Page 68 of Bound

All at once, the guy’s behavior wasn’t such a mystery.

Though damn, how Brick wished it still was.

“Just how intimate?” he bit out.

Even after a taut huff, Iscah beat her king on the answer. “He will certainly not have to toss pebbles at the window to get in.”

“And once he does that, more doors will open.” The terse addendum belonged to Jayd. “Since the Pura regard themselves above the law, many of them have landed on the other side of it.”

Brick cocked his head beneath the weight of full comprehension. “And, therefore, have written their own tickets into Censhyr.”

“Where shrines to Carris have become more popular than passwords to porn streams,” Iscah muttered.

Brick grinded his teeth until his skull rattled. “Altars erected between hours of boredom, anger, and extensive training time.”

“The ideal recipe for an insurrection,” Evrest added from his own locked teeth.

“Just shake and serve,” Jayd contributed. “No need to add water or stir.”

“Fuck,” Brick spat.

“They need to hold those bonsuns back,” Iscah muttered. As if knowing she’d stated the obvious, or in an effort to blow off nervous energy, she rechecked her monitors with some nervous dial twists and mouse clicks. “If they step foot inside that prison—”

“We are aware, Iscah.” Jayd twisted her fingers and compressed her lips. “Merderim for being concerned,” she muttered. “But we—”

“Do have three units deployed against their one.” Evrest’s statement probably wasn’t what she’d had planned, but Jayd stepped back as if relieved for the new motivation. “So the odds are looking good, I promise.”

Pleasant shocker: Iscah actually grinned about that. But her impish expression only lasted a few seconds, since the guys on the front fired up the radio feed again.

“This is Tails, reporting in.” Jagger Fox’s hail was clipped but strong over the line. “The poker room is full. Wizard and Greenbeard are checking out the rest of the casino.”

Evrest visibly eased. “They have successfully joined up,” he said.

“But they can still see Carris’s squad too?” Brick cut in. “Am I hearing that correctly?”

No more than two seconds of fuzz passed by before a separate radio clicked into the exchange.

“Tails, Command copies the update. Fine work from all of you.” The praise sounded somewhat strange, but it didn’t take Brick long to know why. While he was sure Samsyn Cimarron had a Build-a-Bear side somewhere, he’d been certain the guy’s public façade was a hundred percent pissed-off grizzly. Thank God the bear himself was all-in for letting everyone process that for a second before pushing his comm button again. “Are the toolbelts still on premises in the casino? I repeat, how many tools are visible for you?”

Brick pinched a couple of fingers over his mouth, stifling the burst of his snicker. Some things were so good, they didn’t need translation.

The same mild mirth permeated Jagger’s calm reply. “Command, we have all the tools in the casino. Repeat, we have eyes on all nine tools.”

“Excellent,” Samsyn responded, this time with an unmistakable undertone of dark mirth. “Keep it that way.”

“Roger that, Command. Down to every last man here.”

Jag’s confident comeback brought a swell of pride to every Arcadian in the room, but none more radiant than the glow that emanated from Jayd. But all too quickly, her effusive smirk faded. Her gaze was a fresh collision of concern.

“Brickham. Do you think—”

“They have it well in hand, fembla.” Evrest’s snap made no secret of his irritation. While Brick didn’t blame the guy—after all, he’d likely been the one on top of the pedestal from his fun little metaphor—the move was damn near worthy of an eye roll.

Breathe in and chill out, king brother. Won’t be long before you’re first fiddle in little fembla’s esteem again.

His private fume made it doubly satisfying to watch Jayd’s viewable one. “I was only wondering, if Trystan himself decided to lead that battalion—”

“I said already that Jagger, Ozias, and Grenier have an excellent handle on the situation.” Evrest went stiff in the spine and completely coiled with his fists. “They have been trained by your own brother and seasoned in many field operations. You must trust that—”