Chapter 44
Chapter forty-four
Raegan
“—said no, but your men have recognized me as your best friend and number one person. If they didn’t let me in to see you, there might’ve been some trouble with Elias and the others because I’ve been going stir crazy after Cassandra told me what she healed.
If Kellan didn’t swear to me that he ripped Charles’s head off for stabbing you like that, I’d be giving your guys a piece of my mind. ”
Portia’s voice reaches me in the darkness. A colorful light that beckons me to return to consciousness.
“Stop talking,” Dane orders without any heat. Something gently strokes my cheek. “Rae? Can you hear me?”
Heat encompasses one side of my body, and the smell of citrus fills my nose when I breathe deeply. I peel my eyes open, sleep still weighing them down.
“Rae! She heard me!” Portia exclaims, bouncing forward, and entering my view.
Dane tucks hair behind my ear, his amber gaze warm. “How do you feel?”
I open my mouth, and it feels like sandpaper. “Thirsty,” I gasp. Something tugs on my arm when I try to move it, and I frown at the tubes attached to it. Dane is lying beside me in bed while Portia stands on the other side with a bright smile.
“You’re all sorts of hooked up right now,” she explains. “I’ll call Elias to let him know you’re awake so we can get you out of this stuff.” She walks past Jackson to the bathroom.
He and Dane help me sit up before Jack brings a cup of water to my lips. I greedily gulp it down, gasping once it’s empty.
The bedroom door—as I’ve now realized we're in my apartment at Hype—flies open with Aiden and then Kellan barreling through.
“Don’t crowd her—” Aiden starts, but Kell doesn’t hesitate to wrap me in his thick, muscular arms. He towers over Dane, engulfing my upper half while Dane cusses up a storm about how close his dick is to him.
Kell ignores him, crushing me to his chest. “You did it again. You scared the fuck outta me and I’m getting bitey as hell over it.
” He releases me, his mouth crashing into mine.
His hands tangle into my hair, gripping me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear.
I grab his arms—the only part I can reach with the tubes and wires linked to me—and kiss him back, my chest expanding as I’m filled with his love for me.
I’m breathless when he breaks away, his lips still hovering close to mine as he whispers, “Thank you for not letting go, beautiful. For staying with us.”
He’s close enough now that I run my fingers over his beard. “I have too much to live for to let go so easily.”
Kellan grins and kisses me again before he’s shoved away.
“At least let me get out of the way first,” Dane snaps. He faces me again and kisses my temple. “Are you hungry? I’ll make you whatever you want to eat.”
My stomach growls at the promise of food. “I’m starving,” I admit. “Whatever’s quickest to make would be great.”
He nods. “A smorgasbord of breakfast, coming right up.” Dane squeezes my hand and slides from the bed.
“Our doctor and Cassandra are on their way up with Elias,” Portia announces from the bathroom doorway. “I’ll let them in.”
Jackson sits at the edge of the bed, taking my hand and holding the back of it to his lips.
He closes his eyes and inhales deeply. When his eyes open, they’re bleeding with dark obsession and violence.
I scared him again, too, and he’s fighting the need to let it out through bloodshed.
There will be plenty of time for that soon.
“He’s dead?”
“He’s dead,” Aiden confirms first, standing at my other side. “Kellan tore him to pieces, and we burned them to the bone.”
Thank fuck.
I close my eyes, breathing through my nose.
He’s dead.
The leader of Gifted Enterprise, who has haunted us for most of our lives, is dead.
Their business front is destroyed.
Their board is dead.
We did it. And we survived.
I’m grateful I’m still in bed as my body shakes with relief. I cover my face as emotion builds behind my eyes, and I draw a shuddering breath.
The bed dips on Aiden’s side, and I’m carefully pulled against him. “You did it,” he murmurs in his smooth, cognac voice. “It’s over.”
I grip his soft shirt with my free hand and let a single tear fall. Jackson crowds my other side until I’m trapped between them, hidden from the world as I let it all go.
It takes a week of recovery before Elias arrives unannounced with a demand.
“Without Charles around to back the corrupted officials, my legal team had the court order seizing the Tower thrown out. Law enforcement has been forced to leave the premises effective immediately, and we retain full control over the building moving forward.” He fixes his tie and clears his throat.
“With that now settled, please go home.”
He leaves without another word, and Kellan roars with laughter. “Did he just tell us to get the fuck out?”
“Sure sounds like it,” Dane mutters.
Jackson hums into my hair. His arm is slung over my shoulders as I lean into him on the couch.
Aiden stands from his chair. “He’s right. We’ve overstayed our welcome and I, for one, am looking forward to going home.” He holds his phone to his ear, most likely calling Cibrina. “Tell everyone to pack their things. We’re returning to the Tower in two hours.”
“What about Alice and the others?” I ask, worrying where they’ll go now that Charles is dead.
I’ve been visiting them since my energy returned two days ago, but we’d always avoided the topic of what was next for them after a small Guild team rescued their mother and unborn sibling and brought them back here.
We’ve been content in this bubble of our win while living at Hype to talk about plans for the future.
“There are apartments available in the Tower if they’d like to come with us,” Aiden replies easily.
