Page 82 of Breathe
“Did he want you to sit this one out?” Real asked and smirked at Stone’s look of surprise.
“He did,” the man said slowly.
“And you said?”
“Hell no,” Stone grumbled and Real snorted.
And Dave was probably pissed to high hell, Real thought.
What Dave didn’t realize was that Stone couldn’t be controlled. Just like he couldn’t force Azrael to sit this one out, neither could Dave ask the same of Stone.
Not that Dave and Stone were an official couple or anything like that, but they were very protective of each other. In fact, Real would say they were possessive of each other. He wondered if either man had made a move yet.
“So he knows you’re here,” Real said, drawing Stone’s gaze from his gun.
“Yeah, but it’s really not his call.”
“Um…he’s your boss.”
“Yeah,” Stone grimaced. “There is that.”
Real almost snorted. He didn’t want to be a fly on the wall when Stone got back to the ranch. He made a mental note to avoid both men after this mission…for a while, at least.
Several familiar men walked through the darkness toward them, all dressed in black, and Real recognized Wrath and Rogue. Behind the pair came Ice, Echo, Fisher, and Justice.
And while he was surprised to see the Erebus assassins here, he knew with their help that tonight would be very productive.
“Real,” Wrath said, clasping his outstretched hand. The others gave him a chin nod and a waggle of fingers.
“I didn’t think you’d be here,” Real told Wrath. In truth, he was glad because having the former military medic here would make tending the wounded much easier.
“We wouldn’t miss putting another asshole in the ground for nothing,” Wrath murmured.
“Remember, we need them alive to find out where they are keeping the kids,” Real said.
“Got it,” Wrath said and circled his finger in the air to his crew. When Savage was absent, Wrath took charge, and the others never argued. Like a well-oiled machine, the assassins of Erebus melted into the darkness.
“Let’s move,” Viper said, his voice low and growly.
When most of Genesis followed Viper through the darkness, Real took up the rear along with Stone, Winter, and Rip. The others fanned out, staying off anything that looked like a pathway. Taking a trail was the quickest way to get to the estate, but also the fastest way to get dead.
They reached the fenced border and from there, they split up into already assigned teams. Each small unit took a section of the estate, and they would breach simultaneously.
In their small team of three, Stone’s bullet from his sniper rifle took out the watch tower guard on the east side while Ripstood watch. Once it was clear, Real scaled the side of the block wall and snipped the barbed wire when he reached the top.
And even though he couldn’t see Azrael in the dark, he glanced one last time in that general direction before he slipped over the wall and dropped below into the darkness.
Azrael wasn’t one for waiting.
He never had been, and he never would be.
It was that impulse that had him moving YA through the pouring rain and much closer to the estate, much to the arguments of Aries, but he reminded them of one simple fact…well, two really.
“I don’t answer to you, and I’m in charge of YA,” Azrael told King.
Tucking away his knives, Azrael checked the clip on his pocket pistol, a new one he’d snatched from the ranch’s arsenal. Beck, Rebel, and Freedom were also darkly dressed and geared to the max.
Rather than argue, the men of Aries flanked them.
