worse than I thought,” I muttered darkly, running a hand through my hair.
“He talked to you?” Nikolai asked quietly, his expression thoughtful and concerned as he studied me.
I nodded, still working through what Linden and Elias had spilled.
Tate grabbed my wrist. “Maren?”
At least not all the news had been bad.
I gave Tate a small smile. “She’s okay. For now.”
“For now?” Her eyes narrowed. “What the hell does that even mean?”
“She’s at a facility in New York, inside Norwood’s boundaries. Apparently it’s heavily guarded, but Linden and Elias don’t think he’ll hurt the younger girls.” I bit my lip.
“They’re too valuable,” Lulu muttered darkly.
“Valuable?” Tate repeated, worry creeping into her voice.
“The auction?” Dimitri asked.
We both nodded again, but I knew Tate needed more information, even if I hated to give it to her.
“The girls and women that have been taken? Damien’s planning to auction them off. But they’re not abusing them.” I flinched. “No one wants damaged goods.”
She hissed out a breath beside me. “I’ll fucking kill him. All of them.”
“We can take it down,” Nikolai growled. “I’ll have the men coming land in New York instead and tear their way through his pack until we find the women and the children. We’ll free them all.”
“He’ll see you coming and kill them,” I replied softly with a shake of my head. “The only way to stop this and free them is if we can kill Damien. We have to take him out of the equation.”
“And Trace,” Tate muttered. “You know he’ll just take his father’s place. He hates you and Remy as much as Damien does.”
“Then we’ll kill them all.” Natasha’s eyes glittered as she coldly announced exactly the conclusion we were all coming to.
“We need a plan,” I said calmly. I looked at Nikolai. “How much longer until we land?”
“We’re over Washington now,” he answered. “We’ll start our final descent in a few minutes.”
“I should go sit down,” Natasha said absently. She turned and headed back for her seat.
My pulse thrummed in my blood. It felt like I was going to burst apart any second. This close to home, and yet still having to wait, was its own special form of torture.
“We should land in the next twenty minutes or so.”
Relief surged through me like a tidal wave, washing away the anxiety and fear that had been festering for days.
Our problems wouldn’t stop when we landed. In a lot of ways, they would just begin.
But I felt stronger knowing I had Remy at my side and my pack at my back. That made the world a little less scary.
“You’re nervous,” Nikolai stated beside me, his gray eyes assessing me.
I turned and looked at him. “I’m anxious and excited and overwhelmed and …” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, and I’m nervous.”
“But you’re not scared,” he said firmly, frowning.
“Scared?”
“Of what’s to come when we land.”
My jaw tightened. “No. I’m not scared. I want my friends back and my family safe.” I gave him a pointed look. “All of my family.”
His lips pulled up into a soft smile that reached his eyes.
“So, you admit we’re family?” Dimitri asked, nudging my foot with his.
I glared at my sort-of brother. “I admit Nikolai and Natasha are my family.”
Tate snorted beside me and Lulu started laughing.
“I’m the one who saved you, little sister,” he retorted.
“Kidnapped,” I corrected curtly. “You kidnapped me.”
His mouth dropped open. “You’re seriously deluded.”
“Well, they fight like siblings,” Nikolai muttered, shaking his head. He glanced up as Alexei came down the aisle.
“We’re making our final approach,” he told Nikolai before turning and flashing me a smile. “You’ll be home in about fifteen minutes, printsessa.”
Nikolai stood and followed him back to the front of the plane, taking his seat beside Natasha again.
Warmth spread in my chest, suffusing through my blood and seeping into my bones. I exhaled, trying to keep from squirming around in my seat.
Tate leaned her head against my shoulder, her eyes staring down at the ground outside the window.
I glanced over, momentarily overwhelmed by emotion when I saw the trees and the tiny houses below.
The next fifteen minutes were going to be slow torture. I needed a distraction before my wolf and I lost it.
“You said earth elemental,” I said suddenly, looking at Lulu.
She glanced up at me in surprise. “That’s right. That’s what my people are.”
“But just earth? Is that specific or something?” I frowned, trying to focus on her as the plane turned.
Tate sat up, also needing the distraction as the view outside her window turned to clouds and