Chapter 23
We trek back toward the old school they’re using as a headquarters in silence.
The news of Lucy’s intent to kill Theia doesn’t surprise me—who wouldn’t want to kill the woman who ordered her execution and killed her father in cold blood?
However, in saving Lucy’s life, I was determined not to rob her of the light which makes her so amazing.
Her compassion and sense of justice astound me.
But…the events I put her through have shifted her closer to being a killer. I don’t want that for her.
People I assume are soldiers mill about on the grounds, cleaning weapons or playing cards, more relaxed than any Order encampment I’ve seen.
Still, the snipers on the roof mean business and Lucy gives them a wave as we approach.
The inside of the building possesses very little in the way of protection.
A few guards, even fewer patrolling the hallways.
Lucy must notice my observation as we enter another relatively abandoned hallway.
“They’ve only been camped here a month or so, as far as I know. However, from what I gathered from Fin and Roxana, they don’t have a great number of soldiers anyway.”
“The briefs I read, the intel, suggested their numbers are much higher,” I tell her. “They are having an outsized impact.”
“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” Lucy looks at me with a smirk. “My father denied to anyone that the Order existed, but I know he kept tabs on the alleged numbers. Then, in Lansing, I saw the actual numbers. Obviously, they grew over time, but at first? They were like a third of what he thought.”
“That’s why I did what I did. Assassinating the leaders alongside small-scale assaults gave the illusion of a much grander operation.”
“Fake it ’til you make it,” Lucy replies, giving me a tight smile.
Right, her father was one of those leaders.
When I planned her kidnapping, I did not think of her father as anything other than a target.
She was so much better than him, I couldn’t understand why it would matter if he were alive or dead.
But maybe that’s because I have no idea what it’s like to be loved by a parent, even if that parent is a monster.
“You’re thinking too loud. You tried to save him, and that meant everything to me.”
We stop outside a door with a square window in it, through which I see both Cassie and Mason sitting on cots, chatting quietly to each other.
Lucy withdraws a ring of keys and steps around me to unlock the door.
They both perk up at the noise, and while Mason nearly races to the door and hugs Lucy as hard as he can, Cassie remains on her cot, her face in stern lines.
“Luce!” Mason lets Lucy go from his tight embrace and wipes a tear from his eye. “I can’t believe it. They told me, but I had to see you with my own eyes. God damn.”
“I can’t believe it either,” she replies, wiping her own tears with the back of her hand. “Hey, Private Frank. Long time no see.”
Cassie glares up at Lucy and slides off the cot with a thump.
With a furious growl, she storms at Lucy and pins her against the wall.
Both Mason and I step to intervene, but we needn’t do so.
Lucy jabs Cassie in the gut with a closed fist, elbows her in the jaw, then grabs her by the shoulders to spin her.
Once she’s done that, a kick to the back of her knees sends the young soldier to the ground.
Lucy takes one of Cassie’s arms and pulls it behind her, using her other hand to hold her shoulder down.
It’s fast, efficient, and skilled, and I’m equally aroused and proud.
“That’s two for two for me, Frank.” Lucy smirks at me. “Shouldn’t she be better at this by now, Lieutenant General?”
She struggles against Lucy, but superior strength and skill keep Cassie immobile. “She’s with them,” she says. “She’s one of them.”
“Kind of a hasty judgment to make,” Lucy replies. “Aren’t you supposed to be on crutches?”
“I don’t need them and they’re stupid.”
Lucy looks to me as if I’m the one who made Cassie intransigent, and I raise my hands in innocence.
Cassie scowls. “We got ambushed by rebels and then wake up and find out you’re the one who gave the order to have us taken prisoner. What else do I need? A big sign around your neck that says, ‘Traitor’?”
Lucy sighs. “If I let you go, can you maybe not charge at me for a second?”
She looks to me for an order, and I nod. “At ease, Frank.”
Lucy lets her out of the hold and allows her to get to her feet. “The situation is admittedly complicated.”
Cassie stands by my side. “I don’t know what’s complicated about your new friends trying to kill us.”
“Chill, Cass. Luce is one of us.” Mason claps his hand on Lucy’s shoulder and she smiles at him. Their comradery warms my heart. “I ain’t seen her in months and I’d bet my life on it.”
Cassie is only slightly mollified by his approval.
