Chapter 35
“Y ou guys on the way ?”
Petra nodded though Jack couldn’t see her. “Yes. Just had to get the crate all loaded up. You guys already there?”
“Just waiting on Carter and You. None of us are looking forward to seeing you off.”
“Don’t you mean me seeing you off?”
“Same thing.”
“But when you guys get back, I’ll be welcoming heroes.”
“Yes, you will. Okay, see you at the airfield in a bit.” He hung up as Carter slipped into the car.
“All set?”
"You should see the side-eye he's giving us," Carter laughed. "He hates the crate."
“Brutus baby, I promise...won’t be long,” she said to the back of the SUV as Carter pulled away from his curb and pulled out onto the street. “Jack said they’re just waiting on us. And thanks for letting me watch him this week. We need bonding time.”
"Just don't let him sleep in the bed, okay?" Carter laughed. "I don't want him picking up bad habits while only Mama's home."
Mama. She blushed and giggled. “Don’t worry, Brutus, you can get the couch,” she teased.
“So you guys ready for this?” They had been prepping for this for weeks.
After finding the information they had during the birthday, and then what else they figured out at Thanksgiving, then further when Finn and Emerson had visited one of the high priests.
..there was so much they had uncovered and Finn had been a monster trying to make sure that at the end of this, they won.
"Of course we are," he said easily. "We've been planning this for weeks. Finn's a smart dude. You don't have to worry about us, Petra."
“But I do worry, Carter.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed. “You figure out about my orphanage yet? I know you were looking into it. I wanted to tell you, I asked my friends about stuff, see if they remembered anything that might help.”
"Honestly, I couldn't find much about it online," he said. "Which leans toward it being Order. I'm still following the trail of shell companies, but I figured that it would be easier to just ask whichever Order accountants are still alive when the purge is over. Did your friends remember anything?"
The conversation came back to her quickly.
They had been talking the night before, since all their plans for the holidays had fell through, too many life things happening at once that they couldn’t collectively get away for longer than a few hours, so their meeting was to set up their Xmas Eve gift exchange virtually.
It had turned into the four of them sitting around their living rooms with a bottle of wine each, courtesy of Vic, catching up and reminiscing.
"They did. We talked about...remember when I mentioned what they did when we got our periods? "
"Yeah?"
“Well, Carlee remembered something that I think the rest of us blocked out. She said that one of the matrons collected phials of our first blood. We all remembered the flowers and the pomegranates, but Carlee, she remembered one of the matrons having each of us sit, and collecting our blood straight from the source, so to speak, and...” She swallowed, this was the thing that freaked her out most. “She remembered them saying that this would have to do because virgin blood wasn’t an option for us. ”
"Virgin blood?" Carter frowned, not taking his eyes off the road. "I wonder what they meant about it not being an option. I'm guessing they were sending some kind of blood sacrifice."
“Well, that’s the thing... After Carlee said it, Fi was all ‘I remember that, and I remember one of the matrons saying that this class won’t get offered.
’” She frowned. “If we were Order, and I found you guys through him... Carter, it means my friends are, too, and we have all been cut off from Him.”
"Maybe not," Carter shrugged with a quick glance across at her.
"You said it was a decent place. And you've all done okay for yourselves, which is pretty good considering you're all orphans and the cost of living is prohibitive.
You have your dream jobs and the others are studying.
Maybe He's been watching over you all this time. "
“It’s possible,” she agreed. “What will you do while in the Balkans?”
"Normally? Or what's going to go down this time?"
“This time. I mean I assume things aren’t going to go like they normally go. Did Emerson get through to Damon? He wouldn’t be there, right?”
"No, only the groups tend to go to these things," he said. "And yeah, things will be different this time. We don't want to run the risk of pissing off the big guy, so nothing is going to happen until after the ritual. He'll get what's His and then we'll get what's ours."
“The ritual for the Solstice?”
"Yeah. There's robes and chanting and ritual bleeding into the well. You know. A regular night out on the town." He smirked.
“With you guys it is. Tell me, do the Elders bleed, too, or just the sacrifice group?” she said, something tickling at her brain, something remembered just on the edges. “The thorns...” she said absently.
"Everyone does. But it's not a big palm slicing thing. We all use those little finger prick things. It only takes a drop." He glanced across at her again. "What about thorns?"
