Retribution: The Lost Children World Book 1

by Krista Street

  “I’ll go with Lena,” Flint said before I could suggest teaming up with Raven.

  Mica gave me an amused look and whispered, “Surprise, surprise.”

  I rolled my eyes but nodded at my—overprotective, incredibly sexy, drove-me-crazy-at-times-but-I-still-couldn’t-live-without-him—boyfriend. “You must think my climbing-metal-stairwell skills are up to par.”

  His eyes glittered in the dim cab before he dipped his head down and brushed his lips against my ears. “I have a solution to that.”

  My traitorous body shivered when his lips grazed my neck. He pulled back and gave me a knowing look.

  Jet jutted his chin toward Raven. “Guess that leaves you and me, bro.”

  “Works for me,” Raven replied.

  “Anyone want to take bets about this guy showing up tonight?” Jet rubbed his hands together and grinned. “I bet he does, and I bet Lena takes him down. I’d love to see his face when Lena blasts him with an energy ball. That would be priceless!”

  The twins chuckled, which got a scowl from Flint. “This isn’t a game, you two. Somebody could get seriously hurt.”

  That declaration sobered the twins.

  “So Jet and Raven go to the back of the building, and Jasper and I go to the front?” Mica raised her eyebrows. “Since apparently Lena and Flint are taking the roof?”

  “Sounds like a plan, man.” Jet opened his door, and a rush of cool air swirled into the cab.

  “Everybody put your phones on silent, but leave them on vibrate so we don’t miss any text messages or calls.” Flint pulled out his phone to change the sound settings. Everyone else followed.

  Raven gave my arm a brief squeeze before he and Jet departed. I could tell from the sympathetic look in his eyes that he knew Flint and I had been arguing.

  “Everything okay between you two?” he asked quietly.

  I shrugged. “As okay as it can be, considering.”

  He gave me one last squeeze before letting go.

  “Should we meet back here around dawn if he never shows up?” Mica zipped her jacket all the way up. It was definitely getting cooler.

  Flint nodded. “That’s a good meeting time.”

  “Stay warm, folks!” Jet saluted everyone before turning.

  I watched as Raven and Jet walked away. Physically, Raven closely resembled Flint. They were both tall with broad shoulders, strong lean builds, and olive complexions. Personality-wise, they were similar too, but Raven wasn’t quite as hotheaded as Flint. If anything, the younger brother was more sensitive. He had an uncanny knack of picking up on people’s emotions. For someone who had grown up isolated in a mansion, he was surprisingly in tune with the people around him.

  Jasper and Mica took off next. Flint and I waited a few minutes before following.

  I knew a long night awaited, and we would be tired come morning, but I didn’t care. I wanted to catch this guy more than anything. The last time I’d felt this kind of anger and resentment had been when Marcus had imprisoned me in California before transporting me to his mansion.

  Our feet tapped on the sidewalk as we walked toward the building.

  I peeked up at my boyfriend. “We’ll need to be careful so nobody sees us. Who knows how rickety that fire escape is. If any of her neighbors hear us climbing up it, they may call the police.”

  Flint nodded. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  Considering the energy coming off him was dark and strong, I knew he was still mad at me.

  I sighed heavily. I didn’t like the animosity flowing between us, but I would be damned if I apologized. I would have redone everything tonight if I’d had to. Even though Flint didn’t want to see it my way, I knew I was right. If I hadn’t followed the dark-clouded man, we wouldn’t have known where the girl lived.

  When we reached the edge of the brick apartment building, Flint discreetly pulled me into the alleyway. It was dark and damp. Small puddles of rainwater sloshed against our feet when we walked quietly back to the fire escape.

  The apartment buildings around here were all similar, mostly brick and around three stories tall. Each building probably held twelve individual apartments. They weren’t big, but they still had a lot of windows that could be broken into.

  “At least it’s not raining.” I gave Flint a nudge as our feet tapped quietly on the asphalt.

