by Maddie Wade
She saw he was listening intently, so she continued. “When I went to school, I found that people could be unkind, and I was different, the freak of the school. What I’m trying to say is I never fit in, not until I came here, and even though I was here because of what Kanan did, they made me feel included. I made real genuine friends, people who cared about me. Then I met you, and I realised that someone could care about me. You made me feel cherished and worthy, a feeling that I never thought I would have.”
He gathered her onto his lap then. “Pixie,” he groaned and dropped his head to hers.
“Please let me finish. You have made the last six weeks the best of my life. If that is all I get, then I am luckier than most. But if it isn’t, and I am going to fight like hell to make sure it isn’t, then I will spend every day for the rest of my life showing you how much I love you and I do. I love you more than anything. You are my heart, Zin, and I will fight for us, for you and for me. But I can’t live with myself if I let Lizzie die to save myself.” She took a breath and continued, “She has a child who needs her.”
“But I need you. I love you, Pixie, and if anything happens to you, I won’t be able to cope.”
“Oh baby,” she said and kissed him gently and tenderly. It was a bittersweet kiss. “I love you so much, but I have to do this, do you understand?”
She felt his arms around her and as he held her tight and kissed her neck. He nodded once slowly. “I do understand but I hate it.”
“I know baby. I’m so scared, but I know you will save me.”
He looked her in the eye and nodded. “I guess it’s my turn as you already saved me,” he said before he kissed her again as relief and fear flooded her. He kissed her with passion and something more. He kissed her as if she was his reason for breathing. He lifted his head then. “Let’s go back, if this is happening then I am helping plan it.”
She nodded, there was her action hero. “Thank you.”
Zin nodded.
With her hand in his, they walked back into the conference room to plan the op that would hopefully keep her alive.
Chapter Twenty-Three
As their car pulled up alongside the entrance to the Cathedral, Zin felt his gut claw with pain. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this. He was letting the only woman he had ever loved walk into danger, and he wasn’t stopping her.
He had felt torn in two when she’d demanded to go. He’d known this day was coming but had been kidding himself that it wouldn’t happen, that they could find Lizzie and Smithy in time.
Celeste had been so determined to do this. He had seen it in her eyes. If he had stopped her and he could have, she would have resented him and some point, her guilt would have killed the love they had, turning the beauty they shared into a cold husk.
A small part of him had wondered if the trade-off was worth it. She may hate him, but she would be alive somewhere living out her life, maybe having a family. One look into her face when she’d told him she loved him had shown him he couldn’t betray her like that.
That left one option, to let her go, and then rescue her and the others before they could do her harm. He felt sick with the thought that this plan could go wrong, but it seemed air-tight, although he wasn’t stupid enough to think that any plan was fool-proof. So, they had to plan for every eventuality.
She was squeezing his hand with nerves, so he pulled her to him as they sat in the back seat of the car. Running his hand along her nape her tilted her head to him as he gripped her hair and searched her eyes. “You doing okay, Pixie?” he asked, his voice calm and authoritative. He knew she didn’t need him being desperate and weak, she needed him to be sure of his abilities to get her back and keep her safe. She needed him to be the Viper. It was a role he had never seen himself playing for her, but if that was what she needed that was what she would get.
“Yeah,” she nodded, and he felt her lie to his toes, but let her have it. I love her so much. Every time he looked at her he seemed to love her more. His body ached at the thought of never seeing or holding her again.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a car pull up and knew it was time, but he needed just a few more precious seconds with her. “Kiss me,” he commanded. Despite the situation they were in, he saw her eyes darken with desire. She lifted her head and moulded her mouth to his. It started gently, but he deepened the kiss until she was moaning and leaning in to grip his shirt. He knew she would be wearing the bruise of his kiss for hours.
He pulled back. Her mouth was wet and pink, and so god damn perfect. He would carry the image with him until he got her back beside him where she belonged. “I love you, Pixie,” he said as he ran his thumb along her full bottom lip.
“I love you too,” she whispered with a small smile.
“Do whatever it takes to keep yourself safe and remember the plan. We will do the rest,” he instructed just as there was a knock on the window from Zack.
“I will, and don’t forget to feed Samson,” she said.
His heart flipped over, she was so sweet, even now worrying about others. “I will,” he nodded.
They had received a last-minute instruction from Rhea Winslow by text telling them that she wanted Megan and Drew to make the exchange. Daniel had gone mad, as had Dane, but really, they had no choice, and after speaking to Megan, she had wanted to do it.
The door opened, and Zin stepped out keeping Celeste behind him as he helped her out. They had agreed not to show any public emotion or affection as there was a concern that Rhea Winslow, crazy fucking bitch that she was, would retaliate against Celeste out of some warped jealousy.
Megan and Drew approached, with Dane and Daniel beside them.
“Ready?” Drew asked gently.
“Yep, let’s get this done,” she said as she stepped between Drew and Megan. She smiled at Megan, who looked sad. He saw the car door open and Rhea Winslow in the back seat. Two men with large guns were beside the car, their weapons aimed at them.
