Page 54 of Day

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lilith

More than anything I wanted Leon to choose me like he had that first night.  When he said my soul was beautiful, after I spilled my guts to him about my past, I thought maybe he remembered everything now. But he didn’t. I saw it in his eyes that he wanted to, but he just didn’t.

I rested my head on his shoulder after that and just let him hold me.

The sun was starting to set on us, along with the chill that was giving me a shiver even in my thick sweater; we needed to get back to headquarters.

Infiltrating the island was going down in the morning, so we needed to chat with the crew one more time before getting some sleep before heading out.

Leon got us back to the dock without a hitch, and after going over the plan one more time, Charles showed us the little round object that would short the signal of the lasers on the beach. All I had to do was push the blue button on the top and throw it toward a laser head.  It would give me twenty seconds to get to the fort and insert the USB drive AJ gave me into the computer system so he could get in. He’d open the gate after that, and everyone would just ride the power boat past the gates. After that, AJ would try his best to help navigate us, and we would take down Emanuel and his whole entourage.

After everyone split their separate ways, Leon and I went up to his apartment. Both of us stripped down and put on warm clothes before hopping into bed.

“I’m gonna buy a new boat soon.” Leon kissed my head as he told me his news. I snuggled into his chest some more before telling him I thought that was cool.  He didn’t say he was leaving the Hero Society, so I guess that just meant he would travel from the bay to HQ via running or a car, if he got one of those too.

“You’ll have to come out with me sometime. Maybe a weekend trip, if we can get away.” He yawned, and I knew he was going to pass out soon.

“Maybe I’ll be living on it with you, and we can go anytime,” I said softly as I felt his breaths start to slow, then even out. Leon could fall asleep within five minutes. Truly, it was a gift.  I rubbed his chest once before closing my eyes, chasing after my own dreamland.

“Sounds good, darling,” he mumbled, and I couldn’t hold back the emotions that escaped my brain.

My nickname from him. Somewhere inside his subconscious, he remembered that he was meant for me. That he chose me. Hopefully that side of him wouldn’t let us walk away from being together.

I fell asleep with a smile on my lips, and dreams of sailing with Leon on our boat together.

Morning came fast, and I woke amped up for the job ahead of us.

We would dress in wetsuits at first, while he swam me to the fence, then once they were in, I’d change into my epic fighting outfit that I picked just for this occasion.

Everyone was waiting at the restaurant, drinking coffee or whatever they liked in the morning, when we walked in.

“Ready to come out of retirement?” Phillip smiled, looking cute with his blond hair and hazel eyes beaming at me.  The whole long-sleeved black shirt, black pants, and bulletproof vests everyone was wearing looked badass. Leon was going to look so hot in that same getup once he got out of his wetsuit. Which I loved—it hid absolutely nothing on him! I was tempted to drag him back to bed and have my dirty way with him and the cuffs again.

“Nah, I’m just having some fun.” I winked at him as we walked toward the large SUV waiting for us. Going back to being a spy would never be an option, but I can use the skills I acquired being one, if I needed to. Like for our mission this morning.

The drive to the dock was filled with silence. Everyone was preparing for this whole thing in their own way. Me? I was creating a “takeover the base” playlist on my small music player. I had about twenty-five songs on there in shuffle mode so I would be good for a while.

“I hope we get him this time.” Rose walked beside me toward the sleek, black power boat the boys were loading up our bags onto.

“We will.” I smiled, and she tried to smile back. She was nervous; I didn’t even need her power to know that.

“Last time something made out of light saved Emanuel. I haven’t been able to get that out of my head. There’s so much we don’t know, even a month and change later. I just hope we aren’t walking into something too far above our head, you know?” She didn’t look at me as she voiced her thoughts, but I found myself reaching over and pulling her in for a hug.  Her arms were tight around me, and it was nice to have this camaraderie with another woman. Rose was sweet, and I liked her. We’d gotten to know each other over the past few weeks, and she was just a good person. Even offered to listen if I wanted to talk about the emotions she’d felt stirring in my brain.  I probably wouldn’t take her up on it, but it was nice of her to offer, all the same.

“You guys ready?” Draco asked everyone, and I looked around to see them all nod.

“Okay, stick to the plan. If at any point you don’t feel comfortable and can’t push through, you get to the boat. There is always another day to fight.” Draco made his statement loud and clear, which was nice. I doubted any of us would turn back from a fight, but it always made a big difference to know you were supported, no matter what.

His fingers turned the key, starting the boat with a very quiet rumble of the engine.

The wind was cold as we got up to speed, my hair whipping around, and I wished I would have brought a jacket for the ride out.

Not even thirty seconds after I thought about it, Phillip handed me a warm-looking jacket.  He was so handy.

Leon chuckled at the look on my face; I’m guessing it was a little stunned. Having someone know the future, even an unstable one, was hard to get used to when he used it like that.