Chapter 41
Forty-one
Jada
We return to the hub to a slew of grave faces. If something happened to Zellie, I don’t know what I’ll do. “What’s wrong?”
Brinn speaks, tear tracks shining on her pale skin. “They ransacked the bakery. Completely destroyed it.”
I move to her, wrapping my arms around her. That bakery was everything to her. Her hopes, her dreams, her home. “I’m so sorry, Brinn.” How could they do this? “We’ll fix it.”
Orion watches us, arms crossed and chewing on his thumbnail. “They’re on to us. Getting desperate if they’re starting to rip apart the city. We need to move faster—it’s been two weeks. Too long, guys. Every second is a moment too long.”
I look at each member of the group, hoping to find an answer. “What can we do?”
“I don’t know… It’s mayhem up there. They’re on a rampage, turning businesses inside out, looking for the tome.” Lando scrubs his face.
They’re this desperate for the prophecy. Why? What does it mean? “They don’t want it in the wrong hands.”
“More like they didn’t want anyone to find out,” he counters.
“Too late for that.”
Orion interrupts, “We need to get Zellie out of there. Then we figure out the prophecy, and take them down.” He’s out of patience.
Orion has lived and breathed creating the plan to rescue her, barely sleeping or eating in the process.
He’s exhausted, frustrated, and scared—I get it. I need her to be okay, too.
“Are we ready? Have you solidified the plan?”
“For the most part. But… I have an idea.”
“This is your plan? He can’t be trusted. Zellie explicitly told me he cannot be trusted.”
“There is no one besides myself who would be willing to do whatever it takes to keep Zellie safe, Jada.”
“He betrayed her. Broke her heart and her trust!” I seethe, anger for my friend’s heartache lacing each word with vexation.
“You think I don’t know that? I was there. I helped her through the aftermath.”
“Can you both stop talking about me like I’m not right here?” Leo stands against the surveillance center of screens Seb has set up to monitor and hack video footage. His arms are crossed and he looks devastatingly lethal—I can see why Zellie was drawn to him.
“He’s promised to help us. He will not betray us.”
“Just Zellie,” I counter.
“That was a mistake, one that will never be repeated. I tried to warn her. They’ve been out to get her, wanting her gone.
Of course, they were watching her every move.
They let you infiltrate the trove because they knew it was going to happen, and I tried to fucking stop her.
Okay?” Leo breathes heavily, his amber eyes filled with pain.
“I know I fucked up. But what they’re doing to her right now?
It’s worse. We need to work together. We don’t need to like each other, we don’t need to be friends after this, but we need to trust each other in order to save her. ”
I lick my lips, the group all watching me, waiting for my decision—as if we aren’t a team. Finally, I nod. “Okay.”
“I would have come to you sooner but you all fucking disappeared. I couldn’t find you.”
“Yeah, well, we had to take every precaution.”
“What is this place, anyway? Was the blindfold necessary to get me here?”
“Yes,” we all agree in unison, ignoring the first part of his question.
Elio clears his throat, stepping up to Leo with his hand extended.
“For what it is worth, I’m sorry for what they’ve put you through.
Every moment of it made me sick to my stomach, but it wasn’t the right time to make my move.
I’m sorry for my part in it. I’m certain others feel the same as well, but are too afraid to act against Pluto. ”
Leo eyes Elio’s hand warily, a tick in his jaw working.
What went down between him and the Kosmos?
It’s not my place to ask. What Elio is offering is a bridge of trust between two opposing sides.
This moment is important—for the divine and the humans.
Slowly, Leo accepts his hand, shaking it with his own.
When he responds, his voice is thick with emotion. “We’ll make it worth it.”