Sen should be able to heal himself in seconds.
Why wasn’t that happening?
Quinn had never expected himself to feel any sympathy for this obnoxious jerk, but Sen looked as if he’d battled an army of Imortiks.
An Imortik had shoved venom in Daegan. Could those creatures do the same to Sen?
“Fuck!” Sen vanished.
Evalle looked around. “Wonder where he went?”
“If he needed help, he should have said so,” Quinn said, more concerned about his own people.
Straightening her ball cap, she looked around at the Beladors. “I think our people need a minute to heal and catch their breath.”
“Absolutely. We can’t go anywhere until Sen returns. I’d rather not have Brina teleport us to Atlanta after she just teleported me twice. I have a feeling we’re asking a lot of her at this point in her pregnancy.”
“You’re probably right.” Evalle looked around when her name was called. “Let me see what our guys need.” She and Storm walked off to join her team.
Quinn contacted Trey telepathically to inform him of what happened at VIPER and get an update on the rest of the teams. Based on everything Trey started unloading, Quinn had hours of meetings ahead of him, but he would never complain. Their Belador forces were running hard around the clock to save others.
With a little luck, he could visit Treoir later tonight and talk to Reese.
As Quinn finished up with Trey, Sen popped back into existence.
The last bounty hunter wiped his blade off on a dead Imortik and walked over. “What the hell happened to you, Sen?”
The VIPER liaison pointed at the crushed bounty hunter corpse on the ground. “Five of those did, plus a bunch of demons.” He slid a glare full of accusation at Quinn. “They were trying to get to the three Beladors we’ve been putting up with for you.”
“How did these demons and Imortiks get inside VIPER?” Quinn had never known anyone to gain entrance without Sen’s authorization.
Was that embarrassment on the liaison’s face?
Did Sen think stonewalling would work? Quinn spoke in a quiet voice his people knew meant he wanted answers and he wanted them now. “The more we know about these damn things, the better shot we have of getting rid of them. I find it hard to believe they danced past this opening and made it underground before anyone noticed, but I’m willing to ask the Tribunal for clarification.”
Sen snarled, “Someone called me to teleport in two demons who were supposedly contained. It wasn’t Trey, but I thought it was your people since I’m spending most of my time babysitting your peons. I decided, screw it. I’ll teleport the demons in and deal with the call not going through Trey later. I was in the holding area when I teleported the demons in. A small army of very much alive Imortiks and more demons arrived with them.”
Damn. Quinn hated the way Sen had treated his people, especially Evalle, for a long time, but no one would want to face that alone.
Wiping a hand over his face and back across the top of his head, Sen warned, “After this mess, the Tribunal might up the termination time for your Imortik-possessed Beladors to immediately.”
“No!” Evalle shouted. “They can’t do that.”
“The Tribunal can do anything they want.” Sen’s flat statement came with a smirk. “If they tell me to get rid of all three prisoners, I’ll happily comply.”
Quinn lifted a hand to stall Evalle speaking. Storm had moved over in front of her and turned a red demonic gaze on Sen.
Storm was no longer ruled by the demon blood he carried, but he had no off switch when it came to protecting his mate.
With tension bloating the air, one spark could set off the equivalent of a volcanic eruption.
Time to get his people out of this place.
“We’re solving nothing standing here,” Quinn said, changing the direction of the conversation. “My people need to be back in Atlanta so they can keep others safe from this threat in the city. You should inform the Tribunal that I am available for a discussion on our three Beladors locked up here. Speaking on behalf of our Treoir dragon king, to terminate Devon, or any of those three, prior to the deadline and without a meeting with me would be considered an attack on the Beladors. I strongly suggest we continue working together for the best of everyone and not become adversaries.”
Shrugging, Sen said, “What-the-hell-ever. I’ll pass along your concerns. I don’t make the laws, I just enforce them. If anything happens before Devon’s deadline, with or without a meeting, that’s between you and the Tribunal.”
Blood trickled from cuts on Sen’s body. His demigod healing sure was taking its time to slow the bleeding. The VIPER liaison had a kicked-in-the-nuts look Quinn had never witnessed on this being before. If an Imortik took over Sen’s body ... Quinn didn’t want to even consider that possibility.
Calling his people to him so they could teleport as a group, Quinn turned to Sen, determined to end on a professional note in spite of dealing with a jerk. “Thank you for protecting our imprisoned Beladors.”
“Don’t confuse my actions with giving a shit about you or those Beladors. I answer to the Tribunal only. No one was tricking me and getting away with it. Your people just happened to benefit.”
Quinn would overlook an antagonistic attitude on anyone else that battered and bleeding, but Sen’s viciousness came as part of his standard makeup. He ignored Sen slapping his thank-you back at him in favor of sending his people out of here immediately.
Once everyone had a hand on each other’s shoulder, Quinn told Sen, “I have a landing spot pictured in my mind. Teleport all of us and we’ll leave you to deliver your report to the Tribunal.”
A haunted look entered Sen’s eyes.
Did this demigod fear admitting the breach of VIPER security to Tribunal deities?
Sen snapped back to his sunny personality of a rabid demon. “The sooner the better.”
Quinn, his team, and Storm teleported to the basement area of a tall building he owned in downtown Atlanta. As they reappeared, someone shouted.
Turning to intercept a potential threat, Quinn paused and lowered his deadly hands.
Evalle waved. “Hi, Clyde.”
The balding fifty-two-year-old Belador in top shape and dressed as a security officer had jumped to his feet with hands raised to use his kinetics. Clyde dropped one hand and slapped the other one over his chest. “You about gave me a heart attack.”
Quinn walked over to him. “Sorry, Clyde. I had no chance to give you a heads-up before our arrival.”
“No problem, Maistir. That’s why I keep that spot clear at all times as you instructed.” He took in the group. “Looks like you just came from a war.” Clyde noticed the black jaguar and stepped back. “Shit.”
Evalle brushed her fingers over the jaguar’s coat. “You’re safe. This is my mate, Storm. We look like hell because we just fought Imortiks and demons at VIPER headquarters.”
Clyde gave her an embarrassed glance. “I’ll stop griping about being bored here. It’s ugly out on the streets.”
Quinn nodded. “Yes, it is. I want this team to clean up and get a meal before going back out on patrol. It may be boring here, but what you do is vital. I didn’t hesitate to teleport our people in. I fully trusted you to provide a safe landing place.”