Page 117 of Never Enough

“Okay. Loki and Gilgamesh have the kids in the trucks and are standing guard topside so that when Medusa comes swooping in, you’ve got cover. These children were the last of them and are in need of medical care. Once you get the last of those kids loaded onto the truck, get the hell out of there.”

“Roger that,” TB called out.

“Medusa just came up over the horizon,” Loki called out over the airwaves.

Nemo couldn’t believe what he’d seen over the last few minutes. “I thought this place was barely up and running?”

Waters nodded. “Apparently, that was false. Trucks are going to be a tight fit. Loki, Gilgamesh, and Janus, Mythos’ pilot, are full up, but they say they have a place to take them. Hope they’ve got good resources because there’s still enough of a body count to give these kids nightmares for years, let alone their experiences for however long they’d been in captivity. Some of the children looked in much worse shape than others.”

When they reached the top of the elevator shaft, Medusa provided air coverage with her helicopter while the team handed the last of the children into the trucks to waiting adults, a couple of whom didn’t look to be in much better shape than the kids themselves. With the last child secured, Cerberus, Steel, and Demon each hopped up into a truck, and they took off through the gates of the mine to freedom.

Medusa quickly set the helicopter down, everyone loaded into the bird, TB slammed the door shut, and they were off.

“Scheherazade?” Nemo shouted over the rotors.

“Damn dog wanted to ride with Janus of all people, so Steel’s in his truck to watch over her,” TBinformed him. “Weirdest fuckin’ thing. Jumped in that cab with no hesitation, and her damn head was hanging out the window, tongue flapping in the breeze. I swear to Christ, she was smiling.”

He grinned. “Her sense of self-preservation disappeared with her puppies.” He looked at Gem, huddled on the opposite side of the helicopter. “Come here, kitty cat.” He motioned for her to come to him.

“Your back…” she started.

“Don’t care. Need to hold you.”

Nemo dragged her onto his lap, wrapping his arm around her waist and burying his face in the space between her hair and her neck.

She was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. She clutched his biceps in her hands. It was too loud to talk, so all he could do to reassure himself that she was fine was to hold her tight and not let go.

He looked up from her shoulders to see Midas in the copilot seat of the helicopter. The relief on his brother’s face was crystal clear. Nemo smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. Midas returned the gesture, himself now reassured that his twin was truly back, and returned his focus to what Medusa needed him to be doing.

His sugar cat. His twin. His team. Life was good.

45

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022

Haskell

“Kaders fled the country. No sign.” Midas gave his report from the conference room in Mythos’ safe house back in Melbourne, Australia. The team had remained to allow Nemo’s back to heal and to try and rout out the Kaders, who had fled as soon as the shooting started.

“Rats fleeing a sinking ship,” TB groused, throwing his project folder onto the table.

“Think they went back to Egypt?” Demon asked.

Waters scowled. “If it were me? I’d go underground.”

Haskell exchanged glances with her Mythos counterparts.

“Italy,” she said softly.

The table looked at her.

“They’ll likely be in Italy under the protection of the Salieri. They won’t want to give up on those mines justyet. But they’ll need to regroup, so it’s the most likely place for the Kaders to go.”

Waters tapped his pencil against his project folder. It was easily two minutes of quiet before he spoke. “Someone finally going to clue us in?”

Haskell wiggled uncomfortably in her seat, again exchanging glances with Mythos. “That’s not my call. I already probably shared more than I should have.”

Waters gritted his teeth and ground them together before he spoke. “Well, it’s connected now to Ka-Bar, who is also in the wind again, so I think we’re now in a need-to-know situation. Somebody start talking.”

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