Mikael fumbled around with the programs. He scanned through files, opting to drink my abandoned cup when he finished his own. “No. I am sorry. There is nothing.”
“At least we know where he is.” I thought for a moment. “Nicholas said he’d be in touch. I don’t know whether we should wait for his call or go there tonight and rescue him.”
“What does Jordan say?”
My cheeks reddened. “We haven’t discussed it. You told me about the tracker.”
I couldn’t help second guessing myself. What if I made the wrong call? Nicholas could have been tortured in the last few hours or worse. Every moment we waited was one that put him in danger. I imagined Nicholas tied to a chair, his unruly hair sticking out in every direction, his Star Wars t-shirt and lucky jeans stained with Jordan’s blood. His eyes were too dry from not removing his contacts. Maybe they’d popped out, and his vision was too blurry to see what was happening in any detail. He’d cursed himself for his inability to reach the burner phone in his pocket and prayed that we wouldn’t call just yet. Maybe he’d gotten lucky and had convinced the cult that he’d had every intention of going with them after he checked on my safety. It wasn’t inconceivable that he’d lied and told them that he left Jordan to die on purpose, given the fact that he was the most significant threat aside from me. I hoped the latter was the case.
“I don’t know what to do.”
Mikael squeezed my shoulder. His lips curled up in what must have been an attempt at a smile. Instead, there was only fear in the grimace. “Nicholas will be fine. He is smart. He will call.”
As angry as I was with Nicholas, I’d never forgive myself if he died. Not at the hands of an insane cult. Not now. I shuddered at the thought of meeting his parents for the first time to tell them their son was gone. He had to be okay.
Down the hall, one door opened and closed and soon the pipes rattled as the shower turned on. I cursed under my breath. I hadn’t wanted to wake up the guys. Mikael leaned back, finished my coffee, and closed his eyes. He had the remarkable ability to fall asleep, even when he had caffeine raging through his system. Within minutes, he was snoring.
I couldn’t bring myself to wake him, not after he’d gotten up so early just to ease my mind about Nicholas, so I covered him with the quilt I’d brought out of the bedroom earlier and closed the computer equipment. I curled up on my side of the couch and let the same set of thoughts that had been going through my mind all morning — well, not all morning — marinate more. I weighed the pros and cons of waiting for Nicholas to make contact. Using my phone, I checked the best routes from the safe houses to the beachfront location. I sent a long email to Danny and Dakarai with the mission status and tried to make it sound like I had it all under control.
✽ ✽ ✽
A few minutes later, Jordan emerged from the bathroom, his hair still wet, wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a clean shirt.
“Are you two napping? I thought you were coming back to bed,” he said. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought he sounded disappointed.
“Shh. He just fell asleep.”
Mikael jerked awake and stared at Jordan. Out of the three of us, I wasn’t sure who was reddest. Only two of us were dying of mortification, and neither of those was Jordan. His cheeks were still warm from the shower.
Grinning, Jordan stepped over Mikael’s legs, leaned over and kissed me on the mouth. He didn’t leave it as a quick peck which would have been embarrassing enough. Nope, he drew it out long enough for me to lose my senses and I was dumb enough to let him. Mikael coughed and brought me back to Earth with astonishing speed and a helping of self-consciousness. I smacked Jordan’s arm, for all the good it did. He laughed and sat down between us, draping his arm around my shoulders.
“Will you grab my antibiotics and pain medication, and a bottle of water?” he asked me, too nice for this time of day and his natural disposition.
Mikael jumped up before I could move and fetched the pill bottles. In his other arm, he carried three bottles of water, one for each of us.
“If you’re in pain, go back to bed,” I insisted. The man must have been suffering from a fever, what with the way he took his medicine without being prompted and pulled me into his side. Like we were a normal couple hanging out on the couch with our best friend, which we were not. Unless I had misjudged the man, he’d been of the love-em-and-leave-em variety most of his life. I’d never heard of a next-morning cuddling-on-the-couch session or hanging out with Mikael over breakfast. I didn’t know what to make of this.
