25. Emilia
CHAPTER 25
Three planes.
Two trains.
Four cars.
Five fake passports.
Six hours of sleep over thirty-six hours.
Seven wig and outfit changes.
“This is it.” Marco smiled up at a small house hidden behind a few rows of tall trees.
I didn’t believe him when he said it. We were finally done? No more moving? I wasn’t even sure what country we were in.
The van he’d hired to drive us honked as he pulled away, leaving us in the middle of an unknown forest.
What the fuck?
Javi and Cruz picked up the duffel bags and headed up the path to the front door. Derek stayed next to me, looking just as confused.
Marco turned and caught our hesitation. “Come on.”
Derek slipped his fingers through mine and half led, half dragged me into the house.
Javi shut the door behind us, and I scanned the small kitchen and dining area. A few feet beyond were two couches. Cruz had already collapsed on one.
Derek tugged me along, and we sat next to him. I pulled off my shoulder-length blonde wig and scratched my scalp.
Marco and Javi took the other, leaving us sitting and staring at one another in silence.
“This is it?” Cruz asked with his eyes closed, not bothering to take off his disguise.
“For now,” Marco confirmed.
Cruz groaned, and I had to agree with him.
“Where are we?” Derek rubbed his jaw with his free hand while tugging off his fake mustache and sideburns.
“Italy. Almost to the Swiss border,” Marco answered as he tossed his hat to the floor.
“Italy?” I cried.
They all turned to me. It was the first time I’d spoken since we’d gotten out of the ocean and into the first car that took us to the small airport outside of Miami. When they hadn’t given me answers, I’d stopped asking. Then bone-deep fatigue had taken over, and I didn’t have the energy to converse or care. I’d been a puppet getting dragged along from one city to another.
“Yeah.” Marco grinned, his green eyes sparkling even with the contacts in.
“Why the fuck would we stop in enemy territory?” Derek demanded.
His smile grew. “Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Well, the Italians hate us, so…”
I couldn’t be the only one who saw the huge flaw in his plan.
“The Italians hate the Velez Mafia.”
“Exactly,” I said slowly.
“We are not Velez.” Javi winked.
“You guys might be able to claim that since you weren’t born on Pack lands, but I sure as hell am.”
“Nope.” Marco seemed to be enjoying himself, leaning back and smiling.
“Can you guys just tell us what the fuck is happening?” Cruz asked with his eyes still shut, sounding as exasperated as I did. “I’m too exhausted to play any games.”
“Emilia Velez died four days ago. Along with Marco, Javi, Derek, and Cruz Velez. A true tragedy.” Javi put his hands over his heart.
Cruz snapped his head up. “It worked?”
“What worked?” My question was once again ignored.
“It did. Our obituaries were printed today. Emilia’s funeral is this Saturday.” Marco crossed his ankle over his knee.
“What about us?” Derek mused.
“The Pack is holding a memorial. No one around to plan a funeral or burial for us.” Javi shrugged as if that wasn’t super depressing.
“So they bought it?” Cruz demanded.
“Yes.” Javi grinned. “The bodies were identified and confirmed.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How?”
“Magic.” Marco waggled his brows.
The reality of what they’d done, what they’d pulled off, sank in. “You guys really faked our deaths?”
“Yes,” Javi replied simply.
So the corpses, the explosion, our underwater escape, and the global travel were all a part of their plan, but why?
He either read my mind or knew what I was going to ask next.
“It was the only way out,” he explained. “None of us wanted to go home. We didn’t want you going back to the Velez headquarters any more than you did. Going back to our lives, separated, controlled, miserable… We couldn’t do it.”
“The only way out was death,” Marco repeated what I’d always known. I just never considered it as a solution.
“So we’re free?”
Marco grinned. “We’re free, princess.”
I dropped back, crushed between Derek’s and Cruz’s wide shoulders.
My family thought I was dead. Coach, my training team, and even El Lobo.
