Chapter Nineteen
Birk watched Lily cross the street. To the casual observer she acted fairly relaxed, but to him, she was scared. He couldn’t point to one action, but her gate wasn’t as fluid as usual, and her hands were stuffed in her pockets, probably hiding clenched fists.
Her thumb must have touched her ring, because an ache clamped down on his heart. Hard.
Oh, Lily, Lily. I wish I were with you right now.
He would be following her shortly—just as soon as Toma escorted her to his truck at gunpoint. Birk couldn’t imagine what would have gone through her mind if that ass had really been kidnapping her.
If this rescue mission had involved anyone other than his mate, Birk wouldn’t have worried nearly as much. It didn’t matter that Lily had proven her worth under pressure when she saved those incarcerated at the prison. As much as Birk wanted to abort this mission, he wouldn’t. He had to have faith that things would go according to plan.
Just as he’d instructed, Lily approached the café and then bent over as if to read the menu in the storefront window. Toma’s truck door opened, and he glanced both ways before approaching her. As if he was meeting an old friend, Toma moved next to her—too close for Birk’s comfort—and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Lily stiffened but didn’t call out.
Birk’s fingers almost extended into talons. He wanted to punch the wall so badly—or more accurately, he wanted to punch Toma’s face.
Lily twisted toward Toma and hate poured out of her eyes. Toma leaned in closer and said something to her. Acting as if Dorlack’s men were near, she nodded. Good girl. Toma lowered his arm to around her waist and escorted her to his truck. He opened the passenger side door and shoved Lily inside.
Birk grabbed the handle to the front door. It was one thing to make it appear as if Toma was really kidnapping Lily, and it was another to hurt her. Once inside the vehicle, Birk expected her to rub her ring, but she must have realized that if Birk sensed her fear, he’d run out to the street, tear open the door, and drag her to safety.
And she’d be right.
Toma’s truck took off, and Birk rushed to the elevator to head to the top floor. Even though he could fly faster than Toma’s truck could drive, and most of the Guardians had a visual on it already, he needed to be doing something.
The elevator finally arrived and two people stepped out. Once the cage emptied, he rushed in and pressed the button for the top floor. He had suggested they turn one of the two elevators into an express that only went to the top floor, but so far that hadn’t happened yet. The cab stopped on the third floor, and he forced himself to be polite to the lab tech who entered and was also going up.
Once they reached the fourth floor, Birk jumped out, dashed down the hallway, and then ran up the stairs to the rooftop. He shifted quickly, and as he flapped his wings to take off, he was met head-on by some incredible force. What the hell?
Stunned, he staggered backward, unable to sense another dragon. What was out there? A dark lighter? Or a well-cloaked dragon with a special ability to be undetected? Kyle’s former assistant had the ability to become invisible, but that was the only person he’d heard of with that capability—and he was now dead.
Something sharp poked him in the chest, and his instinct kicked in. Birk lashed out, clawing and shooting fire at the unseen creature. It screamed, and its shield flickered, but it wasn’t enough for Birk to determine what he looked like. Whatever or whoever it was had probably been sent by Dorlack. That meant this being had to die.
Going on the assumption this wasn’t a dragon but rather some kind of demon, Birk shot upward and hovered above the rooftop. Not being able to see or sense his attacker made his choices more difficult. All he could do was dive and hope to incapacitate him. With his head down, Birk shot back to the rooftop and sent out an ear-shattering screech. As he landed, he whipped his tail back and forth, hoping to meet with some resistance—only he didn’t.
Birk changed into human form, allowing him to do a more thorough search. If someone attacked him again, he could shift in a flash.
Trying to sense some presence, Birk stilled. All he could hear was the traffic four floors below. As much as he didn’t want to waste precious time hunting this creature down, Birk needed to understand what kind of trickery he was up against. Behind the air conditioner on the south side of the building, he found a grappling hook attached to a rope. He looked over the edge but spotted no one. Had the rope been pulled taut, he would have unhooked it and let it drop.