I nod, pushing to my feet. “I should go talk to them. And Portia, to let her know we’re leaving.”
Dane stands. “I’ll come with you to make sure Alice doesn’t start shit.”
I don’t bother telling him that he’s the only one she usually gets an attitude with now. They’re already like bickering siblings, and something about that makes me happy.
We walk to the apartment they all share. Elias offered the last two units for them to split, but they’re all so used to sleeping on floors that they felt more comfortable sticking together.
One of my half-siblings—Wendy—answers the door after I knock. “Hey,” she greets with a smile, stepping aside so we can enter.
“I have some news,” I share with her and the room.
Alice is preoccupied staring at whatever show is on with Michael and Ben.
Sam is tucked away on a chair in the corner with his noise-canceling headphones while reading a book.
Karl, Tobias, and Sophie are sitting together on the kitchen stools, and Lance and Brinley are seated on the floor playing a card game.
The room is filled with white-blonde heads and blue eyes, apart from Alice, Ben, and Brinley, who share Charles’s black hair like Reid.
When Sam is still preoccupied, I stride over and lightly tap his book. He looks up and catches the rest of the room watching us. His face flames as he drags the headphones down around his neck.
“It’s okay, I just wanted you to hear this, too,” I murmur softly, just for him. Then, in a louder voice, I address my family. “The Guild is going home to the Tower. It’s a big skyscraper with plenty of room for all you, if you’d like to come with us.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Wendy asks from the door, crossing her arms. She’s the same age as me, part of the older half of brothers and sisters.
“That’s up to you.” The room fills with chatter, the consensus a growing concern with what’s expected of them next.
“If you want to use the Tower to take more time and figure out what you want to do now, then you can. If you want to join the Guild with us and use your gifts as a job, to contribute to society in a good way, then you can do that, too. Or if you want to leave and explore the world, then no one will stop you. I’ll see if we can put some money together to help you get started, at least.”
Dane gives me a look. I don’t know what the Guild’s financial status is now that Charles is gone, but I’ll work as many jobs as I can to make enough so they can afford to live for a little while at least. They deserve to see more of the world now that they have the freedom to do and go where they want.
“What about GE?” Karl, the oldest, inquires. “They’re still out there.”
“We’re going to hunt them down until there’s nothing left,” I reply. “You don’t have to worry about them.”
“I’m not. I want to help,” he states coolly. “If that’s part of what your Guild is doing, then I’ll join it.”
I try to keep my happiness contained that he might want to stay. “You don’t have to join the Guild to help us get rid of GE. You could stay at the Tower with us to help, and then do what you want after.”
Sam grasps my wrist. He shows me a message he typed on his phone screen.
I want to join.
I dip my chin, unable to stop the smile that takes over. “Of course. You’re already part of the team.”
“That better include me, too,” Alice chimes in, jutting her chin out and crossing her arms. “I saved your asses more than he did.”
“That’s funny,” Dane slides in with a taunting smirk. “Because I remember you blowing things up that were only supposed to be on fire and then giving away our position on those missions.”
Alice jumps from the couch. “None of those were my fault, and you know it! Tell them how I’m the real MVP. You wouldn’t have won without me.”
Dane scoffs. “We all know that title belongs to Rae.”
“Guys. There are no titles,” I reason, then add under my breath, “But if there was, it goes to Cassandra.”
They both whip their heads to look at me incredulously. Apparently, I didn’t say it quiet enough.
I shrug. “It’s the truth. Anyway,” I emphasize, getting us back on track. “If you are coming with us to the Guild, even if it’s just to stay until you figure things out, meet us downstairs in an hour and a half with whatever you have.”
Less than a week later, a Guild strike team is gathered in the gym. We’re decked out in protective gear and armed with weapons, although most of us don’t need them. They’re merely there for backup.
The hunt for every last vestige of Gifted Enterprise starts today.
Our team has nearly tripled in size since the days of our island raids. Aside from the usual Guild crew, half of my siblings and another dozen Pits fighters have joined us.
Only the older siblings are joining these missions: Karl, Sam, Wendy, Michael, and Alice. Tobias is staying at the Tower with the younger four.
Aiden steps forward, drawing everyone’s attention.
“After we killed Charles, Dane gained access to more of the GE locations still operating around the world. He’s been covering operational messages to those sites to keep them unaware of their president’s death.
While they should be unprepared for our arrival, that does not mean they are unequipped to fight.
Be on your guard and don’t go anywhere alone.
Team up. And don’t damage the computers.
Dane will be pulling data off their servers to search for other locations, and then he’ll wipe them.
“We’ll be taking down a site a day. This strike team will split into three groups: rescue, data extraction, and offense.
It is the rescue team’s job to get any prisoners to safety, the data extraction team to pull the information Dane needs, and offense will eliminate GE employees and destroy the facility once the first two teams are clear. ”
Aiden continues with the explanation of how we’ll travel there for the newbies who didn’t island hop with us before. Evie waves when he explains her gift and the tub that we’ll all get in, and then he nods at Reid as he covers the potential side effects of the teleport.
Once he’s finished, he surveys the room. “Any questions?”
No one speaks up.
“Let’s go hunt.”