She bustled to her office, but when she got there, her door was open a crack. Furious, she threw it open to find Butte with his arms locked on the desk, staring at her tablet.
“You sure have your security settings up high on this,” he murmured remorselessly.
“Yeah, so dickholes like you can’t log in and see my online shopping bills,” she said coolly. “Now get the fuck out of my office before you end up like your crew.”
Fury flashed in his glowing blue eyes as he pushed off the table. He picked up the tablet and chucked it against the wall so fast, he blurred. The tablet shattered into a hundred pieces. He rushed her, but before he got to her, she lifted her hand, palm facing him, and froze him in his tracks. And as he stood there, helpless and with a rage written onto every facet of his face, she told him how it really was. “Your crew killed my dad when he came to ask them to leave us alone. They just…mauled him. The police found him in pieces. And then your crew came after me and my mom, and I lost her, too. We’re fuckin’ even, you self-righteous asshole. And if you ever come at me again like you just did? You will be ash and dust.” She twitched her fingers, and he flew out her door and slammed into the wall on the other side of the hallway so hard the wall caved inward around his body. With the flick of her fingers, she slammed her door, locked it, and closed the blinds. She didn’t give a single fuck what his reaction was to her. He could throw his tantrum elsewhere. Right now, she had a call to make.
Hands shaking, heart fluttering, chest heaving, she pulled the new burner phone out of her purse and dialed Clara’s number. It was Damon who picked up, though. “What’s happened?”
“Our timeline just changed. Beck Anderson of the Boarlanders. Can we trust her to get things rolling?”
“She’s the best at shifter relations. She’s got teams across the country waiting for the word from us, and Cora Keller of the Breck Crew is a well-known news anchor who can have any video footage you collect edited within hours. She can get us in front of a big audience. We will go to war publicly with the New IESA and what has been done to Vyr the second you say ‘go.’ We’re all here. The Ashe Crew, the Gray Backs, the Boarlanders, the Lowlanders, the Breck Crew, the Bloodrunners, the Blackwings, Red Havoc, all of them, watching you. Waiting on you.”
“I will testify to everything. I’ll expose exactly what they are doing here, and I’ll get footage today, but everything needs to happen now.”
“Right now?”
“Right fuckin’ now, Damon. Your son lost the dragon. He lost it, and he’s trying to stay strong for me, but I saw the footage of his face when he found out the dragon was dead. He won’t be okay in here much longer, and I can’t watch this anymore. I…”
“Say it.”
“I love your son. I’ve been watching them break him, but it stops now.”
“Okay. Okay,” he repeated. “Riyah, you have to stay safe while we’re handling things on the outside. It’s about to get real tense in there, and you are a new hire. They’re going to be looking for a mole, and they’re going to look right at you first. If we lose you, we have no platform to call the shifters to arms. Do you understand?”
“Yes. You need me to testify. You need me to get good footage of what’s happening in here. Need me to expose everything from a firsthand account. Get Vyr, Nox, and Torren out of this place free and clear. And to do that, I have to be okay.”
“Yes. And also…”
“Also what?”
“My son…you love him. You’re trying to help him…and because of that, you’re very important to me. You have the fealty of the Blue Dragon. I know what happened to your family. I’ve known about it for a long time, and I can guess how you must feel. You aren’t alone in there, though. You have Vyr, you have the Sons of Beasts, but you also have all of us. Riyah, you have the biggest crews in the world at your back. We’re ready. You are commander on this. Even if your man is down right now, you have dragon’s fire at your disposal. Me, Dark Kane, Roe, Harper, Diem…we’ll blow that place out of the water if harm comes to any of you. Use us the second you need us. I’ll call Beck and Cora right now. Turn on the news tonight and see what you set into motion. We’re going to get you all out of there. We just need time, and until we can, you have to keep the Sons of Beasts safe.” His voice dipped to a whisper. “Keep my boy safe.” And then the line went dead.
The lights buzzed and dimmed to nothing, and Riyah had to close her eyes and focus to stop the power from streaming out of her. Something was happening. She was getting stronger. Maybe it was being threatened by a polar bear shifter again, but she suspected it had more to do with Vyr. Was she leaching power from him like she’d done to her mom? Or was he giving it to her?
Eyes still closed, she concentrated and let the wall down, let Vyr into her mind. “I’m not even using spells to give me more power, and I’m getting stronger,” she whispered.
“Good,” Vyr said. “You’re strong enough to control it, you know? I can see you are. They’re bringing me up from The Dungeon. Can I see you?”
And just like that, all the stress of the meeting, Butte, the phone call, and the pressure of everything lifted. Vyr had that uncanny ability to make things seem doable, even when they felt impossible.
“Last night when we talked, when we were…together…you seemed okay.”
“You saw video?”
“Yes. You broke the window when you saw your reflection.”
“I want to protect you from that stuff.”
“I think…” She looked down at the broken heart doodle she’d drawn the other day. At the bubble letters that spelled I love you. “I think it’s time to stop protecting each other from the real stuff and lean on each other instead. Let me shoulder it with you. I’m tough.”
“And getting tougher. I can feel it. Beautiful Badass Princess.”
Pain blasted through her head and landed behind her eyes.
“Butte?” Vyr growled. “Butte tried to hurt you?”
“Heeey, don’t steal memories. That’s against the rules.”
“How would you like me to kill him?”
“If it comes down to that…with fire.”
“Riyah,” Vyr warned. “I don’t have that anymore, and I don’t want to keep talking about it. That won’t help me. It’ll keep me on my knees.”
“Here is a memory for you,” she murmured, recalling the phone call with Damon. “Your dad didn’t put you in here without a plan.” She winced as stinging pain rippled through her head. Vyr was quiet. Too quiet. “Are you okay?”
“I feel betrayed. I’m quiet about it, but my dad…my own father…helped put me here. I’ve been down here for six months thinking he didn’t care. Been down here for six months going through hell, hurting every day, thinking I’m expendable to the man I want to be proud of me the most. And he tells you right away about his plans, but gives me no explanation. You want real? No. I’m not okay.”
“I’ll be here when they bring you up from The Dungeon. I’ll be here always, okay?”