Damn. If not a dragon then what? The slight disintegration of his cloaked shield didn’t give Birk enough of an indication. He wanted to warn the others to be aware of strange happenings, but he couldn’t contact anyone while in flight. Thankfully, he hadn’t experienced any pain from Lily, which implied she was okay.
Birk was unwilling to spend any more time on this force of evil. If the purpose of the invisible attack was to delay him, it had failed. If somebody or something ambushed him on the way though, he’d be ready.
Birk shifted once more and took off. The trip from Edendale to Glen Meadow would take Toma four hours to drive, giving Birk time to catch up. There was the only road that connected the two places, so it didn’t take Birk long to spot the truck.
Birk and the team suspected that Dorlack’s goons would be in the air hovering overhead to make sure Toma had safe passage. They’d have no reason to interfere since they wanted what was in his car. What they probably wouldn’t tolerate was for anyone else to be nearby. That meant the Guardians couldn’t show their faces—or rather their dragon selves.
When Birk sensed a Guardian—who had a different signature than other shifters—he pulled back. Because he didn’t trust himself not to let his emotions get the best of him, he headed to the gas station where Toma was to stop.
With a few hours to go before they arrived, Birk decided to do a cloaked fly-by of Glen Meadow. Understanding the terrain would make fighting and hiding easier. Dorlack had given Toma a specific location for the transfer, so that was where Birk headed.
No surprise, the warehouse was in a rather isolated location. Birk sensed a few dragons and spotted several more visible ones doing surveillance. In case that invisible creature was there, Birk kept his distance. Waiting was not his strong point, especially where Lily was involved.
Once Toma jumped into the driver’s seat, he leaned over and slapped a pair of cuffs on Lily’s left wrist and attached the other end to the grip handle above the door, so that she had no ability to face him.
“Why are you doing that?” she demanded.
“I need to make it look good.”
Now she was forced to sit looking out the window or chance dislocating her shoulder. Asshole. “I’m here voluntarily, you know.”
Toma glanced over at her. “That’s what worries me. Something’s up. Birk Caspian isn’t going to let me turn you over to Dorlack.”
She’d been coached what to say. “You will get your girls and then turn me over. That’s when Birk and his men will swoop in and save the day.” She was pleased her voice didn’t catch like it often did when she lied.
“Why is he doing this? What does he care if my daughters die or are sold?”
“Birk is a caring man,” she shot back.
“No one is that caring.”
Lily couldn’t say it was the Guardian’s desire to eradicate all human trafficking from the realm because no one was to learn of their identity. “I think he’s hoping that in the process of fighting, a few of Dorlack’s men will die—including Dorlack himself.”
“Assuming he even shows up.”
Her stomach cramped. Had Birk thought about that possibility? Powerful men often sent their underlings to do the job. Crap.
Toma started the engine and pulled into the road. “I still don’t like it. Caspian is up to something.”
Let him think that.
The next few hours were going to be incredibly uncomfortable enough, but if she was cuffed like this, it would make it doubly so. “Can’t you take these off me now? I’m not going to jump out of a moving car. If anyone is watching, won’t it look a little funny that my left arm instead of my right is holding onto the handle above the door? Dorlack’s dragon goons are probably flying overhead right now and will stay there until we reach Glen Meadow.”
“Fuck. Okay, once we leave town, I’ll uncuff you.”
“Thank you.” A stoplight turned red and Toma was forced to come to a halt.
He stuck one hand in his pocket, pulled out a key, and unlocked the cuff. “Okay, but don’t try anything.”
“I won’t.” Once free, her shoulder and back rejoiced, even though she’d only been in the twisted position a few minutes.
If she really had been captive, she would have considered jumping out. Lily wouldn’t try that because one of Dorlack’s men might sweep her up and fly her away.
When the light turned green, he floored it, snapping her head back. Way to stay cool, Toma. Lily had a bad feeling about this loose cannon.
When Birk spotted Toma’s truck pull into the gas station, he cloaked himself and made a beeline toward it. The plan was for Toma to gas up and then go to the rendezvous point. Simple—but easy to mess up.
To keep from being seen, Birk landed behind the station. For ease of stealth and mobility, he shifted back into his human form. As much as he wanted to rush out and hold Lily in his arms, he had to wait until she entered the small store attached to the gas station. Tory would take her place, and Toma would leave. Then and only then would Birk find his future mate.
