Chapter 27 #2
Riot gave a single short nod, then turned and walked toward the exit with the same eerie silence she’d entered with. No wasted movement. No sound. Like death simply gliding out of the room.
“Sooo…” Calix dragged the word out once the elevator doors began closing around Riot. “That was my sister.”
Olivia kept staring toward the elevator even after the doors sealed shut. Then she slowly turned back toward us.
“Are all your sisters like that?”
The nervous shake in her voice nearly made me laugh. Her gaze rapidly bounced between me and Calix like she genuinely feared the answer.
Calix winced visibly before hissing out a long breath through his teeth. “I mean…” He gestured vaguely. “They’re all… unique.”
Then the bastard looked directly at me. “Wouldn’t you say, Rack?” Coward.
I stepped beside Olivia and smiled calmly. “They’re all insane.” Her eyes widened further. “And Riot isn’t even the scary one.”
Her head snapped toward Calix so fast her hair whipped over her shoulder, but he didn't help. He just helplessly lifted both shoulders while offering the most awkward smile I’d ever seen on him.
Olivia stared at us for a long moment before closing her eyes and inhaling deeply through her nose.
Then she picked up the prototype from the table.
“Well, we don't have much time.” She scooped the prototype off the table and walked out the door. “We need to make three more of these before tomorrow, so let's go.”
When she stopped at the door and turned around to smirk at us, I knew it was only going to get worse. “You heard her. She’s looking forward to working with me, which means I’m going.”
Both of us opened our mouths to argue, but she raised one finger before we could speak.
“You really don’t want me looking like a coward in front of your sister, do you?” Her crimson eyes blinked at us innocently. “Especially after officially joining the Syndicate.”
Calix visibly faltered, and she began to press harder once she caught it.
“And if Riot tells your other sisters that I stayed behind while everyone else handled danger…” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “What do you think they’ll assume about me?”
I looked at Calix, and he looked at me. We both realized at the exact same moment that we were trapped. Completely and utterly trapped by the women in our lives.
“That’s what I thought.” Olivia blew each of us a kiss before turning back toward the elevator with a victorious grin.
“Come on, boys,” she called over her shoulder. “We’ve got work to do.”
The elevator doors slid shut behind her, and Calix stared at them for a full second before groaning dramatically and dragging both hands down his face.
I rubbed a hand over my mouth slowly.
“…Our mate is terrifying.”
***
I slid the tablet into the center of the kitchen island while the others gathered around it.
Calix leaned against the counter beside Olivia, one hand braced near her hip while Riot sat perfectly still across from them, pale eyes already fixed on the glowing map.
“This is the aerial view of the hangar.”
My fingers expanded the image across the screen. Surveillance shots appeared, one after another, showing trucks, cargo crates, and guards moving in patterns.
“We’ve had eyes on it since we got the location from Manshu.” I zoomed toward the loading dock where movement crowded the screen. “There’s been a significant increase in activity over the last week.”
I looked toward Riot.
She nodded once immediately. “Large shipments.” Her finger tapped the screen near the runway. “Mostly cargo being loaded into one plane.”
Her eyes shifted toward Calix. “Flight path currently traces toward Bulgaria, though I doubt that’s the final stop.”
Calix’s jaw tightened slightly.
“I already sent the information to Ezra.” Riot absentmindedly flipped a strand of pale hair over her shoulder. “She’ll follow the international trail.”
“Good.” Calix rubbed his thumb along his lower lip while staring at the map. “If this spreads outside Syndicate territory, we’re going to need outside cooperation.”
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Do we even know who controls that area?”
Riot tilted her head slightly, thinking. “Possibly Ryker Baros.”
Olivia’s attention sharpened immediately at the unfamiliar name.
“But leadership outside the States doesn’t function like ours,” Riot continued calmly. “Power structures are smaller. Less centralized. Outside the major cities, most territories govern independently. Rural regions especially.”
Calix blew out a long breath through his nose. “Cool. Sounds like Ezra’s expertise.” The corner of Riot’s mouth twitched so faintly most people would’ve missed it.
“Our parents will help once they return,” she added before pointing toward another area on the screen, returning to the issue at hand. “Avoid this section completely. That’s where most of the cargo transfers happen.” She pulled a tiny black notebook from inside her jacket.
