Day
Page 12
The next few days went on in about the same way. We chatted here and there while sailing in the bay. Yesterday we didn’t even really talk. We were just enjoying the wind and the water, even in the chilly air.
But despite neither of us acknowledging it, there was a new rift between us. She had been all over me, but now she was working every night at the club, barely taking the time to see me. I knew it was because of her question about us and how I felt. I wished I could tell her what she wanted to hear, but I couldn’t right now. I don’t know what I needed, or what would make me feel that absolute need to stay married to her like I did when we said our vows that night. I still couldn’t remember everything, just a few bits here and there. I wanted to feel what I did that night, but instead I was just happy to date her until then.
I guess we could stay married and date until either I knew I wanted to stay married or not, then get divorced if I didn’t, but that didn’t seem fair to her.
“We got some action,” Lilith called out from the bow of the boat, and I realized I had just been staring at her and not the island.
Emanuel’s boat was leaving. Now we could see where the gate was in the underwater fence.
I turned the boat slightly so it looked like we were catching the wind more for speed and not heading straight toward them.
Lilith’s body relaxed more on the railing, making things look casual as we passed the boat’s path.
No one was on the boat except the driver, but we couldn’t make out who it was. It didn’t look like Emanuel, but I wasn’t completely confident to cross him off the list.
“Wanna head back in?” I asked her, and she nodded her head no. Maybe she wanted more sail time. I was all right with that. She smiled in the sun while the wind whipped her long hair around behind her head. When she saw that I was staring at her, she uncurled her body from the railing and walked over to me with her sea legs moving strong.
She sat on the bench that was L-shaped and came close to my left side, sitting as close to me as she could.
“I’m not giving up that you will want to stay married to me. I hope you know that.” She broke the ice with that. Lilith didn’t really keep things in, so I wasn’t shocked by her brazen words.
“I know.” I gave her a soft smile.
“Let’s not worry about it right now, okay? We’ve still got a few days, and who knows what could happen in that time. So much has happened in just under a month for me—I’m not writing off anything.” I was trying to be positive for her, unlike my grumpy self raining on her hope. It was the truth, though. I really didn’t know what was going to go down between now and Friday.
Phillip said that tomorrow morning was going to be foggier than normal, so it would be the perfect setting to add some camouflage to our advance on the island.
“Ezra used to call me his bird. Soft, fragile, and caged. I did his bidding, and always went back to him, my keeper. It was all I’d known.” She was looking off to the water, giving me more of the memories that I was beginning to truly cherish from her.
“Three years ago, I was lying in a room, covered in blood. Some of it was mine, but most of it was others’. A rival group to Ezra’s operation attacked us, and we defended our house. Ezra was locked away, and that was the main mission, to keep him safe. The men that fought by my side turned on me once it was over. Adrenaline and the pure victory of their kills running through them made them needy. So they ganged up on me. Five of them surrounded me and took their turns at every part of me they could get. I’d grown accustomed to their touch, so I just shut my mind off and they had their way with my body.”
She didn’t cry, but her face looked stony right now. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, so I found a spot that looked good and pushed all the right buttons on this fancy boat to get her stationary. Once the anchor was down, I sat, keeping quiet but letting her know I was there for her.
“When it was over, they left me there naked on the floor, in a mess.” Her voice was not unaffected; she was cracking, and I couldn’t have that. Lifting her body up from the seat and settling it into my lap, now she could face me while she got the rest of her story out.
“See me, not the memory. See me,” I told her, and she nodded, focusing on my eyes.
“I went to my quarters and sat on the chair by the fireplace, where I had been reading a good book about a wizarding world. I picked it up and kept going, needing something to keep my mind numb until I could handle cleaning my body up without wanting to take a flamethrower to my skin.”
God, my everything hurt for her.
“I got to a part where they were talking about the Phoenix. You know—the bird made out of fire, that when they die, they burn up into a pile of ash, but are reborn into a stronger firebird.” She willed me to know what she was talking about, and I nodded. I remember the movie form of the book she was talking about.
“I was a bird to them. That night something in me died. But I was determined to rise from the ashes and fly away in a burning blaze.” Her lips tilted up at the corners. Focusing on me was helping her.
“After scrubbing myself raw in the shower, I put on my gear, grabbed a bag to put a few items I cared about in it, and put my ear buds in with a song that was about rising. I hunted each of the men down in the mansion, killing them all without remorse, and then I set the mansion on fire and flew away.” Her forehead touched mine, and I felt her take a deep breath, exhaling the bad, and inhaling in the good.
“You’re so fucking brave,” I told her, and there wasn’t one part of me that didn’t mean it. She was brave for what she went through, what she did, and for telling me about it now.
“Your soul is so beautiful,” I said, and her head lifted up so fast to look into my eyes that I thought she would get whiplash. Her gaze was searching for something inside me, and I wished I could give her what she wanted.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lilith
More than anything I wanted Leon to choose me like he had that first night. When he said my soul was beautiful, after I spilled my guts to him about my past, I thought maybe he remembered everything now. But he didn’t. I saw it in his eyes that he wanted to, but he just didn’t.
