Thea

Rajak’s stupid bald head rolled onto the floor, and I let out a sigh of relief. We’d actually done it. He was dead.

Nikko and two other pack members, whose names I couldn’t remember, were on the ground. They were still breathing and from what I knew about shifters, that meant they would probably live.

Lysc and Daria surprised me the most. They were both heavily wounded and had to sit down in order to dress their wounds.

Actually, Daria didn’t look that wounded. I think she was faking it so that Rashka would take care of her. If that was her plan, then it was working, because Rashka was the least wounded, and was busy doting on Daria.

Bryce limped over to me while holding her stomach, so I moved to her left so that I could support her wounded leg.

“How’re you feeling, princess?” I asked.

Bryce tried to laugh, but it only came out as a groan. “I’m alive, which is more than I can say for him. What about you, my love?”

I felt my heart flutter and was about to respond when Softie appeared near us. They looked unharmed, but had a surprising amount of blood on their armor.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” they said.

“Where the fuck have you been?” I asked.

“I was looking for something.”

“What was it you were looking for?” Bryce asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” they said. “We should probably leave, because the plane is about to collapse.”

“Next time, start with that.” Lysc helped Nikko off the ground. “Let’s go. Captain, can you open the portal? Quickly, please.”

She was already halfway across the room.

“There’s no need,” Softie explained. “Rajak was the one maintaining the plane, and the portal opened as a failsafe after he died.”

I scooped up Bryce, careful to mind her wounded leg, and she let out a squeal as we chased after Lysc.

There were a few more bodies in the hallway than I remembered, including a few scantily clad men and women armed with dangerous looking daggers. Softie had mentioned Mother having a harem, it seemed like Rajak had one too.

We ran down the hallway and into the courtyard.

“Thea, look at that.” Bryce was pointing up and over my shoulder. The sky was broken, that was really the only way I could describe it. The purple ribbons from before were gone, and the white light in the distance seemed to have shattered into a web of cracks against the inky black background.

It looked beautiful. Albeit, in a terrifying world-ending kind of way.

The portal was open, just as Softie had said, so we leapt through it and exited back into the Syndicate compound.

“What now?” I carefully set Bryce back on her feet. She winced and gripped my shoulder tightly as her left leg contacted the ground.

“We can take Rajak’s shuttle; it should have the controls to lower the shield.” Bryce said. “Sora, can you fly it?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” they replied before walking through the glass door on the far side of the room.

Rajak’s shuttle looked super expensive. He had painted it a light blue color and it had gold filigree that looked like more than just fancy paint.

The interior was small because of the shuttle’s sleek design, but every centimeter was intricately carved wood and the seats were some sort of leather that felt warm to the touch.

There were two sets of benches in the hold and four chairs near the cockpit. Daria and Rashka stayed in the back with the wounded while Lysc joined us upfront.

Softie typed something into the console before pulling back on the controls, lifting the shuttle into the air.

“Where are we going?” Bryce asked.

“Warehouse on the outskirts of the city. We can land there without drawing too much attention,” Lysc said.

~~~~

Softie brought us down into the large warehouse, and we disembarked.

Everybody was exhausted and/or barely alive. Which is why it surprised me when Nikko attacked Bryce, and also why I nearly didn’t intercept him in time.

We were at the base of the ramp, and Sora had just gotten off the shuttle. Most of the injured pack members had been making their way out of the warehouse, but Lysc and Daria had stayed behind to talk to Bryce. Rashka was there too, but she just stayed because of Daria. The girl had it bad, and I was embarrassed for her.

Nikko had charged at Bryce, going straight for her throat. I caught his wrist, maybe a little too hard, and broke it. Then, I punched him in the stomach, but I was holding back.

The guy was obviously going through a lot, and he blamed Bryce for Dezra’s death. I wouldn’t fault him for something that I’d do if I were in his place. Besides, Dezra’s death wasn’t Bryce’s fault. It was mine.

Nikko stumbled, and I swept his legs, causing him to fall backwards. I kneeled on his chest and wrapped a hand around his throat.

Thankfully, the punch to the stomach had dazed him. Otherwise, he probably could have just ignored my weight and stood up with me on top of him.

“Listen to me.” I was just a few centimeters from his face. “Bryce didn’t kill your mate, Esme did, and she was only there because she was looking for me.”

Nikko growled at me, but he didn’t direct it at Bryce. So, I took that as progress, and continued. “If you want revenge, then fight me, not Bryce. Or fucking hells, wait until we put Esme back in a new body and you can fight her.”

The room went quiet for a moment before Lysc finally spoke up.

“That’s something you can do?” she asked. “Put the demon into a new body?”

“At least in theory,” Bryce said. “I’ve never done it before, but she had a soul stone when she died. Which should allow us to put her soul in a new body, but it might be awhile before we can find something suitable, and even then it’ll probably take some time for her soul to recover.”

“Very well,” Lysc said. “Nikko, when the demon gets a new body, I’ll fight her on behalf of Dezra and Mazi both. Understand?”

I wasn’t sure I liked that idea. Lysc was a scary good fighter, probably weaker than me, but way more skilled. She would probably put up a decent fight against me while I was being empowered by Bryce and I didn’t know what kind of state Esme would be in when we finally got her back.

“Yes, boss.” Nikko said.

“Good. Thea, if that’s an acceptable compromise, could you please get off of Nikko?” Lysc asked.

I stood up, and while I still didn’t like the idea of Esme fighting Lysc, I figured we could always just run away if she wasn’t up for it. Besides, the alternative was killing Nikko right here, and I didn’t want to do that.

“Daria, please take Nikko and the others home. I still need to speak with the captain.” Lysc said.

Nikko got up and followed Daria out of the warehouse along with the other pack members. I moved back over to Bryce’s side.

“Esme is a greater demon and a succubus,” Bryce said. “Are you sure you want to fight her?”

Lysc shrugged. “She killed two of mine, and the pack will demand satisfaction. Besides, the fight won’t necessarily be to the death.”

“Okay, if that’s the case, then I’ll contact you once we have Esme back, and she’s healthy enough to fight,” Bryce lied.

I appreciated her lying for Esme’s sake, but she didn’t need to. Once Esme got her body back and she understood what had happened, she’d want to make it right. Especially if the fight wasn’t to the death.

Honestly, if the fight wasn’t to the death, then she’d probably want to do it just for fun. Esme really liked werewolves.

“Thank you, captain.” Lysc said. “I’ve already transferred the credits to your account, and there’s an extra shuttle stationed outside. We can recover it if you leave it at your hangar.”

Bryce thanked Lysc before shaking her hand.