"Not great," Alistair said. "Look at the Hive and then get back to me. I told you to get Viktor at all costs and instead…I don’t even know what to say. When we get home, you're all grounded."
"Aw, he's learning humor," Ian said, as I opened the app that always made me want to scrub my brain afterward. I already had a feeling we all knew what was coming.
"Well...they didn't get Frankie turning anyone to dust, but maybe they got enough," I said, "to make trouble."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Frankie
Alistair called back and told us to head right for the airport. He felt we didn't have much time to get out before the video had matched my face and my name with the rumors of the queens and they tried to detain me.
I really hoped he was overreacting a little bit. Alistair was pretty high-strung.
Another part of me wondered how I'd survive this. Couldn't they just kill people with drones while they slept these days? Wasn't facial recognition technology getting really good? I worried that the ancient mystical prophecy had failed to account for how much modern life could match magic. At least my low-key profile might buy me a little time.
We reached the executive airport just fine and the rest of our crew had Decker in hand.
“All thanks to Sylvia, really,” Shawn told me, patting the back of Waylon’s old lady witch. “She gave us all some charms to keep us alert and when Decker left the mansion we were on it.”
“I told you Sylvia would pull it out,” Waylon said.
“I’m sorry, but none of this even sounds hard at all,” I grumbled. “They kept alert? That was the big finishing move?”
In fact, it was all good right up until we were walking to the plane.
"Hey, guys," Decker said, greeting us with one shrugged shoulder. They had put his hands behind his back in cuffs. I couldn't blame them. Decker was a big guy. "It's good to see you again, even if this is awkward. Ansel and Mina are fine."
I was thrown by his usual friendliness. "Oh...good. Um, I am sorry about the kidnapping thing."
"It's fair," Decker said. "I'm sure my kidnapping experience will be as enjoyable as I hope yours was when I was hosting."
"You were great. Actually, you'll love Eden Park. Really, I hope you'll be glad we kidnapped you. Viktor can't be that great for company."
"I'm used to Viktor," Decker said. "I'll miss him."
"Well, now that I see how good-natured you are, I’m even more concerned that Mina was left with Viktor but not you," Alistair said. "Are you sure this was a good idea? Who is going to temper that man? Ansel has no sway."
"Don't underestimate Ansel," Waylon said.
A fleet of vehicles, dark and tinted, started coming our way right onto the tarmac. One of the airport employees walked over to Alistair and murmured, his walkie talkie buzzing in his ear at the same time.
"It's the Istaran Intelligence Bureau," Alistair snapped. "Get on that plane!"
"Mr. Merryweather, sir, we don't have clearance."
"I'm going to talk to them," Alistair said. "I'm going to go to Mina. Fuck clearance, they're not going to shoot the plane down, just get everyone else out of here. Do it now!" He waved us all onto the plane and we hustled.
"Take care of yourself, Merryweather," Ian said, standing just behind Decker, making sure he didn't try anything. We rushed up the stairs and the shifter flight attendant shut the doors right away.
"We're ready, sir," she told the pilot.
I looked out the window and saw Alistair walking toward the vehicles with his arms outstretched, showing them he had no weapons. Some guys got out of the cars and grabbed him, handcuffing him.
"Oof," Decker said behind me, leaning down to see what was going on. "This isn't going very well, is it?"
"In what way?" Waylon said, easing into a seat with a groan of pain. "It seems like it's going pretty well for Viktor. He has his queen and one of our most valuable allies just handed himself over to get to her."
"He has some kind of necklaces too," I reminded everyone. "He's made it really obvious that he's not our friend. He's working for himself. Decker, you kept telling us we could trust him."
"I don't know if I said that exactly,..." Decker looked pained and glanced toward the mini-fridge/kitchen setup. "You got a drink?"
Ian took out a beer for him.
"Prepare for takeoff," the pilot said over the intercom. "Might be a little bumpy."
"Buckle up," Ian told everyone, and he sat next to me, knowing I'd be scared.
"Viktor has a very...independent spirit," Decker said.
"Oh, fuck off with that shit," Waylon said. "Stop defending him. He's a good leader of Istara, no one's arguing that, but now it's our personal lives we're talking about, our friends that he's dragged off somewhere, and you can tell us the real deal. What does he want?"
"And what would he do to get it?" I added.
"What does he want? Ah jeez..." Decker rubbed a hand over his entire face. "He just wants to give shifters power and a rock-solid place in the world. He wants to lead. He wants to make up for what happened to his mom, and who wouldn't? He doesn't just want to be a consort. I do think that's true. I'm also not sure...he is a consort."
"He's not?" I narrowed my eyes. "He's just going to gaslight Mina into thinking so?"
"I mean, I half think he's convinced himself he's her consort. But when I saw you and Waylon, Frankie, and then Mina with Ansel.”
“Ansel,” Waylon murmured, as this was the first we’d heard that Ansel was Mina’s consort instead.
“There's an ease and affection, like you've known each other forever, even though I know you haven't. There's nothing like that with Viktor and Mina. There's him using the force of his will on her, and her trying to fight it. That ain't right, but I don't know. When I'm around him, I do believe he could make things better for us. So I guess I'm willing to pay whatever his price is."
"You're not a consort either, are you?" I growled.
"I'd be shocked if I was." Decker shrugged. "But none of us have ever met the Red Queen."
"Damnit. That was the whole point! We were going to use you as a lure for the Red Queen." I shot a look to the shifters we'd brought from Eden Park. They had settled into seats behind us and were hanging out in their own groups, but they were also listening in on us. "I might have put them in danger for nothing." I felt stupid, like we hadn't accomplished anything. This was my first attempt at queenly leadership and so far I had viral video of me on the internet blinding a guy, a kidnapped lion princess, a gunshot wound in Waylon's leg, and no tie to the Red Queen.
"I'm still useful," Decker said.
"Would Viktor actually give us anything in exchange for you?" Waylon asked.
"Probably not..."
"Then you're not that useful. You're just a nice guy. I might have you buy me some more clothes, though."