They had weapons on them as well. Lucy and Nate were in sniper positions close by, but they weren’t likely to get an opportunity to take them out.
“Can we confirm the live feed?” Zack asked Will over the comms units they wore.
“I have a confirmed live feed of Lizzie and Smithy,” Will replied.
“Proceed as planned,” Zack responded, and Megan and Drew walked slowly with Celeste to the car.
Suddenly Celeste stopped and turned to them. Her beautiful face was smiling as she shouted, “I love you Zin, and I don’t care who knows it,” he shook his head and dropped, before looking up, a grin on his face.
“And I love you, my Pixie.” Although they risked the wrath of Rhea Winslow, he knew she had needed to hear it and if she needed it and it was in his power to give it to her he would. Fuck Rhea Winslow.
They stopped five metres from the car, and the two men approached shouting at them to put the arms out, which they did.
The men patted them down roughly and efficiently and then pushed her the towards the car. Zin felt himself take a step forward at the rough way they were treating his Pixie. Zack stayed him with a hand on his arm. He got himself under control quickly. He needed to keep his cool, and this would be over soon.
They reached the car and Celeste was quickly pushed inside and out of his sight. He could see Rhea Winslow speak to Celeste briefly and then she turned her attention to Megan and Drew for a few seconds. She spoke a few more words and then the car door closed, and the car pulled away, taking his heart and his future with it.
“Zenobi, you’re up,” stated Zack, and Zin heard Roz respond.
“Zenobi has the target. We got your girl, Zin.”
He should feel some relief knowing they had every possible pair of eyes on her that they could, but until she was safely back where she belonged in his arms, he wouldn’t rest.
~~~
The back of the car was luxurious. Celeste looked around surreptitiously, but it was difficult to see much with the windows tinted. She
abandoned that and instead forced her gaze to the woman beside her. If she ever let her guard down, Celeste guessed she might be pretty, beautiful even, but the fact was, the woman probably never let her guard down.
Celeste wondered what happened to a person to make them so evil. Nobody was born that way. Maybe if she could figure out a weakness, she would be able to keep herself alive until Zin and the team came for her. Thinking about him and the resolute way he been before she left made her feel stronger. He would find her, of that she had no doubt.
The car went around a bend causing her to throw out a hand to stop herself from falling into the other woman. Looking up she noticed they were headed out of town and her curiosity got the better of her. “Where are we going?”
Rhea’s head snapped to hers. The woman gave her a cold look, full of contempt. She felt herself shiver inwardly as the woman’s gaze raked her from top to toe. Clearly, she found her wanting because, with a sniff, she returned her eyes to the front of the vehicle.
Celeste thought that her question would go unanswered, so she again looked out of the window as they sped past the beautiful green countryside. She jumped when Rhea Winslow spoke.
“First, we need to get rid of the little tails we have picked up.,” Her eyes cut to Celeste, and a smile tipped her lips. “Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
Celeste felt it prudent to keep her mouth shut at this point, so she did.
“Once they are dealt with, we will head to a private airstrip where we will take a little ride.” Celeste nodded, knowing she would get no more from the woman on that subject. “Why did you say those things to Drew and Megan?” she asked, and when Rhea Winslow laughed coldly and without humour, she wished she hadn’t.
“You are quite the nosey parker, aren’t you?”
Celeste rested her eyes on her hands as she picked at a backbiter on her thumb, making it bleed. She had been surprised and confused when Rhea had addressed Drew and told him that he looked nothing like his father, and she could see he had too much kindness in him. It had seemed strangely out of character and was said with almost a touch of regret that Celeste couldn’t understand.
What she had said to Megan though, had been full of the characteristic nastiness that Celeste had come to expect from this vile human being. She had basically told her she was a pathetic little mouse and she would be seeing her soon. She hadn’t used those exact words though.
“All will be revealed in time,” Rhea said, and a giggly girlish laugh escaped her causing Celeste to look at her. “Of course, by then you will be nothing but molecules spread into the air.”
She was stark raving bonkers, and Celeste hated her with every fibre of her being and wanted her to know it. “Zin will kill you before he lets you hurt me,” she said quietly, and a hand flashed out striking her across the cheek hard and making her ears ring and her eyes water. She cradled her cheek in her hand and pulled her body into a ball in the corner to help fend off more blows.
“He didn’t stop me that time, did he?” Rhea spat, and her face was a mask of pure hatred that terrified Celeste. “He won’t be able to stop me, none of them will,” she said in a quieter tone as if she realised she had shown more than she wanted to.
Celeste said nothing, but she thought plenty and the biggest thought was that she hoped Zin hadn’t heard that through the comms implant Will had embedded just under the skin on her hip. It had been a genius idea to use the chip against them, knowing that if they searched her, they wouldn’t find it, and if they scanned her, they would mark it as being the chip in her neck.
The idea was that even if Zenobi lost track of her, which was unlikely, then they would at least be able to track her this way. Right at this very second, she knew some of the team were close, and it made her feel better. She completely trusted Zin to keep his cool and do the right thing, but she knew in her heart that it would cost him to hear this. If it was him and she had his skills she wasn’t sure she would be able to do the same.
