Page 3 of Ascension of the Pack

‘I don’t need guns. I’ll storm in by myself and rip their heads off,’ Emory snarled.

‘You could put her in danger and you don’t want that,’ Greg shot back. ‘Just give us a few minutes to find out more. You know it’s the best call to keep Jinx safe.’

Emory let Greg push him gently back into his seat; some small part of him was still being ruled by logic, thank God.

Fritz took back his laptop and started typing. ‘Let me see what information I can get first. Then we can rip heads off.’ He paused. ‘Well, you can, Emory. I’m not really a ripping-heads-off guy.’ Fritz was barely old enough to call himself a ‘guy’; to me he wasstill a kid though he had to be knocking on seventeen, so maybe my perception wasn’t fair.

‘It could be a trap,’ Greg warned. ‘The information might not be trustworthy. It could just be a lure to get to Emory.’

I shook my head stubbornly. ‘I don’t think so. Elvira told me she was going undercover with the Anti-Crea. If she’s there now with Jess, she’ll be working with us to get her out. But Elvira’s neck is on the line and we can’t let it be known she gave us the address. This is going to have to be a quiet extraction.’

‘Well, now,’ Shirdal said drolly as he strolled in. ‘It just so happens I’m an expert at extractions.’

‘So am I,’ Emory said. ‘I’ll rip that building to pieces.’

When he stood up, Shirdal pushed him back down. ‘Think with your brains, my Azhdar, not your heart.’

‘I know you want her safe – I do too,’ I said to Emory. ‘But going in guns blazing could get her killed – and Elvira too. I’ve got a plan. You and I are going to be a smokescreen. We’re going to the Connection and we’re going to make an almighty fuss. And while we’re screaming at the top of our lungs, Shirdal and Nate will go in and rescue her likesneaky ninjas.’

Emory was grinding his teeth again; he wanted to be the one to rescue her. I felt the same way, but this way Emory and I would draw every eye towards us while our deadly allies rescued Jess. ‘It’s the safest option for Jess,’ I pressed.

‘Fine,’ he snarled. ‘Shirdal, Nate, some of the brethren and some of the dark seraph.’

Shirdal nodded calmly. ‘Yes, my Azhdar. We will retrieve your mate.’

‘See that you do.’ Emory surged back to his feet and this time no one pressed him back down. He looked at me darkly. ‘Let’s go scream at some people.’

I grinned. ‘You got it.’

I was good cop, entreating the Symposium for help to locate my poor friend who seemed to have been erroneously arrested; Emory was bad cop, adding the ‘or else’ that I couldn’t say.

Worryingly, although the symposium had been convened Jimmy Rain wasn’t there. It was his job to defend werewolf rights, so what the hell was he doing playing hooky? It had been a huge oversight on my part to leave him in a position of power. I knew he was a fool, but he was a dangerous one; allowing him to be in charge ofanything other than his lunch had been a bad decision on my part.

We had to consolidate our power first. He doesn’t play fair,Esme pointed out.

Then neither will we. He’s on our shit list.

Why would we have a list of shit? Are you commenting on the regularity of bowel movements or their texture?

Some things just didn’t translate. I ignored Esme and focused on the irate dragon shifter next to me. Emory was eloquently presenting the raft of evidence his lawyers had put together to prove unequivocally that Jess had been deputised by Stone. He’d even managed somehow to get a statement from Stone himself.

He had just finished presenting his evidence when he froze for a moment, spun on his heels and strode over to me. ‘I can feel her,’ he breathed.

‘The cuffs must be off!’ I whispered jubilantly.

He smiled. ‘The cuffs are off.’ He turned back to the symposium members. ‘I’ve finished presenting my evidence,’ he said abruptly. ‘Vote to dismiss or retain the charges. Now.’

Then his phone rang and he pulled it out to answer. ‘You can’t take that call in here!’ a stuffy troll objected.

Emory ignored him and swiped to answer. ‘You have an update?’ he barked into the handset. I couldn’t make out the response but I saw the tension slip from his shoulder. ‘I’m not free to talk,’ he went on. ‘I’ll be back as soon as possible.’ He hung up.

‘If you are quite done? We need to deliberate,’ the dryad pointed out. ‘And we must verify that this signature is indeed Inspector Stone’s.’

‘Then do so,’ Emory snarled impatiently. ‘Let my second, Tom Smith, know the results.’

He grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the room. ‘She’s home!’ he said exultantly as we swept out of the fancy chamber.

‘Thank God. You’re not tempted to phase directly to her?’

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