Page 60 of Scarred Sunrise

Chapter 25

As the plane touched down,Lizzie was already out of the car waiting on the tarmac. When they’d gotten word that it was all over, she’d expected a huge rush of relief. It hadn’t come and she’d thought perhaps it was just that she was overwrought after the tension of the last few days.

She glanced at Bebe and Astrid who’d brought her to the airfield to meet Smithy. Celeste was with her, but Ava had stayed home with the kids and Aubrey had been called into work. It seemed crime didn’t stop for anything.

The last forty-eight hours had been the longest of her life. Her certainty that she was going to lose him wrapping her in the kind of grief she never wanted to feel again. Her eyes didn’t leave the door to the aircraft, and as the doors opened and she saw him standing at the top, her feet began to move, until she was running towards him. He jogged down the steps, a broad, beautiful stunning grin on his handsome face and she jumped into his arms knowing he’d always catch her.

Her legs wrapped around his waist, arms around his neck, her head buried in his throat, and he held on so tight she knew he felt everything she was feeling. Her heart thudded against her chest in tandem with his. Her hands stroked his hair, his body, trying to reassure herself that he was okay.

“Is it over? Is she dead?”

His eyes went soft at her words, and he nodded. “She’s dead, baby. It’s over.” He leaned in and kissed her. It wasn’t soft but demanding and wild as they poured out the fear they’d harboured inside them. Her surroundings fell away, and it was only the two of them as her hands tightened in his hair, his hands on her ass holding her to him, the hard planes of his body firm to her wandering hands.

When they were almost breathless, he pulled away, his eyes hooded with desire and need. The heat pumping between them, stoking the fire of their passion until a cough brought them out of the bubble they were in, and Ty chuckled.

“Let’s go home.”

Bebe drove the first car with her and Ty in the back, while Zack rode upfront with a case at his feet. They caught her up on what happened, and she knew she was getting the abbreviated version and was okay with that. She didn’t want to know the gory details, she’d lived enough of them.

“The rest of the guys got back a few hours ago, and everyone is at the Estate I think.”

“We’ll get this case over there to the lab so Meg can decide what she wants to do with it. My choice would be to destroy it but she’s the lead on this, not me.”

That was the thing about Zack, he was in charge, but he wasn’t an autocratic asshole, he listened to his team.

Arriving at a houseful of people, it felt almost like a party with everyone feeling so light, laughter ringing through the gorgeous old home that was full of life and vitality. Something that would have been lost if the drug and been dispersed because half of these people didn’t have abilities.

Ty hadn’t let her hand go the entire car ride, and he only let go now so he could climb from the car before he grabbed it again and linked their fingers. Romantic Ty was her new favourite, and for a second, the joy of having him here and the prospect of their future overrode her remaining fears and anxiety.

Meg and Lucy met them, her sisters hugging Ty, while Jace and Daniel shook his hand as Ava kissed her husband soundly. Liz followed Zack and Ava into the room he used as an office as he laid the case with the drug that would have ruined so many lives on the desk.

Meg moved towards it carefully, the scientist taking over as she donned protective gloves. Liz shivered, glancing out the window as a light drizzle began to fall, the late morning sun obliterated by the grey clouds. Ty draped his arm over her shoulders, and she cuddled into his warmth.

Seeing Lucy looking at her, she frowned before casting a glance to Meg. They were feeling it too, this sense that the threat still loomed even with Rhea dead and the remaining Watchers being dismantled by Eidolon.

The click of the locks on the case resounded in the room, and she reached out as if to stop it, but it was too late. Meg lifted the lid and sitting among foam-padded shells was a five-litre phial of the drug.

“Jesus, that’s enough to kill half the population if my maths is correct.” Meg looked it over carefully, making sure there were no wires attached, then lifted the bottle as Daniel stood close. The loud snick had every person in the room freezing in place. Meg looked at her, then Lucy, as her blood turned to ice in her veins.

Daniel cupped Meg’s shoulders, leaning closer to peer over her shoulder. His features paled and he swallowed before looking up at Zack and Ty. “It’s a pressure switch. The timer is counting back from five minutes, then the drug will mix with the compound and it will blow.”

Ty pushed her behind him as if he could protect her, Jace moving Lucy aside so he could get close and look at the bomb in her sister’s hands.

Lizzie was calm on the outside, but inside, her thoughts were flying, as she tried to grasp the reality of what had happened. This was why she felt that impending sense of doom, this was her dread.

Touching Ava’s arm to get her attention, she saw the fear on her friend’s face. “Get everyone into the ballroom as quick as you can and barricade the windows.”

Ava gave her a funny look and a quick hug, and then did as Liz asked her. Moving to Lucy, she took her hand, and as they locked eyes, she knew her sister was thinking the same thing. Her gaze shifted to Meg, and she nodded imperceptibly.

“You need to take this outside to the far edge of the land and quickly.”

Smithy turned to her, his face contorted in fear and anger until he saw her expression. “No.”

Liz touched his arm, moving closer. “It’s the only way.”

He grasped her to him, holding her body close as he shook his head. “No.”

“What the fuck is he talking about?” Jace asked, his jaw clenched hard.