Chapter 33

Lev notified us last night that he thinks he’s found the second camp Ronan set up. It was difficult to hunt down because it was registered as a boarding school but was purchased right before we found the children at the first camp. Since Kai knows Ronan had to move locations and was able to identify a few of the guards Lev caught on camera, we now know this is the place we need to be looking at.

Lev sent drones to scout the area, and we’re all gathered together to plan in the kitchen. Laney is going to stay back with Akio and Adrian so they can watch over the kids. She’s going to keep Az here with Bella since Damien wants to use explosives and doesn’t want to hurt the pup’s ears.

Dr. K will be here alongside Doc should anything go wrong. I fought to have Doc come with us, but Alexi mentioned that if this is a distraction and someone plans to move in to try to take these kids back, then having a doctor for possible injuries is more important.

Boris argued that it was having Doc with us that saved Nessa, but Nessa said she would rather he be back in Norway just in case.

Needless to say, this meeting has been more of us disagreeing than actually figuring out our movements.

“We need to get to them now,” Nessa argues as Alexi pulls up a document for us to make notes on.

“No,” Alexi argues. “We went in fast the last time. This time we are going to have a plan. We are going to have more drones and technology, and we are going to keep everyone safe.”

He glares at her, and Boris comes to her side. “He is right, Lisichka . We will not risk losing you again.”

Nessa huffs, crossing her arms like a child. It’s cute seeing her face turn as red as her hair. Kai takes her hand in his, pulling her attention to him. “Don’t take any risks, please.”

I can see the moment she gives up the fight, placing an arm around his shoulder instead. He leans into her side, holding her as if he could shield her from what we’re about to do.

=====

Half a day and a lot more arguing later, we have a solid plan. Boris is arranging a plane to fly us and our cars under the radar to our destination.

His connections are insane; in less than eight hours since he made the call, everything is set.

Nessa hugs Kai goodbye, and tears threaten to spill over when I pull him into my arms. Boris does the same. We can tell he’s angry about being left behind, but this is the best choice for him.

Alexi grabs my attention, and I help him load up the rest of our gear into one of the vans. Nessa gets in her car where Boris will ride with her to the airstrip.

By the time everything is packed up, I look around for Kai once more. Dr. K walks out, saying that he went to his room visibly upset. I don’t blame him for not wanting to see the cars drive away. I don’t want him to think we are leaving him, so I shoot him a text.

Cillian: There are Twizzlers hidden in your bathroom.

Immediately, he responds.

Kai: The ones I already had this morning from behind the sink, or the ones hidden between towels in the linen closet?

I laugh to myself as Damien drives the van to the airstrip.

Cillian: The ones I put in there ten minutes ago on the shelf in the shower.

Kai: Please hold.

Kai: Damn, this is why you’re my favorite.

I highlight the message and save it. Am I planning on holding that over everyone's head in the future? Feck yes I am.

Cillian: Enjoy, kid.

Kai: Please be safe. Keep her safe.

I swallow past the lump in my throat. Maybe it was unfair of us to ask him to stay behind. I can’t imagine the anxiety coursing through him right now with us gone. The last time we did this, Nessa got shot and we lost a piece of our family.

Cillian: We got this. We will be home to have breakfast with everyone in twelve hours.

Kai: That’s a long time to not hear from you.

Cillian: I will text you every hour then, how does that sound?

Kai: Thank you. Sorry if I’m distracting.

Shaking my head, I type out a message as Damien glances down at my phone.

“The kid having a hard time?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what the right thing to do is here, but I hate thinking we made the wrong choice to leave him behind.”

Damien claps me on the shoulder. “I get it. He’ll be out here with us one day. Just a few more years.”

Is that what Kai wants? Does he want to really live this life, or has he found something more he might be interested in?

I’ll accept him either way, I just want it to be his choice.

Cillian: You are not a distraction. You know I love talking to you, and if this helps, then I want to be here for you.

=====

“We are going to go over our roles one more time,” Alexi says to us in the very large cargo hold of the plane.

I’ve texted Kai each hour because we have internet, but he hasn’t been responding. We’re about to land, and I check my phone one more time to find the notifications blank.

Alexi looks around when Evie, Damien, and Lev walk down some stairs, her hair looking disheveled. He narrows his eyes.

Evie shrugs, coming to stand by his side. “Had to work out some of that nervous energy,” she chuckles in a low voice that we can all hear.

I try not to gag, and Nessa laughs at the face I make when Alexi tells her that ‘Daddy will be punishing her later.’

Nope. Not for me. Not my kink.

“The plan,” I remind him.

“Since we don’t know the interior layout of the old gothic building,” Nessa starts, “our main focus is going to be getting in. Alexi and Damien will cause a distraction. When we hear the signal, we’ll begin cutting into the gate at the back of the property.”

