Page 10 of Priest

“It wouldn’t surprise me if—whatever the fuck this is—it’s an escalation. I think McCornal and his piece-of-shit son were just the beginning of a new, bigger problem. Something unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”

There was a note of a lie in his voice, and Priest played the words back in his head before realizing what it was. People going missing. Anti-Supe hatred.

“The labs,” Priest murmured, staring at his friend’s profile. Mentioning the worst thing to ever happen to Knight wasn’tsomething he did very often—and Knightnevertalked about it willingly—but the dots were connecting and leading him to one place.

Knight stiffened and swallowed heavily, pushing to his feet and keeping his back to Priest. The scent of his anguish stung his nose, riling his Demon, who was just as protective of the Vampire as Priest was. “We shouldn’t assume. Not yet. But I’ll fill Sunshine in on the plane and, if you’re in agreement, have him order the other two teams to be on standby. Since most of Bravo Team is already there, we’ll have them create a perimeter around Azriel’s, but the Alphas will be in charge.”

Priest felt an almost violent wave of relief. He needed to see Oliver. To touch him. To breathe in his scent. He needed to be there when he opened his eyes so he could be sure that he was as okay as he could be. And he needed to find who’d hurt him and make them hurt a hundred times worse.

And considering the potential magnitude of what Knight was hinting at, they were looking at a possible war on their hands. Were they ready for that?

He almost broke a rib trying to hold in his laugh. They’d be completely and utterly fucked.

“When do we leave?” They had returned to HQ about a week ago, the high-security building sitting right on the border between the Siren’s kingdom, Midlona, and the Gargoyle’s, Averna. There were few others in the area, most clustering around the castles their royals lived in, but Jeremiah and his new princely mate were in a cozy—and private—little house nearby.

The bookshop was on the edge of the Midlona city in a slightly seedier area than Priest would have liked—or it had been.

“As soon as your go bag is packed,” Knight said.

Luckily, Priest was nothing if not prepared.

The rooms he stayed in at HQ weren’t really home to him, and he always kept his bag ready. Snagging his duffel from the closet, he pulled out his phone. He didn’t give a shit that he was in running pants and a tattered T-shirt. The only thing that mattered was getting to Oliver as quickly as he could.

As they headed out to the elevator, Knight texting their new pilot to let him know they were on their way, Priest called the only person who could help him get through the next few days.

When his best friend answered, he didn’t give him a chance to speak. “I need you. Something happened.”

The flight was short, but it felt eternal, and Knight threatened to pin him and drain him if he didn’t stop pacing. Priest flopped on his back over two seats in their new jet—a thank-you gift from the king and queen of Midlona—and started counting divots in the plane ceiling. Loudly.

Jeremiah was on his phone in the last row, Remi curled up against his side. The waves of worry mixed with lust coming off the prince were driving Priest’s Demon to distraction, which added to his inability to settle.

Knight gave him a flat look, then slipped noise-canceling headphones over his ears—the good ones he’d bought after he and Priest had experienced aparticularlyhellish stakeout together a year or so ago—and Priest flipped him off before turning his face toward the windows, not really seeing anything beyond the glass.

He couldn’t stop shaking on the descent, and by the time they landed, he was all but crawling out of his skin.

Jeremiah squeezed his shoulder on his way past, telling him and Knight he’d call when he knew something, and then jumped in a vehicle with Remi and the head of the Bravo Team.

Knight didn’t put up any kind of fight when Priest snagged the keys to their waiting SUV and quickly climbed in after him. Priest drove the way to Azriel’s on pure muscle memory, pulling around the back of the club, and he was unsurprised to find the Angel sitting outside waiting for them.

Az looked the same as he always did—shirtless, artfully torn jeans, his hair still hanging in his face. But there were dark circles under his eyes Priest was unused to seeing, which he knew wasn’t from lack of sleep but from a power drain. It meant he’d gone above and beyond to heal Oliver… which meant his injuries had probably been worse than he’d admitted over the phone.

The scent of smoke and charred wood filled the air, and he could see the blackened outline of what used to be a corner of the bookstore. The sight nearly brought him to his knees, making the whole thing so much more real. Turning his fear and anger on the only outlet he had was a terrible idea, but he couldn’t stop himself.

He slammed the SUV door shut and rushed Azriel, ripping his spiced cigarette from his mouth and flinging it away. “How bad was it? How could he have survived that? There are char marks on your fucking club!”

Azriel followed the trajectory of his blunt, a small frown on his inhumanly pretty face. “Your little pet will be fine.”

Priest’s hands curled into fists. “Call him that one more time. See what happens.”

Smiling, Azriel shook his head, clapping his hand against the side of Priest’s neck and pulling him close so their foreheads touched. There was an instinctive twitch under his skin, his Demon repelled on a cellular level by an Angel touching him, buthe shook it off and allowed the soothing scent and heat of his friend to ease his anxiety.

“He’s alive. He hasn’t woken up yet, and I’m not sure when he will, but he’s not dying.”

When he will, yes, orifhe will, but Priest refused to acknowledge those unspoken words.

“How bad are his injuries? Are they permanent?” Priest whispered hoarsely.

At that, Azriel pulled back and glanced away. “I don’t know yet. I’ve given him everything I’ve got. And before you make a complete fucking ass of yourself, you might want to feed. I can smell your hunger, babes.”

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