Beneath the Dust (Force of Nature #4) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,39

in my mind, especially given how Drake had left things when I’d last seen him. But he’d never let me down when I’d needed him, and Knox had been there when Drake called to tell me about the meet-up. He hadn’t detected any lies.

A man I didn’t recognize awaited us just outside the chain-link fence. It swung open without him touching it, allowing us through. The large building in the distance looked like an old plant or factory of some kind, one that hadn’t been used in so long that nature had tried to reclaim it as its own. Vines crept along the walls, and the high grass nearly hid it from view entirely. If I wanted to hide out from a war in the city (or maybe from the fey king), it seemed like a damn good place to do it.

“I love what they’ve done with the place,” Dean said as the SUV crept along the crumbled driveway.

“It could be glamour,” Jase added. “I can feel the magic.”

“Me too,” I said, taking in all that I could as we approached the building. “Show me what is real.” The moment I spoke the words, the greenery shrunk back to reveal a bunker of sorts. Jase and Dean turned to me and grinned. “Might as well know what we’re walking into, right?”

“Indeed,” they said in unison.

When the SUV came to a stop, men started to file out of the grey concrete fortress. They looked a little worse for the wear, dark circles under their eyes and shabby clothes that had seen better days, but they were very much alive. I searched the growing crowd for my uncle but couldn’t find him.

“Drake’s not here,” I said before we climbed out. “Should we wait? Do you think something’s wrong?”

The brothers shared a look (and a silent conversation, no doubt) before turning to face me.

“Any sign of trouble and we ghost out of here, got it?” Dean asked.

“You need to stay close, Piper. At least until we know what their intentions are.”

I nodded in agreement.

They swung their doors open, and I followed suit. The cluster of warlocks kept their distance, the wary look in their eyes making my heart race. The last time we’d faced a group of their kind, everyone I loved had nearly died. Maybe it wasn’t fair to hold them accountable for what Kingston and his followers had done, but my nervous system didn’t care. It was amped up, full of adrenaline, and twitchy as fuck.

“We were told to come,” Jase said, taking slow, methodical steps toward the warlocks. “We think you’re in danger.”

“That’s what Drake said.” A man around my uncle’s age near the front of the group spoke, but it wasn’t clear if he was in charge in Drake’s stead. It didn’t really look like anyone was. The death of Reinhardt and the rise of Kingston had really done a number on their kind. I wondered if my uncle could salvage what had once been a strong magical faction; if he could rally them against the fey. “Why do you believe this?”

Jase and Dean shared another look.

“The fey king is kidnapping witches to fuel the magic in his lands.”

“And since your magic comes from the same line, it seems like he just might start coming for you, too,” Dean added.

“We are safe here,” the man replied.

The three of us looked at the concrete fortress, then back at the warlocks.

“I revealed your location with little to no effort,” I said. Jase and Dean leaned in closer, sandwiching me between them. “You think the fey king can’t do the same? That he can’t track you down and send his minions for you like he has the witches?”

The warlocks’ collective stare narrowed on me.

“So you’re the one he spoke of,” the man said, stepping forward. “Reinhardt’s bastard child. The fey queen’s discarded offspring.”

The boys went rigid, and I prayed that Dean could keep his cool long enough for us to do what we’d come to do.

“Yep, that’s me. Now, unless you’d like an impromptu trip to Faerie as a very short-term guest of the fey king, I’d listen to what we have to say.”

The warlock assessed the three of us, head cocked to the side. “Or what?”

“Or I’ll cut your fucking throat before you even have a chance to lift a magical finger against her,” Dean all but growled.

“Or maybe we’ll let Piper do what she did to Kingston and his boys when they tried to kill her,” Jase replied, his voice