Chapter 27
I looked good in black. Excellent, if I were being boastful.
But the effect of all of us in dark wetsuits was striking enough for me to want to do it again.
Maybe on my next birthday, I would insist on recreating this moment with less chance of dying.
The boat rocked underneath us, distracting my thoughts.
The water was inky, and icy drops hit my face when a larger wave hit the boat.
“I can’t believe this rat thought he could come into my city and win,” Adelaide complained under her breath.
She’d just finished fussing over Briar, Logan, and Jesse. Checking their bulletproof vests and weapons until they protested. I suppressed the need to do the same for Lyra. She’d probably bite my finger off, capable queen that she was.
“Please call Larson that to his face,” Beck’s lips tipped up.
“I’ll let him know with a bullet, how about that?” Adelaide shared an exceptionally evil smile with Beck.
The two of them on the same team gave me nightmares.
“Are we clear on the layout?” Jonah raised his eyebrows.
Lyra held up a finger before returning to her frantic typing.
The back of her neck was already slick with sweat.
Nerves or fear? I couldn’t tell when she dipped into her intense focus like this.
A soft breeze brought the scent of salt off the ocean, and I let it cleanse my lungs. They’d be full of something else soon.
Death.
“I can’t get access to their security. Everything I try keeps unraveling. I’m worried they’ll notice my efforts.”
My stomach tightened. “He’s got someone working for him?”
“Connall?” Beck confirmed, and Lyra dipped her head.
“He knows my methods as well as I know his. How do we feel about going in blind?”
Not good. I kept my cowardice to myself. Jonah crossed his arms over his chest.
“Fuck me and my efforts, I guess. I’ve had our best guys monitoring this place for days, and we know how many people are inside, plus the entire layout of the place. Larson King isn’t getting out of Greenich Bay alive.”
Adelaide flicked her wrist, impatient to storm the abandoned waterfront warehouse. It was in the disused area of the port, near to our first clash with The Unseen, but remote enough to guard against incoming forces. Luckily, we weren’t coming through the front.
“Nobody would dare question you,” Jesse grinned. “You trained us three into capable soldiers at least.”
Adelaide pressed her lips to his cheek. “My men are so deadly.”
“Let’s go,” I urged.
I didn’t enjoy swimming, and when the water engulfed me, I let out a muffled curse, which the water swallowed. I was planning a vacation after this. Somewhere busy, with vibrant nightlife and no water. We reconvened at the rock cliff. My fingers were numb.
“Two guards up ahead,” Lyra whispered with the cool glow from the warehouse highlighting her cheek.
“I’ll handle this.” I took the gun Jonah passed me from the waterproof container he’d lugged with him.
My pulse was ice as I crawled over the rocks and slipped into the shadows. Hard concrete dug into my bare feet, but even soaking, I knew I looked good. The guards stared off to the side, where a sane person might try to sneak in.
“Hey, have you got a phone I could borrow?” I flashed my magnetic grin when one of them noticed me.
One drew his weapon, but I outmaneuvered him. They hit the ground with a wet slap before they could pull the trigger.
“Subtle.” Lyra rolled her eyes as I rejoined them on the rocks.
They took off their wetsuits and changed into clothes they had hidden earlier today. Weighted boxes attached to unobtrusive rope lines sank onto the ocean, filled with everything we needed.
“They were struck senseless by this.” I gestured to my face, peeling off my wetsuit as Adelaide groaned.
“Do you ever get sick of being obsessed with yourself?”
“Careful, my dear, that could be the pot calling the kettle black. A little self-confidence is hardly a vice.” I winked as she pulled her blonde locks into a tighter ponytail.
Briar shot me a venomous look, sidling closer to Adelaide. Time might have passed, but her three guys still didn’t when I directed my charm her way. Some things were too hard to forget.
If someone fake dated Lyra, I would have to go full Beck on them and wipe them off the Earth.
“Focus.” Jonah rapped his knuckles on my forehead.
Our boots whispered across the dusty warehouse floor. Adelaide’s guys stayed stationed outside to make sure no reinforcements surprised us. My stomach twisted as we cleared the ground floor and Jonah and Lyra swept the top.
“Was it too much to hope this would be a clean job?” I complained out of the side of my mouth to Adelaide.
She didn’t reply, her gaze darting to each corner in constant search of threats.
“This was never going to be easy, Spare. If we want peace, we have to sacrifice something.” Beck teased me.
I let him use that ridiculous nickname because he got a tattoo in my honor. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist my charm forever.
