I can feel his smugness. “Was that so hard?”
“Not as hard as my fist hitting your face is going to be.”
Luc groans. “I think I like it when you talk sass to me.”
I inhale a shocked breath at his words, just as Max pulls back triumphantly, the clink of the tracker dropping into a metal bowl. “Got it.”
Bastien moves past me to peer at the tracker. “It looks old. I doubt it’s working, but I’ll double check it. I have scanners in place at the edge of our land that should have scrambled it anyway.”
“It’s tiny,” I gasp. “How was it that fucking painful?”
“Sorry,” Max apologizes. “You were amazing. I just need to stitch it up and you’re done.”
Nope. No way. Not a chance in fucking hell.
It’ll just knit itself back together, right?
I try to wriggle out of Luc’s arms, but he doesn’t let go.
“You can let me go now,” I say. “I’m done.”
“Nope.” He pops the ‘p’ sound. It’s annoying as fuck.
“You said you’d let me go.”
“I would if you were freaking out. You’re not. You just don’t want stitches, and you need them, so you’re staying right there until they’re done.”
I huff. “I’ve decided that I don’t like you very much. You’re my least favorite.”
Max leans over to catch my eye. “You have favorites?”
He sounds a little hopeful.
“Yep. Nikolai is at the top, because he’s not in this room right now.”
There’s a quiet cough from the doorway, and Luc sniggers.
Really? I can’t catch a break right now?
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Bastien
Ismile to myself as I listen to Ava grumbling, Luc still holding onto her as Max finishes his stitching. She was amazing.
Placing the tracking device onto my desk, I run the scanner over it again.
“Anything?” Nik asks, coming to stand next to me.
Ava goes silent behind me.
I shake my head. “I’m pretty sure it got scrambled at the boundary lines, but I’m going to run a few tests to make sure.” Turning to look at Ava, I can see the stress on her face despite her bravado.
“Don’t worry,” I say softly. “Now that I’ve seen it, I can tell it’s not working. There’s no sign of anyone following you here.”
I’d know. I haven’t slept since she arrived, watching the activity on the cameras and tracking Stone’s men across the city.
She blows out a breath, her small body quivering. “Thank God. I thought…”
