Page 12 of Deadly Alliances

“She can join me for mine. Thanks, buddy.” Jackson patted the disturbed guard on the shoulder, then stepped past him and toward me. Surprisingly, the asshole walked away without another word.

“Thanks. I almost just lit him a new one. What the hell is next? They’re going to work us to death, and then they won’t have anyone to push around.” I said the last part loud enough for the guard to hear me, but he didn’t even look in my direction.

Jackson walked with me toward the sim room where another soldier gave us an eyebrow raise before punching in some code and letting us inside.

“It could be worse,” Jackson said once we were alone in theroom, appearing calm and collected even as the walls changed and three vampires materialized before us.

He jumped into action, exploding into his impressive black wolf and biting the head clean off the closest one like something out of a horror movie. Following his lead, I let my phoenix out, and despite my fatigue, finally giving in to my fire and letting it wholly consume me was liberating in a way I hadn’t expected. I might need the freedom of the sim room more often, and I wondered if there was a way to program the general in as an enemy.

We took down the vampires after a vigorous ten-minute fight, and when my fire withdrew inside me, it fell relievingly dormant.

“How are you so zen about all this?” I asked as he returned to stand tall in human form, walking for the door without having broken a sweat. I had never known Jackson to be so quiet, so refrained. The carefree playboy was nowhere in sight.

“What you see isn’tzen.I’m just trying to stay off their radar.” He gave me a tight smile as he held the door open for me, and my heart fell for the once charming wolf. “After Tobias tested out of defense today, none of us want to fight to our true potential, afraid of receiving the same offer he got. I’d like to stay out of the military for as long as possible.”

“I didn't know about Tobias,” I said quietly, speaking more to myself.

“A word of advice?” Jackson offered as we went out the back door and onto the lawn.

I nodded.

“Don’t squeeze in any moreextrapractices. One of the recently-turned hounds passed out this morning because the soldiers wouldn’t let her have a break.”

I swallowed. “Thanks.”

Jackson shrugged, then winked. “Any time.”

I smiled as we walked to the main building in silence. It was nice to know that Jackson was still there for me as a friend. With Arya abducted, Shea going after her and Tobias joining the military, I needed all the friends I could get.

Chapter 6

Caesar

The plane shuttered slightly as the haze outside my tiny window told me we were passing through a cloud. I was so used to flying with my own wings, I hadn’t expected to feel so trapped inside this confined cabin. But that wasn’t the only reason for my anxiety as we flew to the other side of the country.

“I really don’t like this idea, Shea,” I whispered to her. “I think there might be a better way to go about this.”

“Nonsense,” she whispered back. “Getting someone on the inside is the best shot we have, and I’m the prime candidate for it.”

My insides writhed in refusal. “Why can’t Janette do it instead?”

All three heads on either side of me in the row turned to me.

“You can’t just volunteer her for something like that,” Kai countered as he paused his perusal of his laptop, making Janette on his right beam for an instant before her expression returned to a scowl aimed at me.

“Exactly,” Shea said. “And Janette has no idea what Julian or Arya look like. She’d have little chance of finding them, let alone convincing them she’s on our side if she did. You couldn’t do it because Hadrian knows you, and Kai would be sniffed out as a shifter in a heartbeat. It has to be me.”

I leaned into my seat, biting my tongue against the dozen retorts I was forming. She had a point. And I knew she was right about this. But I hated the idea of sending her into the lion’s den. Hadrian had already stolen my parents and so many friends andmentors. And here I was, getting ready to hand Shea over on a silver platter.

What if something went wrong? Hadrian could kill her on site just for her knowledge of his kind. He could catch her in the act of just talking to Arya or Julian and rip her throat out—or worse. And it wasn’t just Hadrian I had to worry about; there had to be hundreds of vampires in that compound. One of them could drain her dry purely by accident.

I had to squeeze my eyes shut to stop the myriad of scenarios from playing in my mind. I couldn’t stand to watch them anymore.

Janette leaned over Kai’s open laptop toward me. “Shea is a powerful witch and far more clever than you’re giving her credit for. She can do this.” Her gaze tried to instill more faith than I was capable of attaining right now, but I gave her a nod anyway.

I turned back to Shea and whispered even lower in hopes only she would hear me. “Are you sure you’re not just doing this because of Marguerite?”

Her body stiffened beside me, and I could feel vengeful fury radiating from her.

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