Page 93 of Hybrid Heroics

Alric glanced at us, but his attention was divided. The angel held papers, shaking them furiously, before pointing to the satchel across his shoulder. Finally, he vanished into the crowd, leaving me wondering what he was up to.

“Hyde. Arwen. Joyner. Bishop.” I thought the command, simply calling their names in my mind. They knew I wouldn’t use it if I didn’t need them. “Dolyn. Ripley. Ozlo. Tiago.”

My guys had been busy. I didn’t realize they had contacted all our friends until I started summoning them. But Hyland and Dolyn Drake stepped out of the Void together, armed and ready.

Arwen was at Hyde’s side, every bit the horde member I expected to see. It was Joyner and Bishop who really shocked me. I didn’t want to bring them in without knowing if they had any fighting experience, but one glance told me they knew what they were getting into. And Hyde wouldn’t need me to watch her back tonight with her mates looming over her petite frame.

Ripley was flanked by Ozlo and Tiago, the blonde bombshell looking healthy and pissed the fuck off. I couldn’t blame her. She had been locked in a cage for two months because Alric wanted to use his drug on stronger shifters.

Alric frowned as our numbers grew, probably coming to the same conclusion I was… Twenty-seven on my side gave us nearly two-to-one odds, which wasn’t bad, as far as statistics went.

He would challenge me, but the rest of our army would be fine. I had a few more people to summon, though they might not be needed at this point.

They were all powerful. Smart. Cunning. Killers.

And they would wrap this shit up quickly, leaving the bodies tied in neat little bows. Pink or yellow, if Hyde had her way… I’d much prefer them to be mangled and burning, but I wasn’t opposed to letting her have her fun.

“I’ve missed your sick sense of humor,” Jack whispered. “People aren’t meant to be pretzels, Lo, though that was a disturbingly detailed image in your head.”

“I fucking missed you, too,” I murmured back. “I’ve met some new friends.”

“Don’t tease me, Bitch. Where are they?”

“On their way or in the house,” I replied as I summoned the last group that wasn’t on the property. “Sarge, Levi, Freya, Zyus.”

Part of me wanted to call Tilly and Ruby to join us in the decimation, but I wouldn’t. Someone needed to stay in the fae realm to watch Vex and Reagan. We didn’t know what Alric’s plan B was for today. I wasn’t going to risk them when the Winters just got their parents back.

“Who’s in the house?” Jack asked.

I snorted as I heard the front door open. “You’re going to love Murphy.”

“What about me?” the warlock inquired.

Thatcher, Flint, and Sterling followed him out.

Miller’s mates, Korbin, Farris, and Zephyr, were right behind them.

And as the nightwitch stepped out last, shutting the door behind her… I felt her magic snap into place. The wards were complete. We had officially trapped Alric and his allies inside.

“It’s done,” Miller divulged.

I nodded my head, glancing to my left and right.

This is what wealth looked like, why I would always consider myself richer than most.

While I had been preoccupied with my thoughts, more people joined our side.

I grinned broadly at Pete—the giant, not the pedmar. He smiled back, patting his chest with his fist as he tipped his head. His loyalty meant the fucking world to me, because once upon a time, Pete the pedmar was the only being I could be honest with.

I had grown a lot since then.

But no side of me had ever scared him.

Ren, the imp from Paradise, stood at Pete’s side. He was the best contractor I’d ever hired, but the thin shards of metal adorning his arms weren’t there to show off his chosen trade. He could sling those rods faster than a nail gun, with better precision, too. Someone was losing their eyes on Alric’s side and definitely dying with a headache.

Amongst the crowd, my vampiric club manager, Simon, blended in, slinking through the shadows… But Brent Rickard, from the mage council, stuck out as he spoke to Amelia. I didn’t expect him to be here, though I knew how much he had missed her.

Brent was to Amelia what Jack was to me.