Page 62 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“Focus, Jax.” Rion’s gaze follows me.

“When did you find her? We only mentioned Kaladar to you yesterday.”

“I told you, I have contacts.” I avoid his gaze, inspecting my food.

Rion cocks his head, his eyes narrowing on my lie.

“It doesn’t matter, let’s go.” Jax wolfs down the rest of his food, gets up and moves towards the door. Luka stands up, ready to follow him.

I give them a look of disbelief. “We can’t just go in headstrong. We need a plan.”

Jax’s expression is incredulity, his voice breaking when he speaks. “That thing is a sick and twisted piece of shit. We need to get her away from him, now.”

I feel his pain as if it were a physical entity, but common sense wins out. We need to be smart about this, smarter than I was yesterday.

If we go in without a plan, we could fuck up everything and Kaladar could end up taking her somewhere we’d never find her.

“It won’t do any good barging in. And that’s even if we get past the spelled door.” Jax growls, flashing forward to punch a hole in the wall.

Great, something else to fix. I narrow my eyes on him, giving him a dirty look. Seeing my glare, he looks back at the large gap in the wall and grimaces.

His grin is lopsided. “I’ll fix it.”

Luka goes over to comfort him. “We’ll get her out bro, don’t worry.”

My heart clenches, feeling tight. It’s clear they really care about this girl. I need this plan to work. It’s the one thing I can do for them before I leave with Alana.

I clear my throat of emotion before continuing. “She’s being held in one of the most secure buildings in the city. There’s round-the-clock guards, including shifters and high-level warlocks. They’re all highly trained and have the backing of the witches should they require it. The building itself is spelled, concealing everything behind the erected barrier outside. You won’t find out anything unless you’re on the inside first. But then there are more guards and spells to deal with.”

“Fuck,” Axel grumbles. “How the hell are we supposed to get past all that, unnoticed might I add? They could move her around and we wouldn’t even know.”

An air of hopelessness settles over the room, descending into silence. Kai catches my eye, a thoughtful look on his face as he holds my stare.

“You have a plan, don’t you?”

The guys perk up, all looking at me with a mixture of reluctant reverie.

I nod, confirming Kai’s theory. “I should be able to get to her, but I’ll need your help.”

Luka’s reply is immediate. “We’re in. Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“Good, because I think we need to move quick.”

“You think he’ll move her soon?”

“Not from anything I’ve seen. I’ve just got this… feeling we need to get on this quick.”

Rion’s narrowed gaze cuts right through me. “He’s here, isn’t he? This is the building?”

How does he always do that? Are basilisks fucking psychic?

Rion continues, oblivious to my baffled expression and inner ramblings. “It makes sense, with what we went through alone to get here. There are guards and spells everywhere and everything is off limits. You haven’t had enough time to look elsewhere, especially in the timeframe you’ve had.”

The guys turn silent, gaping a look at me before exploding. My silence telling them everything they need to know.

Jax is the first one to jump the gun. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! What the fuck are we waiting for then?”

“What the hell?” Luka looks confused and slightly hurt, but I knew telling them before finding out Kaladar’s security would be a mistake.

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