Page 56 of The Vipers' Vow

“Agreed,” Phoenix says. “Okay, let’s put this baby to the test.”

He sets the drone going, and it looks so easy, but I know it’s not. I had a turn with a drone once that someone had purely for leisure, and controlling it is damn hard.

I lean close to Saint to watch the footage on his phone screen. He smells so luscious, I bite down the urge to lick his neck. I’ve got to remember that even though the bikers have begrudgingly accepted me being with both men, they aren’t going to be happy with overt displays of affection between us. I need them on my side so they don’t go running their mouths to my dad until I’m ready to tell him myself.

The screen is showing us what the drone’s camera sees, and at first, it’s just grass and gravel rushing by, and then, as Phoenix controls it, the drone lifts, higher and higher, until it’s brushing the treetops.

Once it’s high in the air, Phoenix sends it out toward the lake. In the distance, through the trees, the surface glints in the sunlight. The drone flies past the jetty, with a small boat docked beside it, and Phoenix brings it back around. He lowers the drone and does a scan of the area all around the fancy inflatable. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.

Zane taps Saint’s arm and points to the screen and signs something.

“Yeah, true,” Saint says with a nod, and then turns to the rest of us. “The way the tender is designed, with the large screen in front of the controls, means it will be easy for you two to hide.”

Phoenix scratches his rough beard. “Yeah, and there, where it’s lower at the side, we can easily slip into the water. You can’t stop the tender. It will look suspicious, so slow it down a little so we can fall back into the water.”

“Fall back?” Zoo raises his brows. “Hey, we weren’t all trained at the US Naval War College, bud. I’ll sit on the edge and go in that way.”

“So long as we’re far enough away from the yacht that you don’t make an almighty splash they’ll see,” Phoenix grumbles.

He’s still manning the drone as he speaks, and now it’s setting out across the water. He takes it higher, until we can see for quite a way, with an eagle-eye view from the drone’s camera.

Soon, we spy the yacht.

“Pretty damn big for a yacht on a lake,” Phoenix says.

I squint at the screen. I’d been expecting something bigger, imagining it to be those huge, oceangoing yachts you see the super-rich on. It’s still impressive, even more so because it’s sitting there serenely in the middle of the lake.

The drone does a sweep, high up in the sky, but we can easily make out what look to be four figures on the sundeck.

“We ought to hunker down for a bit and do a few sweeps,” Saint says. “At least give it some time to see if more people come and go on deck.”

“Agreed,” Zoo says.

I glance at Zane. Not for the first time, I think how it must be to inhabit his world. He can’t speak easily like the rest of us, so he only makes his feelings known when it really matters. Does he feel left out of the cut and thrust of regular conversation? He must. I go to his side and take his hand, pulling him to sit next to me on the ground.

As Phoenix and Saint watch the drone footage, I lean my head on Zane’s shoulder. It’s a nice moment of calm before the coming storm. After a few beats, I’m aware of the weight of someone’s gaze. I tilt my head to find Zoo staring at us. He looks away as soon as our gazes connect, and my cheeks burn.

This is going to be so hard to explain to my father. I want him to accept me for who I am now, and that means accepting these men, too. I tell myself my dad loves me more than anything, and he won’t kill the Vipers because he’ll know I love them, and if he does anything to hurt them, he’d lose me for good. That doesn’t stop me feeling anxious about it, though.

Time drifts, and I let myself put the thoughts of that conversation out of my mind. Zoo offers me a cold water bottle from his bag, and I take it gratefully. He passes a couple around, and I share mine with Zane. I’m almost drifting off, since I only got a couple of hours sleep last night, when a voice jars me.

“Okay, I think I’ve seen enough,” Saint says. “There’s been a couple of men come onto the deck and leave, and we’ve been watching for over twenty minutes, I think our best guess has to be between four and eight men?”

“I think so,” Phoenix agrees. “The yacht isn’t that big. It can’t have a ton of bedrooms. We’ve got to make a decision, and I say we go, if that’s what you guys want.”

Saint nods and tucks his phone away. “Abso-fucking-lutely. Let’s go get my brother.”

My heart skips a beat, and I clench my fists. I’m excited to see Lex but scared something might have happened to him. The idea of finding him and all not being okay fills me with dread. I can’t lose him. Not so soon after losing my mother and finding out about Reagan. Any more loss is more than I can handle. I think I’d crack completely.

Zane squeezes my hand, and I glance at him.It will be okay,he mouths clearly.

I smile and squeeze back and put on a brave face.

We climb back onto our bikes and, within ten minutes, are at the tender. They could possibly have some cameras somewhere, but I can’t see any, and there’s not much here except for some trees. I try to calm myself and take a few deep breaths.

Saint and Phoenix hand out weapons, and I marvel at the way these two have started to work so well together. I’m not given anything, and I scowl at Phoenix.

“What gives? I’m not going in there unarmed. Give me a gun.” He didn’t say anything about me not having one back at the base.

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