Chapter Twenty-Seven
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DALTON WAS DEEPLY ENGROSSED in gaming, but he was always aware of where his better half was. GG was sitting at the desk, working on a project on one side of the computer screen. The other side displayed images from the CCTV cameras near their base.
Zombies were about to overwhelm him, so he spent a few minutes blasting them to pieces. When the last one fell, he breathed a sigh of relief. “I wouldn’t last five minutes if zombies were real,” he said.
“I know, right?” GG said without looking at him.
“They’d swarm all over me and eat my face off,” Dalton said, reloading his weapons to gear up for the next onslaught. He was trying to loot a building and the zombies kept respawning.
“Sure,” his girlfriend agreed.
Narrowing his eyes, the cowboy had the distinct feeling GG wasn’t listening to him. “I think I might dress up in a gold skirt and blouse and pair them up with high heels later,” he said.
“That sounds awesome,” GG said in the same offhand tone of voice.
Dalt snickered beneath his breath. Clearly, his female was busy and she didn’t want to be disturbed.
He sent his avatar back into the building and cleared the first level.
Working his way up, he became overwhelmed on the third level and his avatar died.
“Nuts,” he muttered, pausing the game to take a break.
Rising to his feet, the cattle rancher stretched his back, wincing at the quiet popping noises.
GG had been working on her secret project for the past month.
He was curious about what she was up to, but she always shut the screen down whenever he approached her.
This time, she was so focused on her task that she didn’t notice he’d stopped gaming.
Crossing the carpet in bare feet, Dalton noiselessly sauntered over to his girlfriend. She was hunched over the desk, examining something. “Is that a blueprint?” he asked from right behind her.
GG gasped in shock and spun her chair around. “You just scared ten years off my life, Dalt!” she said accusingly. “Why the hell did you creep up behind me like that?”
She was genuinely angry and he held his hands up peacefully. “I swear I didn’t sneak, darlin’,” he said. “I’m just taking a short break from gaming and was about to make some coffee. Do you want anything?”
Letting out a sigh, GG grimaced. “Sorry,” she said contritely. “I know I’ve been neglecting you lately.”
Dalt chuckled as he ambled over to the kitchen. “I’m not Rahab, GG,” he reminded her. “I don’t need constant praise and to be the center of your universe.”
“I know,” she said. “But I’ve been kind of wrapped up in my project.”
It was good to hear her admit she’d been obsessed, even if she didn’t use those words.
He made them both a mug of coffee, then carried them to the desk.
This time, she didn’t switch to something else on the screen, or shut it down.
“What are the blueprints for?” he asked, leaning against the desk and crossing his ankles.
“You won’t be happy, cowboy,” GG predicted. Her voice sounded resigned.
“Is it Rahab’s base?” he guessed.
“Yeah,” she admitted guiltily. “I asked Xan to find the plans for me if she could. I have no idea where she got them from, but she gave them to me a month ago. I’ve been working on a plan to break the other captives out.”
Dalton knew how much this meant to her. He had a stake in it as well now that she’d made a bargain with him. Instead of getting angry that she’d been hiding this from him, he dragged another chair over and sat down next to her. “Show me what you’ve got, darlin’,” he requested.
GG’s tense shoulders relaxed and she gave him a relieved grin. He returned it, then brushed some of her blonde hair behind her ear. His hair was a lot longer than he was used to by now. GG had trimmed it for him, but she was no hairdresser.
“These are the blueprints to the apartment building,” GG said, gesturing at the screen. “I’ve marked some of the floors where the women are being kept, but the soldiers could have moved them.” She moved the mouse and clicked on a file. A copy of the blueprint came up with notations on it.
“What are those red blobs?” Dalton asked.
“That’s where the soldiers were standing guard,” GG explained. “Rahab makes sure every exit and entrance is watched at all times. If we come up with a plan to draw most of them away, the knights will need to break in at all of these points and knock out the guards.”
Dalt listened to his female explain the plan she’d come up with so far.
He nodded in all the appropriate places and listened attentively.
“It seems like a solid plan,” he said when she was done.
“Our friends are strong enough to subdue the guards without killing them, which would alert Rahab that their base is under attack.”
“That’s a key factor to our success,” GG said. “The knights can use their enhanced speed to carry the women outside, then teleport them to Qiana’s hospital in New Jersey.”
“You’ve got half of the plan worked out, darlin’,” Dalton said in admiration, loving how intelligent and dedicated she was. “We just need to come up with a scheme that will draw Rahab and most of his goons away.”
“That’s where I keep getting stuck,” she said with a scowl.
“We all saw him lose his mind when he thought he was chasing after me.” It was his turn to scowl at that reminder.
“I know it’s too dangerous to use me as bait,” GG said before he could protest again.
“But we need to come up with something that will lure the bulk of our enemies away from their base.”
“Whatever distraction we use will need to last long enough for Amaros and his brothers to evacuate dozens of captives,” Dalt said.
“So far, Tolas and the others haven’t come up with a plan they believe will work.
Rahab might be unstable, but he’s not stupid.
We’ll only have one shot at this. If we fail, we’ll never be able to break the women out.
Not until after we eventually win the war. ”
GG’s expression became haunted and he put his arm around her. “We have to do this, Dalt,” she said. “Wynter and I got Faye, Paris and a few others out when we escaped, but I’ll never rest easy until they’re all free.”
“I know, sweetheart,” the cowboy said in sympathy. “I know how important this is to you and how badly you want to rescue them. I feel exactly the same way.”
She drew away far enough to turn her head to look at him. “You only jumped on board with my plan after the deal we made,” she joked.
He was glad to see her mood had lightened slightly. “Finally getting to become a dad is a hell of a motivator, honey,” he drawled. “Putting a bun in your oven is something I dream about every night.”
“It was kind of Sin to duplicate contraceptives for me, so we won’t have to be so careful,” GG said with a grin. “It’s a pity they don’t work on cambions, though.”
“The knights sensed their females were still fertile when they trialed taking the pills,” he said. “I wonder if they’ll end up having a whole bunch of accidental babies eventually.”
“Probably,” GG said with a snicker. “I think most of the girls want babies sooner rather than later. The only thing stopping them is the war that’s looming over us all.”
The threat of being caught by their enemies kept them both penned inside the skating rink most of the time.
Wynter and Tolas visited them weekly and took them to see Pastor Hogan as well.
The only other time they left their home was during Vic and Cam’s monthly trip to skate on the rink.
GG and Dalt spent a few hours inside a warehouse nearby, having a date night. Other times, they visited the preacher.
“I just hope this war doesn’t drag out for a couple of decades,” Dalton said. He wanted his friends to destroy the Soldiers of Chaos so the world could have a chance of normalcy again one day.