“As long as it’s not someone.”
Jonah and Lyra returned, and their footsteps down the metal grate were soft. The latter’s expression was stone, and I knew he was feeling the same way I did. My lips still tingled from the fierce kiss he’d planted on me earlier.
“Basement it is.” Lyra pulled out her phone, tapping through a few sequences. Her shoulders shielded her ears. “Let me put a few contingencies in place.”
Her face, framed by plastered dark hair, held a sharp, hollow expression. Lyra built a weapon with each sure stroke of her fingers. The pit of my stomach burned with admiration. She was a force, and she was mine.
“I can’t hack into Connall’s system quickly enough, but I can set up a few loopholes.”
Adelaide peered over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “Such as?”
“I’ve attached my code like a hitchhiker. It’ll sit on his system, and if he accesses his code, mine will slip in, and hopefully, I can get inside without him realizing. It’s a long shot, but better than nothing.”
Jonah kissed the top of her head. “Clever girl, Thorns.”
Beck used his slim silver tools to unlock the basement. He muffled the click of the door with a careful hold on the handle, and we filed in.
This wasn’t the element of surprise we wanted, especially as we crept down a dank corridor to hear a voice booming welcome. Dark drips stained the icy glow from a wall of screens.
The cacophony of them didn’t seem to bother Connall or Larson.
The former sat hunched over a table, sparing us a flickering glance before his focus returned to his laptop.
Larson turned from the screen, shaking a finger at the enlarged reel.
It played a loop of our entry into the warehouse.
I watched the guards I’d killed crumple to the ground before it started again.
“This is why you’re the best at what you do, Beck.” Larson motioned to another screen, which showed us on the boat. “I like your team as well. Except for the obvious, of course.”
Panic and fear squatted in mute silence inside my bones, suppressed only by adrenaline. This was far more of a setup than anticipated.
“What’s that?” Beck tilted his head.
“You want to kill me.”
Beck moved forward. I went left, and Jonah went right. Adelaide guarded the door with a scowl while Lyra stood in front of Connall.
Maybe we were trapped, but Larson and Connall couldn’t escape either. The power plays, the games all made my head hurt. I didn’t like subterfuge, and despite my charm, I preferred to deal with things head-on.
“I’m glad we agree.” Lyra sneered, tapping her fingers on the metal table. “Nice to see you again, Connall.”
“Is it?” Connall grimaced, the bags dark under his eyes.
Larson waved a hand around the room. His collar was dark with sweat, despite his unaffected tone. The room was warm, though, and with the whirr of computers and the noise of all the camera feeds, my head pounded.
“You made a real mess of the headquarters. That’s okay, I’ve been wanting to build it somewhere else. Maybe the tropics? Do you like yachts? I have a lovely fifty-footer It’s yours, if you want it.”
“The ocean is overrated.” I flicked my fingers through my soaked, salty locks, drawing a look of consternation from Larson.
“Something else than. Tell me what you crave?” Larson’s crystal eyes gleamed, and deep inside was desperation. “You don’t think this will end here today, do you? Even if you kill me, The Unseen will live on. Two things are eternal: human greed and depravity.”
Adelaide scoffed, waving off his comment with diamond-laced fingers, including her huge wedding ring. I had to give some thought to what Lyra wanted. I hadn’t been able to get the idea of her in a wedding dress out of my mind since the night we role-played happy families.
“Spoken like a true scammer. This isn’t a negotiation. It’s an execution.”
“So you have a grudge because you were caught up in the mud, can’t we make a deal that satisfies everyone?” Larson pursed his lips.
Beck strode toward the screen, tapping the glass. He stared at Larson like one might a bug under their thumb. Chief was truly built different. I was glad to have him on my side.
“You can’t buy us.”
Adelaide and I made twin noises of disagreement. We both enjoyed material possessions, her with her shoes and diamonds and me with my cars. Lyra tossed me a brief look over her shoulder before turning back to Connall.
“I thought you’d be looking after your sister.”
Connall flinched. A flash of longing tightened his features. I couldn’t find it in me to pity him, despite the miserable picture he made. The man was wound tighter than a coil, and bitterness was in every smash of his fingers on the laptop keys.
“Connall knows his sister will be safe, as long as I am,” Larson said. “If we can’t come to a deal today, I’ll destroy Greenich Bay and your future here.”
The screens all flicked to the same feed. It showed a basement filled with explosives and a timer. Three minutes flashed on the neon timer, and counting. Larson squinted at Adelaide.