A Council of Betrayal (23 page)

I fucking suck at waiting.

Aaron came in, tossing down the body of a
girl with little regard to the way she landed wrong on her neck. I
heard the snap but apparently they didn’t, Aaron dragging her by
her arms, throwing her into a cell.

“Hey, where did the crazy bitch go? I wanted
to take a run at her,” Aaron asked, locking a dead girl into a
cage. What a surprise, the succubus is popular.

“Boss wanted her first,” said another,
grunting.

“What’s taking so long?” said the third
asshole as I fist pumped silently before putting myself between
them and the door.

“Thanks for the joining the party, gentlemen.
We’ll be relieving you of your genitalia now.” All three turned to
me, shocked.

“Fuck,” Aaron stated. I let my blade loose,
lodging it in his thigh. He went down hard, belting.

Nila turned the corner, slashing thick gashes
into one of the men. I kicked Aaron in the head, snapping it back
with a satisfying crack. He fell back dead. It was too quick a
death for them, but I was a little pissed. Okay more than a little,
a lot.

I looked to see if Nila needed help, only to
find her panting, her body sprayed with blood like a warrior’s.

I smiled at the mess of body parts. “Nice
job.”

She nodded, her hands shaking as she pulled
herself together.

“Let’s get everyone out and get you
home.”

Nila nodded, blinking back the tears that
were threatening to fall.

We worked quickly. Many of the girls had to
be carried out, a few from fear, others from injury. We set them in
the sun, leaned up against the old barn. I used Aaron’s cell phone
to dial 911, handing the phone off to one of the more vocal
women.

I turned to Nila. She nodded and we climbed
into the van that had taken me here, driving away from the
madness.

…

We dumped the van at one of the burn sites,
hoofing it to my hotel room. I opened the sliding glass door to the
room, ushering us in.

“Feel free to shower.” I waved her into the
bathroom. “I have clothing that will fit you.”

A pounding at my door had me going for my
gun. I peered through the peephole quickly, careful not to keep my
body in front of the door for too long.

I breathed a sigh of relief, throwing open
the door and letting my gun point at the ground.

“Hallo luv, did you have all the fun without
me?” Blue asked, sauntering into my room.

I hugged him in my guts-stained, sweaty,
dirty outfit. “I missed you,” I whispered.

He held me close, patting my back. “Rough
time of it, luv?” he asked in his thick Irish accent.

I groaned, “We got one hell of a mess
here.”

“Please, fill me in.”

I unloaded onto Blue, everything, all the
dirty details, while Nila showered. He listened intently, nodding,
asking questions to clarify where he needed to.

“Humans?” Blue asked.

I nodded, “Humans.”

“Where are the other executioners?” Blue
asked.

“Dammed if I know.”

“I think I have an idea,” Nila said, coming
out dressed in my yoga pants and tan top. They were big for her
slight frame. “I think my dad has them.”

“Why would he have them? I thought he was
trying to help,” I asked, confused.

Nila shrugged. “He has a unique way of
helping. I’m assuming he thought to use the executioners as
leverage to get me back from the humans with Garrick’s help.”

Okay, I couldn’t fault that logic, “But why
not just go after you himself?”

Nila shook her head. “The cages were
iron.”

“Oh, right.” Everyone knew dragons and half
dragons had an iron allergy. Okay, well, I did now.

“Do you know where to find them?” I
asked.

She nodded.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Let me clean
up and we will head out.”

Thirty minutes later Nila was directing us to
her father while I tried calling Logan again. It went straight to
voicemail.

“Hey it’s me,” I sighed heavily. “I hope the
baby is okay. I’ll be back soon.”

I called Mark, it also went to voicemail. I
didn’t bother leaving a message.

Yeah, no worries guys, I was just kidnapped
by some psycho humans running a sex trafficking ring, but I’m
fine.

I groaned. Why did I care? I was used to
doing shit on my own and I needed to stay that way. I hardened the
guards around my heart, leaning my head against the cool
window.

I must have zoned out at some point. When we
came to a stop I blinked, getting out of the car at the entrance to
a tunnel. Abandoned train tracks curled up at the entrance and dead
leaves crunched underfoot.

