"Al--you can't trust Viktor. Don't trust him no matter what. He's tricking everyone, all the old shifters, and he has these necklaces that they gave him that are supposed to be for the other queens, and--"
Gina ripped the phone from my hands and hung up. "That was certainly not very fair!"
Ansel stood up. "You are not going to yell at her about your shady, kidnapper boss. He did take the necklaces. Alistair ought to know about it so he can tell Frankie that she is owed a necklace. I think I'd rather just eat by ourselves. Do you want to join me in the bedroom, Mina?"
"I think I ate enough anyway."
"Great." Ansel picked up my bowl too. "Good night, Gina. This was delicious, by the way. Damnit...," he breathed when we were out of earshot. "I wish I didn't have to piss off the chef. I'm so tired of eating the ten things Waylon knows how to make.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Frankie
"And that is all she said before someone hung up the phone." Alistair sounded so angry despite his soft tone that I could practically feel the flames licking off him through the phone. "Viktor is coming here and I want you to speak to the leaders there and assemble a small team of the best people and get him."
"I'm not sure that's the best idea--"
"He has my Mina somewhere and I'll fucking torture him until he tells me where! I'll have the plane ready for you to go! I'll meet you in New York!"
"Go take a Xanax, god!" He'd already hung up on me. "I do not envy Mina. Well--the good news is, we can take the Merryweather jet as soon as we're ready and go back to New York. But I don't want to mess with Viktor. I think our plan to just get Decker and summon the Red Queen is better anyway."
"Viktor cares about Decker if he cares about anyone," Waylon said. "So I think that takes care of two problems. We'd have some leverage without bringing the danger into our midst."
"Is Viktor really that dangerous?" Flor asked.
"I hate to say it, but yes," Waylon said. "He's not invincible--I found that out. His defenses aren't as good as his offense. But he's damn good at offense. In fact, if anyone in the world is better at offense, I don't even want to meet them."
"And you mean like magic?" I suspected Ian had the least experience with magic of all of us, and he looked like he was trying to gauge how worried to be. "What can he do?"
"I can cast a spell that gives me a temporary field of influence and charm," Waylon said. "But Viktor just has that going on all the time. He does have to recharge, but if he's coming off a long plane flight, he'll probably just meditate through it and come in strong. I think focusing on Decker is the way to go."
"Okay, let's recruit!" I got right to my feet, eager to get back to my home turf. It wasn't as safe as Eden Park, but home was always home. "We just need a lean team to back us up if we run into trouble."
"I know who to take from the bird territory," Flor said. "And Ian, you must know the wolves pretty well already."
"Yes. I think we should take Gray, Dayton and Sarah."
"Not Dayton. He's more show than real mettle. Take Ahmed."
Ian glared. "It's getting annoying, Flor."
"Trust me. I'm a great talent scout, as you know. I have even more opinions on the birds. At least the wolves have a tough leader. The birds seem to take a little too much pride in the theme park experience."
"I do trust you," I said. "Forget the fancy birds and bring me the scrappiest, fastest, most aggressive people."
I was in a great mood, feeling the queen vibes. I'd had enough time at Eden Park to settle in; I'd gotten to know some of the shifters myself; I'd been away from home long enough to miss it. My due date was still months away, so it felt like I didn't have to worry about it. And kidnapping Decker felt like an easy job. I doubted he would even put up a big fight. He seemed like a "fair is fair" kind of guy, and Viktor kidnapped us first.
Even better, we went to Wolfwood Village and the three fighters suggested by Ian and Florian were honored and excited to be asked to come with us.
"Wise choices," Dugan said.
In Birdland, Flor asked for Ivan and his two daughters. They accepted with quiet dignity, bringing an impressive array of weaponry with them. And in Neko Paradise, I requested a panther and a bobcat, both tall men in their human forms, named Shawn and Wyatt. They already seemed to work together a lot and I was starting to realize the value of teams that had trust in each other from the start. Waylon requested an old lady.
"She's got sorcery skills," he said.
"She's not going to break a hip or something, is she?"
"No, she does tai chi every day. But she also turns into a little cat like you, so if we get in trouble I'll just carry her."
"Oh, this sounds like a great idea," I said, looking over my two buff guys and Sylvia in a turtleneck sweater.
"I hope Sylvia saves your ass," Waylon said.
"Apparently Frankie is trying to add more consorts," Ian said, looking at my choices like he wanted to growl at them.
"Whatever! Let's just get everyone on the plane and go!"
Chapter Twenty-Three
Frankie
We landed at LaGuardia pretty late, losing two hours thanks to time zones, but we already knew we wouldn't beat Viktor and Decker home. That was fine; everyone had been briefed on our plans and having spent weeks at Viktor's house, I knew he sent Decker out to do things on a regular basis. Alistair sent over a van and got us a couple of hotel rooms near the presidential residence so we could watch and wait.
Ian and Flor already worked well together, so they broke into one group while Waylon and I grabbed some sleep. At least, I did. I guess that was the one area where the pregnancy showed--I crashed really hard, but I'm not sure Waylon slept much at all.
"Viktor's about to give a speech," Waylon said, waking me in the morning. "And I brought you a waffle from the complimentary breakfast."
"Oh..." The smell of fresh waffle, melting butter and coffee smacked me awake first, and I started licking the butter off the waffle like I enjoyed doing when no one was watching me eat. Waylon was using a fork to eat his but when he heard me licking mine he said nothing but just picked his up in one hand.
The second thing to smack me awake was Viktor's speech.
"If you grew up here, I'm sure you know the feeling,” Viktor said, standing on an outdoor stage somewhere. “The knot in your guts when you have to cross the border. Checking your ID, running the words over in your head explaining your reason for going into Manhattan. Being extra mindful of your clothes, your hair, your scent, you manner. You know you need to be seen as human--as safe. Unworthy of notice. Just to get on with your business.
"So much fear and thought goes through a shifter's mind before they cross that bridge. Now..." Viktor took the briefest dramatic pause, his tone perfectly controlled, before he switched on the fire in his eyes. "At ten-thirty am on Monday morning, while you were at work, while your children were at school, while you were just thinking about your next meal, your day ahead...some five hundred humans walked across that line. They crossed our border, came into our land, unchecked--because their guards came with them, and our guards were outnumbered. They came and attacked children and elders. They came for blood, like they came for your parents or grandparents before Istara was formed. Like they came for my family once."