Was I a little pissed I couldn’t be part of the ‘distraction’? Yeah. But I guess it is good I get to remain at my girl's side.

“Next, we separate and go through different back entrances,” Havoc says.

“We’ll have three teams. Evie, Lyra, and Kia, Nessa’s friends and contacts will go together to entrance B. Nessa, Cillian, and Boris will go to Entrance A. Havoc and I will go to C,” Arrow adds.

“From there we will gather the children, find a way to get them to trust us, then move to the center point of the building, taking out any guards we may encounter along the way,” Boris states.

“If all goes well,” I say, “then we should be good to walk out the front door from there, and Lev will bring in the van to pick us up and transport us to where we have our cars.”

“There’s only one front entrance,” Evie states. “That’s where we will exit with everyone and where Alexi and Damien will be able to provide cover should we still need it.”

We go over it three more times until Alexi finally relents to letting us get into our cars. Nessa said she has to have her baby, so she and I get into the purple mustang I refuse to call Flair. The rest of the group is split between the three remaining vehicles: Alexi and Evie in what Kai deems the Batmobile, Boris, Arrow, and Havoc take the transport van, and Lev and Damien in the high-tech van.

We hit a bit of turbulence, and I reach for the dash to steady myself. The two vans are in front of us with Alexi pulling up the rear because his car can shoot flairs out of the back should anyone try to chase us once we land.

Maybe he really is Batman.

I’m surprised when I see a familiar head of hair stick up from the back window of the van, and I instantly know who it is. However, Nessa looks nauseous, so I decide to address that first.

“Sweetheart,” I try to comfort her, taking her hand in mine, “talk to me.”

She takes a deep breath as her head tilts back to look up at the roof of the car.

“It just feels like a lot. What if he’s there again?”

“He won’t be,” I assure her with a squeeze. “Lev has satellite tracking on him. He can’t make a move without us knowing.”

“He did once.” Her eyes land on mine, fear and trepidation swirling within their depths. I hate it because it’s so rare that she feels this way, much less shares it with us.

“Love,” I kiss the inside of her wrist, “we cannot live in fear of him or he wins. We are going to go in there and save these kids. This is the best way to show him he does not control you.”

With a heavy sigh, she looks forward just as I see that head of hair duck down again. This is why the brat isn’t texting me back; he probably doesn’t have the Wi-Fi password. I might actually have to strangle this kid. Kai being here complicates things and he knows it.

Part of me understands why he made this very impulsive, irresponsible decision, but the other part makes me want to ground him for a year because of the stress this is going to cause everyone.

My only hope is that he will stay there and not make a sound. If I get the chance to tell him so, I definitely plan on making myself clear. I want him to make his own choices but not at the cost of him getting hurt. We’re his parents now, and while it might be difficult to understand that he must follow the boundaries we set, we still need to set them, especially when it comes to his safety.

We land swiftly, my hand holding onto Nessa’s until the last second when she has to shift into gear. I stay focused on the back of Damien’s van, curious if he knows he has an extra passenger.

Our rendezvous point is only fifteen minutes from the airstrip, and the moment we get out of the cars and gather together, I can tell from the look on his face that Damien is aware. I don’t think he knew from the start though because he looks more concerned than proud.

A look passes between us and I shake my head, willing him to keep his mouth shut. The color is just returning to Nessa’s face, her determination firm in moving forward.

Lev pulls up a computer in the center of our group and begins talking. As Alexi forces us all to say the plan out loud again , my eyes keep drifting towards the back of the van. Just as a pair of wide eyes meet mine, Nessa follows my line of sight and gasps.

Interrupting everything, she flings open the back door and yells, “What the feck, Kai?”

A sheepish grin crosses his lips as he ducks down into himself. “Hey there.”

“Kai,” she reprimands in a stern tone. He finally looks at her, guilt written all over his face.

“I’m sorry,” he says, rushing over to her side. “I can’t do this for you. I can’t just stay back. It’s too hard being away when anything can happen.”

His lip trembles, and to my surprise, it’s Boris who steps up.

“Kai, this was a dangerous choice. You could have been hurt because we did not know where you were. We understand why you did it, but now we need to take some time to come up with a plan where you are safe.”

Kai blows out a long breath, nodding his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, kid,” I say. Walking up to him, I kneel so that he can’t avoid my eyes by staring at the ground. “Just say that next time you think about following us in secret, we will talk about it more. I didn’t realize you felt this worried. I’m sorry if I wasn’t listening. You know that what you did wasn’t safe, and we always want you to be safe.”

“I just…” his voice trails off as he tries to compose himself. “I just got my family, and I’m scared it’s going to be taken away.”

That has Nessa stepping forward, wrapping an arm around him. “I’m just trying to do what any mother should, Kai. I want you to be protected. I don’t want you thinking you have anything to prove by coming out here with us.”

