Chapter 858 Chapter 858
Oryn stood back and watched as Uri explained to the woman, Kelii, where the little cameras were. She was part of a team that went in after and erased the evidence. She wasn’t sure how one woman was going to do that, but from the questions she was asking, she was experienced at doing it. Uri had told her that Kelii was from a falcon clan. It fascinated Oryn that there were other fliers out there. This woman had dark eyes, not the same as the owl clan, but they were dark enough that she could be mistaken for one. Her hair was black with reddish mixed in, but her sculpted cheekbones were what Oryn noticed the most. She could picture her as her falcon.
Kelii was going to be nearby in a vehicle that Jett and Tripp had gone and picked up. She didn’t know from where, but they had two more now than a few hours ago. Her task was to transport anyone rescued away from the building. Konner had instructed her what to have on hand for the woman in the tank and Oryn was torn between staying in the air as she was supposed to and going to help this other woman with the captives.
Eaton, whom Oryn trusted, was going over a sketch of the building with Tripp, Sloane, and Jett. The four of them would go in the different doors of the house at the same time.
She’d watched Sloane and Eaton change into their gear, and they looked like they were ready for a battle. She found that comforting, that they were skilled—and women.
Uri was going to be near the vehicle Kelii was in, just in case she needed the help. Amari was going to be somewhere with a rifle to handle anything unforeseen. Oryn wasn't sure what fell into the category, but Amari had been disappointed she would be far away from the action. She grinned and watched her nod to something Nola said. She really liked her. Sure, she was blunt and straightforward, but those were the best people to know, in her opinion. No hidden agendas.
Sloane turned around and looked at Oryn. Her pale blue eyes were striking, and Oryn wondered what she shifted into. “Oryn.” She held up something.
Curious, she went over. It was a small leather strap with a tiny box on it.
“We use this on ops when we have fliers helping out.” She held it out to her. “After you shift, Nola will put it on you. It has a tiny receiver in it.” She glanced at Nola.
“We use very low decibel sounds. One beep, two beep system. One is all clear. Two is get your tail feathers out of there.” Nola smiled.
Kelii came over. “I’ve used one before. It saves a lot of guessing.” She shrugged. “It’s not like we can talk in our forms, so we use flyovers to signal back to the others.” Oryn couldn’t believe the Alliance had so much figured out. “If you swoop down at any moment, that’s a warning to those on the ground. So, just keep circling, nice and easy, like you’re looking around for prey, unless you see a vehicle coming or someone not on the team, okay?”
Oryn looked at the strap in her hand and nodded. “Yes.”
“Great.” Kelii sighed. “I’m exhausted from the last few ops, so waiting on the ground will be nice for a change.” She smiled at her. “The Alliance is always looking for more fliers.”
Oryn looked at Uri and then back at her. “I need to go back and check on the kids and make sure they're settled, but I did tell Uri I wouldn’t mind helping sometimes.”
“Another female to keep them honest.” Amari grinned. “Maybe we can team up and get in on a guns-blazing one soon.” She nodded.
Eaton chuckled. “We try to avoid those when possible.”
Amari sighed. “A girl can hope.”
Tripp came over. “Oryn, are you good to stay in the air for a lengthy time?”
She nodded. She could stay in the air for a few hours if needed. If she grabbed a snack, literally, she could go longer. It was all about fueling up your owl often.
He put the phone back to his ear. “She says she can, Konner.” Tripp nodded and then put the phone back against his chest. “Konner wonders if you could watch over the sea clan at the docks while they do that. For him to be in place for when we breech, he wants to avoid flying around and drawing attention.”
Oryn glanced at Uri.
He nodded. “Amari can keep an eye through the scope while she does that.”
Tripp put the phone back to his ear again. “She can do it. Give us a time.” He nodded. “Got it. We’ll go ten minutes after they're done.” He nodded again and then put the phone in his pocket.
“Half an hour and the two Sea clan men will be at the docks. Konner said they’ll surface once when they’re finished, so as soon as you see that get out of there and head back to watch while we go in the house.”
Oryn nodded. “What if I need to warn them that something isn’t right?”
Tripp smirked. “Konner covered that too. Drop something into the water in the vicinity of the boats.”
Oryn looked at Uri.
“Grab a stone when you go up,” he shrugged. “They’ll hear it regardless of its size.”
She nodded. “Okay. I can do this.” For a year, she had thought of nothing but killing Kenric Castro, but in the last few hours, she hadn’t even thought of that. She was going to be helping to get him and stop him from ever hurting anyone again. It brought her a small measure of peace. She turned and looked at Uri, who was standing there looking at her while the others were busy doing things. He’d done this. He'd rescued the kids and was her refuge from the nightmares that she saw every time she opened her eyes and the revenge that had driven her since the day her world had crumbled.
“Okay, everyone. Oryn is going to head to the docks. We need to get where we need to be.” Eaton zipped up her black jacket. “Quick and clean, people. Let's get the pieces we’re missing and take them all down.” She nodded, then turned and headed down the hill.
Oryn looked over at Uri and held up the strap. “Can you put this on after I shift?”
“It pops off it when you shift back, in case you wondered.” He nodded and held out his hand. “If anything feels off to your owl, you get out of there, okay?”
She nodded. Only he would understand that the instinct of their aves was never something you ignored. Blowing out a breath, she went over to the trees to strip and change. She didn’t know if they others did it in front of this many people, but she didn’t want to offend those that had come to help her.
She undressed and shifted quickly, because if she didn’t, she was afraid her nerves might interfere. She didn’t have to worry about that in Owl form, second guessing was never something that happened then.
Uri came through the trees and knelt in front of her. He secured the strap around her neck, and she automatically moved her head in either direction to see if it got in the way of normal movement.
“It won’t get in the way.” He gave her a brief smile. “I’ve used it many times.” He adjusted it and then leaned back, resting his hands on his knees. “Be careful, okay?”
Her owl answered him before Oryn thought to respond. Usually once she was feathers out, as she thought of it, her bird was in a hurry to get in the air. Right now, she was standing here looking at him. Just holding eye contact. Oryn wondered if the owl knew what he had done for them and if that was why she was being so out of character.
“A stone.” He blinked and looked around. “Let me find one, so you don’t have to land to grab one.” He glanced back at her. “I’m sure you feel the same way I do, and being on the ground in this form is never good.”
Her owl made a soft coo. Oryn took control because right now her fierce, predator aves was acting like a lovesick fool.
He went over and brushed some leaves aside. “This should work.” He came back and held it out.
She looked at it and then balanced on one foot so he could place it in her talons. She didn’t want to grab it from him in case she cut into his hand. He had just recovered from one injury. She wouldn’t be responsible for another one.
He pulled his jacket sleeve down and held out his arm. “I’ll give you a lift out of these trees.”
She could have gotten out of the trees on her own without issue, but she found herself hopping onto his arm and using her talons as gently as possible so she didn’t drop the stone. It was her, not her owl, and she didn’t know why she did it, but something was different. Later, once she was done helping these people free her brother, she was going to have to figure out what had changed.
As she flew over Uri’s vehicle, Nola called to her. “I’m going to do a test of the beep, so you know what it sounds like.”
There was no way to acknowledge she heard her without going back, so she kept heading toward the water. A few seconds later, a low octave sound came from her own body. The Alliance thought of everything.