Page 91 of The Bonds of Nyx

Zeph snorted and checked his weapons over before striding towards SUV one. The Seer’s son, Rowan Archer, glanced between us warily before sliding into the passenger seat.

I straightened as my man pulled himself into the driver’s seat. The wards around the vehicle went up a moment later, a dim shimmer of magic that disappeared in the blink of an eye as it settled over the black exterior.

Grey walked around it once, checked the wards, and then tapped it three times. It was protected.

The second the SUV roared to life, I stalked towards the next car in the line-up, where our Queen waited, her hand tucked into her mate’s. That same discomfort from earlier reared its head,and I forced myself to look away from the pair and join Grey in front of the vehicle.

“You ready?” I asked, crossing my arms.

The vampire looked me over. “I have our coordinates. We’ll be safe where we’re going.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thought the same thing with this place, yet here we are.”

She didn’t give away her annoyance, but Ivy huffed and dragged her little mate around the side of the SUV to join us. “Seriously? It seemed like it was safe before you and your team got here. We get, what, a week with you, and we’ve been found?” She raised her brows at me before shaking her head. “Can we get going now? As you keep pointing out, it’s not safe and we have to leave. Before—” another shock rocked the house above us, causing the prince to wrap his mate in his arms. “—we end up with a house where the basement should be,” she finished warily, her eyes finally leaving me to fall on the vampire.

Grey didn’t argue, of course. She simply nodded and motioned for our soon-to-be Queen to get in. But I couldn’t help but watch how Kingsley and Grey swarmed her. One would think Grey was a little too close to our soon-to-be Queen. But I didn’t say anything. It wouldn’t do me any good to point it out, especially with my jealousy rising.

It seemed Ivy had everyone wrapped around her finger.

I wouldn’t join them. I couldn’t.

Grey took the driver’s seat, so I rounded the SUV and climbed in beside her. A shiver raced over me, lifting the hairs on my arms as the wards fell into place around us.

The vampire pressed the call button on the dash, and the speakers beeped loudly twice before reaching our people. “This is Grey to Phoenix Compound,” she started, putting the SUV into drive. “Patch me into Sir Ya’Dahir’s office.”

I felt my body stiffen as we waited for the Queen’s mate to answer our call. The house shook again, forcing us from our idling position. The first SUV passed us, drove up the winding path to the ground floor, and we followed. The garage door groaned as it opened, and we were met with blasts of magic that shook the first SUV, but didn’t destroy it.

From the backseat, Ivy gasped, her fear and worry palpable. “The SUV is fine,” I muttered, “the vehicle camouflaged and unseen. They’re blindly attacking because the garage is open. That’s why they’re uneasy.”

Ivy made a sound but didn’t respond. My gut twisted, but instead of focusing on her and her distress, I took in the damage wrought by the enemy. I spotted three of my own, and the wolf shifter fighting the front lines and keeping the enemies from going any further into the house. It looked like reinforcements had arrived since being in the basement.; two SUVs were parked in front of the house—or at least, what remained of it—and there were agents I recognised fighting alongside my men.

“Is that Jay?” Ivy whispered, pointing to a half-demon I vaguely recognised from the compound.

“Yeah. And you can see Elias. He’s fine. Jay has his back.”

The growl that passed her lips almost made me laugh, but then her magic spiked, potent and unbelievably strong as it filled the SUV.

“Calm her down,” I snapped, half-turning in my seat. “They’ll sense it, and we’ll be fucked over.”

From the corner of my eye, I watched her suck in deep breaths, but that didn’t seem to be doing anything. Her magic continued trickling over us in waves, calling desperately to my Fae side. A side I would much rather ignore right now.

“Adrian.” The SUV rocked as we moved. The first car drove through the rubble, barely missing the now-injured bear thatdove out of the house towards us. We swerved, barely missing the shifter. “You’re mates. Do something.”

“But we justmated,” he replied, almost desperately. “I don’t know—”

“Absorb some of her power,” a voice said, deep, rich, and all too familiar. “Your proximity is helping, but she needs more. Skin-to-skin contact preferably.”

“Like a kiss?” the prince asked.

“Yes,” Sir Ya’Dahir replied. “Has she fully bonded anyone yet?”

I grunted and turned away before the prince could lock lips with our new Queen. Almost immediately, her magic slipped back, reeled in by the touch.

“Yes. She has two mates.” Grey’s voice grew tight as she manoeuvred her way through the destruction. There were felled trees blocking the main road, but Konrad, with his power, moved them across the gravel and back into the forest. “There is another update regarding that, but this isn’t the time.”

Queen Greer’s mate stayed quiet momentarily before asking, “What happened?”

Grey recounted the attack as we drove. From the trees, an unmasked Fae leapt at us, landing behind the SUV. She was lithe, likely Spring Court if I had to guess, and as she lifted her arms, I sucked in a breath. Vines crawled from the darkness of the forest floor, answering her magic in droves, and it was powerful.

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