Page 65 of Robb

But provided he wasn’t calling to break up with her, then it meant that someone who knew about their connection, and how to get in contact with her was either imitating him or controlling him.

Both of those options were pretty shit, in her – and, Tahnee was pretty sure, anyone else’s – opinion. But no matter which one was true, though, she had to investigate.

Resolve surging through her, she leapt into the air and shifted, flying as quickly as she could through the trees and scrub to the main building of the sanctuary, and then straight through the large, open window that led directly to the mezzanine area.

Shifting back, she strode down a curving hallway and scanned herself into the section of the building reserved for her security team.

Liam sat inside the expansive room – expansive because money had been no object to her at the time, and she was certain people did their best work in comfortable surroundings – in front of a bank of computer screens and other monitoring equipment, alongside a few of his team. They’d clearly been chatting and joking before she’d come in, cups of coffee steaming on the desk in front of them, but after seeing her expression, their faces quickly became serious, immediately ready to get to business. It was obvious to them that something was up.

“The helicopter’s ready to go, isn’t it?” she asked without preamble. It was a rhetorical question – she knew her crew kept her private helicopter fueled up and in top condition at all times, even though she barely used it.

“You know it is,” said Aliir, her head of operations.

“Okay, let’s move,” she said briskly. “Liam, you’re flying. Everyone else, keep on high alert. I know Liam would’ve already briefed you, but we’re up against something nasty. There may be a threat coming – and it’s likely that that threat is Hargreaves.”

Despite her urge to get going, Tahnee paused for a moment.

She looked around at her team, at their somber expressions, and knew that they were taking this just as seriously as she was.

Some of them were shifters who had reformed after being on the wrong side of the law. Some were her mob, who knew the land here better than anyone. Some were experts who had been recruited, including a couple of trusted humans, and some were former guests who had fallen in love with the place and taken up a job here.

All of them, every last one, were people who were willing to put their lives on the line for the safety of the sanctuary.

Let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that, Tahnee thought grimly.

She felt like she’d thought that a lot recently – and she wasn’t liking it any more than the first time. She hoped that after this, she’d never have a reason to worry about it ever again.

Trying for a tiny bit of levity – and probably failing – she went on, “While I’m planning on coming back here and being just as much of a pain in the arse as I’ve always been, it’s not guaranteed. If I don’t make it back in one alive piece, Liam is in charge. If he also doesn’t make it back, then it’s Emma.”

None of this would have been news to anyone, given that the succession plan had been in place for years… but Tahnee thought that it would be good to confirm just how serious the situation was.

“You all know what to do,” she said. “Hopefully this is all a false alarm and things will continue on as they always have, but if something does happen, I have faith in all of you that you’ll do yourselves proud.”

Swallowing at the strange lump in her throat, she turned on her heel and walked briskly out the room without a second glance, Liam close behind her.

“You ready?” she asked, not even able to bring herself to glance over her shoulder at him – she was worried he might see the fear and worry in her eyes if she did. And right now, the only thing she wanted anyone to see was her resolve.

“You know it.”

Thanks Liam, Tahnee thought gratefully. She did know it. And she knew that if all of this ended horribly, the sanctuary would be in good hands with him, no matter what happened next.

Out on the mezzanine, she shifted into her brolga form and launched herself out the window, making a beeline for where the helicopter was kept a few hundred meters away. Liam, she knew, would have to make a slightly slower trek on foot, no matter how speedy the goanna was in any terrain, but she was impatient to get moving.

Gliding over the trees, knowing that there were shifters just beneath her who were relying on her and her team to keep them safe, she put on an extra burst of speed.

Tahnee knew that her people would evacuate the sanctuary if they needed to – but it didn’t keep her from worrying. She had a duty to every single one of her guests.

Arriving at the helicopter, she didn’t even wait for Liam before opening the door and hopping inside, strapping herself into the front passenger seat.

Tapping her foot impatiently, she looked around the inside of the chopper. She didn’t fly in it very often – preferring to travel by brolga where possible – and she had no idea how to operate it, so it wasn’t like she was even remotely tempted to try and take off without Liam to save a few minutes. She wouldn’t be much good to Robb if she was dead in a ditch somewhere.

While she’d originally been hesitant to purchase the helicopter – she really didn’t want to get into the habit of creating more and more gold so that she could live extravagantly and become exactly the sort of person she was fighting against – her team had convinced her of its usefulness.

After all, while it didn’t exactly flood out this way very often, when it did, the roads could be cut off for weeks, which meant no supplies unless the brolga wanted to fly out and try to carry them back, presumably clutching little shopping bags in its clawed feet.

And she had to admit that few things made her happier than the smiles she saw on the faces of shifters when they stepped out of the helicopter and saw the sanctuary for the first time – shifters who didn’t have the time or money to get themselves to a remote part of the Outback, and who had no way of safely enjoying the fresh air in their shifter forms back home.

She was determined that her sanctuary would be accessible to everyone who needed it, even if they were working six days a week just to keep the lights on. And if they happened to find a small, conveniently placed gold nugget while out and about on her property… well, she was always very insistent that they kept it for themselves, so long as they were willing to keep quiet about where they found it.