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“I wasn’t planning on it.” Although, now I thought about it, it might be nice to get some kind of tattoo to represent Cade. Momentarily lost in thought, I jumped when Mack’s voice sounded again.
“We’re here.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Earlier…
We stole through the night, fucking armed and ready. I was confident we’d get the job done; my concern was with my girl. I had to trust Mack to keep her safe. Kinslee, too.
I pushed all thoughts out of my mind and focused on the job. Get in, get the targets, get the fuck out.
Cassius murmured into the headset as we got into position, ready and waiting. Once we were in place, Z slipped through the shadows towards the guard, and I watched from my position behind a crumbling pillar as the guard crumpled silently to the ground. Good. It might not be long till they noticed him gone, but with luck on our side, we’d be able to get in position to grab the targets before anyone noticed.
I breathed deeply in and out. So much of this mission relied on fucking luck. I didn’t like it, but we were almost out of time, and this whole thing could be the difference between my dad living or dying.
Z rejoined us, appearing next to my shoulder. “Guard down.”
Weston scanned the area in front of us with the night-vision binoculars. “Right. Allan’s sitting down on the stone.” He pointed, still scanning the courtyard. “Hyde’s over that side.” Lowering the binoculars, he pointed in the opposite corner of the courtyard. “Uh, ten o’clock and two o’clock.”
I would’ve laughed if the whole situation hadn’t been so seri
ous, but it was hard to find humour when so much hinged on what we were about to attempt. “Wait for the signal. You know what to do.” I glanced around at the others, and they nodded. I held out my fist, and one by one, we bumped fists. “Stay safe,” I cautioned, then Zayde and Cassius were gone, swallowed by the shadows, heading in the direction of Allan. “Ready, bro?” West nodded, and we prepared to make our move to grab Hyde.
Not even thirty seconds later, the sky lit up with fireworks, sparks raining down everywhere, loud booms echoing around the courtyard. We slunk inside the courtyard, noting the shouts as everyone ran around like headless chickens in a fucking panic. Yeah, we’d caught them unaware.
Looked like luck was on our side. Hyde had stayed at the back of the courtyard, close to where we were, probably expecting everyone else to do the work for him. Lazy fucker. Smoke from the fireworks filled the space, hanging in the still air, meaning it would be harder for them to make out what was happening.
I came up behind Hyde, throwing my arms around him and pinning him, while Weston clapped a rag over his mouth, muffling his cries, before injecting the tranquilizer into his neck. I doubted anyone would’ve heard him, anyway. Dragging him into the shadows so we wouldn’t be seen, we kept him pinned, West holding the rag over his mouth while the sedative worked its way through his system.
After the longest couple of minutes of my life, Hyde suddenly went limp in my grip, sending me staggering back. Without a word, I nodded at West, and he picked up Hyde’s feet. Together, we carried him out of the courtyard, moving as fast as we could with his dead weight.
“Heavy, isn’t he?” Weston panted as we left the castle behind us, moving across the stubby grass towards the van.
I grunted in reply, concentrating on not tripping over. Of course the grass couldn’t be flat. No, it had to have fucking lumpy bits and rocks and shit everywhere.
Finally, we were close to the van, and the doors swung open, Obie jumping out and helping us get Hyde into the van. We bound his wrists and feet tightly and threw a bag over his head so he wouldn’t be able to see what the fuck was going on if he regained consciousness. I glanced over at Lena. Her face was pale, her eyes wide as she met my gaze, before returning to stare at the screen in front of her.
“Where’s my brother? I can’t see anything!” she hissed, scanning the monitor desperately. Smoke from the fireworks filled the entire courtyard, making the visibility from the drone pretty much zero.
I put a finger to my lips, indicating Hyde. He was unconscious for now, but it didn’t mean he’d stay that way. “Shh. He’ll be okay.” I made eye contact with Weston, and he nodded, moving to sit next to her and placing his hand on her arm.
I lifted the balaclava. I’ll be back, I mouthed, before slipping out of the van, trusting the others to keep an eye on Hyde. Not like he was going anywhere. I smirked, thinking of how fucking satisfying it was to have him bound and at my mercy.
Stalking back around the castle wall, I got to the courtyard just in time to see a shadow rush in from the other side through the haze of smoke, sending a flaming item hurling through the air, exploding close to the feet of Hyde Senior. He let out a roar of rage, jumping backwards, before spinning around and running in the direction Mack had disappeared to. In my periphery I saw Christine cowering behind Petr, who was raising his hand.
I saw the glint of the barrel and the direction he was pointing the gun in.
Fuck!
Z and Cassius had Allan in their grip, carrying him out.
I did the only thing I fucking could, unzipping my jacket and whipping the throwing knife from the bandolier strapped across my body.
I aimed and threw.
I willed it to reach him, to land where I wanted it to.
It soared through the air and tore through the material of his jacket, embedding itself in his forearm.