Nila ran into the dark cave. Blue looked at
me and I looked back at him. “After you, my dear.”

I huffed, following Nila at a much slower
pace.

A language I didn’t recognize bounced off the
rock walls, Nila speaking excitedly, her voice constricting with
her tears.

Blue and I came to a stop in a huge cavern
littered with gold treasure.

“Touch nothing,” I hissed to Blue. “He’s half
dragon.”

Blue’s eyes widened before he nodded. “I
didn’t know dragons still existed.”

“Me either.”

Nila came out sans her father, with two
vampires following her. They looked disgruntled, bound with silver,
but unharmed. She stopped a safe distance from us and I was almost
insulted. I had just rescued her ass.

“I’ll give them back to you if you promise no
retribution. He did what he thought he needed to in order to save
me.”

“Fine, but next time, have him call me.”

Nila nodded, smiling as she released the two
annoyed vampires. “Thank you, Olivia.”

“Anytime.”

…

“Hi Garrick, I found your executioners,” I
announced to him chipperly on the phone, driving said executioners
to their vehicles.

“Really?” Garrick asked. “They’re alive?”

“Yeah, but you can’t seek retribution,” I
informed him.

“Did you agree to that on my behalf?”

“Yeah.”

Garrick groaned. “Olivia,” he chided.

“Just hear me out.”

I filled Garrick in on the details. Turned
out the half dragon father was burning the areas as a warning and
he thought the vampires he collected might have something to do
with his missing daughter since they were poking around. He had no
idea he had bagged himself two powerful executioners. Remind me not
to piss off a dragon. However, aside from being hungry, they were
unharmed.

“Do you think the humans hurt the dragon
girl?” Garrick asked.

“I know they did.” My voice was soft.

Garrick grunted, “How did he manage to
capture the executioners?”

“Don’t ask,” they both answered in
unison.

…

I gave my SUV to the displaced executioners
when we found their vehicles were not where they’d left them,
hitching a ride in Blue’s SUV.

“So Olivia, are you going to ask me about
Logan?”

I grunted.

“The man is beside himself, which you should
be able to tell if you allowed your damn wall to crack.”

I grunted.

Blue sighed, exasperated. “Tell me, how do
you plan on handling this?”

I thought back to Garrick’s advice. “I’m
going to try, Blue. I don’t want to be alone forever.”

His head turned abruptly, shocked.

“Not a fucking word,” I warned.

We
made it back to St Ann in record time and went straight to the
hospital.

“You’re a fucking terrible driver,” I scolded
Blue, getting out of the car.

He smiled. “You just took down an entire ring
of bad guys with minimal help and you fear my driving skills?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

“Bags?” Blue asked, opening the back of the
SUV.

“You going back on guard duty?” I
questioned.

“Probably. I’m already attached to the little
shit.”

I smiled, taking the bag Blue handed to me.
“What’s her name, anyways?”

“Ginny.”

“Ginny,” I repeated.

A few nurses gave us strange looks and wide
berths. Even though I had washed all the blood off, apparently I
hadn’t dropped the killer gleam in my eyes or my scowl.

Blue led the way to Lorraine’s room, where we
put our bags down. The room was empty and we headed down to the
NICU.

We turned a corner and I stopped in my
tracks, seeing Logan holding Ginny, rocking her gently. His white
shirt looked dirty, the bags under his eyes pronounced. I went to
the glass, holding my hand against the cool surface, smiling at
him.

Slowly, he registered I was there, the relief
etched onto his exhausted features.

He indicated the side door with a flick of
his head. A nurse went to open the door and I walked into his
outstretched arm as his other held Ginny close to him. I nuzzled
into him, feeling my shields dropping away of their own accord.
Damn traitors.

He kissed the top of my head and I held onto
him, watching the small bundle cradled against his chest.

“Can I hold her?” I asked softly.

“Yeah,” he said, relieved, handing off the
small bundle.

Ginny squawked, probably pissed about losing
her comfy warmth. Moving her up, I laid her check against my chest,
bouncing and swaying while I cooed to her. She settled pretty
quickly, snuggling in.