On the side of the station, out of view of any surveillance cameras, sat Nessa’s car. He eased over to it and tapped on the driver’s seat window. Logan rolled it down. “Hey.”
“Is Tory inside?” Birk asked.
“Yup. She’s been waiting for Lily in there. After she arrives, Tory will wait a few minutes to make it look like a legit bathroom break, and then come out,” Logan said.
Good. Even if Toma noticed Tory wasn’t Lily, it hardly mattered. Sure, he’d be pissed, but it would give him more incentive to demand the release of his daughters first.
A whooshing sound overhead drew Birk’s gaze upward. Two dark brown dragons were headed in the direction of the warehouse. Birk had seen a few of them with that coloring near the exchange point, implying they were probably Dorlack’s men.
“I’m going to check to see if it’s all clear,” Birk said. “I’ll make sure Lily is okay and then take off.”
“Kill Dorlack for us,” Logan said.
Birk smiled. “You can count on it.”
From where Logan had parked, he didn’t have a view of the pumps or the front of the little store, so Birk edged his way to the corner and quickly looked. Toma’s truck was now parked in front of the store and not by the gas pumps. He must have finished gassing up and was now paying inside. More than likely, he wanted to make sure Lily hadn’t escaped out the back.
A minute later, Toma exited with Tory right behind him. Because they were under an overhang, it would be difficult for any flying dragon to see them. If Toma planned it that way, Birk had to hand it to him. It was a smart move.
Tory slipped into the front seat, and a moment later, the truck took off.
Show time.
Given it would take Toma about seven minutes to drive to the warehouse, Birk would be able to make sure Lily was okay before he went into battle.
He ducked into the store and looked around but didn’t see her. His heart raced, and he forced himself to at least appear outwardly calm. Lily must be hiding in the women’s bathroom just as Tory had instructed, but that wasn’t going to stop him.
He marched down the small corridor that led to the male and female bathrooms and knocked on the woman’s door. “Lily? It’s me, Birk.”
Feet scraped, and a second later, the door opened. At the sight of her, his dragon shot heat to every pore as his body pulsed light.
She threw herself into his arms and pressed her face tight against his chest. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
He held her close with one arm while he stroked her hair with the other. Nothing elevated his mood more than holding his mate. “Don’t be silly. Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“It better not.” She sniffled, leaned her head back, and looked up at him with watery eyes. “Kiss me?”
He hated she thought she had to ask. “Always.”
When he pressed his lips to hers, his hands tightened their hold and his inner dragon shot fire up his spine. Teasing open her lips, he delved in. Big mistake. His cock hardened and his brain function stopped.
Only when Lily groaned, did Birk lean back. “I can’t get started,” he huffed out. “Or Dorlack might get away.”
She stroked his face and looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes. “Then go save the world. I love you!”
His heart swelled. The last time she said anything like that, she only thought she loved him. Birk kissed her quick. “I love you too, Lily.” He stepped back and lightly swatted her butt. “Stay another five minutes and then leave. Nessa and Logan are parked right next to the building.”
She smiled. “Tory told me. You don’t think it’s safe to leave now?”
He’d seen two dragons fly by, but there could be more. “Not yet. It might not even be safe for me to go out. Once I shift, I’ll cloak quickly so they can’t find me.”
Lily hugged him once more. “Come back to me.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I promise.”
Having Birk stop by had lowered Lily’s blood pressure tremendously, but now Tory was in the hot seat. All Lily had to do was walk out of the store, turn right, and slip into the backseat of Nessa’s car. Easy.
After she waited five more minutes, she pushed open the bathroom door. Good. No one was there. As she turned to head down the short hallway, someone grabbed her from behind and pressed a cloth against her face.
What the hell? Adrenaline flooded her system. On pure flight instinct, Lily jabbed her elbow into her attacker’s stomach and stomped on the instep. A grunt sounded, but the pressure didn’t let up.
Then a burning stench clogged her throat and rendered her muscles immobile. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her knees buckled.