Page 67 of Reign

“Come on, we need to get set up.” Ava gently pulled me towards the door.

Reluctantly, I followed her. I might be staying behind, but she was right, I still had a job to do, and I’d do it to the best of my ability.

Chapter 25

Ember

“You good with all this?”Lance asked, no sarcasm or levity in his question. He was all business. When he was acting like an arse, it was easy to forget he’d been Connor’s second at the SBI before Owen.

“Yeah.” I nodded and sat at the chair in front of my bank of screens. And I was. This was the kind of thing we’d all been drilled for in Faerie. All of us; Alex, Blue, Lance, Ava and me. We had been trained with weapons, fighting, Faerie tech, and how to manipulate and spy. Not that I’d used those last skills or likely ever would, but who knew? I entered my I.D and password and the computer let me into the drone programme Drake and B’nar had developed together. B’nar had given Drake the magic and weapons technology for them to integrate. But the armoured drones were Drake's creation, well, Drake’s and Charlie’s. I hadn’t spoken to Charlie since my memories had returned, so if we all survived this, calling or even visiting, my prison bestie was on my list of things to do.

I shot Charlie a quick message to see if everything was running according to plan at her end. She had a squad of drones under her control from her office in the U.S. I was running another squad here. Lance and Ava were watching the street cameras and the feed Rawson had installed at the deserted car.

I’d never been into gaming, but right now it felt weird, like I was playing a game. I pulled back with my thumb on the controller, raising my squad of drones. The lead drone caught Charlie’s squad on camera as it rose skyward. I nudged the drone around until I could see Connor and the others. He peered up at me, or rather at the drone, and smiled before he raised his hand. A signal to the others. “Move out!”

The familiar forms of my pack and friends marched from the gate, joining those who waited in the streets beyond. Tyen walked at the back and then just seemed to melt away. I blinked.Wow, that’s some neat party trick.

Mea whined in agreement, watching through my eyes. It was the most freedom I could give her for the next six and a bit months.

Keeping the drone above and a little bit behind the small army was fairly easy. It was a calm night with barely any wind, which helped a lot. I watched for a little while, then edged the drone up nearer to where Connor walked, leading his army with his brothers and his sister by his side. My gut squeezed. Although I wanted to keep our little bean safe, I also wanted to be by my mate’s side. Exhaling heavily through my nose, I put the pre-programmed software into play. It would take over the progress of the drones to automatically follow the trackers placed in Connor’s shoes. Drake and his clever mind, along with B’nar and Charlie, had developed a programme that would attach each drone to a shifter. All the drones would be flown by Charlie, Lance, Ava and I, but if necessary, could be overridden and flown by that individual via their mobile phone. It was a fail-safe in case our systems crashed.

Som plopped a plate with a cheese sandwich and a steaming mug of tea down in front of me. I muttered my thanks, not taking my eyes from the screen. Som hovered behind my shoulder. “Y’ know, girlie, I can help ya if ya want to eat that food I bothered to bring ya.”

I glanced at him and raised my brows. “You can fly drones?”

He snorted and scowled. “I can do way more than just be a skivvy for other folks, and ya know it well.”

“I do.” I grinned and gave up my seat. “Go on then. I need to pee, but you’ll be fine until I get back. Just don’t press anything and mess it up.”

Som’s face darkened, and he glared at me. “Kidding!” I coughed and quickly made my escape. I really did need to pee. It was a downside to the hormones zipping around my body, as well as really achy boobs and tears that seemed to spring from nowhere. I rushed down the corridor to the nearest bathroom, did the quickest pee ever and then ran back. Connor and the others were just reaching the derelict ground.

Lance peered around his screens at me. “You ready? I’ve got drones one to five already armed.”

I nodded. Lance would watch them and take over when the shifter on the ground needed extra backup. We could fire the weapons from here.

I took drones five to ten, and Ava worked with Charlie.

My screens showed me that Connor and the others were entering the car lot building. No one else was visible, thanks to the shadows that covered the derelict ground. Tyen was doing her job well. I swallowed hard. There was no fighting. That meant Balthazar and his kind had come through and taken out the demon guards without bloodshed on our side.

I unmuted the audio of Connor’s drone. It was crackly, but his words were audible.

“Owen? This seems a little too easy so far. Thoughts?”

“Hmm. Maybe, or maybe whichever fucktard general is running the Rift for Satan this time, just isn’t that good. Maybe he doesn’t expect us to attack.”

“Maybe.” Connor’s answer was clipped.

I took control of Connor’s drone and let Som watch the rest. Floating it to the ceiling gave me a better view. As each shifter entered the empty warehouse, they disappeared into the ever-growing darkness. My stomach twisted as the concrete floor below the drone wavered like it was melting. My gaze was riveted to the screen. Connor signaled urgently to stop more shifters from entering the space.

A dark shape emerged, but this time it wasn’t just a cloud of evil. It had form—a form I’d hoped to never see again.

“Hello, son.” Rex Manivera grinned. Even with the grainy image from the drone camera, I could see his wholly dark eyes, empty of everything other than satisfaction and pure evil.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Connor’s reply was reactionary and gave away his surprise, not just to me but to his small army.

Rex shrugged and cocked his head. “Where did you think I’d go when I died? Up there?” He pointed upwards.

“No, I guess not.” Connor lowered his voice. “Owen.”

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