“An infection would slow me down,” he said, answering my unspoken thoughts. “We don’t have the luxury of having a man out of commission. It doesn’t hurt so much as it aches deep inside my neck. And before you ask, no, I didn’t pull the stitches or get them wet. Yes, I checked when I changed the bandages.”
“Horosho,” said Mikael. “Although cleaning and changing of the dressings should be left to one of us, vi ponimaetye?”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “Yes, mother. Why’d you barge in this morning?”
“Twice I knocked,” he responded, his pale cheeks flaming red. “I did not expect to see anything other than two people in their separate beds.”
“We are so not doing this,” I warned. “Mikael reminded me of the tracker that we put in Nicholas’ shoe. We tracked him to a house along the beach. He hasn’t moved since. I don’t know whether we should go after him right away or wait.”
“Did I imagine it or did you tell the group last night that he said he’d call? I was pretty out of it,” admitted Jordan.
“He said he’d be in touch.”
“Then trust him. We’ll give him a few days. If we don’t hear from him, we’ll do reconnaissance in the area. If he were stupid enough to run off with them, I’d bet my last dollar he has a plan in mind. A stupid one, likely, but I’m confident he has one.”
“I told her you need to recover, as do the others.”
Jordan frowned. “Who else was injured?”
Mikael ticked off his fingers as he spoke, his face twisted in concentration. “Carter has a dislocated arm. Long needed stitches for a gash. Graves twisted his ankle. I do not know how badly. Candice cradled her arm but said she was fine. She lies. Others have bruises and scrapes.”
“Not too bad, all things considered.” Jordan looked down at me. “Was Nicholas hurt?”
“Drugged, but I think his healing abilities helped him fight it off. He was steady on his feet when he ran after them, good as new,” I said. “We have a bigger problem. Those freaks would not go down unless we shot them in the head. What the hell was that about?”
Mikael’s eyes widened. “You did not tell me this.”
“Well, last night was kind of busy, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Jordan let out a belly laugh and kissed my cheek. Mikael and I, however, turned deep shades of red.
“I meant with the mission. Can you please focus?” I blew out a breath and wondered how we hadn’t woken everyone else. Mikael and I were whispering, but Jordan’s booming laughter had echoed down the hallway. “One woman bit me.”
“Where?” asked Jordan, the humor sliding off his face in a blink of his eyes. “Did she break the skin?”
I shook my head and raised the leg of my jeans. “My pants were too thick, but I have a bruise, nothing that won’t fade in a few days. Another one kept trying to stab me after I broke her jaw.”
“Adrenaline and cult-like fervor could account for a lot of that behavior,” he mused.
Mikael tapped his long fingers on the arm of the couch. “Perhaps it’s an ability they have learned to share.”
“That’s a scary thought,” I said, shuddering. “If they can replicate the strongest abilities in their members, we’re looking at a host of super soldiers.”
Raising his right hand, Mikael made the sign of the cross and muttered under his breath. “Pray this is not true. Khristo.”
“Mikael, go back to bed. You too, Jordan
. We all need the rest.”
Mikael agreed cheerfully. He stood and glanced back and forth between the bedroom he’d shared with Jordan and my small bedroom, where he’d slept last night, torn.
“Not with me,” said Jordan. “You have your own room now.”
I squeaked as I stared at him. “Are you serious?”
He arched a brow. “There you go, hurting my feelings again. I didn’t take you for a one-shot kind of woman.”
“I go now. I must get my bag.” Mikael ran a hand through his hair as he all but ran into Jordan’s room and grabbed his belongings. As he passed back through the living room, he mumbled that I could grab my things whenever I was ready.
“So?”
I took a deep breath and voiced my one nagging fear. “By your own admission, you rarely spend more than a night or two with the same woman. I wasn’t sure this was much different.”
