This was buying time.
For her.
For them.
“He’s across the country. I think you can fend off his angry looks from here. Are you saying that two Archangels and three Marines are afraid of Ivan?”
Raphael went there.
“One, he’s MRR, and not just some pissy Marine. He’s sadistic and can ride ass like a cheap pair of panties. Two, he’sOUR BOSS.That puts us in a bad place when he fires us. Then, you have to save us, and he gets evenBITCHIER. Case in point, how he gets when you keep hiring Demeter back after he fires his ass.”
“I mean, technically, I’m all of your bosses since we pay him, and I put out gratuitously to the men who hired him,” she said.
Yeah, no.
This wasn’t a favor they wanted to help with and for a bunch of reasons.
Winn lowered his voice.
“Elizabeth.”
She touched his cheek. It was the touch of a mother. It cupped his scruffy face and offered calm when his heart was racing in his chest.
Now he knew how Ivan felt twenty-four seven. It was shocking the dude wasn’t dead from a heart attack.
But the day was young.
For all of them.
“I need you to think back to the last time I was wrong when chasing someone.”
It wasn’t easy.
It didn’t happen often.
“This is what I do. You have your thing, and I have mine. He’s getting cocky. He knows that he has a head start, and I’m playing chase. If I missONEsingle clue, he’s got me. That’s a lot of pressure. By doing this, I’m going to rattle him, and he might make a huge mistake by popping out of his hole. If he pops out, I can go right at him. I’m putting a lot onThe Hunters.What if they don’t get here in time? Who do I pick to watch die? You? Cas? Who?”
Raphael said nothing.
At first.
“Mom.”
She hugged him. When he put his chin on top of her head, he knew he was going to be an idiot and let her do it. Because she was likely right.
There had to be trust.
They couldn’t do her dirty like Ethan did when he said he’d lost faith.
She put her faith in them nonstop, and now, he needed to return the favor. Oh, Ivan was going to skin his Archangel ass and wear him as a Halloween costume.
NO.
DOUBT.
“Please,” she asked. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I know how to do this better than anyone. I’m at the top of my game, and he’s not ready for me. He thinks I’ll play by the rules. I won’t. I’ve got him, but I have to locate him.”
When he sighed, she knew he was going to give up.
