Page 111 of The Devil We Know

I laugh. “Isn't it great?”

He shakes his head, his eyebrows raising as he exclaims, “No. It's fucking crazy.”

“So, what are you afraid of?”

“What isn't there to be afraid of?”

I pause for a moment, and then I say, “Well, if she's on your side, it's perfect. So maybe you should try to be a little more friendly with her.”

“I want nothing to do with her.”

“I hate to break it to you, but this intense reaction is usually indicative of something else going on.”

He puts his finger right in my face as he says, “Don't you fucking say it.”

I laugh again and then say, “Obviously, I don't have to say it.” I pat him on the shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look as I refrain from saying all the things I want to say. Because any one of us here knows that regardless of how we may feel about a situation, by the time we even realize it's happening, it's out of our hands.

The door at the other end of the room opens, and I look over to see a whole mess of people filing into the room.

Lilith is the first one to reach us, Issa and Marieka following closely behind. “Everything's in place.”

Any humor that was left in the room immediately vanishes.

Antoinette steps forward. “Good. Will it be a synchronous assault?”

Nodding, Lilith replies, “Yes. It means some of the European assaults will take place in daylight, but it was more important that we're in the dark here. Issa and Marieka will stay here and run communications, so we’ll have tabs on all locations.”

She looks at me and blinks, then does the same with Kaian, Declan, and Tony, and then she frowns. “Well, that's fucking wild.”

Antoinette chuckles. “Right? I don't know what I was expecting, but for some reason, this was not it.”

“They're going to shit their pants.”

“I kind of feel like the boogeyman,” Kaian says. “I just don't want to go around scaring people all day.”

“If that's the case, I can take Dare’s face off of you,” Camilla replies flippantly.

He glares at her again and opens his mouth to reply, but I hit him with my elbow, turning his attention back to me. “No flirting, right?”

He rolls his eyes but manages to remain silent, and then Antoinette, Carolina, and Jessica all move closer to us. We naturally shift, so our circle narrows, with a group of extras hanging out in the wings.

“Does everyone understand the mission?” I ask seriously.

“Save Dare,” Antoinette replies.

I sigh and shake my head. “No. Finding and freeing Dare is obviously a part of the mission, but that is not the actual mission.”

Antoinette gives me a sulky look but, after a beat, manages to nod. I take a minute to look at each person in the room, earning a nod from each of them before nodding myself. “Good. Let’s go in there and finish this.”

Antoinette looks at Kaian, and then at me, quickly moving to Declan before zeroing in on Tony. “You wanna do the honors for old time's sake?”

He smiles wickedly, pulling two blades from where he has them hidden on his person. He spins them on his palms before gripping the handles. “Are we ready for this?”

We all reply in the affirmative, and the tension in the air sizzles, the ominous buzz of excitement like an old friend.

He waits for everyone to quiet, that wicked grin turning menacing as he says clearly, “It's fuck around time.”

46

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