Zoey Avenger (Incubatti Series Book 2) by Lizzy Ford Page A

Council sanctioned the murder of innocent humans.
    It wouldn’t be the only risk he took. Every time Zoey had a blackout, Declan disappeared to check on her, and he had secret surveillance on her on nights when he wasn’t there to watch over her. The idea that Zoey was doing what was right, was trying to make the world a better place, and faced the same fate his mother had made up his mind.
    Declan copied and pasted the information from his records into the text box and sent it, not even bothering to add a caveat about not attacking them outright. For once, he wasn’t able to see the bigger picture, the greater good, not after learning that his mother had been slaughtered by the IAB while his father was forced to sit on the sidelines instead of reacting.
    “Do you ever feel like what we do isn’t enough?” he whispered, gazing at his phone.
    “Yeah,” Ethan replied. “Every day since your mother died.”
    “This has to end.”
    “Give it time, son. We’re on the right track.”
    Declan bit back his response.
    “Really,” Ethan said, a sad smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been. Let it go for now, Declan. I think your girl is the piece we didn’t have in our puzzle before, the person who can catalyze change. Wait a little longer and see what happens.”
    The plan their father hatched long ago – of an Incubatti society without the poisonous Cambions – had been postponed when Zoey went rogue and Olivia offered a temporary truce. Politics had become quickly much more convoluted when Paul was elevated to a Councilmember. Unlike the Halflings in the Sucubatti’s ranks, Cambions held full membership in the Incubatti society.
    Zoey’s Team Rogue was an opportunity to start the dirty work, the elimination of the creatures that preyed on innocent humans.
    I can’t wait too long. Declan didn’t speak, too disturbed to know what to say.
     
     

Chapter Eight: Empowered
     
    Zoey spent the next day tracking down all the Halflings, taking stock of what weapons and gear they’d been able to salvage from the fire, and replacing everything they needed that was lost to the fire. Only two Halflings had minor burns, but another seven suffered seizures during the day, brought on by the stress. She used the petty cash taken from Declan’s box to pay for horse-grade sedative and moved the affected girls to a hotel over a hundred mile away.
    The core members of Team Rogue managed to buy food, weapons, high tech computer and medical equipment for Chrissy, and rent two more storage facilities, one east of DC and the other West of DC, where they divided up and stationed the healthy Halflings.
    Exhausted from the day of activity, none of which included killing Cambions or figuring out how to find where Olivia was hiding the solution to the Halflings’ curse, Zoey greeted the nightfall with relish. Meeting with the Incubatti and Sucubatti Councilmembers was like a trip to the spa after her day.
    She emerged from the basement that had acted as the original headquarters for Team Rogue when they first broke away from the Sucubatti. The summerhouse in northern Virginia belonged to Lydia’s adopted sister and was unoccupied.
    Zoey nibbled on a protein bar, too busy to have eaten real food all day or to bother sleeping in over thirty hours. She climbed into the back of the van awaiting her on the street. Chrissy sat in back with her while Ginny drove. Two body bags were in back of the van, one belonging to the Halfling and the other to the succubus who burnt down her warehouse. She wanted to bury the Halfling somewhere off the grid but hadn’t been able to.
    “Isn’t there a saying about being late?” Chrissy asked, tugging at the band around her arm.
    “I think it’s what fashionable people do,” Ginny replied.
    Zoey half-listened, focused on double-checking her weapons rather than her daunting task. Anger about the warehouse fueled her, present despite her exhaustion. She didn’t