“I know,” Kai says, squeezing her tight. “But this is all I know. I like this stuff and it’s where I feel useful. Please, let me feel like part of the team. I’ll even stay in the van or whatever you want, but please just let me be here with you.”

Nessa and I exchange a look before she glances over to Lev. He nods, and Damien helps peel Kai from Nessa’s arms.

“Come on, little dude, let’s get you set up with Lev,” Damien says, ushering him towards the van. Nessa’s hand is resting over her stomach as she blankly stares in the direction we are headed.

“He is not here,” I confirm just as another voice pipes in behind me.

“I’ve got eyes on him right now, Ness.” A tall brunette and a short redhead stand off to the side. It takes Nessa a second before she goes running to them.

“You’re here!” They all embrace quickly. “It’s been a while.”

The tall one laughs and stares me down. “Who’s he?”

Nessa bites her lip. “Cillian, this is Kia.” The short one clears her throat. “And this is Lyra.”

I nod my head to them in greeting, not sure if I fully trust them yet. They seem to all have a history, and I want to know what it is. Their names sound familiar though.

“You failed to tell us just how insanely hot your not-so-dead ex-lover-turned-new-lover in the throuple is,” Kia says.

Okay, I like them a little more now.

Nessa smacks her on the stomach, causing her to fake grunt while Lyra shakes her head. “You like women, remember?” Lyra says.

“Oh, I remember, babe.” Kia leans down and kisses her, shocking me a bit. Not because it’s two women, but because I definitely didn’t peg them as a couple at first.

Nessa’s cheeks are flaming red as I approach and land a kiss on her forehead. Everyone seems to know the two new team members who I learned were Nessa’s roommates on the island, and more so who are loyal to Evie.

Using their ties in Ireland, they had been keeping tabs on Donovan and looking into the Reapers, tracking their changes over the past few months.

“A shift in leadership makes sense. They went from slightly organized to highly efficient overnight. The drug trade has gotten out of hand and the business owners are barely staying above water,” Lyra adds.

“Is the kid in the van yours?” Kia asks Nessa, who sighs dramatically.

“He is ours, and he’s a little shite head for not listening.”

Kia and Lyra laugh. “Reminds me of you,” they both say in unison.

Just as Nessa is about to say something back, Alexi interrupts.

“I know that we are all just getting reacquainted. However, we have some children that need our help first.”

Lev jumps out of the van then. “Kia and Lyra, you guys are going to location B. Evie will be with Havoc and Arrow.”

“We briefed them on the plane,” Evie says. “Let’s move. The plane will be waiting for us on the tarmac. If you have any problems, get back there as fast as you can.”

I glance from Nessa to Boris, not liking everything that is happening. We are about to walk in blind.

“Ness,” I say, turning her to face me, “I think Kai should come with us.”

“What?” she practically shouts in my ear.

I might regret this later, but I have a gut feeling he needs to be with us. “He will help the boys trust us. I know it.”

She shakes her head, eyes brimming with worry, but I can see her hesitation. She knows him being with us will be just as much of a distraction as he will be in the van without our eyes on him.

“Little Fox,” Boris says with a hand on her shoulder. “I think he is right. He should be with us.”

“I’ll go talk to him,” I offer, wanting to give her time to accept this.

She nods, and I head to the van as Boris turns to her and wraps her in a hug, whispering words I can’t hear but know will comfort her in this decision, into her ear.

“Kai,” I say, jumping in the back. Lev and Damien are outside the door talking, so I take a second to be real with him. “I saw you in the car as we were landing. Sneaking around here can really cause problems. What were you thinking?”

He looks down at his hands in his lap, rubbing them together. “I kept seeing Nessa lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. I couldn’t save her then, but what if I could save her now?”

When his eyes meet mine, I can see the pain of that memory. We have all gotten so close over the past few months, and with that has come a lot of trust and vulnerability.

“It’s not your job to save her,” I remind him. He looks like he wants to argue, but I stop him. “However, I understand wanting to feel like you’re a part of what we do. I want you with us now, but if at any point you want to back out or change your mind, promise me you will say something. We may live dangerous lives, but I want you to have at least some healthy boundaries.”

“I promise,” he says, nodding his head swiftly. “I swear I will tell you if it’s too much.”

Before I can stand, he tucks himself into my chest, holding me close. “Thank you for not leaving me behind.”

“Kai, we’ll never leave you behind. Everything we do will be to protect you.”

He nods, wiping his face as he sits up. “I know. I’m still getting used to that too.”

“Alright slim chickens, it’s time to move out!” Damien yells, smacking the side of the van. Lev rolls his eyes and gets in, setting up the rest of the surveillance.

“What do you say, kid?” I ask. “You ready to go save a few more of your kind?”

A smile stretches across Kai’s face. “I was born ready.”