I looked to Logan, finding his eyes brimming
with unshed tears. “She’s perfect, Logan.”

He leaned, in kissing me hard. “You saved
her,” he whispered.

I blinked back my own fucking tears,
assholes. I shrugged. “Go shower and eat, I got this.”

He nodded. “Lorraine has been pumping behind
the curtain. What did you say to her?” he asked me softly.

I smiled. “Motivation. Did you know she has a
sister in New York?”

Logan laughed, softly kissing Ginny’s head.
“I won’t be long.”

I nodded. “Relax, I got this.”

…

Ginny was fed, burped, and in a clean diaper
before she fell asleep on my chest. I lounged in the recliner, my
hands rubbing small circles on her back.

Logan had tried to come back but I sent him
away.

“How you doing, sweetie?” the night shift
nurse asked me.

“Good, you need to check her vitals
again?”

She nodded, taking Ginny’s temperature,
listening to her heartbeat. “It’s the darndest thing how quickly
she recovered. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.”

I smiled. All it had taken was giving Mal
protection under The Council. I closed my eyes, leaning my head
back to rest.

A warm hand landed on my thigh and I kicked
out before my eyes opened.

Logan rubbed his stomach. “Sorry,” I
muttered.

He leaned down to kiss me firmly, his tongue
seeking entrance into my mouth. I obliged him, sucking on the
heated flesh.

Logan leaned closer, cupping my cheek.
Reluctantly, he leaned back, resting his forehead against my own.
“I was worried about you.”

“Ehh, no need to be. Just a couple of
humans.”

“That kidnapped you?”

“Fucking Blue, did he rat me out?”

Logan laughed, taking Ginny from me. “Come
on, we are being released.”

I groaned, standing and rubbing the kink out
of my neck, wrapping an arm around his waist.

We went back to the room and I didn’t see
Lorraine.

“Where is she?” I asked, a pang of jealously
hitting me unexpectedly. She was able to bear Logan a child,
something I could never do.

Logan looked around, “I don’t know. She
should be here.”

I nodded, shrugging. “Mark and Blue?” I
asked.

“Bringing the cars around.”

I nodded, picking up my bag and Logan’s.
“Ready?”

He nodded, strapping Ginny’s little form into
the car seat before picking her delicately up.

…

Mark and Blue were waiting for us with
Logan’s SUV and Blue’s. I rocked Ginny in her car seat as we waited
for Logan to finish the paperwork.

I recognized the click of the heels before
turning to see Grams purposefully walking toward me with
Lorraine.

My lips flattened into a thin line.

“Where do you think you are going?” Grams
asked.

“With my baby,” Lorraine hissed, trying to
snatch the car seat from me.

I slapped her hand away with a resounding
smack.

“You threatened to kill her, you signed off
on all your rights to her after she was born. What makes you think
you can touch her?”

“I signed that under duress. She is my child
and I want to take care of her,” Lorraine sobbed.

“Really? Then where is her milk?”

Lorraine blinked rapidly. “She doesn’t need
it anymore now that she is better.”

I scoffed at her, “You are pathetic.”

“And I don’t suppose you know how Ginny’s
miraculous rapid healing occurred?” Grams mused.

“Fuck off, Grams, you will not get involved
here,” I warned her. Was her hatred for me so great that she would
even meddle in all this?

She held her head regally high. “I must
protect those you steamroll over with your single-minded focus on
what is best for you.”

“This will not end well for you,” I gritted,
my voice low with menace.

“Is that a threat?” she asked gleefully.

I smiled. “A prediction. Meddling in business
that doesn’t concern you never ends up well.”

Mark and Blue stepped up next to me.
“Problem, luv?” Blue asked.

“Is there?” I asked Grams.

“You will be hearing from my lawyer regarding
this gross violation of a mother’s rights.”

“Do what you need to,” Logan said, done with
his paperwork. “I’m not afraid of you or your idle threats, Grams.
If you want a legal battle, I am happy to accommodate.”

…

“Thanks for all your help, Blue,” I said.

“Anything for you, my dear.” He turned to
Logan. “Do us all a favor and don’t knock up anymore obnoxious
humans.”