“Third time with the feelings. You’re on a roll, Jas. I don’t share a soul, dreams, and immortality with anyone else. This is different.”
“I don’t think I can handle this conversation right now.” Gods forbid he felt obligated to explore whatever was between us because of those connections. I’d vomit, and that would be the least embarrassing thing I’d do.
“Good, because I don’t think I can stay awake much longer,” he said through a yawn. “Let’s go back to bed. This time, we’ll lock the door.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THREE WEEKS. IT HAD been a full three weeks since we’d last heard from Nicholas. I jumped every time my phone rang. I insisted everyone have their cell phone ringers at top volume, lest any of us miss his call. I checked my emails every thirty minutes, going well into the night until before I fell asleep. In his attempts to help, Mikael had induced a vision. He didn’t see Nicholas, but he’d seen the house on fire. He wasn’t sure if it was a real vision or a metaphorical fire. Jordan even offered to explore our bond from the whole soul melding thing to lend me his strength. He was convinced that I needed an extra push to infiltrate Nicholas’ dreams and communicate with him. I was getting desperate enough to give it a shot.
I’d been taking a rare nap when my cell phone alerted me to a call from a blocked number. I perked up and answered. “Hello?”
“Hey. It’s Nick.”
I couldn’t help myself and burst into a mixture of laughter and tears. “How’d you know I was waiting for you to call just this second?”
“What the hell are you talking about? Never mind. Sorry it took so long for me to call. I had to… it doesn’t matter.”
“How are you? Are you okay?”
“I mean, I’ve been living inside a cult for weeks,” he deadpanned. “All things considered, I’m doing fantastic. We have karaoke Thursdays, and we held a food drive for the local shelter last weekend. Tonight, we’re making ice cream sundaes.”
“Seriously?”
“No, Jas,” he said, exasperated. “Not seriously. These people are fanatics. Living with them is like living in a fricking cult, like you see in the movies. There’s a dress code. And oh, these guys? Total cleric-barbarians.”
I tried not to snicker at the reference to his favorite role-playing game. “Yikes. How are you fitting in?”
“They’ve got this end-of-times vibe going on, so it’s all about doing whatever because it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve had to do things. I never want to talk about it.”
“What are they planning?”
“I heard Vernon and Carlo talking about a final ritual. Something that will tilt the Balance and unleash chaos. Make your move then, not a minute before. Otherwise, we’ll never know what the hell they were planning to do or if we really stopped them.”
“When is this happening? And will you be safe there until then?”
“Two nights from now. Please tell me you have an idea or twenty.”
My brain raced as I tried to think of possible scenarios. “Do you know what time things will begin? What’s the guard situation like? What other details can you remember?”
“Nine at night. I’m almost positive. They weren’t speaking in English, and you know my Spanish is terrible. Guards are the most trusted acolytes. They give us a gun to use while we’re working. The rest of their weapons are under lock and key. There are six to eight guards outside at any given time of day. I don’t know what will happen during this ceremony or what they have planned beyond that.”
“Where should we avoid?”
“No one is stationed along the road, just at the beginning of the driveway at the gate. I’d park as far back as possible and walk in. Be prepared for a fight because there are at least twenty guys here. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone’s expected to join if it comes down to it. These people are crazy.”
“I’m proud of you,” I said.
“Thanks. Knowing you’re rooting for me helps, you know. I keep thinking what you would do in these situations. It’s saved my life more than once.”
“You have an entire squad here in your corner, not just me. Trust your instincts and stay strong.”
“It’s hard,” he whispered. “I want this over with so I can pretend none of this happened.”
“Keep it together just a little while longer,” I begged. “I’ll see you in two days. Wait for us to show up before you do anything. Try to stay out of the way when the bullets fly.”
He choked out a laugh. “Yeah, I miss you too. I’ll try to call you before then, but chances are I won’t see you until I see you. In case anything happens—”
“Don’t you dare, Nicholas.”
