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I had to laugh. “It’s a little scary what you’re capable of. Let’s just say I’m glad you’re on our side.”
“Now to throw them even farther off the trail…” Jax's fingers flew over the laptop keyboard, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he worked his magic on the next hotel's security system.
“I’m going to call Lucas and give him an update.” I tapped his name on the dash, and the sound of a phone ringing came through the speakers.
“Evan.” Lucas’s voice was tinged with concern. “Everything okay?”
“More than okay, brother.” I flashed a smile at Mariah in the rearview mirror. I told him what Jax had done, and he had the same reaction I did.
“That’s amazing. We’re lucky to have you, Jax.”
“Thanks, Lucas.” The pleased smile on his face told me just how much that meant to him.
“We’re gonna take a detour,” I told him. “We’re headed to Virginia, but Jax is working to link some footage of us leaving a hotel to the security feed from a place in Wisconsin. We’re going to send them in the opposite direction.”
Lucas laughed. “Perfect. Everything here is going as planned. Kyle is making good progress with security, and we haven’t seen anything to cause any concern.”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way. Let me know if anything changes.”
“Will do. Be safe, Evan.”
I ended the call, and the rest of the drive for the day went by uneventfully, other than Sofia getting fussy and tired of her car seat. We’d opted for an Airbnb in Virginia to give her some extra room to move around, and by the time we got there, we were all a bit weary.
“We’ll be in New York tomorrow,” I told Mariah once we were settled in, pulling her into my arms and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Jax was playing with Sofia in the living room. “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready to see Analise and Mason. As for the rest…” Her eyes were full of trepidation. “I just don’t know what to expect.”
“I know. It will be okay.”
“What won’t be okay,” she grumbled, “is this back pain. It’s too early to have pregnancy pain like this. I guess sitting in the car for the last two days has made my body stiff.”
“Here, let me help you with that.” I took her hand and guided her to the edge of the bed. “Sit.”
I moved to sit behind her, running my hands over her shoulders and squeezing gently.
“That feels amazing.” She groaned, her body relaxing under my touch.
“I know what will make it even better.” Glancing at the door, as I heard Sofia’s giggles and Jax’s voice carrying, I figured we had a few minutes of privacy. I brought my hands to the hem of her shirt, then pulled it up and over her head so I could really get to those tense muscles.
But as soon as her shirt was gone, all I could do was gape.
“Evan?” She turned her head and glanced at me over her shoulder, and when I didn’t reply, she turned all the way around. “What is it?”
I wasn’t sure what my face looked like, but I was sure I seemed stunned. I’d never seen anything like it. I rubbed a hand over my mouth and hid my smirk. It was all I could do not to laugh at the teeny, tiny baby wings jutting out of her shoulder blades.
“Um, Mariah? There's something I need to tell you.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Baby wings,” I blurted out, unable to contain myself any longer. I chuckled at how small they were. “You’ve sprouted wings. Baby wings.”
“Wings?” Mariah’s voice was high-pitched as she surged to her feet, turning her torso around so she could see for herself. “Are you serious?”
She ran to the connecting bathroom before I could say anything else, and a shocked scream echoed off the tile wall. I quickly followed her, grimacing when I saw the horrified expression on her face. The wings were about the size of a pigeon’s, and they were vibrating, likely in response to Mariah’s energy, which, at this moment, was radiating with panic.
“No, no, no…”
“Hey.” I hurried to her, grasping her forearms. “What’s wrong?”