I never had to go back.
I never had to kill again.
I never had to leave the guys.
The magnitude of what they’d done, for us and our future, slammed into me, and I gasped. I would never, could never, go home again.
I should miss my family. I should feel upset or at least a bit guilty.
But I didn’t.
We were out.
“They won’t look for us?”
“Nope,” Javi assured me.
“But we still have to hide, right?”
Marco shrugged. “The Velez Pack is banned from Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Spain. No members have been in this area of Europe for over sixty years.”
“But other supernaturals live here,” Derek pointed out. “Won’t they be suspicious of five shifters suddenly arriving?”
“Five shifters with approval to relocate here from the Supernatural Council.” Javi leaned to the side and pulled something out of his back pocket. He tossed the folded papers onto the small coffee table between us. “Marco and I shared everything we had on the Pack with the Council in return for immunity, new identities, and protected status.”
Cruz jerked forward. “You risked reaching out to them?”
“They’re the ones who helped us with the plan,” he assured before Cruz could freak out entirely. “They sent witches to change the corpses to look like us. They got us fake passports and organized travel. This is a safe house they use to shelter people until final living arrangements are made. They wanted us to get to know the area before deciding where we want to live.”
The Supernatural Council had always been the Pack’s number one enemy. They wanted to stop and remove the Velez’s power and influence.
Now they were helping us? It felt like a trap.“How can we trust them?”
“Because the information we gave them is enough evidence to help take down the Pack. We’re nothing in the grand scheme of things. Pawns, not the players. They help thousands of supernaturals relocate and find safety every year. Once we’re settled, they’ll leave us alone.”
If there was anyone who could guarantee our safety from the Pack, it was the Council. My heart felt like it could finally beat again for the first time since Marco showed me the diving gear.
“We’re safe?” I was starting to believe it.
Javi nodded. “We’re safe.”
“And together.” I looked at each of them. I never let myself believe it was possible. I didn’t even want to dream about it because the reality I feared was too bleak. Once the mission was done, we’d go home and likely never see each other again.
But my men achieved the impossible. They found a way.
We stayed in that peaceful calm for a few minutes until Javi rubbed his stomach.
“Are you guys hungry? They said there would be food delivered this morning.” Javi put his hands on his knees and stood.
“I don’t remember the last meal we ate,” Cruz grumbled. “Was it today or yesterday?”
“Does it matter?” Derek rolled forward and got to his feet. “It was a long time ago.”
“Hey, I offered to grab pastries,” Marco protested.
“From a vending machine,” Cruz shot back. “We need real food.”
I slid my torso toward him, resting against him. “Maybe if we pretend to sleep, they’ll make it for us,” I stage whispered.
“No need. We’ve been blessed by Italian generosity,” Javi called from the kitchen.
“What did you find?” Marco peered over his shoulder.
“A pasta dish,” Javi answered. “I’m not sure what it is, but it smells amazing.”
“There’s fresh bread here.” Derek leaned over the counter and sniffed a bag with closed eyes. “Oh, lordy.”
“We just need to heat this up.” Javi moved to the oven and turned it on.
“What do we have here?” Marco sounded far too mischievous.
I lifted my head and tried to find him.
“What is it?” Cruz called.
“A few bars of Swiss chocolate,” Derek replied.
That was enough to get me back on my feet. “Oh, I want to try.”
Marco unwrapped one and broke me off a piece and held it out. I stuck out my tongue, and he smiled before putting it into my mouth.
I closed my eyes and moaned as the milky perfection melted. Smooth and creamy. “It’s so good,” I mumbled.
“It’s criminal what they pass off as chocolate in America.” Javi held out his hand, and Marco dropped a square in his palm.
“That’s plastic compared to this.” Derek popped a chunk into his mouth and sighed.
“Hey, save some for me.” Cruz finally got up and crossed into the kitchen.
Marco handed him a section, and Cruz grinned, turned, and tapped it on my nose before eating it.