“In case anything happens, you tell my parents that I died doing something badass. Make something up if you have to. Just let them think that I’m a hero.”
“Shut up,” I hissed. “Don’t do this.”
“My will is updated. I don’t have much, but my dad knows what to do with my stuff. It’s all written out and handled.”
“Stop it.”
He ignored me. “There’s a real chance that things will go bad for one or both of us. You need to know how much I love you. I know it’s shitty timing, but life and death just got real for me these last few weeks. I don’t want anything to happen without you knowing.”
“Nicholas, dammit. Yes, it’s dangerous, and it’s okay to be scared. But we’ve rescued a lot of people. We’re good at it. Just use your head and stay out of the way. We’ll come for you.”
“I’m not gonna lie. I can’t wait to see you.”
“I’ll bring the big guns,” I teased.
“I should go before they come looking for me. Like I said, I’ll try to call, but don’t expect it. Good luck.” He disconnected the call.
I unlocked my bedroom door and found the rest of the group gathered in the living room.
“Nicholas called,” I told them. “There’s a ceremony happening in two days. It’s our last and only chance to stop them.” I filled them in on everything he’d shared. “My gut tells me that it’s happening, but there’s definitely a trap.”
“That’s a given,” said Graves. “The question is how bad it will be.”
“It will be terrible,” I said. “We have to assume Carlo’s expecting us. We should prepare for, well, see to your last wishes, just in case.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” I said, not bothering to hide the quiver of fear in my voice. I shifted in my stance, pocketing my phone and attempting to relax my tense arms. “Nicholas was right. This ends in two days.”
“So,” said Jordan from my side, “spend the next day doing whatever you need to do and speak to whoever you need to speak with. Not to be morbid, but she has a point. This is what we’ve been working toward all these years. This is all or nothing.”
I expected push-back, someone to tell me I was ridiculous. That this was no different from any other mission. They all knew the danger. But no one said a word. One by one, they nodded and walked off. Only Jordan, Mikael, and I remained.
Mikael leaned in and whispered into Jor
dan’s ear. Jordan nodded twice and shook his hand. He walked off to the kitchen, leaving us alone. Smiling, Mikael put an arm around me and sat me on the couch.
“You are family. You know this, da?”
“Please don’t,” I begged him. “I can’t take any more of these talks.”
“It was your suggestion. Now you must deal with this. From the first time I saw you, I knew you were the family I never had. My sestra of the heart. I have no siblings. My mother did not want another child after having one with such problems. I was lonely for a long time. Except for Jordan, I had never truly had bratan. Then you arrived in his arms.”
I laughed at the recollection of our first meeting. I’d just been kidnapped by the Order and Jordan was taking me to a safe place to sleep. Taking was an understatement. He carried my sniveling self in his arms, like a baby, clear across headquarters. Mikael had found us waiting for the elevator, Jordan staring down at me with exasperation and me trying not to vomit on him from sheer nerves.
“You asked if he’d brought you a gift,” I said.
Mikael smiled. “In some ways, he had brought me one of the best gifts I could have ever asked for. You have always treated me with kindness. I would not have survived without you.” He cleared his throat. “Jude was lucky to have grown up with you,” he said of my now long-dead twin brother. We’d had a little over eighteen years together as best friends. Mikael’s presence had been the best salve on the wounds my family’s deaths had wrought. “I am glad to have you in my life now. I own very little, but should anything happen, all of it is yours.”
“Mikael,” I stammered.
Mikael hugged me. “Ya lyublyu tebya.”
Words couldn’t have ever expressed what he meant to me. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed for all I was worth. “I love you, too,” I whispered. “You’re a great friend and an even better brother.”
He snickered and pointed to the spot on his t-shirt my tears had left. “That is all I need to say. Also, be kind to Jordan. He will say something stupid.”
The Black Knights Page 27