Page 24 of The Bonds of Nyx

“What the hell is going on?” Adrian asked quietly, slipping the tablet under his arm.

The shifter rolled his shoulders back, green eyes glowing, nostrils flared as he scented the area. “Four different scents thataren’t human. They’re doing a lot to hide themselves, but not enough.” He breathed in deeply and released it slowly before turning to us. “They’re three houses down on the right.”

I did a quick count of the peeling exteriors and found the one he was referring to. The roof shingles were a dark grey, with patches of missing tile. The exterior was like the other houses surrounding it: peeling blue paint, off-white windows and front door, a small porch with wooden beams eaten away by mites, and a yard overtaken by nature.

Turning back to Elias, I asked, “What’s the plan?”

“Most of these houses have two entrances. Front and back. I want to flush them out. You and Kingsley will take the back, I’ll take the front. We’ll know quickly if they’re our people or the enemy.”

There wasn’t much that needed to be discussed after that. This was what we were trained for. Our teams were created to primarily go out into the human world and not only protect the creatures of Nyx, but also humankind. This reminded me of the earlier missions Adrian and I had completed when we’d first graduated from the Phoenix Training Centre; we would go out into the field and locate stray vamps who were Changed against their will, or track demons hunting in large cities and take them back to Avalon.

Another shiver of anticipation ran down my spine. My blood hummed with renewed energy. I pulled a short, curved dagger from my belt and called to my magic. Runes along the blade’s side glowed a dull orange before settling into the Fae-steel.

As we approached the house, Adrian and I stalked towards the back, while Elias stayed at the front. The prince and I didn’t need to speak—we knew each other too well, and we had our own way of communicating during missions.

The back porch—if you could call it that—was just as run-down as the front. We took the steps two at a time until we reached thedecaying door, and as soon as we did, a different kind of shiver ran down my spine.

Fuck.They had wards. Unless there was someone adept at charms in their midst, no regular creature would think to put up wards unless they specifically wanted to hide from our teams.

Adrian and I shared a quick look before he worked to dismantle the shields around the house. I heard nothing from Elias’s end, so that meant he was waiting, had recognised the potential danger, too.

“Whoever set these up was good,” he muttered, a bead of sweat running down his face, “but I’m better.”

His magic unspooled from him and into the workings of the wards. It took him only a minute to have the magic fracturing like glass and crashing down around us. The front door kicked in a second later, the sound jarring compared to the silence, and we followed, shouldering the door open and spilling into the house.

We entered through a dingy, rotten kitchen, where cabinet doors were missing, and rats scattered at our appearance. I lifted my mask over my nose at the stench permeating the small space. Adrian grunted, doing the same. Grimacing, I tightened my grip on my dagger as Adrian flexed his hands. Our eyes met, and when he nodded, we stalked into the next room.

A darkened figure jumped out from behind a chair and bared sharp teeth.Shifter.Claws extended from his hands as he swiped at my chest, the tips barely scraping the material of my gear. I danced back and brought my dagger up to defend myself, blocking another direct blow to my upper body.

“I’ve got this one,” I grunted, dodging another strike from the shifter, who barely acknowledged Adrian. “Get the others.”

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Adrian’s hesitation, but I didn’t have time to assure him I was fine. The shifter cocked his fist back and swung; I ducked, motioned for Adrian to keep moving and clear the rest of the house, and struck with mydagger. The blade cut through the shifter’s stomach, but it didn’t deter him. He was lithe, maybe some sort of small predator if I had to guess. It was almost like he didn’t feel the pain of the cut.

The shifter pounced and collided with me, sending us to the ground. We rolled as he tried to pin me, but I knocked him back and forced him to the floor. Blood from his stomach coated my hand, which I wiped away in disgust.

“Death to the Queen,” the shifter spat, dark eyes meeting mine. “Your little bit—”

Before he could finish, his head rolled. I lowered the dagger as the magic within the runes subsided. I suppressed a groan as I rose to my feet, sparing the body one last glance before leaving the room in search of the others. I couldn’t wait until these assholes were dead or trapped in prison where they belonged.

The sound of Elias’s growl echoed through the house, spurring me on to the front of the building. The smell of rotting flesh and trash burned my nose and made my eyes water despite the mask, and with each step, I felt the floorboards rattle beneath my feet.

Turning the corner, I barely missed an elbow to the head. I reared back; my heart crashed against my ribs, but I pushed aside the sudden wave of fear aside. I huffed and flipped my dagger in my hand, slamming it into the spine of the creature. Blood rushed from the wound as I pulled the blade free. Based on the short, dying wave of power, they were a witch.

As the body crumpled, I glanced away from the body to take in the rest of the room. Glass was scattered across the ground, and apart from the witch I’d killed, the last two Elias had sniffed out were already on the ground.

“They weren’t ours,” I said, catching Adrian and Elias’s attention. Both looked up from the unmasked soldiers. “They were after Ivy.”

~

Clean-up was easy enough to secure, and based on a search of the house, we found no evidence of other enemy agents in town. Nothing in the building indicated to us that they’d alerted their leader about Ivy being here, and there was no evidence they’d located her, either.

But still, it made tensions run high.

“We don’t need to tell her anything,” Elias said as he pulled the SUV into an empty space in the basement garage.

I stiffened, but from the front seat, Adrian replied, “You really think that’s the best plan?”

“We handled it.” Elias pulled himself out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind him. Through the rear-view mirror, Adrian met my stare. I had to wonder if he was fighting the same internal battle as me. I knew Elias was partially right—the danger was under control, we knew there weren’t any other trackers in town, and it hadn’t looked like there were any others we should be aware of. Yet, I hated hiding something like that from her. I was already keeping the visions from her for her own peace of mind, but now we also had another secret to keep.

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