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“The explosion knocked out the earpieces, so we couldn’t contact you straight away,” Peter adds.
“That’s not surprising, but we thought the worst had happened,” Cash adds, his voice still tight.
“I would’ve too,” I reply, squeezing Trick’s hand.
“Guys, we have a problem,” Alaric announces as he comes rushing up to us.
“You mean other than the giant fireball behind us?” Jensen asks somewhat sarcastically, earning a stern yet amused look from Alaric, who chooses to ignore him.
“Hunt has escaped in the confusion after the explosion. I actually have no idea how he did it. He was as close as you guys were to the bomb so he had to have been disorientated,” Alaric explains.
“Fuck, that’s not what I was hoping you were going to say,” Quinn is the first to react with a deep frown, as he adds, “although I’m not surprised he’s a slippery bastard and gets harder to catch every time he fucking escapes.”
Alaric nods in agreement, “We have people combing the surrounding area, but he must have had an escape plan in place and most likely had someone helping him. We won't stop until we’re completely certain that he’s no longer in the area.”
“Good,” Trick replies. “Have you got everything under control here?”
“Yes, you guys get home. I know you have some people waiting for you, Quinn,” Alaric says and then turns to look at Rylie, “Mr R requested your presence immediately, and he wants you to have a full check-up, so I need to escort you to the hospital. He did say that he would’ve offered the same to Quinn but that he’s not stupid enough to keep him from his family any longer.”
Quinn smirks, “Smart man. I promise I’ll call him with an update.”
“He’s aware it may take some time,” Alaric replies and then looks at Rylie expectantly.
Rylie sighs heavily and then turns to me and pulls me away from Trick and into a tight hug, “Thanks for coming for me. I knew you’d be able to find me, even with the little information you had.”
“I promised you that I’d always come for you,” I remind her, and then as I step back, warn her, “don’t you dare fucking disappear on me now. I will fucking find you.”
Rylie’s eyes spark with amusement as she replies, “Fuck no, that’s it now. I promise you I will call you as soon as I’ve jumped through the hoops for Mr R, and then we can meet up and catch up properly.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” I warn her, making her smile again.
“I wouldn’t expect any less,” she says and then turns to look at Jynx, “don’t think I didn’t fucking notice you. I want the whole story about how the fuck this happened and everything fucking else as well because I have a feeling it’s one hell of a story. I would be inclined to think that my mother sent you, but you are far too familiar with everyone here, so I know there’s a story here.”
Jynx smiles and comes closer, giving her a hug, “I thought you might’ve forgotten me.”
“Never,” Rylie replies as they share a meaningful look.
“I’ve known Ever almost as long as I’ve known you. I’ve known Atlas for even longer. It turns out we’re all crazily connected, and I can’t wait to fill you in. Technically, your mom did employ me to find you, but I was already involved.”
“Me neither,” I add, “it’s a fucking doozy.”
“It sounds like it,” Rylie chuckles, “I better get going. I will call you, and we can meet up.”
“Got it,” I reply.
Jynx and I both give her tight hugs, and then she surprises me by going around and hugging the guys too. I don’t know what she says to them, but it has them bursting out laughing and nodding. She also makes Quinn promise to stay in contact, which he readily agrees to. Being captured together creates a bond that isn’t easily forgotten, and I imagine that they’ll keep in contact for the rest of their lives. Even though Quinn was captured for so much longer, that reminds me of what Mr R said, and I subtly glance at Quinn’s hand to see that he is indeed missing a finger. I know that there’s a lot of trauma that must surround that.
I don’t know him well enough, but I hope that he is the type of person that will ask for help if he needs it because I know from my own personal experience that he will need to fucking speak to someone, and if he’s not comfortable with it being one of Mr R’s therapists despite the fact that he’s got a close connection with him, I’ve made sure to let Dominic know that he can offer one of D’s who are actually the therapists that I used.
Once Rylie has gone, I feel a pang of mild panic that it will be the last time I see her for a while, but at least I know that she’s okay, and I know that if I really need to get hold of her I can pass a message through Mr R, I am hoping that I’m wrong though and that I hear from Rylie soon.
“Would you guys mind if we head home?” Ezra asks, shifting from foot to foot. “I know that we usually hang around for a bit longer, but Lyric is going out of her mind, and I want to get back to her.”
“Me fucking too,” Quinn says, his voice full of longing and relief floods me as it becomes clear that he really had no intention of leaving Lyric and the guys.
“Jynx?” Atlas questions.
“Plane is ready to go, and I’ll call Carter while we’re on the way there so he’s ready to be wheels up as soon as possible. I don’t want to keep our bestie waiting,” Jynx replies.
