Page 89 of Crimson Flames

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“We are going to go over our roles one more time,” Alexi says to us in the very large cargo hold of the plane.

I’ve texted Kai each hour because we have internet, but he hasn’t been responding. We’re about to land, and I check my phone one more time to find the notifications blank.

Alexi looks around when Evie, Damien, and Lev walk down some stairs, her hair looking disheveled. He narrows his eyes.

Evie shrugs, coming to stand by his side. “Had to work out some of that nervous energy,” she chuckles in a low voice that we can all hear.

I try not to gag, and Nessa laughs at the face I make when Alexi tells her that ‘Daddy will be punishing her later.’

Nope. Not for me. Not my kink.

“The plan,” I remind him.

“Since we don’t know the interior layout of the old gothic building,” Nessa starts, “our main focus is going to be getting in. Alexi and Damien will cause a distraction. When we hear the signal, we’ll begin cutting into the gate at the back of the property.”

Was I a little pissed I couldn’t be part of the ‘distraction’? Yeah. But I guess it is good I get to remain at my girl's side.

“Next, we separate and go through different back entrances,” Havoc says.

“We’ll have three teams. Evie, Lyra, and Kia, Nessa’s friends and contacts will go together to entrance B. Nessa, Cillian, and Boris will go to Entrance A. Havoc and I will go to C,” Arrow adds.

“From there we will gather the children, find a way to get them to trust us, then move to the center point of the building, taking out any guards we may encounter along the way,” Boris states.

“If all goes well,” I say, “then we should be good to walk out the front door from there, and Lev will bring in the van to pick us up and transport us to where we have our cars.”

“There’s only one front entrance,” Evie states. “That’s where we will exit with everyone and where Alexi and Damien will be able to provide cover should we still need it.”

We go over it three more times until Alexi finally relents to letting us get into our cars. Nessa said she has to have her baby, so she and I get into the purple mustang I refuse to call Flair. The rest of the group is split between the three remaining vehicles: Alexi and Evie in what Kai deems the Batmobile, Boris, Arrow, and Havoc take the transport van, and Lev and Damien in the high-tech van.

We hit a bit of turbulence, and I reach for the dash to steady myself. The two vans are in front of us with Alexi pulling up the rear because his car can shoot flairs out of the back should anyone try to chase us once we land.

Maybe he really is Batman.

I’m surprised when I see a familiar head of hair stick up from the back window of the van, and I instantly know who it is. However, Nessa looks nauseous, so I decide to address that first.

“Sweetheart,” I try to comfort her, taking her hand in mine, “talk to me.”

She takes a deep breath as her head tilts back to look up at the roof of the car.

“It just feels like a lot. What if he’s there again?”

“He won’t be,” I assure her with a squeeze. “Lev has satellite tracking on him. He can’t make a move without us knowing.”

“He did once.” Her eyes land on mine, fear and trepidation swirling within their depths. I hate it because it’s so rare that she feels this way, much less shares it with us.

“Love,” I kiss the inside of her wrist, “we cannot live in fear of him or he wins. We are going to go in there and save these kids. This is the best way to show him he does not control you.”

With a heavy sigh, she looks forward just as I see that head of hair duck down again. This is why the brat isn’t texting me back; he probably doesn’t have the Wi-Fi password. I might actually have to strangle this kid. Kai being here complicates things and he knows it.

Part of me understands why he made this very impulsive, irresponsible decision, but the other part makes me want to ground him for a year because of the stress this is going to cause everyone.

My only hope is that he will stay there and not make a sound. If I get the chance to tell him so, I definitely plan on making myself clear. I want him to make his own choices but not at the cost of him getting hurt. We’re his parents now, and while it might be difficult to understand that he must follow the boundaries we set, we still need to set them, especially when it comes to his safety.

We land swiftly, my hand holding onto Nessa’s until the last second when she has to shift into gear. I stay focused on the back of Damien’s van, curious if he knows he has an extra passenger.

Our rendezvous point is only fifteen minutes from the airstrip, and the moment we get out of the cars and gather together, I can tell from the look on his face that Damien is aware. I don’t think he knew from the start though because he looks more concerned than proud.

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