would be willing to protect said sacrifice at any cost.
She also argued, and it was actually the point that swayed Zaid, that Blain couldn’t afford to be rescued and put back into the human world after he’d probably seen some horrible things. If Kymaris or any of the daemons and fae dropped their veils around him, and he started talking about it to police and medical personnel, he’d be thought a raving lunatic and probably locked up in a mental hospital.
No, we needed Blain under our protection so we could explain what was going on and come up with some sort of reasonable story before he was reintroduced back into society.
Next was a brief argument between Zaid and me, and that was whether we should call Carrick and Maddox back from their mission.
I adamantly shot that down. For all we knew, they could be in the middle of a battle. They could be on the verge of ending this once and for all. We had to let them maintain that focus.
Besides… Echo said there was only one or two daemons there. Surely between Zaid, Boral, and me, we could easily take them.
It was decided—mainly by me—that we were going for it. Zora insisted on coming, and I was okay with that only because she promised to stay in the car and I figured in the worst-case scenario, she could sprout wings and fly to safety if necessary. Mostly though, I needed someone who could take care of Blain once we pulled him out in case the rest of us were still battling.
But I was confident we had far more force and power than those protecting Blain, and this should be an easy mission.
While I had my whip as my main weapon coiled at my hip, I had throwing knives holstered around each thigh. Boral has superhuman strength as a Dark Fae, but no magical abilities. He’s evolved from his ancient days of maiming with weapons known for brutality such as axes and swords. He’s going in with a gun. When he handed one to Zaid, he accepted without comment.
Echo had provided us with some good information on the best way to take Blain’s jailers down. While the front of the gallery is boarded up, the back alley loading dock is where the action takes place. Echo spends some time there, and while I did not want the details, I figured enough to know she might be trading sex with the daemons for drugs. She said they often take their breaks outside on the covered dock, smoking cigarettes. She hangs, talks, smokes a little weed, and does who knows what else, but she was confident in her information. We pressed her time and again on how many are usually there, and she held true to her story—usually only one or two. Apparently, Blain is not a flight risk that they’re worried about.
Just before we leave, Zaid prevails upon me one more time to wait for Carrick to return. He goes low and actually makes me stop to re-evaluate when he says, “You do realize, Finley, that if you get hurt, Carrick will kill me for letting you go.”
And that’s not being dramatic.
Carrick would probably kill him because he left him as my primary protector. No matter the circumstance and regardless of how close their friendship is, he’d hold Zaid accountable.
Yeah… that makes me pause.
I glance over at Boral, who is waiting at the elevator with Zora. She has no clue the bitter history between the father and son, and I haven’t told her as it’s too personal a story to tell without Zaid’s permission.
My gaze slides back to Zaid, and there’s just no way I can put him in a bad situation with Carrick. Their friendship is so important, especially since Carrick saved Zaid from a tortured existence. I’m not about to cause any type of rift between them.
“Then you leave me no choice but to do this,” I reply to Zaid. With my palm thrust outward, I call forth a binding magic, and streams of light fly toward him. They act as ropes, wrapping around him from shoulder to mid-waist and locking his arms at his side.
Zaid’s eyes flare wide at my audacity. A red film covers his pupils, which tells me he’s pissed.
“You get these off me right now, Finley Porter,” he snarls.
“Try to break out yourself,” I reply, not to taunt him but because I need to know that he’ll remain secure and unable to stop me. This