I rested my head on his shoulder after that and just let him hold me.
The sun was starting to set on us, along with the chill that was giving me a shiver even in my thick sweater; we needed to get back to headquarters.
Infiltrating the island was going down in the morning, so we needed to chat with the crew one more time before getting some sleep before heading out.
Leon got us back to the dock without a hitch, and after going over the plan one more time, Charles showed us the little round object that would short the signal of the lasers on the beach. All I had to do was push the blue button on the top and throw it toward a laser head. It would give me twenty seconds to get to the fort and insert the USB drive AJ gave me into the computer system so he could get in. He’d open the gate after that, and everyone would just ride the power boat past the gates. After that, AJ would try his best to help navigate us, and we would take down Emanuel and his whole entourage.
After everyone split their separate ways, Leon and I went up to his apartment. Both of us stripped down and put on warm clothes before hopping into bed.
“I’m gonna buy a new boat soon.” Leon kissed my head as he told me his news. I snuggled into his chest some more before telling him I thought that was cool. He didn’t say he was leaving the Hero Society, so I guess that just meant he would travel from the bay to HQ via running or a car, if he got one of those too.
“You’ll have to come out with me sometime. Maybe a weekend trip, if we can get away.” He yawned, and I knew he was going to pass out soon.
“Maybe I’ll be living on it with you, and we can go anytime,” I said softly as I felt his breaths start to slow, then even out. Leon could fall asleep within five minutes. Truly, it was a gift. I rubbed his chest once before closing my eyes, chasing after my own dreamland.
My nickname from him. Somewhere inside his subconscious, he remembered that he was meant for me. That he chose me. Hopefully that side of him wouldn’t let us walk away from being together.
I fell asleep with a smile on my lips, and dreams of sailing with Leon on our boat together.
Morning came fast, and I woke amped up for the job ahead of us.
We would dress in wetsuits at first, while he swam me to the fence, then once they were in, I’d change into my epic fighting outfit that I picked just for this occasion.
Everyone was waiting at the restaurant, drinking coffee or whatever they liked in the morning, when we walked in.
“Ready to come out of retirement?” Phillip smiled, looking cute with his blond hair and hazel eyes beaming at me. The whole long-sleeved black shirt, black pants, and bulletproof vests everyone was wearing looked badass. Leon was going to look so hot in that same getup once he got out of his wetsuit. Which I loved—it hid absolutely nothing on him! I was tempted to drag him back to bed and have my dirty way with him and the cuffs again.
“Nah, I’m just having some fun.” I winked at him as we walked toward the large SUV waiting for us. Going back to being a spy would never be an option, but I can use the skills I acquired being one, if I needed to. Like for our mission this morning.
The drive to the dock was filled with silence. Everyone was preparing for this whole thing in their own way. Me? I was creating a “takeover the base” playlist on my small music player. I had about twenty-five songs on there in shuffle mode so I would be good for a while.
“I hope we get him this time.” Rose walked beside me toward the sleek, black power boat the boys were loading up our bags onto.
“We will.” I smiled, and she tried to smile back. She was nervous; I didn’t even need her power to know that.
“Last time something made out of light saved Emanuel. I haven’t been able to get that out of my head. There’s so much we don’t know, even a month and change later. I just hope we aren’t walking into something too far above our head, you know?” She didn’t look at me as she voiced her thoughts, but I found myself reaching over and pulling her in for a hug. Her arms were tight around me, and it was nice to have this camaraderie with another woman. Rose was sweet, and I liked her. We’d gotten to know each other over the past few weeks, and she was just a good person. Even offered to listen if I wanted to talk about the emotions she’d felt stirring in my brain. I probably wouldn’t take her up on it, but it was nice of her to offer, all the same.
“You guys ready?” Draco asked everyone, and I looked around to see them all nod.
“Okay, stick to the plan. If at any point you don’t feel comfortable and can’t push through, you get to the boat. There is always another day to fight.” Draco made his statement loud and clear, which was nice. I doubted any of us would turn back from a fight, but it always made a big difference to know you were supported, no matter what.
His fingers turned the key, starting the boat with a very quiet rumble of the engine.
The wind was cold as we got up to speed, my hair whipping around, and I wished I would have brought a jacket for the ride out.
Not even thirty seconds after I thought about it, Phillip handed me a warm-looking jacket. He was so handy.
Leon chuckled at the look on my face; I’m guessing it was a little stunned. Having someone know the future, even an unstable one, was hard to get used to when he used it like that.
“He does it to me, too. Always has tea made for me when I come over, and usually a brownie or some pastry. He spoils us,” Rose told me, and Draco laughed at her comment.
“He just does it to make me look bad,” Draco added as he drove the boat, which made Phillip laugh before joking back with him.
“It’s easy; Just always make sure she has tea hot and ready.”
