Page 31 of Guardians of the Assassins
Smoke rose from Ascher at the mention of her in danger, his voice all growly when he spoke. “You want to use her as bait.”
“Want to? Fuck no.” Kincade dropped his foot to the floor, leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees. “But we might not have a choice.”
Tension spiked in the room, everyone turning to glare at Kincade.
“He’s right.” Caedmon shrugged when everyone turned their scowls in his direction. “If the ferals scent her, they will come. They won’t have a choice. It would be better that we control the situation and set a trap than let them stumble upon her without us there to protect her.”
Everyone fell silent at the dire pronouncement.
“Fuck me.” Ryder began to pace, raking his hand through his hair. “We traveled to the Assembly and back, which means if any ferals lingered in the area, they will follow her back here.”
Draven stiffened and pushed away from the wall where hewas leaning, his stormy blue eyes darkening. He crept toward the window and peered out, like he expected to find an army waiting on their doorstep. “How much time do we have?”
“Best guess?” Caedmon rubbed his chin, his eyes flicking toward her, the compassion there making her heart thud against her ribs. “A few hours at most. If we want to set a trap, we need to do it now.”
“Since they’re wolves, I’m not sure if the wards will keep them out or not. They’re not set to hold out animals.” Morgan straightened and pushed away from the desk. “I want to lead them away from the coven.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Atlas stepped in front of her, blocking the way to the door. “It would be safer for you to remain inside the coven.”
Morgan placed a hand on his chest, his heart thumping hard against her palm. “You know I’m right. We need to protect the coven first.”
He reached up and trapped her hand against his chest, a muscle ticking in his jaw with the need to make her their priority. Then he grabbed her chin, lifting her face up to his. “You will do everything we say. You will not put yourself in danger. Understand?”
She was used to being in danger, it was the nature of their job, but this mission put them on edge. “You think this is connected to me, don’t you?”
Though he didn’t look away, his eyes flickered for just a second, betraying his agitation. She reached up and squeezed his wrist. “I will do everything in my power to come back to you.”
She reluctantly pulled away, her mind whirling. “What if they targeted the wolves for a reason?”
“What reason?” Ascher cocked his head, seeming unaware that tiny holes were burning into his clothes, the hellhound not the least bit pacified despite his calm expression.
She whirled and faced Ryder and Louis. “You’ve both said over and over that wolves are good for one thing—hunting andtracking. What if they were turned feral in order to be used to hunt and track something specific?”
The guys hesitated and glanced at each other. Ryder was the first to speak. “Ferals can’t be controlled. They?—”
“And no one is supposed to be able to turn them feral either, but obviously it’s happening. We can’t rule it out.” Morgan crossed her arms and glared at them, instinct warning her that she was right. The way they were turned wasn’t natural.
Before anyone could argue, Caedmon rubbed the tattoos dotted along his temple then down the side of his face. The black lines and swirls looked like braille and had to hurt like a bitch to get. “If what you say is true, then the real question is what or who are they hunting?”
The room fell silent, each looking at each other before their combined gaze landed on her once more. She barely resisted rolling her eyes. She gritted her teeth and held up her arms in protest. “No way! If they wanted me, it would’ve been a simple enough thing to track me to the coven, just like Louis had done.”
Ryder grunted, clearly not convinced, but they couldn’t argue with her logic.
Until Caedmon opened his big fat mouth.
“Unless they’re not familiar with this realm…” He trailed off when she pinned him with her glare. Instead of being intimidated, he raised a single brow in challenge.
Biting back a growl, she turned to smile at the others, but feared it came off more as a bearing of teeth from the way Draven’s chuckle turned into a cough. Morgan released a heavy breath, rubbing a hand down her face. “We don’t have much time to get into place if we want to set a trap. What do you want to do?”
As much as she wanted to run out and fight something, she trusted her men’s judgment. If they thought it was too dangerous, the last thing she wanted to do was put them at risk, knowing they would fight tooth and claw to keep her safe.
Though none of them looked happy, they didn’t argue withher joining the hunt. She suspected it had more to do that they didn’t want her out of her sight than agreeing with her, but she wasn’t going to argue with it.
She followed the others to the armory, joining them when they began strapping on weapons. She only grabbed a few extra blades, but she watched in wide-eyed amazement as the guys nearly emptied the room.
She wasn’t sure where they hid them all.
Except Draven.
