Page 88 of The World Undone

Dec’s eyes darted briefly to Evelyn. “Do we know where she’ll be?”

Our target was a council member named Amalia. If we were lucky, her co-council member and part-time fuckbuddy, Xavier, would be with her too.

Two for one, my kind of deal.

Evelyn’s posture was rigid, her attention focused as she studied the grounds in front of us. Any lingering emotion from the conversation earlier had long dissolved away, leaving behind the confident, borderline arrogant persona I was much more familiar with.

Good.

As cold as she could sometimes be, I couldn’t deny the fact that she was one hell of a protector. And that was not even including the extra dose of badass required to be secretly spying on the organization she’d been steadily rising in for decades.

It was the version of her that we needed today.

“They could be anywhere, but the largest suite is situated on the northwest turret.” Turret. Fuck yeah, I was right. “Can’t guarantee that’s where she’ll be now, but I’d bet my best blade that she’s taken that room for herself. Amalia is,” she paused for a moment, eyes narrowing as she searched for a word, “lavish.”

“So how do we get up there without anyone noticing?” Declan scanned the vicinity. “I thought there’d be more people out and about.”

Evelyn turned to Levi, a silent question scrunching between her brows.

“There’s definitely no one outside, but let me go in first, I’ll signal back if it’s open.”

“Why—” I started, but a sharp glare from him had me swallowing the question I knew he wouldn’t answer.

The Plan.

This was part of the plan, and it was best to just go through with it as we’d prepped.

Dec and I were the ones teleporting, which meant we were necessary for getting out of this. Apparently, Levi was the expendable one.

So we waited for him, the three of us silent and tense while Levi casually strolled up to the castle and then, eventually, climbed the wall, hands and feet seamlessly finding the divots and handholds like he’d been rock climbing this wall his entire life, until he reached a black, weathered window.

Declan vibrated next to me, but she didn’t look scared. Her face was focused, ready.

The waiting around was the difficult part.

I felt that too, deep in my bones.

Sometimes stillness was the most difficult part of the job.

Evelyn hadn’t so much as taken a breath since Levi disappeared through the window, her anxiety practically clawing at my ribs. He might have thought of himself as expendable, the best to take risks, but she did not.

Did she ever worry so intensely about me?

I shoved away the selfish thought before it had a chance to grip me.

A pale hand dipped back through the window, waving us forward.

She exhaled, body sinking in relief.

And I found, surprisingly, that mine did the same.

As annoying as he was, I didn’t want the fucker to die. And not just because his death would signal more complications than we’d anticipated.

I grabbed Dec and Evelyn’s hands, and pulled them in one final jump to the room.

Precision was easier when I had a thing to visualize.

We landed, all of us still on our feet, in front of Levi.

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