“Don’t waste it!” Derek protested.
“I would never.” Cruz scoffed and licked it off me.
I giggled as he moaned.
“So much better that way.” He winked.
“Oh, really?” Marco took the bar and dragged it down the side of my neck. The heat from his hands had softened it enough to slide smoothly. He followed the path with his tongue and groaned. “He’s right.”
“Move,” Javi ordered as he stole the bar and grinned down at me with desire in his dark eyes. “Take her shirt off.”
Cruz acted first, tugging the hem up until I had to lift my arms so he could pull it off. “Bra too?”
“Yes.” Javi grinned.
“You got it.” Cruz expertly snapped the clasp open and slid his hands over my shoulders so it slipped to the ground.
“Perfection.” Javi lifted the chocolate to my chest and paused before circling my right nipple, leaving a brown path and making me gasp, but he wasn’t done. He dropped his head down and sucked half my breast into his mouth, working his tongue in circles, lapping up the delicious trail.
“Fuck. Give me a bar!” Derek demanded, and Marco tossed him another.
Hands were on me as Javi pulled my leggings down, taking my panties with them. Cruz led me back to the couch, and Marco followed, pressing me to sit as if I would protest. He ripped the wrapper off and licked the corner before drawing an X over my left nipple.
When he lowered his head, Cruz stole the bar and moved to my hips.
Marco’s lips wrapped around my peak and sucked before he dragged his tongue inch by inch, devouring me as much as the chocolate.
Javi spread more over my right breast, and Marco stole his bar before going for another round on my left side.
I dug my fingers through their soft hair, needing something to ground me as they worked me over.
“Here.” Cruz handed off his chocolate to Derek before he leaned over me with a square and shocked me by pushing it into my pussy.
“Cruz!” I gasped, but he was already diving between my thighs, licking and sucking.
“Fucking hell,” Derek groaned as he watched.
My body jerked, an orgasm building.
“Don’t stop,” Derek ordered, and they obeyed without protest.
Our gazes met, his lust mirroring my own.
“I want to try.” I held out my hand, and he passed the bar to me. I looked at his crotch. “Drop them.”
He smirked, undid his belt, and lowered his pants, sliding his boxers with them to his ankles. His hardened cock pointed at me.
I bit my lip and moaned as Cruz sucked on my clit.
“Fuck, she’s close,” Derek announced.
Marco bit my nipple, and Cruz flicked my nub with his teeth, sending me into oblivion. They weren’t done, and neither was I.
Once I recovered enough to think, I reached out and pumped Derek’s length twice before dragging the chocolate over his shaft until I had three thick lines to lick off.
I dropped the bar onto the couch, and Javi quickly claimed it, covering my nipple again. I wrapped my hand around Derek and gripped his tight ass, guiding him closer as I opened my mouth.
He bent his knees, giving me his cock, and I groaned as the salty taste unique to him mixed with the sweet chocolate.
Oh, god. This was my new favorite thing.
He groaned and buried his fingers in my hair before twisting so he had a hold on me. I sucked and licked him as he rocked into my mouth.
Cruz paused long enough to add another piece into my soaking pussy and went back to eating me like I was his favorite dessert. If I tasted anything like Derek, I understood his eagerness for more.
I kneaded my fingers into Derek’s ass as he controlled the pace, fucking my mouth while another orgasm built.
I sucked, hollowing my cheeks, and swallowed, pulling his release with mine. His cum floated over my tongue and down my throat as he moaned my name.
“Fuck,” I panted as I came with my forehead pressed to his upper thigh. I dragged my fingers against him and in Javi’s hair until they both groaned.
“Was that good, princess?” Marco lifted his chin, his full lips lined with chocolate.
I nodded, still catching my breath.
“She’s not done.” Cruz sat back on his heels. “Not until each of you taste her like this.”
Javi bit my nipple once before rising and smiling at me. “My turn.”