Page 40 of Assassin's Game
Levi nodded. “You feel like you have a solid plan?”
I noticed he didn’t ask for details. My brother was nothing if not a control freak, but tonight other things were more important. Still I rushed to reassure him. “We do. We’ve covered all the bases, bro. Mikaela’s team is solid.”
His gaze met mine when I used her name. The same warning Remi had given me swirled there, but Levi didn’t speak the words. Instead he looked to Remi. “You shouldn’t have to be out there.”
Remi stared him down. “My family is at risk. I can’t let that stand any more than you can.”
Levi glanced to Leah as if worried she wouldn’t agree. She was nodding.
“Stick together,” he warned us. “And contact me when the job is done. But before you go, come see Abby.”
∞
Abby —
They were on a mission; I knew it the minute they walked in. All three brothers had the same deadly expression, the one that meant secret things were taking place. Killing things. I swallowed hard and gave Eli and Remi a small smile from my place on the bed.
Eli walked straight over to me and sat on the edge, taking my hand in his.
“You’re going out, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Can’t hide anything from you, smart girl.” His smile held a tinge of worry he was trying hard to hide.
I glanced over his shoulder at Levi. He knew what I was asking—are you going too?A quick jerk of his head told me no.
Then I worried for a whole new reason.
Eli always could read me well. “We’ve got some new friends going with us. It’ll be okay.” He leaned closer, lowered his voice playfully. “We won’t kill anyone.”
I smiled even as my heart squeezed. “As long as you don’t let anyone kill you,” I warned, my gaze shifting from him to Remi and back again.
“Absolutely not,” Remi said, his arm around Leah. “There’ll be six of us; we’ll be fine.”
“Who’s staying behind?” Levi asked, frowning.
“Maris,” Eli said. “We’ve got things covered, and I get the sense she doesn’t go into combat situations. Not that this is a combat situation,” he assured me. “She’ll be fine downstairs while we’re out.”
They were leaving some girl in the basement? Doing what, twiddling her thumbs? They’d said these were allies—were they telling the truth or lying so I wouldn’t worry? “Leah can sit with her. Or bring her up here. There’s no need for her to sit down there alone.”
“No,” Levi said, his tone like sandpaper. I kept my eyes on the rest of my family, unable to bear looking at him. Seeing his pain—pain I’d caused. Or my body had caused. Either way, he was hurting almost as much as I was.
Because I was losing our child. I knew it even as Leah encouraged me to hope. Some instinct, something devastated in the center of my soul told me the truth: it was only a matter of time.
I’d keep you if I could, little one.
I closed my eyes against the tears that threatened to spill over again, then opened them wide. “I’m stuck in this bed and she’s stuck in the basement. Bring her up here and we can be bored together.” Anything to distract me from things I couldn’t bear to think about. To feel.
Eli stood up after a quick squeeze of my hand. “Maris is sweet. I think you’d like her.”
I could feel the looks crossing the room, the people I loved communicating silently as if I couldn’t feel their thoughts, worries. Fears. Leah’s gaze shifted from Levi to me. “Maybe she’d like a snack.”
Her raised eyebrow made it a question, and even though I’d rather swallow glass than food, I nodded.
Remi and Eli said goodbye, and I watched as they followed Leah out the door.
“Abby, I don’t—”
“Just stop, Levi.” Was that exhausted voice mine? “If you were that worried about her, she’d never have stepped foot inside the gate.” I rolled onto my side, away from him. “Of course, I’m sure you’re getting restless without your nightly venture to God knows where. Maybe you should’ve gone with Eli and Remi.”
