AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They were at surface level here, likely the main entrance to the hideout. The water still surged upward but not with the same deadly force as below. It was like a pool filling up from the inside, water already reaching Roman’s ankles.
The Pride members realized they were being tailed and not by their own. Two of them had dropped their guns in the frantic scramble to escape, but one still had theirs. He raised it and shot off a few rounds, one of the bullets grazing Roman’s bicep but thankfully missing him by mere centimeters.
Roman took care of that one first, returning fire. His aim appeared to be superior, and the man dropped into the water, blood pooling out and coloring it dark red.
Phantom and Mimic had both engaged the other two, their fists and elbows swinging and landing hits, blocking others. They both fought with an exceptional grace, even as water worked to slow them down. Phantom dodged his assailant’s blows with simple dips to the left and right, while Mimic used a little more flourish, spinning around her opponent and landing a lights-out blow with her elbow into the back of his head.
Phantom didn’t take much longer to take care of his guy. He grabbed the man by the neck and pushed him up against the wall, using his foot to knock him off-balance and send him falling into the water.
“We need to go before this entire place is flooded,” Roman said, hand finding Wyatt’s. He was glad to see the tome still held tight in his other hand.
This was it. They’d done it. They got the tome, they’d rescued Mimic, and they’d taken care of Leonidas and his Pride. It had involved a whole circus full of hoops to jump through, many of them set on fire, but they had somehow managed to make it through all in one piece. It was near miraculous.
But it wasn’t over just yet.
“Hurry—Mustang’s waiting for us by the dock.”
Roman led the group out through a set of double doors, the water reaching their knees before flooding through the open doors and wetting the sidewalk outside.
This portion of the hideout had been constructed to resemble a small oceanside home, with white concrete walls and black trim, looking completely nondescript on the outside. It blended right in with the other houses on the street, albeit slightly less tropical-looking. No one would have ever guessed there was an entire underwater lair (now under water) inside those bland white walls.
“This way,” Wyatt said, pointing down the street to where the road forked. Roman wasn’t entirely which direction to go, so he was grateful that at least one of them had a strong internal compass. He let Salt take the lead, still holding his hand as they hurried away from the flooding home, ocean water now spilling out into a tiny pool onto the middle of the street.
“Everyone okay?” Roman asked as they put some distance between them and the home. He took stock of his group, seeing only a few cuts and bruises but nothing major.
“I can’t believe what just happened,” Wyatt said. The shock must have still been processing, judging by the slight glaze in his eyes. “Like… what in the Austin Powers hell was that?”
A surprised laugh rose from Roman’s chest, spreading to the group. They laughed with a mixture of relief and genuine happiness, like a steam valve releasing pressure. They paused for a moment, right there in the center of a Key West neighborhood, and they all grabbed each other in a tight embrace, bouncing around like a family who’d just found out they’d won the lottery. Roman became overwhelmed with emotion, making it spill over his cheeks in a small stream of happy tears.
Wyatt looked up at him, his own eyes reflecting the light of the sun with the tears in his eyes. He reached up and wiped Roman’s cheeks, his hands moving to the back of Roman’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss.
“We did it,” Wyatt said against Roman’s lips, smiles on both of them.
“We fucking did it.” And he kissed him again and again. He couldn’t quite believe that he was experiencing this moment—this bliss—with a man who’d been with him since he was a kid, an entire lifetime of memories behind them and another entire lifetime ahead of them. He had a momentary flashback to them being teens, getting together and playing Super Smash in his mom’s basement, completely unaware of the way their lives were about to unfold.
“I love you so fucking much, Wyatt. So fucking much.”
Wyatt answered Roman’s proclamation with another kiss, a deep and meaningful one.
“Come on, you two,” Mimic said, already walking toward the dock where Mustang waited for them. “I want to do that exact same thing with my girl.”
Roman and Wyatt separated but remained holding hands as they followed a power-walking Mimic. He could hear sirens in the distance, which made them all start moving a little faster. They were likely called in by a neighbor seeing the flooding, and Roman didn’t want to be anywhere near the home when they got there.
