Astrid's Wish (21 page)

It sounded absurd and impossible, but he had nothing to lose in trying what Miles suggested. He stood up and grabbed Miles’s hand.

He dragged him back across the hall and kicked open the door to the war room. All heads looked in their direction as they entered. He placed an arm across the younger man’s shoulders, wanting him to know he wasn’t alone.

“Tell them what you just told me.” He nodded his head when Miles turned frightened eyes up at him. Very quickly, Miles filled the warriors and his mate in on what had been going on inside his head.

Some were skeptical at first but agreed in the paranormal world that anything was possible. Ben seemed a bit shocked at first but stayed strong for his mate. Klaus couldn’t imagine being told that he was going to be a father and that his future son was contacting his mate.

As a group, they made the decision to try Miles’s mystery voice’s idea. They would gather all the mated pairs and try to wish themselves to Astrid. The only problem was what to do when they got
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there. With Klaus being the only witch besides Carter, who had yet to mate Abner, in the group they would need a way to go in fighting without the handicap of being overpowered by a herd of witches. Ivan was as old as he and probably getting assistance from others. They couldn’t go in blind.

He and Carter thought it best to call the witches’ council. Carter was only allowed to tell them Astrid had been abducted, nothing about this fairy blood. That would be too risky, and he wasn’t taking the chance they would execute Astrid for that.

Now they just waited. Until they got some sort of assistance in play, they couldn’t do much. And no matter how bad he wanted to rescue Astrid, he couldn’t ask the others to risk their or their mates’

lives without a cohesive plan in motion.

“They’re going to help us,” Carter announced as he walked into the room with a thick notebook and his laptop. “The witches’ council has agreed that Ivan has broken several laws and, since Astrid is an innocent, will help us get him back. I didn’t expose that Astrid is part fairy. I also didn’t tell them we are going to wish ourselves to him. I made up some bullshit story that we were able to track them from security footage.” Carter giggled. “I didn’t want them thinking we’re all crazy. No offense, Miles.” Carter smiled over at Miles.

“None taken. If it gets Astrid back, that’s all that matters,” Miles said to the witch.

“So, how are they going to help us?” Klaus scooted his chair closer to Carter’s as he flipped open is laptop.

“They are going to set off a magical bomb.”

“What the fuck is that?” Trevor asked. He blushed when everyone in the room looked at him. “Oh, come on. I’m not the only one wondering what that is.”

Klaus had to agree. In all his life he’d never heard of a magical bomb.

“It’s not a bomb in the traditional sense. It’s a magical frequency that will attach itself to us.” Carter waved his finger between them,
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indicating that they were the homing device. “When we reach our destination, it goes off. We will have roughly forty-five minutes to get Astrid out of there before the frequency diminishes to nothing. After that, we’re all fucked.”

“Carter, how exactly will this bomb help us?” Klaus asked as the witch typed away on his computer, only looking up when he poked him in the arm.

“When it goes off, every magical being with in a hundred-mile radius will temporarily lose their powers until the bomb wears off.”

Carter looked at Ben. “That also goes for shifters and vampires.

Basically, we will all be human.”

“Holy hell.” Ben smiled. “It will be a fair fight those pampered bitches won’t see coming.”

“I’d have to agree. We will need plenty of weapons, preferably silver. They might be rendered powerless but still need the same methods to kill them.” Carter wrote a note down on a piece of paper.

“I have the mated couples written down as follows, Ben and Miles, Garrett and Lachlan, Abner and me.” Carter’s attention was drawn to the bear shifter leaning against the wall.

“Carter, you and Abner haven’t mated yet. Your energy won’t help us,” Miles reminded Carter.

Carter never took his eyes off Abner when he spoke, and Abner seemed to be held in the same trance, staring longingly at his future mate. “We’re not mated yet, but we can change that.” Carter turned back to Klaus. “You will need all the help you can get.”

“I have to agree with Carter. We do need the help. But are you two sure you want to go through with this? I will not force you into anything that will compromise your own desires.” He wanted to get his mate back, but he wouldn’t force anyone to do something they were not comfortable with.

