“Will makeitnow.”
“This isn’t how I wanted them to find out what I’ve done withmylife.”
Alexei rolled his eyes, wincing a little as the motion caused pain to stab through his skull behind each one. “Should have told. Isfamily.”
“I don’t want to argue about this,Lyosha.”
“Isfamily,” he stressed, letting his hand fall away from Sean’s face to rest over the pressurized bandage on his side. “Not hate you forsurviving.”
He should know. He’d spent three years hiding his identity as a metahuman to remain in Strike Force and keep his parents and sisters ignorant of what he’d become. Alexei had been too afraid back then of losing them to the memory of Russian government-backedbratvaand security members tasked with keeping the laughable peace in the refugee camps and city he’d grown up in. The terrorization they’d survived had colored his opinion of metahumans until the day hebecameone.
When Kyle almost died stopping Everly from destroying a so-called cure that wasn’t a cure, Alexei realized lying to his family was something he could no longer do. Nearly losing his brother was the reason, but Jamie’s order at the time to call his family was the catalyst Alexei needed to confront his own fears. His family had proved their resilience yet again to the news he and Kyle were metahumans. The confession hadn’t been easy, but it had beenneeded.
“We’ll see,” Sean murmured before standing up to take hisownseat.
Alexei wanted to argue, but Trevor’s appearance cut him off. Alexei quietly endured Trevor’s quick checkup, taking another dose of painkillers beneath the medic’swatchfuleyes.
“Wish I could give you some saline, but the field kit in the car didn’t have any packed,”Trevorsaid.
Alexei shrugged his opinion of that. He’d lost blood, but not a dangerous amount. Getting shot wasn’t nearly as debilitating as getting hit by a neuro-jammer gun. Honestly, he’d have preferred a second bullet hole to the neuro-jammer hit. Trevor finished fussing over him before takingaseat.
It wasn’t very long before they were in the air, heading north to New Seattle. Alexei didn’t remember most of the flight, the same way he didn’t remember most of the drive to the airport. The painkillers pitched him into a restless sleep fairly quickly, and he didn’t try to fight it. Sleeping would help reset his brain, and it was safe enough for him to do so now that he was surrounded byhisteam.
Alexei jolted awake when they landed, head jerking up as the plane’s wheels touched down. He felt nauseous, and it took a few seconds for him to push back the desire to throw up. Shifting gingerly in his seat, he peered out the window to see where they were. The first thing he noticed were the hills covered in pine trees surrounding them and the mountains in the distance that loomed overeverything.
“Time is it?” he asked, rubbing carefully at his eyes, trying not to jarhishead.
“It’s 1410,” Madisonreplied.
He didn’t see any of the lengthy runways needed for bigger planes, nor terminals sized for an international airport. “Wherearewe?”
“Private civilian airport for hobbyists and flying tours of the Cascades. The rest of the team should be here soon,” Sean said as he crouched down next to Alexei’s seat. “I have to go. You’re not comingwithme.”
The mere thought of Sean going into the field alone with the CIA gunning for him for unknown reasons had Alexei opening his mouth to protest. “Not goalone.”
Sean pressed his hand against Alexei’s chest, effectively keeping him pinned to his seat. Under any other circumstances, Sean wouldn’t be able to make him stay, but Alexei was very much not at the top ofhisgame.
“Madison and Trevor are coming with me. You and Annabelle are staying here for the pickup. You need someone with comms and sodowe.”
“Nothavegear.”
Alexei was pretty damn certain the other three hadn’t gone back upstairs at the casino to pack everything up once Sean gave the warning code phrase. Not that they’d left anything incriminating, but at the time, a good portion of their weapons had been in the suite and not on theirbodies.
Sean straightened up, pressing a kiss to Alexei’s forehead. “Don’t worry about that. We’re stopping somewhere first to load up. Trevor will stay in touch with Annabelle and headquartersforus.”
Alexei grimaced, wishing with everything he had that he could access his power. That the ache in his bones and burn in his nerves would translate once again to the fire that had consumed his life sinceGeneva.
“See you on other side,”Alexeisaid.
Sean nodded, fingers brushing gently across his cheek. Alexei watched Sean leave the plane with Trevor and Madison following close behind him. Madison paused just long enough to flash a set of hand signals at Alexei that had him breathing a little easier, despite the pain inhisside.
We gothissix.
Because that’s what a teamwasfor.
* * *
Madison let out a long,slow whistle as the door to the self-storage container slid upward, revealing what the MDF had kept hidden under a false identityforSean.
