Had he thought Caspian and Shan being taken was his fault?
Why the fuck would I have claimed him if I blamed him for it?
Using my grip on his arm, I pulled our chests flush together. He was a couple inches shorter than me, my lips level with his nose until I tilted my head down and kissed him. Nolan groaned, but pulled away a second later.
“I told you. Your magic is—”
I cut him off with another kiss, swiping my tongue past his lips. This time he didn’t pull back, but I didn’t let the kiss last long either. He had a point about my magic. “Caspian and Shan being kidnapped wasn’t your fault,” I said. “We all agreed with that plan, and you were far from being our employer by that point.”
“I’m the one who wanted to kill Kylan,” he argued. “I should have thought it through more, found some fucking allies or something.”
“Have you met me? I wouldn’t have waited for you to find allies, and everything would have ended up the same.”
“I could have withheld information from you, so you didn’t know where he was.”
Raising an eyebrow, I grabbed his hand and stepped toward the portal. “Do you seriously believe that would have worked, killer?”
He moved through the portal before answering, tugging me behind him. When we landed on the other side, he was a little pouty and still worried as fuck, but the guilt had waned. Linking arms, we headed to the speakeasy bar where Altair and Sky were waiting with our army.
* * *
“The guard has been pulled off the target door,” Altair said abruptly.
His voice interrupted the merriment of men laughing and exchanging stories. Our group hovered on the sidelines, far more eager to get this over with.
“Sky gave the word?” I asked.
Altair nodded. “He just saw it happen. It’s go time, before that bastard realizes he’s been conned.”
Standing from his chair, he raised his voice, though the people around us had heard the whole thing. “Time to go, lads! You know where you’re supposed to go, and remember this is a stealth mission. The longer those guards go without knowing we’re there, the better.”
A cheer arose, and the sellswords stood from their chairs and hurried out through the lone door. Most were men, but a couple women mixed in with the crowd. I wanted to ask them some questions about their craft when all this was done.
Oswald and Nolan stood by my side as we waited to head out last. We would be going straight for Kylan. In my romp through Grey’s memories, I’d learned the man tended to be in one of two places at that house: his suite, or his office. Shan and Caspian should be in the dungeons, but I was leaving Emmett, Altair, and Sky to free them. I didn’t like the idea of not doing it myself, but I couldn’t be in two places at once.
Killing Kylan was the most important thing, so we’d all be safe and free of him for good.
Once on the street the hired hands quieted down, moving through the dark streets like phantoms. There wasn’t a moon in the sky, and the darkness made it hard for my human eyes to see. I let my mates guide me, seeing vague shapes where other people prowled.
It took a while to make it through the city to the opposite side, where Kylan’s mansion sat on a plot of land on the outskirts.
Sky was waiting at the edge of the property, invisible with a view of the door where we would be making our unwanted entrance. I only knew he was there by scent and by Altair, who knew exactly where his partner was.
With a spell cast over us to keep us unheard and unseen, we split into three groups. Altair, Sky, Emmett, and three of the men would head down to the dungeons. Myself, Oswald, Nolan, and the three men we’d first met in the bar — Ward, Vaughn, and Calloway — would go up to find Kylan.
The rest, which was quite the force, would silently spread throughout the mansion and wait for the signal. When they got the signal, they’d start a battle, keeping the guards busy so they couldn’t all swarm to help Kylan.
There were variables at play that we couldn’t calculate, but this was the best plan we’d had so far. Grey had played his first part, and we might not even need him for the second if all went the way we hoped. However, if he did kill Kylan at my urging like I wanted, it would be all the better.
Sky kept us shielded from prying eyes as we crossed the gardens surrounding the large, dark house. There were neighbours, but they weren’t close and their houses were equally as large with roving security of their own. Kylan’s security was tight, but not magical. He had the one mage, and I’d seen firsthand how weak he was.
Silently, we slipped through the door. I was relieved to find it unguarded on the inside too. At the end of a narrow entrance hall, we separated.
I took my group down the hall to a set of stairs, cloaking us in invisibility. We’d gotten a map of the place and I’d memorized it to create a seamless journey to where we needed to be. Sky kept his group invisible but turned in a different direction, and the rest of the sellswords curved off in small groups, on their own for stealth. Sneaking through shadowed corners was something they were good at.
My heart rose into my throat as we got closer to Kylan’s suite, dodging wandering guards. I didn’t feel ready. Here we were, in the moment, and I was wishing I’d prepared more. Rested more.Something.
Grabbing Oswald’s hand and squeezing it for comfort, I pointed toward the door we needed. Nolan and Ward went first, grabbing the door handle and pushing it back in one smooth motion.
