Luca does, and Nix smiles his best reassuring smile. He’s pumping out the sweetest vanilla-and-baby-bread scent, and Luca can’t help but tip forward into Nix’s throat to get an even more intense version.
“There we go. Good boy. Okay. I think it’s time I tried a few things to get us out of here. I have three plans, and none really sound great, given that they all have an element of risk. Can you help me decide?”
Luca nods and murmurs a vague affirmative—the idea of a problem to solve resetting his brain like magic.
“Good. Okay, Plan A is I start trashing the wine in here to create enough noise that Carnell hears and opens the door. It’ll solve our O2 problem, but will undoubtedly piss him off. Plus, there’ll be a fuckton of broken glass and we’re barefoot. I heal pretty quick, providing there’s no glass actually embedded—but you are extra vulnerable.”
Ouch.
“What’s Plan B?”
“Well, Plan B involves me pulling the control panel off the wall in hopes that the default is the door pops open, and then we can get out of here like the super spies we are. Undetected. The downside is we could potentially fuck the system even from the outside, and then they won’t be able to get us out of here at all.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. But it’s the fastest of the plans.”
“And Plan number three?”
“I call the emergency services number with the last of the battery. But…I’m not sure they’ll take us seriously, and I don’t know if there’s someone in the police department who’s on Carnell’s payroll. Plus, it brings outsiders into our plan, and when Carnell turns up dead, they might come looking for me.”
Luca won’t tell Gideon that Nix intends to do the honors again.
If it gets them home and out of this mess, Luca doesn’t care two figs about who does it. The shortest distance between alive and dead has Luca’s vote.
“Okay. Is there anything that says we can’t do all three? In order of desperation?”
Nix’s eyes widen; he hadn’t thought of that at all.
“So we start with a ruckus, move on to the control panel, and then, as a last resort, call the cops? We’ll have to set a deadline, because we are down to ten percent battery.”
They’re good plans—less than ideal, but still good.
But Luca has one more to add—and it’s like he read Nix’s mind from earlier.
“Hey, do you think you could break the glass? What if we try that first?”
Luca is thinking about the YouTube video he watched on glass-blowing and wine-making about a year ago, and how he could use broken glass to create a weak point for Super-Nix, when he looks up to find Carnell’s butler standing on the other side of the glass.
If the guy didn’t work for a psychopath, Luca might let himself believe he had kind eyes. He’s tall, and his face is lined with the evidence of hard living. Maybe mid-thirties, but the burden of working for Carnell shows in his expression.
The code box beeps, and fresh air floods into the room as the door opens.
“I’m Connall. Hurry,” he says, with no explanation about where they’re going or why.
He disappears toward the hallway, but Nix doesn’t hesitate. He grabs Luca’s hand and drags him after the virtual stranger—who smells like winter snow.
They take the stairs two at a time but stop abruptly at the top, where the alpha listens for movement on the other side of the closed door.
“Where are we going?” Nix whispers.
The butler raises a finger to his lips and opens the door. The brightly lit, state-of-the-art kitchen is empty and spotless.
“Out,” Connall whispers, pointing to a door that must lead to the rear of the house—convenient for deliveries and service staff.
Why this man would help them is baffling, but Luca is ready for an ally and wastes no time reaching for the doorknob.
“The code to the gate is—”