  A reluctant smile spread across his face. “I guess you have a point.”

  His energy dipped a little as I felt the mood between us shift.

  When we reached the stairwell, we stopped. The sound of a car driving by drifted into the alleyway, and someone two stories up was playing music. An Ed Sheeran song was faint through their windows.

  “What’s the best way to reach that?” I nodded at the ladder, which was ten feet above us. In the event of a fire, the occupants inside the building could release it from above, but it would cause quite a ruckus if we tried to pull it down.

  “I thought that would be obvious.” Flint gave me a crooked smile. “I’ll jump us up there.”

  A thrill ran through me. Normally, we kept our powers under wraps. It was too much of a risk to alert people to our abilities if we didn’t keep them hidden. But every now and then, we let loose. If we were at our secluded cabin in the Canadian Rockies, or if we ventured back to Pete and Val’s ranch for a weekend visit and wandered into the woods, we didn’t need to hide anything. Those excursions were so freeing.

  Flint swung me onto his back, and I locked my arms and legs around his neck and waist. Another thrill that had nothing to do with our adventure shot through me. The feel of his hard body and shifting muscles beneath my limbs created a swell of desire inside me.

  “Ready?” His voice turned husky.

  I nodded and leaned down to nibble his ear. “Whenever you are.” This was so much better than arguing.

  His large hands curled around my thighs and squeezed. Heat seared off his palms. “Try not to distract me. I won’t be quiet with you doing things like that.”

  I giggled softly before obeying his request.

  With a bend of his knees, Flint launched us into the air. The air whooshed around me as gravity pushed me down. The next second, we were standing on the stairwell platform. Flint landed as lightly as a cat, his joints flexing like well-oiled hinges.

  He didn’t stop. With movements so quick that we became a blur, he raced up the stairs, and the next thing I knew, we were standing on the building’s roof.

  My breath caught in my throat as familiar nausea rolled in my stomach. Regardless of the hundreds of times Flint had moved me at his speed, I still wasn’t used to it. It always caused me to feel a little sick.

  “Are you okay?” His soft question pulled me back to the present when he slid me down his back.

  In a flash, he turned and had his arms around me to keep me steady.

  I tilted my face up to meet his and smiled. “Just give me a minute. I’ll be fine.”

  He pushed my long dark-red curls behind my shoulder and leaned down to kiss me softly on the mouth. “Sorry. I know it’s jarring for you.”

  I mumbled something halfway intelligible. He was now doing amazing things to my neck. So much better than fighting!

  After planting a soft kiss just below my ear, he said, “I hate when we argue. Can we try to forget our earlier argument?”

  It seemed I wasn’t the only one wishing things were smoother between us. I curled my fingers around the nape of his neck and pulled him closer. “Of course. I’d much rather be doing this with you.”

  He chuckled softly before kissing me again.

  ~ ~ ~

  The next four hours passed slowly. Thankfully, our agreement to stop arguing had held. For the first time in days, the mood between us felt normal.

  To pass the time and keep watch, Flint and I wandered back and forth across the roof to keep an eye on the apartment-building windows. My earlier suspicions about the building’s size seemed correct. It didn’t appear to be a large structure. I
guessed no more than a dozen apartments filled the building. A few times, residents came and went through the front doors, but other than that, it was pretty quiet.

  Each time an occupant came or went, Mica sent me a text to describe each person’s appearances. None of them fit the description of the dark-clouded man or the girl he had been following.

  From our rooftop view, keeping an eye on the twins, Mica and Raven, was easy. Mica and Jasper were stationed across the street from the front of the building. They hid from view behind a dumpster in an alleyway. Conversely, Raven and Jet hid behind large utility boxes in the back of the building in the small parking lot.

