothers then shrugged them off. He grumbled to Wick on his way past, “I hope you at least got some of those complimentary sweet and salty peanuts everyone raves about on airplanes?”
The king didn’t respond to Mac’s quip, still appearing too distraught to enjoy any kind of humor. Mac walked away and right into their sister’s outstretched arms. Once Mac was enfolded in her cocoon of serenity, Alek turned to Justice and Wick. He didn’t get a chance to open his mouth before Wick was in his face, his dark eyes flashing with pain.