The ride was rough, as the main motorways were crumbling and bumpy, pushing the time past what Kaptain estimated. I knew when we started to get close to the city as houses and buildings became closer together until they were an endless string of deteriorating concrete and sagging wood. Starving people huddled around fires, and homes built out of cardboard and pieces of wood, tarps, and blankets were used to make shelters.
“Same where you live?” Luk nodded at the destitute. “Everyone starves while the leaders eat like spoiled kings, tossing away leftovers with little care.”
I nodded; my mouth pinned together. Once, I had been part of that group. The overindulged elite, completely unaware of the situation outside the walls of Leopold. The only link I had beyond those walls was from Maja, my maid, hearing about her grown kids. My response? Thinking I was so great to steal crumbs from Istvan, declaring myself some kind of Robin Hood, when in reality, it was for the thrill of stealing. It disgusted me now. The entitlement, the arrogance, and the condescending ignorance I had.
“Leon has walled off the entire area from the Palladium, past the Staromak, Prague’s old town square.” From my studies, Staromak was where the famous and stunning Astronomical Clock was, right next to the soaring gothic towers, spires, and buttresses of the Church of Our Lady before Týn. Like Istvan, Leon kept the rich and famous safe in their snug bubble of wealth and beauty.
On the other side of the famous gothic bridge, identical to Budapest, the fae resided in the castle on the hill. I had no idea what their fae lord was like, but rumors suggested he was commonly high on fairy dust and too busy engaging in orgies to care what was happening within his own noble house, let alone give a thought about the human side.
I wondered if that was how the human leader, Leon, had carved such a hold in Prague.
Up ahead, I saw Tracker’s arm make a circular motion above his head. Instantly, the bike behind him broke off from the group, turning down a road, the car going the opposite way.
“We split up from here. We can’t look like we’re together,” Luk explained, though he didn’t need to. From here on out, all communication was limited and came through an earpiece hidden under our hoods. I had never seen anything like it. Luk said it was something they stole from one of Leon’s shipments from the west. It was the size of a pebble and fit into your ear. Its technology told me it came from the Unified Nations. No Eastern Bloc country I’d heard of had anything like this.
Lukas parked the bike near the entrance buzzing with people arriving and exiting the front doors. A few police were stationed at the front. They were armed with rifles, fingers on the triggers, ready to shoot without question. I pulled my hood farther over my head, nerves bouncing around as Luk and I jogged across the old motorway. A few horse carriages and motorbikes were the only traffic. My pulse thrummed against my neck, sweat gathering at the base of my spine when I felt the armed guard look at me, a huge German shepherd sitting at his side. The dog stood up, eyes on me, a bark coming up its throat.
Fuckfuckfuck.
“Stop,” the guard ordered.
Everything inside plunged to the ground, freezing me in place. Acid built up the back of my throat as the guard moved for me.
Would they know who I was? I wouldn’t put it past Istvan to have a bounty on my head, plastering my picture all over the elite papers and having his “buddies” on the lookout for his mentally unstable ward.
I could fight them. Pull out my gun and shoot them both dead in a moment. I would risk everything, not just this mission, but possibly Luk and the others. I knew I would do it if it came down to it. My mind buzzed, my body preparing for a fight. My fingers grazed the gun in my jacket as the officer stepped closer.
Fear spiked my adrenaline, yanking me away from my current space.
For a blink, I stood in Ash’s comfy home. I could smell the herbs and fire, but at the same time, I was still watching the police officer dressed in his Czech uniform stomping for me, the dog lurching my way. A massive familiar physique paced in front of Ash’s fireplace, a pair of aqua eyes snapping to mine. He froze in place.
Warwick.
His mouth parted slightly as if he were going to speak, but his attention went over my shoulder, his eyebrows furrowing. I knew he could see my surroundings like I could see his.
It was a second, and then he was gone, but seeing him was like a knife to the gut. Because every cell in my body craved him. Like my heart was given air to breathe again.
“You,” the guard yelled. My heart skipped when he stepped past, snatching the arm of someone right behind me.
“What are you carrying?” The guard grabbed the small man roughly, slamming him face-first into the wall, forcing him to cry out.
“I have nothing. I swear,” the man wailed, panic filling every syllable. The guard ignored him, being overly aggressive as he patted the guy down, the dog whining and barking, the guard still not noticing it was for me.
“Move,” Luk hissed in my ear, gripping my bicep as he shoved me forward. Relief tangled with fear as we slipped through the doors, my lungs tripping over themselves when we were inside.
Luk cursed under his breath, letting go of my arm, but he kept up the pace, moving us deeper into the train station, purchasing our tickets so we could show proof and get on the platform. “I thought we were done for.”
“Me too.” I exhaled another breath, the knot in my stomach loosening a bit, though I spotted more police staggered throughout the train station, keeping guard, some with dogs.
“Is it usually this guarded?” I mumbled to Luk, trying to get my head back in the game. Trying to forget the brief moment of seeing Warwick and chastising my weakness. Heightened emotion, especially fear, seemed to link us. I needed to curb that.
His image flashed back into my head. He was wearing dark jeans and a black T-shirt, his scruff becoming a full beard, and his long tangled black hair looked like he had been running his hands through it over and over. Fuck, that man was sexy and scary as hell...
“Yes.” Luk’s voice brought me back to reality, clearing my mind of Warwick Farkas. Luk was the opposite of Warwick’s ferociousness. They were sunshine and darkness, though both were extremely attractive. Luk was polished and handsome, while Warwick was feral and sexual, the kind which hit on every erotic and carnal fantasy you had. “Leon likes to keep everything in his control.”
“I think he and Istvan would be good friends.”
“Not really.” Luk smirked. “Too much ego and need to be the dominant one.”
Maybe that was why Istvan never brought Leon into his circle. Too much ego in one room. Though if what I expected was on the train, a relationship was building, or more likely, Istvan was using this to win dominance over Leon.
If those two got over their pride and came together... I gulped at the thought. They would be a force even the fae might not be able to handle.
“Jak and Lea, in position.” A woman’s voice in my ear almost made me jump. Luk’s eyes turned to me, and I shrugged.
“Blade and Sab in position,” a male voice responded, and I figured it had to be Blade.
I liked that my uncle had an even number of women to men in the lead group, which Istvan never did. Hanna and I were the only girls in our class in HDF. Most were raised to be wives of powerful men. It seemed Kaptain played more favoritism between fae and human than between sexes. Except for Tracker, the rest of the squad was at least half fae.