Page 76 of Crown of Tides and Fury

He snorted. “Too much American cinema.”

Everyone was back but Wickham, Persi, and Flann. The truck, the bodies, the mob were all gone. The only proof of two men’s bravery were the puddles of blood that would only be washed away when it rained. Water would be too precious for wasting.

We waited only a few minutes before Kitch and Brian went looking for the missing. Without ourSeanair,none of us were going anywhere, and we would be stuck fighting Russian tanks with our soft silver blades.

An explosion went off not a block away, and we headed toward the building. The loading bay was still open.

“Ho!”

We turned back to find Wickham and the rest closing fast.

"Relax," Kitch said with a grin. "Just a wee grenade for distraction. Those checkpoint blokes dinnae mess about."

A minute later, we stood in Engineering II, relieved to be home again, though we hadn't been gone an hour. I took a minute to appreciate the four intact walls around me, the lack of blood and rubble on the floor, the fact that an endless supply of food sat in the kitchen one story beneath my feet, and the blessing that our house was completely hidden from our enemy.

I said a little prayer for the Ukrainians before I followed my friends from the room, but that wasn't all I could do for them. I could help make sure the rest of the world was intact when they emerged out the other side of their war...

* * *

In the war room,someone had already made another hash mark beneath Orion's name.

Orion 2, Wickham 1, Griffon 1. That left the two missing and the two left to be collected.

Persi paced before the boards with a marker in her hand. "Does it bother anyone else that the Fae got to Bailey just before we did?"

"Aye," Flann said, "Sure but we shouldn't believe in coincidences."

"There's no time to sort it," Wickham said, from the doorway. "Orion can step out ofPlacejust as I can, so getting into that women's prison in Texas will be no trouble for him."

Brian shook his head. “We ken where she is. We should save her for last.”

"I'll collect Rinky now, while the rest of ye locate Felicity Orley. I have the map of the prison on my mobile. I’ll be back in a trice."

"You shouldn't go alone," I said.

Wickham rolled his eyes. "Fine then." He popped out and back again, then grabbed my hand and spoke to Kitch. "Find out exactly where Felicity is. Not a moment to spare."

The war room disappeared. In its place was a square barren space surrounded by chain link on two sides and high brick walls before and behind us. The ground under my feet was dirt and gravel with a long-forgotten surface below that kept it all perfectly flat. Heat pushed through to my bones. For a few seconds, I enjoyed it. But then I realized I was being baked alive.

Texas sun in August. Blue sky. Soaring birds. Barbed wire. No thank you.

I opened my mouth to suggest Wickham take me back to Hope House and trade me for Kitch. Then, from above, I heard the distinct clicks of multiple rifles being cocked.

Three guards stood on the wall ahead, sheltered from the sun by pitched aluminum roofs, like small pavilions without the picnic tables. At the sound of sputtering, we turned to face an officer standing in the shade of the wall behind us. Sweat drenched all but the smallest patches of his shirt, primarily the points of his collar and the tops of his sleeves. Once he was able to pull his jaw off the ground, he dragged his sunglasses down his nose to look us over. “Don’t y’all move a muscle.”

Wickham pointed to his phone and took a step forward. “Can ye tell me where we can find Miss Roberta Moore?”

I hadn’t quite thought this through. I was an American woman, standing in the yard of a women’s prison I’d just broken into, in Texas, with half a dozen guns aimed at me. And the only person who could get me out again was tempting fate!

I took a very slow, deliberate step toward Wickham. Guns cocked again, this time from above the lone officer. I ignored them, slipped my hand into Wickham’s waistband, and wrapped my fingers around his belt. I spoke through clenched teeth. “Ever heard of a firing squad? We need to get out of here.”

“One minute, lass. This fine gentleman is goin’ to tell us where we can find Rinky.”

The closest guards chuckled but stopped suddenly when the one with the glasses stepped forward to take a look at Wickham’s small screen. The man pointed. “She’ll be here. Works in the cafeteria. I can take you to the warden’s office, where it’s cool. Would you like me to bring her to you?”

“Nay. Just take us to her, that’ll be fine.”

The officer nodded and waved for us to follow him. With mouths hanging open, the men on the wall above us exchanged glances and reluctantly lowered their weapons.

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