If I go, I won’t come back. If I fight the Collector, I’ll be sealing my destiny.
No pressure.
CHAPTER26
APOLLO
Cassandra’s foot taps, taps the ground, and I do my best to ignore it, but it nears impossible. Her leg wobbles fast, and I shoot a glance over my shoulder at her. She’s twirling a hair strand in a finger, biting her lower lip in what would be sexy if I didn’t know better.
My mate is delicious, but she’s also clearly worried. And Cassandra has been through a lot, and she’s always been the one taking care of herself. I want to make it different today. Today, I’m taking care of her. I’m taking the lead, and I’m hunting down the Collector. When we step into his Little Palace, I’ll keep her safe and I’ll take the man down.
She won’t have to worry about a thing. And she doesn’t need me prodding and bothering her.
A thud catches my attention, and I turn to see Donatello placing four different pistols in front of me. The most advanced in weapon technology, boxes of ammunition joining. I can’t help but chuckle.
“Giulia does have a little of everything,” I say, leaning forward to pick one of the pistols up. The cold metal is a welcome weight on my hand. It’s been a while since I lost my gun, and even if I can change into a dragon, some situations ask for a human approach.
“She does,” Donatello agrees, going away for a moment and coming back with a set of hunting knives. Their blades gleam under the artificial lights. I pick one up and study the runes etched into the metal. Of course, I can’t understand a word. “These knives are spelled to kill anything with a soul. Giulia said some specialize in killing angelic creatures, and the others are for demonic ones. I’ll have to check with her which is which.”
Knives are not my thing. I have my claws and they’re as mortal as any blade. I’m not positive on killing the Collector just yet — once a Special Division, always a Special Division. The right thing is to arrest him. Put him behind bars for the rest of his immortal life so he knows what the creatures he kidnapped felt. Death is too easy for someone like him.
At the same time, I would kill him without a second thought if Cassandra were in danger. I’ll wait for Giulia and ask about the knives.
“Where are the others?” I ask the vampire as I go after a holster. The thump-thump of Cassandra’s tapping foot follows me even when I distance myself.
Donatello waits for me to come back and accepts the holster I offer him. “Trevor and Ren went after verbena, and then Ren was going to help him create the bullets. Tristan and Alicia left for the nearest magical city to find empty portal stones.”
“Empty portal stones?” I ask, meeting his gaze.
He nods. “Only special stones accept the travelling spell. Giulia ran out of them, and she has no stone that could bring us back here. If they don’t find a stone, then we can’t come back. Not through a portal, at least.”
“Then we’d be exposed?” I insist, propping my hands to my hips.
Donatello arches an eyebrow. “We’ll be exposed either way. Don’t fool yourself, Apollo. We are facing the Collector and Kayn today. There’s no way Kayn won’t come after us.”
“But we won’t have an escape plan.”
“Not if they don’t find a stone.”
The tap-tap of Cassandra’s foot stops. The silence is so stark and abrupt I can’t help but turn to face her. She doesn’t look up at me, staring at her feet, her eyes wide, her cheeks pale. I should talk to her. She doesn’t look half as good as I hoped for.
Steps thunder into the room, the heavy weight of Tristan announcing him before I see him. He enters by himself, so I imagine the half-vampire has gone after her mate.
“So?” I shoot at him as Cassandra gets to her feet. She goes for Tristan, folding an arm around his waist and sighing against his hold. She misses each of us as much as we miss her, that’s clear.
Tristan’s face tells me the answer without words. He twists his lips in disappointment. “No stones. Nowhere Alicia asked.”
Cassandra’s fingers tighten on his shirt. “So you were out there for nothing?”
He holds her closer. “Not for nothing. We had to try.”
She presses her lips together. There’s something wrong with her. I thought she was only worried, but now... She’s quieter than usual. More introverted, as if she had an important choice to make... A choice she didn’t share with us.
I don’t like it.
“So we have nowhere to go back to?” she asks, looking for Donatello’s gaze. “If everything goes wrong, we’ll have to escape on foot?”
Donatello’s face tightens. His jaw works for a moment, but even as he stays quiet, he doesn’t unlock his gaze from hers. Finally, he shakes his head. “The Collector has several powerful wards, remember? Once we’re in, we can’t get out. Not unless we kill him.”