Page 97 of Crimson Flames

Lev has the transport van pulled up and waiting. I lift Rick into my arms, and Rhea stays by our side.

“I hope he can forgive me,” I say.

She snorts a laugh. “He probably won’t.”

My stomach sinks, worried that I inadvertently ruined all of our carefully laid plans to gain their trust and respect.

“When we saved Kai, Nessa was shot. We did not know if she was going to survive. When Rick pointed the gun at her, I could take no chances.”

Rhea lifts her shoulders, taking a deep breath as we move along. “You don’t have to explain it to me, buddy. I knew he tookit too far. It’s what Rick does. You guys could have shot him in the head right there and didn’t. That’s all the proof I need that you aren’t trying to hurt us.”

I lay Rick on a seat, checking that his pulse is strong as Rhea sits beside him. Once he is settled, her hand covers mine.

“I understand what it feels like to lose someone. I’ll talk to him when he wakes up.”

I lift a small smile, anxiety coursing through my veins like a bad drug. Choosing to sit beside them during the short drive to our vehicles, I find out a bit about how they met.

They were so young and on the streets together. At first, they would beg for food, and once Rhea found out she was proficient with a computer, it went downhill from there. She made a few contacts, and that became their life.

She prefers dark underground bunkers with a lot of servers over people and crowded spaces, which we can both agree on.

By the time we arrive, I feel that she has developed some trust with me. We have yet to take their weapons, and I am sure that will cause a riot, but for now, there seems to be a truce between us.

Getting out of the van, I look at Rhea.

“If you want that computer, you should talk to Lev. He has a van set up here with surveillance. Would you like to see it?”

She glances from me to Rick, and after checking his pulse, she agrees. Rick is handcuffed to the seat, so even if he somehow wakes from what should be a solid twelve hour nap, he cannot hurt any of us.

“So, what was your fucking plan coming into this whole thing?” Rhea asks as we make our way to Lev’s little fortress.

“The exterior building plan went quite well, but we did not know what to expect with you, so a lot was left to chance.”

“And the little tranq darts?”

“Were for emergencies only. Like if one of you decided to pull a gun on the love of my life.”

She chuckles as if I had just told her a joke. “You’re fucking hilarious.”

“You sure do have a smart mouth,” Cillian says to Rhea as everyone files out of the van. She puts a hand on her hip and tosses her hair behind her shoulder.

“You would too if you constantly had others telling you what to do.”

Cillian laughs deeply, grabbing at his stomach.

“Oh girl, you have no fecking clue how much I understand that.” He looks at Nessa, making her smack him in the stomach.

“If I didn’t tell him what to do then there would be mass murders because someone made his sandwich order wrong.” Rhea’s brows pinch.

“That was one time,” Cillian whines.

“Are you five?” Rhea asks him.

“Right?” Nessa says, following us to Lev while scanning the area a little more precisely. I think she is a little shaken, but seems to be in good spirits now.

Rhea nearly dies when she sees the set-up Lev has. She jumps into the van, running her fingers over different objects and calling them by name, grabbing Lev’s attention straight away.

“What kind of computer do you need?” I ask her as she stares at one of Lev’s machines that has flashing lights.

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