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“Holy shit,” Oz curses. “Is that where they took Avery?”
“I’m assuming so. Ev sent me the link for a reason.”
“Okay, I’m going to let Zig know what’s going on. You might want to buckle in. He told me to tell you we’ll be landing in ten. The closest Ev could get us was a private airstrip used by an AG Aviation School. Ev said it was an emergency, and since they aren’t open today, we’ve been granted permission to land there. It’s twelve miles from the park, but there’s a school bus onsite,” he calls out as he heads back to Zig.
I strap in and look at Hawk. “I’m never letting her out of my sight again.”
He blows out a breath. “Tell me about it.”
“Creed, she said she was at the park with kids. Nobody’s mentioned it, but I have to ask what the fuck we’re supposed to do with a bunch of kids. I mean, are we talking two or twenty?”
“I don’t know, Hawk, but we’ll figure it out. Anywhere is better than what they’ve had, right?”
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just them losing Salem, Astrid, and Avery is one thing, but losing the kids too… They’ll never leave us alone.”
“Then maybe it’s time we bring the fight to them for a change.”
Hawk straps in when the plane starts to descend. Neither of us says anything else, both of us preparing for what’s to come.
When the plane lands and comes to a stop, we unbuckle and open the door, climbing out before Oz and Zig. I spot the bus outside the hangar and head for it, wondering if I’m going to have to hot-wire the damn thing. When I get there, I realize the doors are not only open, but the keys are in the ignition.
“Gotta love small-town living.” Hawk laughs, climbing in behind me.
“It’s not exactly a small town.”
“The middle of nowhere still counts,” Oz says, climbing in with Zig right behind him.
“All that’s out here are fields and barns,” he adds as the doors close.
“You know where you’re going?” Zig asks from where he stands beside me.
“Yeah. Just keep your eye out for any issues.”
I turn the key and breathe a sigh of relief when the bus rumbles to life. My cell dings as I’m driving. I ignore it, but a few seconds later, Zig’s chimes too.
“It’s Ev. They’re evacuating the area until they know for sure what caused the explosion. The park is within the evacuation zone. You need to step on it.”
I floor it, ignoring the curses behind me, and focus on getting to Avery. It takes a little over ten minutes before we pull up at the park. Families are huddled together as they leave, making me think they’ve heard about the evacuation. I spot a familiar face and breathe a sigh of relief. “Over there.”
I park and yank the doors open. Jumping out, I run toward Avery, the guys right behind me.
“Avery!” I yell.
She turns around at the sound of her name, and when she spots me, she starts running for me too. And we collide, our arms wrapping around each other. “You came for me,” she gasps into my neck before Hawk wraps his arms around us both.
“I love you. I love you both so, so much.”
“Jesus, fuck,” he groans, squeezing tightly.
“We love you too, baby,” I say, pulling back just enough to look into her eyes before placing my lips against hers.
“It’s good to see you, sweetheart, but we’ve got to go,” Zig says from behind us.
Reluctantly, I release her, and she turns back to the playground. “Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
A woman that’s all curves steps forward, surrounded by a few kids. “Avery?”
“It’s okay, Lara, these are my husbands, and the two behind them are my brothers.” She walks over to the kids, reaching out her hand. One of the boys takes it as she urges the others to follow. We walk beside them to the bus, scanning the area for unfriendlies as we go, and stand back as the scared kids board.
