Page 92 of Fae Devoted
Charlie tugged free and raced back to the bed. “I’ll be good. You’ll see.”
“Oh sweetie, I know you will.” Johnnie’s heart broke for the precious child. “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
No kid, pup, or witchling deserved to grow up isolated and afraid in a place like this. Studied, trained, and used as a commodity like Abby and Conlan were once.
“Okay.” She waved and skipped to an anxious Hannah. “Bye, Miss Johnnie.”
“Bye, Charlie.” No matter what she had to do, or what she had to risk, Johnnie wasn’t leaving the facility without that child.
And Jacob would agree. She was sure of it.
Chapter 27
The group movingquickly and quietly toward the facility was small but composed of several of the more powerful Fae Touched in three regions.
Tucker, Samuel, Remington, Jeremiah, and Anand were in wolf form, keeping a safe distance from the warded buildings. The Ferwyn males avoided the facility’s security cameras using natural stealth, the dark veil of a moonless night, and the forest’s organic cover. Unlike the rest of the team, which required Anwyll magic to mask their approach.
The queen held onto Ethan’s belt as he engaged a trio of casts: concealment, privacy, and a personal shielding spell he stretched to envelop the pair in a defensive shell. Commander Baxter used the same invisible bubble and silencing spells but casting a concealment ward was beyond Lydia’s magical capabilities. She made do with the less complex cloaking spell to hide the DuPont House thlán, Stuart Rutgers, and the small arsenal they carried from sight.
The evening after Jo was taken, Julien DuPont and his Dádhe second arrived in town at dusk and were immediately brought up to speed. The ENC patriarch argued long and loud to join the clandestine mission planned to take place mere hours later. DuPont needed to stay alive as the region’s heir apparent if something unforeseen happened to the current king. A king who was as obstinate and determined as Lady Rose to strike against a government institution that committed criminal acts against the Fae Touched. As dedicated caretakers of the magical community, the ruling monarchs refused to be left behind.DuPont was forced to acquiesce in the end, but sent Thlán Rutgers in his stead, an old and powerful vampire in his own right.
Jeremiah’s inclusion in the rescue team was another battle in itself.
Anand didn’t trust the ex-Alpha’s unresolved association with Lord Daimhín and questioned Jeremiah’s convenient discovery of the facility after Remington’s trackers searched for months without results. The beta suggested his timely intervention was an elaborate setup.
Jeremiah’s confession that he felt the Fae’s magic in the compound’s massive wards only reinforced Anand’s suspicions. Yet every Fae Touched in the room sensed his brother’s seething hatred for Daimhín and earnest desire to free the little witchling. Jeremiah’s threat to challenge anyone who attempted to stop him from fulfilling his blood oath was also an undeniable truth. However, he refused to explain the reasons behind the original vow, even to Tucker.
Swinging his wolf’s head toward Samuel’s umber-colored beast thirty yards to his right, Tucker sensed his Alpha dropping the technique he used to regulate the flux of pack emotions and connecting them for the duration of the mission. Remington’s brown and gray wolf was ready and waiting at an equal distance to Tucker’s left.
Anand, Rutgers, and Lydia had circled to the opposite side of the facility’s magical perimeter, and Tucker couldn’t see them from his current position. Ethan and the queen crouched at his flanks while Jeremiah hovered at his shoulder. His brother’s wolf stared at the facility as if it were unsuspecting prey, primed for the slaughter.
Tucker planned to be in on the kill.
Leaving Jo behind yesterday almost destroyed him. But charging the facility in broad daylight without intel, resources,backup, or a solid plan beyond demolishing everyone and everything in his path would inevitably fail. He would only wind up a captive himself, as Jeremiah and Ethan pointed out more than once on their way back to town. But it’d been over thirty-six hours since he walked away, and Tucker was through waiting.
Ethan’s hand landed in the middle of his wolf’s haunches, included him in the witch’s privacy spell.
“I’ve deactivated the wards and hooked the outdoor cameras into a continuous loop.” Ethan’s scent exuded a strange bitterness that left an acerbic film on Tucker’s tongue, one his wolf couldn’t match with a particular emotion. The witch displayed none of his inner turmoil as he held up a rectangular device the size of a deck of cards. The object was similar to the spell-boosted gadget Tucker used in DuPont’s casino, only vastly more potent. A pre-recorded video of the grounds would play for a minimum of three hours through the security cameras instead of showing a live feed. “Whoever’s on monitor duty will be extremely bored.”
The plan was simple. Go in quietly, rescue Jo, Charlotte, and the Willow twins, then secure the facility with as little blood shed as possible.
Once the team gained entrance and incapacitated the hostiles, Garath would be helicoptered in and tasked with extracting digital information on the classified project while the rest of them gathered physical evidence. The ultimate goal after retrieving their people was to effectively shut down the covert program and liberate any Na’fhuil still chafing at the end of the Director’s leash. The computer wiz’s knowledge of the facility’s purpose was limited to the existence of halfbloods and the government’s exploitation of them. He knew nothing about the Fae or Abby’s connection to the Sídhe Lord.
If things went as planned, the men and women behind the facility would never know what, or more importantlywho, hit them.
“Abigail was positive they would bring Joan in through the main house,” Rose said, pulling up a charcoal-colored mask to cover the pale skin of her neck and face with one hand. With her matching close-fitting turtleneck sweater, leggings, and knee-high boots, only the bright green of her eyes remained visible underneath the dark forest shroud.
The infiltration team was forced to rely on a map created from Abby’s memories of the underground tunnels as there hadn’t been time to hack into the computer system and retrieve blueprints of the facility’s interior. It would have been nice to add her brother’s insights of the compound’s defenses, but Conlan MacCarthy was still MIA. The Na’fhuil Jumper hadn’t been heard from in over a month.
“We’ll see you inside.” Ethan released Tucker, checked his Beretta M9, and returned it to its holster, leaving his true weapons—his hands—accessible. Next, he adjusted the communication piece in his ear and tapped its outer shell three times in quick succession. The prearranged signal informed Thlán Rutgers and Commander Baxter the wards were down, and the mission was ago. Tugging on a Guard-issued balaclava, Ethan followed the queen across the line where the all-encompassing ward once stood, the alarms silenced.
Rose broke contact with Ethan but hesitated near the low wooden fence enclosing the facility’s property. Jeremiah’s extensive recon discovered a high density of iron was instilled inside the timber pickets and posts, but the tension in the witch’s shoulders and the vampire’s stalled approach meant it was stronger than anticipated.
The queen took several steps backward, then sprinted toward the innocuous-looking barrier. She launched early and leapedhigh over the top railing, landing silently in a crouch five feet beyond the poisonous barricade. His enhanced eyesight noted the slight shiver that snaked over her slim frame as she stood before her spine snapped straight. Ethan’s normally invisible personal shield flickered as he vaulted the fence and joined Rose on the other side. The battle witch’s feet scarcely hit the ground when the pair were on the move again.
Samuel left his previous position among the trees and joined the king.
The príohs were headed to the central control room and would dispose of any enemy soldiers met along the way. Anand would enter the tunnels with the Alphas, the trio of Ferwyn using the elevator inside the single-story building Abby said housed the facility’s pool. The ENC beta was charged with finding the Willows—if they were still alive. Lydia and Rutgers would remain topside to disable the outdoor patrols, prevent unfriendlies from sounding the alarm, and act as a backup if things went sideways.