Olivia blinked at it like she hadn’t expected the living embodiment of death to carry something so painfully old-fashioned.
Without looking up, Riot flipped through the pages while speaking. “Guard rotation changes at dusk. Mostly vampires.”
She turned the page and continued. “One hooded individual appears to oversee movement.” Her observant eyes skimmed her notes. “Never leaves the building. Rarely exposes himself.”
Calix’s expression darkened immediately.
Riot turned another page. “I circled the perimeter and found structural weakness in the back left corner.” She finally looked up. “You could breach there.”
Her gaze shifted between the three of us. “But you’ll need a distraction.” She snapped the notebook shut.
“My recommendation…” She paused for anyone to interject, but we were all quiet. This was her job most of the time; we just made the weapons.
“You three enter through the weak point.” She pointed toward the map again. “Given their previous operations, I suspect there’s something underground.”
Olivia leaned in closer, listening carefully.
“The hooded figure never stays near open space for long,” Riot explained. “My guess is he’s protecting something beneath the structure.”
“I’ll handle perimeter distraction and external surveillance, and you’ll handle whatever waits inside.”
Calix and I nodded while Olivia continued studying the map. When she looked up, Riot asked, “Does that work for you?”
It took Olivia a second to realize Riot was genuinely asking her, not simply tolerating her. Not brushing past her. This was her way of including her, making her an official part of the team. Giving her a voice in how the mission went.
Her mouth opened slightly before she looked around at all of us like she still couldn’t fully believe she belonged in conversations like this.
“Oh.” She straightened quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, I agree.”
Riot nodded once in acknowledgment and moved on.
Watching Olivia’s expression soften at that, I felt something shift quietly in the room.
Riot might be the awkward type. She was direct and short, wasting not a single breath or word of her time on, well, anyone, but she always put her family's happiness above everything. I had an odd hunch that she felt deeper, and more, than she ever let on. She simply showed it differently.
Riot smoothly slid from her chair. “Then we should prepare.” Her eyes flicked toward Calix. “Where’s the weapons cache?”
Calix’s grin spread instantly. “Now we’re talking.”
He practically bounced out of his chair before dramatically motioning for everyone to follow him downstairs.
We headed down to his lab where he stopped beside what looked like an ordinary wall panel. He tapped in a specific sequence. A hidden compartment slid open with a mechanical hiss.
Calix bit into his thumb and pressed the blood against the scanner. Green lights flashed, then the entire wall slowly descended.
Olivia stopped dead beside me, eyes wide in amazement.
Rows and rows of weapons gleamed beneath the lights. Guns. Blades. Explosives. Gadgets I probably couldn’t even recognize myself. There was enough equipment to start a war.
Calix turned around proudly and spread both arms wide like a game show host. “Take whatever you can carry.”
Riot moved before the sentence even finished. She flowed into the room like smoke, selecting weapons with terrifying efficiency. Knives disappeared into hidden sheaths. Guns were clipped into place along her thighs and waist. Every motion was precise. Familiar.
Olivia stepped forward slower, her eyes dragging over everything with visible disbelief.
“Okay…” She laughed quietly under her breath. “Even as someone who prefers engines over weapons…” Her gaze swept the arsenal again. “This is insane.” Calix absolutely preened beneath the compliment.
I gently took Olivia’s hand and guided her farther inside.
“This one.” I handed her a reinforced combat suit designed to absorb heavy impact. “Wear this beneath your clothes.”
Then I started selecting equipment for her. Compact firearms. Silver knives. Small explosives.
Her eyes widened with each item I added. “Do you really think I need all this?”
“Yes,” Calix and I answered simultaneously.
She accepted the gear with a dramatic sigh.
Across the room, Riot and Calix had somehow devolved into an argument over the splatter gun prototype.
“I need it for crowd disruption,” Riot stated flatly while holding the weapon away from Calix’s grabby hands.
“I invented it,” Calix snapped back. “Emotionally, it belongs to me.”
Riot stared at him blankly. “That sentence means nothing.” She won the argument, of course. Mostly because she was right.
Once everyone finished gearing up, we loaded into one vehicle and headed toward the airport outskirts.
Riot sat in the passenger seat beside me, one elbow propped against the window while she watched the road.
“Take exit fifteen,” she instructed quietly. “We’ll approach on foot from there.” I nodded and turned off the main road.