The Protector (Fire's Edge #4) - Abigail Owen Page 0,32
Roan is with the Alaz, this will either get worse or better.”
“Why?” Deep asked.
“The Alliance has ordered them to step up their hunt for Rune,” Drake said. “Maybe they won’t have time to keep fucking with the people in our territory.”
“Or, if this is them, they just got permission to be here more,” Levi muttered.
Deep, as exhausted as Levi had ever seen the man, traced a long gash in the kitchen table—one put there when Hall and Drake had one of their misunderstandings—with the tip of his finger. “My going to each group to tell them our side of the story and warn them away from the Alliance or the other two enforcer teams isn’t going to work at this rate. Not with the distrust already out there. It’s our word against whoever is going behind our backs, and we all still answer to the clans. If we go against the Alliance…”
Damn.
Deep’s idea of touching base personally with each individual family and colony and working his way through their territory had seemed brilliant. At the very least, they could warn their people to batten down the hatches and prepare for a shit ton of uncertainty as the kings and clans were clearly working through a massive coup and organizational overhaul. The colonies would be the last to benefit from their attention, which meant holding strong until then.
The Huracáns had no intention of abandoning the people they’d sworn to watch over. Had watched over for centuries. This was who they were.
“What do we do?” Finn asked.
Bushy white eyebrows lowered over a blaze of red in Deep’s eyes. “We don’t quit. I don’t quit. I’m going to keep reaching out. I don’t give a fuck what clan they hail from…”
Different than the clans, dragon color here in the Americas had come to matter less and less over centuries of blended communities. Some of the settlements did stay true to clan and color, but most found benefit in the different skills and perspectives each offered. Like his team, each group was family. Levi couldn’t picture a world without these men and women—not a single other one from his clan—in his life.
Gods, without Lyndi in his life…
How the hell can I leave them in the middle of this? The betrayal of what he was being forced to do cut deep in a thousand different slices.
Deep slammed a fist on the table. “These are our people. Those we’ve sworn to protect and defend.”
And police. Not always making them popular.
They all nodded, silence turning into another presence in the room. Even Rivin and Keighan remained solemn.
“What else can we do?” Drake asked.
“We keep watching for fires from here,” Finn said. “Start sending more of us out to the groups closer to the mountain. In pairs, just to be safe.”
“How about we try to find the group that attacked us last night?” Lyndi said. “If we can find them, maybe they can tell us more.”
Deep looked at her, gaze suddenly deeper red. “What group?”
“They set a fire, a trap for enforcers. But we got the sense that we weren’t the ones they were after because they scattered.”
Their old alpha looked to Finn and Drake, who nodded. Then Drake shot a look at his sister. “You said you caught the direction they were headed?”
She nodded.
Levi came off the wall, which brought him closer to Lyndi, his hands going to her hips without thought. Not to move her, though. Almost to keep her closer. He didn’t like where this was going.
“Good,” said Deep. “I want you out there come nightfall, Lyndi, showing me the way.”
Levi hooked one finger in her back belt loop, as though tethering himself to her, and opened his mouth to protest, but Finn cut him off with a sharp glance. “Take Levi with you.”
“But—” Lyndi’s protest was also cut off at a glance from Finn. “Fine.”
Deep nodded, seeming satisfied with the plan. “Which brings me to a related item… I’d like Calla to go stay with Rune.”
Levi went rigid, as did every other person in the room. “Whoa. With Rune? That seems like a perception issue. We’re the only ones who don’t see him as a traitor.”
It had to be fucked up out there if Deep was contemplating a move like that.
Deep pinned them with a blazing look that said he’d made up his mind. “Officially, she’s going back to Everest to get word directly from King Pytheios, so don’t worry about perception.”