Again, she looks to me, so I elaborate, “She is not with the rebels. She is here on Councilor De La Rosa’s behalf.
” One pale eyebrow rises on Cassie’s head as her eyes move from mine, down to my neck.
It takes me a few beats to realize what she’s looking at—an unsightly bruise Lucy left from an overzealous bite.
“I realize it would appear I have been compromised, but I assure you I have not.”
“Not in the way you’re implying,” Lucy replies with a chuckle. Mason joins in on her laughter and the heat in my cheeks could burn down the whole building.
“Uh-huh.” Both Cassie and Lucy share a smirk and I blush an even deeper shade of pink. Private Frank nods. “Okay. I trust you, Taylor. Still on the fence about her.”
Lucy rolls her eyes. “Fair enough, I guess? I think you know I would never do anything to hurt Taylor. And, by extension, you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Cassie’s resolution and wariness is a direct result of her great training, so I cannot begrudge her this attitude. It’s how we were raised. Trust no one but the Order, and even then, keep both eyes open.
Captain Finley knocks on the door and taps on her watch. “As cute as this reunion is, the boss awaits.”
We exit into the hallway with Lucy taking point, Cassie and I behind her, Mason on our heels, and Captain Finley bringing up the rear.
“If this is a trap, she won’t have the heart to kill you,” Cassie warns. “But I will.”
Captain Finley snickers behind us. “Piccolo has gone up against an assassin, three region leaders, and countless soldiers from two different armies…but it’s gonna be a blond teenager who sticks her with the pointy end.”
“Shut up.” Interestingly, Cassie blushes and glances over her shoulder. “Same goes for you, Captain.”
Captain Finley puts up her hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Blondie Junior.”
Mason chuckles. “That’s a good nickname, I’m stealing that.”
We come upon a nondescript entrance and Lucy hesitates. Captain Finley comes around to the front of the pack and nods toward the door. “You ready?”
There is a level of familiarity between them I was not prepared for. A friendship, perhaps, as Captain Finley lacks her usual absurd amount of swagger. I suppose Lucy did save her life. It is yet to be seen whether that was a sound decision.
“Guess I’ll have to be.”
Lucy takes a deep breath, turns heel, and knocks on the door.
A muffled “Enter” sounds from the other side, and I’m nearly knocked over at the sense of déjà vu.
Appearing at Theia’s door with evidence of my “failure” in tow, hoping to every higher power to not be found out.
Lucy enters first, followed by me, Mason, Private Frank, and Captain Finley last. The woman we are here to meet stands behind a circular table, fingers perched on the surface.
The table is a mess with papers and intel feeds, blueprints and maps. It’s organized chaos.
But it’s the woman next to her who nearly brings me to tears. Delilah lets out a gasp and tents her fingers over her mouth at the sight of us. Mason wastes no time in crossing the room to give her a hug. “How you been, D?”
“Well enough. How about you? How’s Maria faring in Pennsylvania?”
Mason grins bashfully. “She’s real good, real good. She’s gonna be jealous I saw you.”
“Please tell her I said hello.” Mason nods and backs away, and both he and Delilah look at me expectantly.
There’s no way I’m getting out of this hug, so I do as I’m being silently bidden and give her a hug.
The ache in my back is soothed by the familiar smell and feel of Delilah, who has not changed in these months, outside of her outfit.
Her usual attire of dresses and skirts has been replaced with leather pants tucked into a leather boot with a tiny heel, and a slim, button-down shirt with a few buttons intentionally left open.
“My darling, darling girl,” Delilah murmurs.
She pulls back and cups my face in her hands, inspecting me in a reflexively maternal gesture that brings a smile to my face.
Her warm brown eyes note the bruise on my neck and her friendly grin turns knowing and she flicks her gaze over my shoulder at Lucy.
However, the woman she is, she will not betray what she is thinking in front of a crowd.
I nod and she places a soft kiss on my forehead.
“I’m happy to see you, Delilah.” The honest, open emotion in my voice takes her by surprise, and I feel her holding back on trying to hug me again.
While her restraint is appreciated, I ignore it and throw my arms around her.
Her surprised breath is smothered into my hair and we do not part, unbothered by the audience.
I hear a sniffle and look to my right, where Mason does not hide his tears.
He’s always been the sensitive one of the three of us.