“I’ll do it.” Abner stood up straight. “I want to get Astrid back and will do whatever it takes to bring him home.”

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“Okay then. Looks like we have a plan. We leave in one hour.”

Ben stood from the table, pulling Miles up with him. “That will give us time to gather the weapons we need and give those two”—Ben pointed to Abner and Carter—“time to do their thing.”

“That’s not all you need, son.”

Klaus, along with the rest of the room, turned to see Benedict standing in the doorway with a smile on his face and dressed in black fatigues. The man was a spitting image of his son, but the only difference was where Ben had long, flowing hair, Benedict opted for a high-and-tight military cut.

“Father, what are you doing here?”

“I was already heading this way after what happened earlier.

There’ve been some suspicions regarding Ivan for some time now, and after hearing he showed up here today, I took the first flight out.

You’re my son.” Benedict looked over to Miles and amended his statement. “My sons. How could I not come help?”

They explained very delicately what was going on with Miles and how they intended on getting to Astrid. If Benedict didn’t believe in the plan, he didn’t say so. He gave Ben a watch that had a GPS

locator in it. When they reached their destination, he and the other warriors could take the helicopters he had commandeered to get to them.

Klaus followed the warriors Lawson and Finn to the safe room where they kept all the weapons. They bagged up ammunition, handguns, rifles, scopes, and even knives made from pure silver. If anything, they were overprepared in the weapons department but better safe than sorry.

The one hour had passed. Miles said they had to be outside for the wish to work, something about being one with nature and using the elements to help guide their way.

When he walked into the backyard, he was greeted by Ben and Miles. Garret and Lachlan came over at once. They were dealing with their own problems within Garrett’s pack but dropped everything
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when they called for their help. Garrett even brought a few more mated pairs with him and Lachlan. The more the merrier.

Abner and Carter were the last to arrive. Carter looked a little winded and disheveled, but he had a small smile on his face. Klaus hoped the duo could work out whatever differences they had. He liked the younger witch, always had, and to find one’s mate was the best reward their long lives saw fit to give them.

“Is everyone ready?” Benedict asked the group. He managed to have three helicopters at their disposal for this mission. Once they made the wish and reached their mark, they would activate the magic bomb and the GPS locator. Benedict planned to take off as soon as he got a lock on their location.

“Yes, sir,” Ben answered for them.

Benedict strode over to him and held his hand out. “Good luck, Klaus. This may seem meaningless at the moment, but trust that destiny has a way of working itself out, and when something is meant to be, not even god himself can stop it.”

Klaus eyed him warily. Did Benedict know something he didn’t?

In the end it didn’t matter what the man knew. Klaus would sell his soul to get Astrid back unharmed. He shook Benedict’s hand and gave a stiff nod.

The mated pairs formed a circle in the center of the backyard. One by one, they joined hands. He looked over at Miles, and the younger man nodded. Closing his eyes tight, he concentrated on Astrid, visualizing him in his mind’s eye.

I wish I was where Astrid is. Please, this is all I wish for.

He waited for a second then opened his eyes. They all still stood in the backyard. Ben looked at him questionably.

“Maybe you need to make the wish out loud,” Carter suggested.

Klaus nodded his head. “I wish I was with Astrid.” They waited, and still nothing. Klaus released the hands he had been holding and fisted his fingers in his hair. He growled his frustration to the night sky. Why wasn’t it working?

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“Take off your gloves,” Miles said. When no one moved, he yelled. “Take off your damn gloves. The leather barrier is preventing our energy from flowing to Klaus.”

“You heard the man, take them off,” he shouted as he removed his own gloves. He got back in his spot and grabbed the hands extended out to him.

“I wish I was with Astrid.” He spoke to the starry night sky. He could feel the flow of energy rushing up his arms. It was like water running in a stream up his body, straight into his brain. The circle began to sway, and then
poof
, they stood in the middle of an open field. Out in front of them stood a small airplane hangar.