  Around eleven at night, I jumped when the same girl I’d seen earlier, reappeared on the asphalt in the back parking lot. She had changed. Sweatpants and a loose T-shirt covered her frame, but I still recognized her. From the apartment door, she dashed to a parked car. After retrieving a bag from the trunk, she hurried back inside.

  I scrambled to pick up my phone. “That’s her!” I nearly yelled when Raven picked up.

  Below, Raven bolted to a standing position. When the girl retreated back to the apartment building, he followed her.

  I held my breath.

  From above, Flint and I watched Raven slip into the building after her. She seemed oblivious to him.

  I gritted my teeth. This girl really needs to take a class in being aware of her surroundings.

  “What’s he doing?” I asked Flint.

  “Not sure.”

  A few minutes passed by, and Raven appeared again. He slipped out of the building as silently as he’d gone in.

  I typed in a quick text. What did you do?

  His reply came back immediately. I followed her to her apartment so we’d know which one is hers. She lives on the east side, second floor, toward the back.

  A grin spread across my face. “He followed her to her apartment! She lives on this side, floor two.” I pointed down the side of the building. “Those are the windows we should watch.”

  In the moonlight, Flint’s gaze shone with pride. “Someone thinks quickly on his feet.”

  The moon and constellations trailed across the night sky as Flint and I kept watch over the girl’s apartment. Since we knew which one was hers, keeping watch over her was much easier.

  But with each minute that passed, my disappointment grew. We had yet to see the dark-clouded man, and a sinking feeling in my stomach made me wonder if Flint was right. Maybe seeing me earlier had spooked him away.

  In which case, we may never catch him. If he had any concerns that we were on to him, he’d probably find a new victim. It was possible we wouldn’t stop him at all.

  “I think I should get into the building.” Flint’s abrupt words carried through the night breeze.

  My cell phone declared the time as one in the morning.

  “What do you want to do in the building?” I wrapped my arms around myself as a shiver struck me. Despite summer being around the corner, nighttime still felt cool.

  “Since we know what apartment she’s in, with any luck we can find her name on her mailbox. With her name, we can hack into the university database and figure out her class schedule. It will give us something to go off of. If we know her class schedule, we know where she’ll be. It will make following her easier.”

  I grinned. “That’s a great idea! But how are you going to get into the building? You need a key.”

  Flint unzipped his jacket and pulled something from his pocket. “I may have come prepared.”

  My smile grew when I saw the small packet of lock-picking tools. I lunged the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his neck before giving him a huge kiss. “I love when you surprise me like that.”

  He chuckled deeply before kissing me back. “The night wouldn’t be complete unless we did something illegal.”

  His teasing made me giggle. “Let me send everyone a quick text so they know what you’re going to do.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Jet and Mica’s texted replies came quickly. They were fully supportive of Flint breaking in.

  “But how are you going to do it without getting caught?” I asked Flint.

  Wind whipped over the building and howled through the alleyway. My initial excitement had worn off, and reality was settling in. “What if someone sees you?”

  “I’ll be fast,” he replied. “Besides, it’s late. Who will see?”

  In a blurred move, Flint was at the building’s edge. Six feet down was the fire escape stairwell. He leapt over the edge gracefully and landed on the balls of his feet.

  I watched from above with wide eyes as he once again turned into a blur. The next time he appeared, he was on the ground. I blinked, and he was gone.

  Breathing heavily, I raced to the back of the building but didn’t see him. I raced to the front—still no sign of him.

  I hurriedly texted Mica. Which way did he go?

  He must be in the back. I don’t see him out here.

  After running across the rooftop to the back of the building, I gazed below.

  A dark shape stood near the back door. I switched my vision. A colorful cloud appeared around the shadow. Flint. I shook my head at the lack of security lights. If the dark-clouded man wanted to break into this building, the back door would be the best way to do it.

  My heart pounded against my ribs as I watched Flint. The seconds ticked by. This is taking too long!

  If someone drove into the back parking lot they’d be able to see him, and then they could call the police. Meanwhile, I was stuck up here on the roof.

