Page 133 of Road to Redemption

Gritting her teeth, Dom added. “Our show begins when the vows begin. You two will signal to the Violence that they can move into the lairs and we’ll make our stand against Isaac. He won’t know what’s happening until it’s too late.”

“At the same time as we grab Isaac, the cache of emails will be leaked by LD’s Teresa Mendez, ruining my father’s public persona along with all of his sycophants.”

We all knew the rest, but this was the part none of us could say.

Then we’d eliminate Isaac.

Despite the reality of what we planned to do, we couldn’t bring ourselves to say it. This was Dom’s father, not some random dirtbag at a club.

He was a man even I remembered, playing tag in the summer heat in this very yard just over a decade ago.

From the lawn, Caleb scooped up his soccer ball. Game’s over.

Dom let out a sigh. “Any questions?”

Endless.

We could have sat around that table for years fleshing out every single second of the mission. But it wouldn’t stop the fact that none of us had the answers.

What was left to play out would. And the rest would require panicked solutions in the chaos.

In the meantime, all I could do was lean back in this chair, look up at the light blue sky, and hope that we could make it out the other side.

73

KIERA

I let the tip of the pencil glide across the sketch paper, trying to let my wrist guide the movement. But I felt stiff, the tension in the house so tight that I felt like every muscle in my body was on edge.

The wedding was a few days away now, leaving us so little time to put the final touches on our plans.

But The Oracle had planted a bunch of their ranks at the wedding. They’d be caterers and cleaners, watching while we moved through the venue.

On the couch, I leaned over to watch Abi try to draw a character from her favorite animated show.

“That looks so good.” I nudged her once the pencil lifted from the paper.

Beaming up at me, Abi shrugged. “The tip you gave me really helped.”

We’d been stationed on the couch like that for hours while Caleb, Spencer, Leo, and Dom got absorbed in some action flick. Of course all of us were pushed to the edges of the couch as Lady spread out on the cushions.

The credits rolled on the screen, Spencer rising from the couch and stretching. “Time for bed, Abs.” Looking over at Caleb, Spencer checked the time. “You should too, it’s late.”

Caleb groaned as he stood up, annoyed to be parented.

It had been nice to have their company the last few days. Despite the anxiety of having put them at risk, it made being locked down a lot more fun.

Abi and Caleb gave everyone a goodnight hug, something Spencer insisted they do. She’d told me it was something her mom made Jess and her do before bed every night. It was a way to connect, to make sure each member of the family got a little physical check in every day.

Once they disappeared upstairs, I finished up my sketching and took Leo’s hand as I climbed out of the couch.

“Lady, bedtime.” I cooed at her, clicking my tongue. But she just stretched out her long legs and fell back asleep.

“Lazy dog.” Dom grumbled.

Messing with her, I jabbed back. “Just wants to keep your grumpy ass company.”

Spencer and Leo escorted me upstairs, hoping to pile into my bed with me.