“Hy—”
“No. Cut the shit and take a win for once. Take multiple fucking wins, you stubborn idiot.”
Warner manages a tiny smile. “We’re running away from our enemies to hide in the middle of nowhere rather than facing them. Is that a good result?”
“We both know that Nolan Madden won’t take our assault lying down. He’ll attack and attack hard. The safest place for Ember and our team right now is off grid until we can regroup.”
“There’s nowhere we can hide from that man,” Warner disagrees. “He’ll tear London apart to find Ember and Blaine. This is just a short-term solution.”
“You have to run with it for now. We need to lie low. Ember needs time to rest and heal. You do too. We can’t fight Madden if we’re dead on our feet.”
Squeezing his shoulder, I release him with a final back slap. He rolls his eyes at me then refocuses on the jet’s steps. Blaine reappears with our flame-haired goddess curled beneath his arm.
Convincing Ember to let the Falcon Team take Gracie with Rayna and Fox was an hour-long screaming match. She was set on going with them. It was Gracie herself who convinced Ember to relent, pleading with her to go so she could return to her family.
Then Ember locked herself in the plane’s bedroom and didn’t emerge for the entire flight. Judging by her blotchy, red-spotted face and swollen eyes, she needed time alone to come to terms with all that’s happened.
“Where are we?” she croaks at the base of the steps.
Warner leans into Blaine’s space to lightly touch Ember’s cheek, careful of the fresh swelling.
“About thirty miles east of Briar Valley, love.”
She wriggles out from under Blaine’s arm to stretch. “Gotcha.”
“Come on, we should take cover.” I grab hold of the handles on Axel’s wheelchair. “They’re expecting us.”
Warner seizes Ember’s hand while Blaine hooks an arm around her shoulders, keeping her upright between them. For days, none of us have slept much. I’m sure we all look as exhausted as Ember does right now.
Pushing the chair towards the small hangar on the other side of the landing strip, we greet the border officials who have already been told to stand down by a well-placed call from the one and only Kade Knight. The master diplomat strikes again.
Axel yelps when we hit a bump in the accessible ramp, head flopping so he can glare up at me. “Careful with my sweet ride, man.”
“Apologies. Didn’t mean to harm your Ferrari.”
“She’s a Lamborghini.” He blows a raspberry. “Canary yellow and oh-so sexy.”
“What have the doctors got him on?” Warner mutters.
“I’m not sure.” Blaine chuckles. “But I’d very much like some of it.”
The tinkle of Ember’s tired laughter is music to my ears. I look over my shoulder to peek at her smile, however faint and brief. It chases some of the new shadows from her eyes. Ones that weren’t there before this operation.
If I have one task ahead of me, it’s to erase those goddamn shadows for good. They have no place there. We saw some harrowing shit, but Ember took her life back into her own hands. She eliminated Gael. That alone is reason for her to smile again.
Inside the hangar, our welcome party almost causes me to pull up short. It takes a second to overcome the surpriseof seeing Ethan’s warm smile after all this time. He doesn’t hesitate, just grasps my hand as he bundles Warner into a hug.
“You guys look like absolute shit.”
“We missed you too.” I grin at our missing team member.
“It’s been a quiet couple of years.” He scrubs a hand over Warner’s silver-streaked hair. “When did you get so old?”
“Piss off.” Warner bats him away.
“All that stress is showing, old man. Glad you’ve come around to my way of life. Maybe we can shave a few years off with a couple weeks hiding out in the mountains.”
“You are old.” Axel chooses that moment to slur.