They continued to bicker like family about how Phillip spoils his sister too much, and she just let them battle it out. The heavy tension that surrounded the boat when we first got on was gone. When we arrived to our drop-off point, everyone seemed more relaxed about the plan, which was good. The calmer they were, the better everything would be. I made sure my wetsuit was all zipped up, and my little waterproof bag with my music player, plus Charles’s and AJ’s gadgets, was secured around my waist. I kinda liked the suit and fanny pack look I had going on.
I looked over my shoulder to Leon and grinned big.
“Let’s get wet, Star.” I laughed as I ran to the end of the boat and cannonballed into the cold water.
He was there with me a few seconds later, wrapping his strong arms around me.
“See you guys soon.” I waved at the crew still on the boat and looked at the man’s face in front of me.
He was so handsome, even soaked. His brown eyes were staring into mine, and I wished I knew what he was thinking. Leaning in, I pressed a gentle kiss to his lips before taking a deep breath as he submerged us underwater, and we took off.
My head went to his shoulder, because let’s be honest, it hurt to try and watch where we were going. Being shot through the water like a torpedo was not all it was cracked up to be, but I would manage.
Leon stopped, and I knew we were at the fence.
Showtime. We came up for air but stayed as close to the surface as possible.
“Okay, without splashing, help me over.” I looked in the direction of the island and didn’t see anyone that would see me crossing sides.
His fingers wrapped around my waist, and he lifted me up with ease. I was able to get over the fence with no splashing and no wetsuit snags.
“Be careful, Lilith.” He looked at me with eyes that spoke volumes. He cared a lot and didn’t want anything to happen to me.
“I love you, Star,” I whispered with a grin before turning to dive under the water, not wanting to see his face or hear him say anything else.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lilith
I stayed underwater as much as I could, but I had to see where I was going, so I brought my head up enough that only my eyes were out of the water. I needed a spot where I could be out of the water to get out gadget number one out of the bag.
My head turned to both sides, looking for a rock or something.
Bingo.
An old tree up to my left was big and had one branch that was low enough for me to grab and pull myself up. I could do what I needed from the branch before hitting the sand.
I was a little heavier than normal, with the water soaking me, but I made it up on to the branch. Quickly, I looked around to make sure my little pull-up hadn’t been noticed by anyone.
So far, so good.
After grabbing the signal disrupter, I stood on the branch, ready to make my run to the fort. It looked to be about thirty yards away from my current spot, but that wouldn’t be an issue. It takes ten seconds to run from one end of the football field to the other; I didn’t even have half that distance to run. Once I got there, I would figure out my next move to get to a computer in the system.
“Go time,” I whispered to the wind and threw the little round piece of technology to a small black post that was sticking out of the sand. I figured it was where one of the laser sets were coming from, so it was the perfect spot.
I jumped down, and sped away as fast as my feet would push me. My hands gripped another low branch to swing my body over a big stump that was lying on the ground in my way. The block wall of the fort was getting closer, and I looked around to see if anyone was standing near it before making my best point of entry.
Obviously the front door was out of the question.
Then I spotted it. By the west side of the fort, the lookout tower was right next to a tall pine tree. Seriously, they needed a bad guy manual that stated to not have a bunch of trees around your base for people to climb and use to their advantage to attack.
A smile fell on my lips as I crept
to the big-ass tree.
The pine was harder to climb than the one by the water, but I did it without falling down the long way to the ground.
“This is boring.” One of the guards who held onto his shiny black gun spoke to the other, who was looking in the opposite direction than the one who spoke.
“Shouldn’t have pissed the boss off by saying what you did. You wouldn’t have gotten sentry duty.” The taller guard looked at the one who complained and rolled his eyes.
Interesting men.
“Yeah, well, I still think the plan to get that hero society out into the limelight with that school fire was stupid, it only gave them more power. People love them,” the complainer grumbled, but what he said made my head tilt to the side in confusion.
“That right there is why you are up here. Don’t question the boss. He knows shit we don’t.”
The two men were silent, but then started talking about football. I tucked away the new information I heard for later and crashed their party.
“Shit!” one said as he saw me, but he didn’t even have time to raise his gun before I had my foot to his temple. His head hit the wall then crumpled to the floor. The other man had his gun up, but he too wasn’t fast enough, and after a few well-placed chops to the neck, he joined his friend. I was going to try not to kill too many people. They might see the error of their ways, like I did after their boss was gone.
Two men down, for now.
Slowly, I descended the stairs from the tower and looked around for my next move. Beyond the wall that housed the lookout towers, there was a two-story building inside. Not overly large, but I could see some mad scientist stuff going on in it. The whole place was over a couple hundred years old, and had that creepy vibe to it.
A few men were scattered in the grass doing various morning routines. Some were working out, and some were just talking. I counted about fifteen of them. They would need to be gone if we were going to get inside the buildings.
One man was walking along the wall in my direction, so I went down to my hands and the balls of my feet, moving like a crouching tiger across the stone floor to the other side. I probably only had one more minute left if that guy walked up to check on the other men.