Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,70

she could possibly have manipulated the situation to achieve that end. Then Kat broke it, in true Kat fashion.

“Fucking fairies,” she said with a groan. When I turned to look at her, she winked. “But not you, of course, Princess…”

I choked on a laugh.

“So now what?” Brunton asked. His impatience was duly noted.

“As convenient as this position is,” Merc began, “it is no longer secret. And I for one would rather fight on less foreign ground.”

“Are you saying you want to go back to the mansion?” I asked.

He nodded in response. “That land is blessed with magic from the witches who helped hide it in plain sight when we came to the city centuries ago. That power is old and deep and not to be overlooked. It is connected to the witches and vampires alike. The wolves should feel its pull, too.” He turned to Reinhardt. “And the warlock lord has warded it himself. There are pieces of all of our races there—except for the fey. And I’m willing to bet that, because of this, Faerie has not permeated it. It might be the safest place to make our stand, provided Larken will come.” He brushed a lock of hair from my face as everyone looked on. “You are Faerie’s only strong connection to it. And there is only one way to see if that will work in our favor or not.”

“Okay,” I said, unsure how this idea would play out. How the mansion, massive though it was, would fare with every supernatural still alive there—including what was left of Mack’s former pack.

And how the new king of Faerie and alpha of NYC would fare.

Merc, seeing the concern on my face, shifted his gaze to Knox. “What do you think?”

“I say we do it. She brought the fight to us there before and lost.”

“Which is why she likely won’t bring the fight there at all,” Brunton pointed out. “That bitch hates losing.”

“Or she’ll bring it there because she knows something we don’t,” Kat argued.

Nobody said a thing to disagree.

Thoughts of the many ways this could go wrong ran through my mind, and my breath came in ragged gasps as panic set in. My mother was always one step ahead of us. Would this time be the last?

“Piper,” Merc said, stroking my cheek with his palm, “breathe…” I closed my eyes and did as he asked, doing what I could to slow my racing heart. “We will get through this.”

“I will send Drake to try to find her and report back to us. Perhaps he can learn something helpful about her plan.” As soon as my father finished his thought, the caw of a raven rang out and the bird in question circled just above the trees, acknowledging the plan. He’d been such an asset to me in the past. I hoped that he would prove to be one now, when we needed him most.

With one final, throaty call, he disappeared into the night, leaving us in silence.

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready to get this show on the road,” Kat said, stepping forward. Grizz edged up to her side and looped his arm around her shoulders. “The big guy is, too.”

I smiled at her as tears brimmed in my eyes. “You’ve never been one to miss out on a fight—Grizz, either, for that matter.”

Kat shrugged. “What can I say? We live for the adrenaline rush.”

“So do we,” Brunton said, eyeing Kat.

“And I owe your mom some payback,” Jagger added with surprising enthusiasm. “I’m ready for the chance.”

Foust was quick to agree. Jase and Dean were as well.

“Liam,” my father called, “can you still make a portal?” The blond Original took a moment to focus on the air in front of him, then nodded. “Then let’s get back there.”

***

Despite how fast our encounter with the fey royals had been, injuries had still occurred that needed to be attended to, which meant that I needed to heal a shit-ton of supernaturals as quickly as possible. The New York pack was once again being held in the cells below the mansion, and I was headed to check on them when I heard voices echoing through the stairwell from the training room.

Voices I recognized.

“We might not win.”

Knox’s words slammed into me, stopping me short.

“Losing is not an option,” my father replied. “Not with everything that is riding on this.”

“Well, then you’d better figure out a way to help me get control of this fey magic shit really fucking