Page 79 of Wrath

The smirk on his face faded as if it had never been there to begin with.

I felt my own smile wilt before disappearing entirely. “What? What happened?”

“Two things. First, it appears as if some of your mates got impatient being left behind. Jax and Bash arrived at camp a few minutes earlier. They’re okay—and the camp they left is okay—but they told us that the only way they’ll leave you again is in a body bag. Dramatic assholes.” Ryland shook his head with a wry smirk, even as my heart leaped.

Bash and Jax were here? I missed them. So much. I knew I’d told them to remain behind, but fuck me, I was so happy they disobeyed me and came. I needed to see them, hold them, kiss them.

“And secondly,” Ryland continued, “we finally heard back from Atta and Axel.”

Suddenly, his somber expression made sense.

Quickly—not even caring that I was still in my sleep cami and shorts—I hurried towards him. “What did they say? What’s going on?”

“You’re going to want to read the letter yourself,” Ryland said gravely. “We have a problem, Z. A big, big problem.”

TWENTY-SIX

Z

We met Atta and Axel in a small town. Hell, I wasn’t sure if I could even classify it as a town. It appeared to be a single street lined on either side with old, crumbling buildings. There wasn’t a soul that I could see.

I glanced first at Lupe, who stood to the right of me, and then at Devlin, who stood on my other side. Bash—who I’d kissed the shit out of as soon as I met up with him, then scolded for disobeying me—drove, but we’d left him behind in the car a mile back, just in case we needed to make a quick getaway.

My other mates weren’t happy about being left behind. However, they agreed that it would be best if some of us remained behind to deal with the fallout of the goblin battle and the influx of fighters from the mages, incubi, and vampires.

Tension radiated in my shoulders as I peered into the distance, searching for Atta or Axel.

“Are you sure this is the right location?” I asked, focusing on Lupe.

Lupe shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “This is the address.”

As if on cue, the door to one of the more dilapidated buildings opened, and two familiar figures stepped out.

Lupe crossed the street in three leaping strides and tugged his little sister into his arms. “Atta. Thank god you’re okay.”

Atta hugged her brother fiercely and murmured something, her voice too soft for me to hear.

“Hey, little sis.” Axel offered me a two-fingered wave as he swaggered forward, his favorite machete slung over his shoulder.

Relief filled me. I hadn’t even realized how worried I’d been about Axel and Atta until just then. I had no idea if they were alive, dead, harmed, or imprisoned.

“It’s good to see you.” I gave Axel a quick hug—which he returned with gusto, despite the growls of my mates—and then stepped back, studying the two of them. “You need to tell me everything that happened. Your letter made no sense.”

Axel absently grabbed a blade out of his thigh sheath and tapped the pointed end against his chin. “I think it made perfect sense. I wrote it myself.”

“The letter simply said—Daddy’s home and causing trouble. Kings still imprisoned. Meet at this address,” I deadpanned, quoting the letter verbatim.

Axel blinked at me. “Exactly. What is there not to understand?”

Lupe pulled away from Atta and ran a hand across the lower half of his face. “Let’s start at the beginning. What’s going on at the capital?”

“The council is confused,” Atta jumped in, stepping forward so she could address me. “The vampires, mages, and incubi have turned on the others. We have no idea why?—”

“We do.” Quickly, I filled them in on the Trials of Lilith and how we had received Lilith’s approval to rule.

Atta’s lips parted in a perfect O, but Axel leaned against the side of the building and folded his arms over his chest, the blade dangling from his fingers.

“Interesting.” He exchanged an unreadable glance with Atta. “If Lilith’s involved?—”

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