~~~
Fury was like a drug coursing through his veins as he listened to Rhea Winslow strike Celeste. He clenched his fists in the passenger seat of the car as he thought of snapping her scrawny little neck like a twig. He felt eyes on him and looked in the rear-view mirror to see Kanan watching him. Were they worried he would lose his shit and go wild on them like he had with the Surgeon?
“What?” he barked, and Kanan held his gaze and then looked away. Zin felt his anger build again, but this time towards his teammate. He turned around and glared but ground out as calmly as he could. “I said, what?” he barked out.
“How are you so calm?” Kanan asked, and Zin was taken aback by the question.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zin asked in total confusion.
“How are you staying so in control listening to this?” he asked again.
Zin almost laughed, but his humour had fled him when Celeste got in that car. “Calm? I’m not even close to calm. If I didn’t know that they would slit Lizzie’s throat,” he felt Lucy wince beside him in the drivers, seat and regretted his bluntness, “in a second, I would have stopped that car already and strangled that bitch to death. But I can’t do that because Celeste would never forgive me, and I wouldn’t forgive me either.”
Kanan sighed and looked out the window. “Yeah, I know that. I’m learning my sister has quite the temper.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Sorry,” he mumbled, and Zin did smile at that as he knew it must have hurt Kanan to apologise to him.
“We will get Celeste Lizzie and Smithy back. When we do, they all die,” Zin said calmly. For those watching him, his calm statement was way more terrifying than his out of control rage.
The car was silent for the next half hour as they continued to monitor the comms, but Celeste was silent, and Zin wondered how she was holding up. He had made her promise to give him a signal if things got bad and she couldn’t cope. He would then go in and deal with the consequences after. Her signal was to hum ‘Living On A Prayer’ by Bon Jovi. That had been her idea, as she said she loved the song and he learned had a little bit of a crush on the lead singer which he found quite amusing.
Then he heard Rhea Winslow’s voice in his ear. “Ah, now we seem to have lost those little tails we can proceed to the airstrip.”
Zin smiled and realised she had fallen for it. Rhea Winslow had no fucking clue who she was dealing with. Three of the best teams in the world, if not the three best, were on her tail and she was going down.
“I have Will hacking to find all known or unknown flight plans from the closest airfield. Eidolon have a chopper on standby to take us to Bristol where they have a private jet ready to take us where ever we need to go. We won’t lose them,” he said emphatically.
~~~
“Now my dear it is time for a little nap,” Rhea Winslow said with a nasty sneer as Celeste was dragged roughly from the car by the two thugs. They were paid muscle that would do anything she asked for the right price. Celeste wondered what had happened to all the soldier that had gone missing.
She winced as she slipped, and her knees hit gravel, the thug nearest her hauled her up roughly by her hair and yelled at her to get up. Celeste bit back the retort she wanted to hurl at the man, and she could see he was amused by that.
She was shoved towards the steps of a small aircraft that looked like nothing more than a tin bath with wings. Taking the steps slowly she looked around and hoped like fuck they could still see her. She didn’t need to duck her head but Brutus, as she was going to call him, did after nearly smacking it on the frame.
Pushing her into a seat the man buckled her in, copping a sneaky feel of her boob as he did and making her shiver in revulsion. He grinned a disgusting smile at her. She looked away not giving him the satisfaction of seeing how it repulsed her.
“Give her the drug,” Rhea said calmly as if she was telling them to make a cup of tea. Brutus’s side-kick came at her with a huge syringe filled with god only knew what, and while Brutus
held her, he jabbed the needle hard into her arm.
It hurt like shit, but she didn’t show it. Celeste would be damned if she would show them her fear. It took everything in her to try and block the feelings that she was getting from these men. Jace had shown her a few techniques he had picked up to help block his gift, and it was working. It made her sad, she wished she had had someone like her to help her control her gift when she was young. Her thoughts became fuzzy as the drug started to work and then she felt her bones become liquid as the drug claimed her. Her last thought before sleep claimed her was she hoped she was as brave as she had said she was because she had a feeling she would need to be.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The chopper touched down, and Zin, Will, Lucy, Jace, Kanan, and Zack ran towards it, shielding their eyes from the wind as they did. It had been agreed that Roz and Zenobi would use their normal channels to follow the aircraft carrying Celeste, that way there was less chance of them being flagged by the Divine Watchers. The rest of the teams would stay at the Estate to make sure the people there were safe and to monitor the situation from there.
Zin was surprised as he grabbed the handle to climb in to see that Liam was flying the chopper. Eidolon had said they’d needed him back for a time and he had agreed it was time. Despite his flirtation with Celeste that made Zin want to break his face, the man was a good operative and would be an asset on this mission, and quite frankly he would accept help from the devil himself if it meant getting Celeste back safe.
The door had barely closed when the chopper lifted off. They were bound for Bristol airport where they would catch a private flight to Bulgaria, which was where they had discovered Celeste was headed. It made sense, as that was where the Olympic games opened in a few days.
