Page 98 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
I climbed into the central seats with Simon and Caly. Michelle was driving and Bea sat in the front passenger seat. Caly’s guards took the back row of seats.
The interior of the car was quiet as we travelled through the city streets, each of us retreating into our own thoughts, saving our energy for when it would be needed. I shut my eyes, trying to calm my racing thoughts. There were so many things that could go wrong. We could be spotted at the outer perimeter of the prison compound. The guards could gas Bastien, preventing him from reaching the kitchens.
But my pre-cog was quiet. I had to believe it.
Consciously, I regulated my breathing, using the techniques I’d practised for years, slowly drawing in long breaths then letting them out again. In, out. In, out. Gradually, my mind calmed and I found the mental space I needed for whatwe would have to do. Wrapping the calm around myself, I knew I was ready.
And just in time. Michelle brought the car to a stop. “Wait here, please, while Bea and I make sure that our instructions were followed.” Money had changed hands today so that the floodlights that normally lit this area would be dark and no-one would be patrolling this section of the fence. But until we checked, we wouldn’t know if they had done what they had promised. Crooked men couldn’t be relied on.
I opened my eyes, my gaze meeting my sister’s. “Are we good?” she asked.
My pre-cog was still quiet. Was it too quiet? Surely our plan wasn’t foolproof? There had to be some risk in this hastily developed crazy scheme. But my magic didn’t seem to think so. I shrugged. “I think so.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s quiet,” I said.
“Then we’re good,” she said, nodding. “I trust your magic. Don’t start doubting yourself now.”
I looked beyond her to Simon. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to spit out whatever was bothering me. He was calm and steady. I needed to be more like him. Apart from the one time at the Summit, my pre-cog had never failed me. And even then, I’d recognised that something was wrong. I had to trust it. Trust myself.
“Let’s do this,” I muttered, giving myself a mental shake. We had three powerful magic-users and four Shifters out here and Bastien could handle himself inside.
The door beside me opened, revealing a smiling Michelle. “The coast is clear, Lady. As promised. Come with us and we’ll get you through the fence.”
We were doing this. Despite the blanket of calm I’d tried to wrap around myself, butterflies began to flutter in my belly.
Relax, baby. Bastien’s voice was like a caress down my spine.
I’m so nervous I could puke.
Sweetheart, he crooned.Nothing will stop me from being by your side tonight.And, as you always like to remind me, youarethe strongest Witch in two hundred years.
The night was dark, the moon hidden by clouds. Michelle was a dark blur in front of me. With her Shifter vision she would be able to see where we were going. I just had to follow her and avoid tripping over my own feet.
What if we missed something?
Then we’ll deal with it. You have my dad and your sister with you. If you were a coven, you’d be the most powerful one ever known.
He made it sound so easy. Was I overcomplicating things? Could it really be so simple to get an inmate out of what was supposed to be the most secure prison in the country? With all our power, perhaps it was. I was so used to working alone, maybe I was failing to grasp the obvious.
A thin strand of my magic was already spooling out of me, connected to Caly and Simon. Ready to be used. Ready to be combined.
The nerves in my belly settled. Bastien was right. Inside, he had the strength to pull down walls. Outside, we had thepower to conceal what he was doing. The guards were looking the other way. The plan was simple. We just had to execute it.
Caly, Simon and I had to separate. Our spell would be like a net that we threw over the building. For it to have an effect over enough area, we had to be the anchor points.
Simon stopped first, at the point indicated by Michelle. In the darkness, his white teeth flashed in a smile. “Five minutes till we cast.”
Then we dropped Caly off at her spot, her Shifter guards staying with her.
Then it was just me and my own personal security.
“Three minutes, ma’am,” Michelle whispered in my ear.
Chapter 82
Bastien