“Oh...” she said and shook herself. “The matrons, they would have roses around during the holidays...and eucalyptus and lavender grown in the greenhouse...and they always pricked themselves on the thorns. I remember that, and they would always say it was nothing.”
"You think they were sacrificing somehow?" he asked. "Makes sense. Something else to ask them when we get to the bottom of this. The place is still running."
“Is it?” she offered. “Maybe I should contact them, see how things are.”
"If they didn't tell you when you were there, I don't think they'll tell you anything now," he said, shaking his head. "Certainly not over the phone."
“No, well I wouldn’t ask them, silly.” She laughed. “Could you see it, ‘hello, matron, this is Petra Franklin, tell me, do you all worship a sleeping god?’ The scandal!”
"I doubt they even keep records there," he told her. "Just in case there's ever a raid or something."
“It’s possible. I mean the only things we have from there are our school transcripts.”
"They'll ship everything to HQ. I'll look into it while we're there," he promised.
She squeezed his hand. “Well good. I trust you to do what’s best, and to ensure all of you that things are good. But promise me you will all come back. Knowing what happened to your fathers...”
"We're coming back." His voice had gone the howling cold of an Arctic winter. "They have no idea what's coming and we've done the groundwork. We're not going to be alone out there."
“No?” she asked hopefully.
"Not even close." He reached across and grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
"We're going to be fine," he promised her.
"I know it's scary for you, but we know what we're doing.
Besides, do you really think anything is going to stop us coming back for you?
They can drag us through hell and we'll still come back. "
She smiled at him with that. “And I the same with you all.”
They turned the corner, the SUV ambling up the drive to the private airfield toward the hangar and the plane, and the six men standing just inside the open doors. Didn’t they just paint a stunning picture. They pulled to a stop, and suddenly Leo was right there, opening her door.
"Evening, beautiful," he grinned, his face lighting up as he escorted her out of the car with a sturdy hand. "I wish we could take you with us."
Leaning in, her lips met his softly. “I don’t. Not unless it was safe for all of us. Just come home to me, yes?”
Jack and Emerson were there then, pulling her into embraces, whispering pleasantries and words of solace to her. She kissed them each softly.
“Promise to stay safe,” Jack said. “We still have access to the feeds in your apartment from the cameras.”
She nodded. “Are they on record?” she teased. “Might have to give you guys a little show.”
"As much as I'd love that, distractions could get us killed," Finn said with real regret in his eyes. "We'll let you know when it's all over and maybe then we could have a victory dance."
She nodded. She was kidding, of course, about the little show, but seeing her guys in survival mode, knowing what they were going into...she put on a brave face for them. “Please, just promise that you will take care of yourselves and each other. I mean coups don’t happen every day, right?”
“Don’t worry on us. They did raise seven brutal killers,” Kendrix said to her.
"And some of us have military training," Carter reminded her.
"We've also got friends," Leo pointed out. "We're not going in alone. They don't know what's coming and Finn made us run all kinds of drills. It's going to be a fast and brutal strike and we'll be fine."
"I promise that we'll call you as soon as it's over," Finn said, pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead. "You have my word."
She nodded and snuggled close to her love. “Of course, just remember to be my Devil,” she looked to Carter, “my Plague,” Leo, “my Stitches,” Emerson, “my Neon,” Rix, “my Ghost, “ Jack, “my Goblin,” and finally to Easton, “my Snake.”
Rix went to her and pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead. “Stay safe.”
"Yeah. Don't make us have to spank you for being naughty when we get home," Leo whispered, hugging her tightly and making her laugh.
Carter was the last to break away and head for the plane. "Look after my boy," he told her, holding her close. "And let me know if he gives you any grief. He'll test boundaries. He's too smart not to."
“He won’t be a bother. He’s my sweet boy.” She looked to Easton who seemed to hang back and smiled. “Be safe, love,” she said softly and raised her hand at him.
"You, too." He blew her a kiss. "Love you!" he called back over his shoulder. And then they were gone.
She stood there, watching the plane taxi, then lift into the air, her heart leaving with them.
She had only a few days to endure, to wait and hope they returned.
Brutus’ heavy bark pulled her from her reverie, and she sighed, making her way over to the car, to return to the city and life without her guys.