Guardian's Mate

Zander had no idea what she said to him. He heard Rae’s voice murmuring like clear water, Miles’s growl in return. She might be telling Miles that Zander was a complete asshole but they needed to humor him.

Didn’t matter. Zander needed Miles and Rae needed something to keep her from being afraid. Sitting around in terror helped no one, Zander had learned a long time ago. If he was going down, he’d go down fighting—and laughing—all the way.

Zander had Piotr on the radio. “Hold it steady,” Zander said into the receiver. “I’m sending the pilot back to you.”

He got a string of Russian in return, which he figured was swearing. “You know, you really are a crazy mo fo,” Piotr finished.

“Yeah, I hear that all the time. I’m going to get you out of this, my friend.”

“And when you do, my wife will kill you.”

Zander only laughed and clicked off the mike. He would take them out of here, and he knew it. The Goddess had chosen Rae for a reason, hadn’t she? And Zander as well. She had something in mind for Rae, and Zander would guess it wasn’t being sucked into a whirlpool in the Graveyard.

Or was Zander as nuts as everyone said he was? Easy to play the idiot to keep himself from pain—maybe he justified everything he did by the fact that the Goddess had gifted him against his will. Maybe the Goddess would think that sending Zander to a watery grave was a fit end.

Whatever. Zander would see that Rae was safe, no matter what. Whether Zander perished along the way was irrelevant.

He heard a rustling and crackling sound behind him and a few moments later, Miles loomed next to Zander. He’d resumed his jeans and sweatshirt and he scowled at Zander in the reflection of the window.

“Where the hell have you brought my boat?” he demanded.

“To our ticket out of here,” Zander said calmly. “Piotr’s bringing my boat as close as he dares but you might have to jump to its deck. Can you make it?”

More scowling. Now that Zander studied the man’s face and hard eyes, he did glimpse the fox in him—a nose that was a little pointed, eyes full of intelligence, a quick way of moving despite his size. His Shifter qualities were slightly dampened by his human blood but Miles was definitely Shifter.

He fixed his dark eyes on Zander, thoughts moving behind them, then finally gave him a nod.

“You wreck my boat, bear,” Miles said, pointing a stern forefinger at Zander, “and I’ll kick your ass.”

“I’ll say the same right back to you, fox.”

Miles gazed at Zander one more moment, then he quietly put on his boots, took up a coat, and banged out of the cabin.

“Piotr?” Zander said into the radio. “Miles is coming over. Let me know when he’s safe.”

“He will be when he’s sitting at my fireside tossing back a vodka,” came Piotr’s response. “You’re not invited.”

“Aw, now,” Zander said into the radio. “Don’t be like that.”

“Rae’s invited, though,” Piotr said. “Send her over here too.”

“Can’t. I need her.”

The stark truth. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight—Zander knew he was the better pilot than Piotr or Miles and he wasn’t about to send Rae to anyone who might not be able to get her to safety as well as he could.

We’re not going to die. We’re going to live through this so we can celebrate in the best way Shifters know how.

Piotr snarled something else but Zander heard underneath the man’s bluster and worry a note of excitement. Piotr, in his own way, was as much of a daredevil as Zander.

“He’s on,” Piotr said, then the radio snapped off into rigid silence.

Zander let out a breath of relief. “Rae, sweetie, we need to let out Carson and his guys. If this doesn’t work, they should be able to save themselves.”

“You don’t mean we need to let Carson out,” Rae said. “You mean me. You can’t leave the wheel.”

“I know. Don’t worry—they’ll be groggy and more interested in surviving than arresting us. We’ll deal with that on the other side.”

“Why didn’t you have Miles release them before he went?” Rae asked, coming up behind him. “They’d be less likely to attack him.”

Zander shook his head, liking how her warmth touched him. “Because Carson might have been able to convince Miles to help him take me down, and then we wouldn’t have a chance of making it through. Carson won’t hurt you—he’ll go for me but he’s not the kind of man who will hurt an innocent, especially a woman. I saw that in his eyes. He thinks he’s the good guy.”

Rae opened her mouth to argue then let out a sigh. “Yeah, I thought that too.”

“I’m confident we’ll get through, but just in case . . .”

“Not making me feel better.” Rae hesitated, then she wrapped her arms around Zander, making sure she didn’t break his contact with the wheel. She rose on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Piotr’s wife isn’t the only woman who’s going to kill you when we get out of this, you know.”

“Looking forward to it,” Zander said, his blood warming. “Go, Little Wolf. Then get your ass right back here to me.” He caressed the ass in question as he gave her a little push.

Rae sent him one of her looks but ducked out of the cabin into the rain.

“If you can hear me, Goddess,” Zander said to the water rushing at them. “Make sure Rae is safe. Doesn’t matter what happens to me. Just make sure Rae is all right. She’s a special lady.”

The water crashed and roared as the boat surged forward.

* * *

Rae found Carson already awake and almost finished picking open the lock of the cage Ezra and Piotr had put him into. He snarled at Rae. “What the hell is he doing up there?”

“Being Zander.” Rae unlocked the cage with the key, quickly stepping back as she swung open the door.

Carson crawled out and rose from the crouch he’d been forced to assume. He swayed, still under the effects of the tranq. Rae kept out of his reach as she left the room and went to let out the other guards. They’d been put into separate, narrow cabins but these rooms had regular bunks, no cages. The guards were just waking, sleepy, annoyed, and scared shitless.

“Why are you releasing us?” Carson asked her. He blocked Rae’s way out of the last guard’s room.