“What do you want me to say? I just found out the man I think of as my dad is going to die in a month. It’s a lot to process.”
Rafe pulled her into his arms. “I’m not dead yet.”
“Ew, I’m all sweaty.”
“So? Who cares about a little sweat? I don’t. Don’t bottle your feelings up, little bit. If you need to cry, cry. We’ll hold you while you do it.”
Aimee sniffled and Kaia came in from the other side and wrapped her arms around her too. Soon the younger woman was sobbing between them. “I don’t want you to die,” she cried.
“I know. I would change it if I could. But there’s nothing I can do. Soon enough it's going to weaken me, and then it's going to kill me. That's just how it is, little bit.”
“It's not fair.” Aimee sighed. “But I know we just have to face it.”
“That’s all we can do,” Kaia said, her own voice thick with emotion. Her eyelashes were wet with a few shed tears as well.
“I’m okay now,” Aimee said, pulling away from them. “I’ve still got an hour left of training. I have a lot of time to make up for—almost a year’s worth.”
“All right. We’ll let you get back to it,” Rafe told her. “We’ve got some planning to organize anyway,” he added and they left.
The next few days would be hectic, they had a lot to get done and only a little time to do it, but they were confident they could achieve their goals.
Chapter Five
Kaia
“Everyone know their jobs?” Kaia asked as the team headed to Drago compound prepared to head out. The team nodded their agreement. “Good. I don’t want to lose any of our people. Watch each other’s backs out there. Try to keep their casualties to the minimum, but if it’s a choice of you or them, you choose you, got it?”
“Got it boss,” they all replied.
Before they could roll out there was a call from one of the lookouts. “We got a rover approaching.”
“Fuck. What now?” Kaia grumbled. She, Rafe, and Tuck went out to meet it. When it stopped and the driver got out, there was a pang in her chest. She knew that profile well. “Baz? What are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story, but I am looking for sanctuary.”
She rubbed a hand across her face. “I don’t have time for this shit. Fine. Tala,” She called out and the woman came forward. “Get him settled in, but put a guard on his door. He goes nowhere alone.”
“Is that really necessary, Kaia?” Baz asked.
“You’ve been gone for two fucking years. When you show back up, you’re working with Silas and now suddenly you’re looking for sanctuary? Yeah, I think it’s necessary. Until I know you can be trusted.”
“Fine. You’re in charge.”
“That’s right, I am. Tala.”
“You got it, Kaia. Come with me, I’ll get you settled,” the woman told Baz.
Kaia watched him go. She wondered why he was really there, but she had to focus on the rescue first. She could worry about Baz later. The trio rejoined the team waiting for them. “Let’s load up. We’ve got an inventor to rescue.”
It was a four hour drive to Drago compound from Silverspell compound. They stopped a safe distance from the compound and approached stealthily on foot. Then Micah led Calix inside via a secret entrance so she could plant her explosives. And then they waited at the secret entrance for the signal.
As dusk fell, the first explosive went off. Then the second, and third, and then the others. Chaos reigned. The team entered and split up, each pair headed to their destinations to maximize the internal damage and chaos to allow Kaia to extricate the inventor.
Kaia slipped into the building where the woman was being held and silently made her way through the halls. The explosions had pulled all but one guard away and she was able to take him down quickly because his back was to her. She picked the lock, opened the door, and stepped inside.
The room was spacious, which surprised her. On one side was a table that had a large piece of leather spread out with what appeared to be schematics written on it. In the corner a woman with an unruly mop of flaming red curls and luminous green eyes cowered. “It’s okay, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to rescue you,” Kaia said gently.
“I heard explosions,” the woman said from where she crouched.