“Holy shit, it fucking worked,” Garrett whispered loudly.

Klaus motioned to Ben to come closer. “Activate the locator.

Let’s give your dad a head start before we detonate the magic bomb.”

“Good thinking.” Ben hit the button on his watch and peered around the area. “Where do you think we are?”

“According to your father, we are just east of Springfield, Missouri,” Miles said, reading the text message off his phone.

“Why do you think they’re here?” Carter asked him.

“I’m guessing they’re going to take a plane out of here.” He eyed the building in front of them. “It looks old and abandoned. No one would suspect them to be out here.”

“Okay, let’s give my father some time to get in the air before we go in,” Ben ordered.

Klaus dropped to a knee and pulled one of the scopes from his backpack. He scanned the area, looking for guards that may be surrounding the building. There were a few but not many. That concerned him, because to not have several guards posted along the perimeter seemed unusual.

A car pulled up out front of the sliding metal doors leading into the hangar. He motioned for the others to get to the ground before they were spotted. He focused on the opening car door to see who would emerge.

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“It can’t be,” he mumbled to himself. What he saw had him beginning to stand to his feet, but Ben yanked him back down.

“What are you doing?” When Klaus jerked his hand back, Ben lunged forward, tackling him to the ground. “What the fuck, Klaus?”

Klaus’s breath came out in heavy pants. His body shook with renewed fury.

“Ben, Lucian just got out of that car,” Garrett said.

Ben cursed under his breath. He climbed off Klaus and grabbed Miles’s hand. Klaus rolled to his knees, watching as Lucian knocked on the metal doors. He only waited a moment before someone came to let him in.

“Detonate that fucking bomb,” he said to Carter.

Carter closed his eyes for a brief moment then opened them. “It’s done.”

Klaus projected his magic at the car parked in front of the hangar.

He pushed his energy, trying to cause the car to flip over. When that didn’t happen, he looked to where Abner knelt beside him. “Try to shift.”

“Huh?” Abner looked confused.

“Try to shift. My magic isn’t working, but I want to make sure we’re all magically handicapped, and not just the witches.”

He watched as the shifter tried but to no avail. They were all human for the next forty-five minutes.

“On the count of three, we move forward. Agreed?” Without waiting for any response, he began the countdown. “One, two, three.”

They moved forward as one as if they had done this exact same thing before. Klaus wanted to get inside. He didn’t want to give Lucian the opportunity to have any time alone with his mate. Also, the pain it would cause Astrid at seeing that monster again had him hustling a little quicker toward the building.

As they came upon the building, they split up into two groups, one at the front entrance and one at the back. The guards at either door
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were easy enough to dispose of. Taken by surprise, they were no match for them.

Klaus listened as Ben spoke into the earpieces they all wore. On the warrior’s count, they were going inside. He just prayed his angel would be okay.

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It had been hours since Astrid had seen anyone. Once he was reintroduced to his grandmother, who he had thought was his mother, one of Ivan’s minions shoved him in an empty office. He sat with his legs crossed in the far corner of the room. If someone were to come in, he would be facing them head-on. He didn’t want to be taken by surprise.

His hand absently went to the leather binding at his neck, and he tugged at the collar. Even though he was told he couldn’t wish it away, it didn’t keep him from trying. But in the end, nothing happened. He’d been rendered helpless once again.

“Urgh!” He beat the back of his head against the wall. Just one time he wanted to be in control of something, anything. He hated being the victim.

He gazed around the room, looking for something to use as a makeshift weapon. But it was useless unless dust had become lethal.

Ivan had brought him to an abandoned airplane hangar in the middle of nowhere, a place Klaus or the warriors wouldn’t be able to find easily. So, in other words, he was screwed.

In the distance he heard voices. They were coming from far away, and he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He crawled forward on his knees and put his ear to the door. The voices grew louder, and the increasing vibrations on the floor warned him whoever was walking toward him was getting closer. The stomp of heavy footfalls had him scooting back against the far wall. The hair on his arms stood to attention when the doorknob turned, and Ivan stepped through the threshold.