  While I knew I could get down eventually, doing so wouldn’t be easy on my own. I certainly wouldn’t be as quiet as Flint.

  I was just about to type a text to Raven when the door opened.

  Flint silently entered the building.

  With each second that passed, my worry grew. I was about to call Flint’s cell phone when the door opened again. He silently emerged before turning into a blur.

  Racing back to the stairwell, I opened my eyes wide as I tried to catch sight of him.

  Out of nowhere, an arm encircled my waist from behind.

  I shrieked.

  A large hand covered my mouth before Flint’s scent surrounded me. “Shh . . . We don’t want to let anybody know we’re up here.”

  Excitement danced in his eyes when he whirled me around. I punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You scared me on purpose!”

  He chuckled deeply. “Now you know how I feel about all the dangerous things you do.”

  I tried to scowl, but all I ended up doing was laughing. “So what did you find?”

  “Her last name is Jonas, and her first initial is A. Couple that with her address, and we should be able to find her information in the school’s database. With any luck, I’ll be able to hack into the system within a few hours of getting home.”

  I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him again. In the cool wind, his warm lips felt smooth and firm.

  A buzz vibrated my pocket, interrupting us. I pulled my phone out to see a text from Mica.

  I think we have trouble. Flashing lights are coming our way.

  My grip on the phone tightened. I tilted the phone for Flint to see. “Do you think it’s the police?”

  He raced to the front of the building with me hot on his heels. Sure enough, about five blocks away was a police car. Its lights flashed brightly in the dark night. It was heading our way, but its siren was silent. That wasn’t a good sign.

  I hurriedly typed in a response to Mica. You guys better get out of here. Just to be safe.

  Her response was immediate. I already told Jet and Raven. They’re leaving too.

  Two figures stood up from behind the dumpster across the street. From how high our rooftop position was, I barely caught Mica and Jasper’s outlines as they ran under a streetlight. They retreated farther into the alleyway behind the building across the road.

  I ran to the back of the building looked over the edg
e toward where Raven and Jet had hidden. They were running too. Distant footsteps reached my ears as the two of them sprinted in the opposite direction.

  Flint was still at the front of the building, watching the activity below. When I reached his side again, he said in a quiet voice, “It looks like they’re coming here.”

  The police car pulled up to the curb below, its lights continuing to flash. Two officers stepped out onto the road. One hiked his pants up higher as his radio crackled on his shoulder.

  I gripped Flint’s arm tightly as the police officers strode to the building we stood on. For a moment, a horrifying thought entered my mind. Did the dark-clouded man return? Did he break into the building somehow without us knowing? Did he attack her after all?

  But since the officers didn’t seem in a hurry, I didn’t think that was the case. Before the policemen climbed the steps to the building, a figure appeared below.

  Since we were so high up, I couldn’t make out features, but the woman had pajamas on. She pointed across the street and behind the building.

  “Can you hear them?” I asked Flint quietly.

  He shook his head.

  The female resident suddenly lifted her hand and pointed toward the roof of the building, where Flint and I stood. The policemen arched their necks and glanced skyward. I pulled Flint away from the edge and hunkered down. My eyes flashed wide. “Holy crap! Do you think they know we’re up here?”

  I gazed at the roof’s hard surface beneath our feet. My mouth dropped as something occurred to me. Considering the next words that flowed from Flint’s lips matched my thoughts, we’d obviously reached the same conclusion.

  “The residents on the third floor can probably hear us running around.” He scowled. “That woman probably knows that somebody is on the roof, or at the very least, she suspects it.”

  Before I could respond, Flint peeked over the edge again and hissed in a breath. “Shit. They’re heading toward the fire escape.”

  The sound of the ladder being pulled to the ground came next. The rickety sound echoed through the alleyway below.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Do you trust me?” Flint’s dark gaze bored into mine as the evening wind whipped his chestnut hair around his face.