“And you can tell that to your boss as well,” Seth added.
They all stared up at us in wide eyed fear like they didn’t believe we were really going to just leave them there, but I wasn’t going to start killing FIB agents when I had a choice in the matter. Besides, they were just doing their jobs by following the rule of the king, so I figured they could have this one chance to realise that they needed to follow more than just the line of command if they wanted to end up on the right side of this war.
I flashed them a grin which was all fang and they blanched as they were forced to bow their heads to my position of power above them then I shot towards Seth, tossed him over my shoulder and sped away into the night before the second wave could arrive – or worse, the Nymphs.
I raced away into the streets of the town where we’d sent our illusions running, taking control of them again. I made them scatter so that they didn’t all just disappear at once and the FIB would be kept busy trying to hunt them down for long enough to be certain that the others had time to escape and make it to The Burrows.
Once I was sure the false trails had been left well enough to keep them distracted, I took the small pinch of stardust we’d brought with us from my pocket and tossed it over our heads.
We arrived back at The Burrows in a flash of starlight and I let Seth down again, my attention caught by the sight of the Storm Dragon breaking through the clouds overhead and coming in to land.
I spotted my cousin riding on his back before noticing the countless tiny creatures who covered his scales too.
Dante landed on the hill beside the forcefield and I watched as what must have been a hundred Tiberian Rats in their shifted forms all scrambled to climb off of him, scurrying down his legs and making it to the ground in a wave of rodents so thick that I was afraid to move in case I stepped on any of them.
A flash of light drew my attention and I turned as Geraldine, Darius and Orion appeared, looking more than a little worse for wear with blood splattering them all and black ichor coating both Darius and Orion, but the victorious looks on their faces let me know this whole thing had been a success.
Gabriel swept overhead, his smug grin telling me all I needed to know about how well that had just gone, and as Washer started calling out for all the new arrivals to follow tight on his tail to get inside, I decided I didn’t need to linger out here any longer than was necessary.
I jerked my chin to let the others know where I was headed, and Darius nodded his agreement as I caught Seth’s arm and nudged him towards The Burrows.
“Are you good?” he asked me as we carefully stepped over Tiberian Rats and passed through the protective barrier, almost colliding with Hamish Grus as he came jogging out with boxes of clothes ready and waiting for the Shifters to use once they returned to their Fae forms.
“Yeah man, thanks to you,” I said, knocking my arm against his and he smiled as he bumped against me in return, nuzzling his head against the side of my chin and bringing a smile to my face as we walked.
“I was pretty heroic, wasn’t I?” he mused, pushing his fingers into his long hair which was tangled with at least as much dirt as I could feel clinging to mine.
“Shall we head to the bathhouse?” I suggested as we walked through the farmhouse and he opened the hidden door behind the grandfather clock, holding it wide for me to pass through before moving to walk right beside me again once we entered the tunnels.
It was weird how much I accepted his Wolfy ways really, enjoying the feeling of him brushing against me as we walked instead of distancing myself from him like I would have done with pretty much any other Fae. But with Seth it was different. I liked it. And as I thought about the risks we’d taken today and how many more we would likely face before the end of this war, I couldn’t help but fear losing him.
We made it to the bathhouse and I yanked off the torn remains of my shirt, dropping my pants next and glancing over my shoulder at Seth as I didn’t hear the sound of him undressing behind me.
My gaze locked with his and my skin prickled at the heat in his eyes as I caught him running his attention over my back, trailing it down to my ass before snapping his gaze up to meet my eyes.
“Are you checking me out?” I teased, my blood heating a little at that idea.
Seth’s lips twitched then he raised his chin, jerking a nod at me and just owning his behaviour like it didn’t mean anything.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know how hot you are, Cal,” he said. “I doubt there’s a man or woman in Solaria who hasn’t fantasied about you.”