A familiar outline sat on a bench in the park ahead, waiting for us, and we climbed out to greet her.
“You’re alive.” Remy leapt to her feet. “Congrats!” She brought the phone up to her ear. “Later, Barnes.”
“Barnes?” I eyed her with suspicion. “As in my lawyer, Joseph Barnes?”
“I was totally not just reaching out to him for a sneak peek at your will.” She pocketed her cell. “In unrelated news, it turns out there’s this whole attorney/client privilege thing that prevents a lawyer from answering questions about a client without the client’s express permission or some nonsense.”
That, more than any test Abbott might administer, told me she was the real Remy and not a coven spy.
And that I should be explicit in my last wishes if I wanted Midas or anyone else to see a penny of their potential inheritance.
“Imagine that.” I rolled my eyes. “Where are the others?”
“As soon as the portal closed behind you, they returned to the Faraday.” She limped over, swords in hand, and held them out to me. “Well, the area around the Faraday anyhow.”
“Then that’s where we’ll head too.” I accepted them, their weight a comfort, and sheathed them within Ambrose. “Are you coming with us?”
“Meet you there.” She pointed across the way. “Tonight is not the night to leave my wheels on the street.” She reached in her pocket and tossed me a KitKat bar. “Midas said to give you that.”
Heart melting at his thoughtfulness, I scanned behind her, already knowing he wasn’t here. “How is he?”
“He’s fine.” She rolled her eyes like it ought to have been obvious. “So’s his mom.”
“He’s really okay?” I clutched the treat to my heart. “No lasting damage?”
“A medic examined them both, a witch. She’s not as familiar with gwyllgi physiology, but she gave them a clean bill of health. She cautioned them to follow up with Abbott, but we could tell when you beat the curse.” She chuckled. “They jerked upright like twin vampires rising from their coffins.”
Most vampires didn’t sleep in coffins, only the ones with a flair for the dramatic, but it painted a picture.
“Thank the goddess.” I tore into the candy wrapper. “We’ll follow you.”
To this day, I’m convinced the KitKat teleported directly into my stomach. It was in my hand one second and in my belly the next. I didn’t savor the chocolate on my tongue. There was no flavor. I was too tired, and my taste buds had given up too.
This might be an all-new low for me. As a chocoholic with a refined palate, I was ashamed of myself.
To say we followed Remy is to imply that we could catch her, or even see her taillights.
Mostly, we used common sense and got within three blocks of the Faraday before we hit a barrier.
Men and women in uniform held the line, but their Atlanta Police Department uniforms and snazzy patrol cars didn’t prevent me from identifying them as sentinels here to defend the Society’s interests.
After exiting the van, I waited on Bishop (and Ferro’s head) to join me. “To glamour or not to glamour?”
I was proud of how smooth the question came out, without a hint of underlying stress.
“I’m going to hang back.” He ruffled his dark hair. “Glamour doesn’t stick well when I’m full.”
“I’ll check in then.” I left him to cross to a woman I recognized from a previous case. “Hey, Landers.”
“Whitaker.” She nodded. “I wondered when you were going to show.”
Sentinels were Low Society necromancers, and if they didn’t know Atlanta was a secret fae mecca, I wasn’t about to inform them. No good little necromancer got friendly with fae. They sure as heck didn’t create portals for romps around Faerie.
“My team hit their HQ.” I shook her hand. “The coven is out of reinforcements.”
“Nice.” She grinned at me, flashing a dimple in one cheek. “I figured you were off cowboying.”
“Yeehaw,” I said dryly. “Got an update for me?”
“There are seventy-five active practitioners left by our count.” She gestured to the fog. “Hard to tell in all this, but the shifters are leveling the playing field.”
“You guys have been busy.” I shoved the warehouse body count out of mind. “Have you seen Tisdale?”
“Let me check.” Landers referenced the time on her phone. “Not for about thirty minutes.”
A throaty baying reached my ears, and my heart lurched as a familiar voice answered the song.
Midas.
Sure enough, a blond gwyllgi sped around the corner and ran full out until he reached the barricade. He shifted without slowing, plowing into me hard enough to send us both tumbling to the pavement. Midas tucked me against him, twisting me beneath him, and took the hit for us.
“You’re alive,” he breathed. “Thank God.”
“How did you find me so fast?” I touched his chest, right over his heart. “The bond?”
“Uh, no.” Remy stood over us. “I called him.” She snorted. “We needed a guide to the action.”
Midas’s laughter might have stung me, if he wasn’t so very pretty up close. “Where is the action?”
“All over.” He kissed me so fast I didn’t even taste him, then stood. “Let’s go.”
Hauling me to my feet, I went along as he led Remy and me into the gloom. “You’re mighty chipper.”
“Tonight I’m the envy of every male in the pack,” he bragged. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
The hungry smile he turned on me ignited heat in my belly that sparked crimson in his eyes.
“The hero returns,” Ford crowed. “All hail the conquering Hadley.”
Hank, bloodied and filthy, laughed—actually laughed—like a normal person.
“Hush.” I ignored the heat in my cheeks. “This was a team effort.”
Aware he owed thanks to more than me, Midas craned his neck. “Where is Bishop?”
“He’s here.” I flicked a hand in a vague direction. “And there.”
Midas cocked an eyebrow, but he didn’t press the issue, and for that I was grateful.
Back to important matters, I focused on the biggie. “How’s the Faraday?”
“No one told you?” Ford did a little dance. “The coven has abandoned the Faraday as a target.”
“Without Natisha,” Hank explained, “the coven has no interest in Liz, or her child.”
“Then you guys don’t even need me,” I joked, relief sharp and giddy. “I’ll just go home and veg out.”
“There’s a pocket of resistance near Ben’s Fried Chicken.”
The voice jerked my spine straight, and I whirled to find Ares standing there, dirty and grim.
An uncomfortable silence swept through our small gathering. Her timing couldn’t have been worse.
“Hey,” I said lamely, wishing she hadn’t overheard us discussing her mate. “It’s good to see you.”
“Yeah.” Her eyes held deep shadows, and her voice came out rough. “Good to see you.”