“If you try to save that girl right now, all you’re going to do is get yourself, her, and everyone else, including your viramore, killed. Do you hear me, Oakley? You can’t take her. Not right now.”
“But—” They were crying now, but Ailin kept going anyway.
“We. Will. Save. Her. I. Promise. We can come back in a matter of hours if we have to. But you need to leave right now. Come out to your team so we can figure this out together.”
They were trembling in my arms and suddenly leaned heavily into me. “You promise?”
“Yes, Oak.” Ailin’s voice was soft again. “We will save her and all the other children they have there, all the other people. We. Will.”
Oakley took another shuddering breath before nodding and standing on their own, although I didn’t let go of them.
Bas said, “We’re good, Dad.”
“Then get the fuck out of there right the fuck now.” He definitely sounded like his normal self now. In another circumstance, I would’ve laughed.
Bas met my gaze, and I gave a nod. Yes, I would do whatever it took to get Oakley out of here without notifying the entire cult we were here.
Basil nodded back. “With me.” He started walking.
It took me another thirty seconds to convince Oak to move, and although they were reluctant, they allowed me to walk them through the basement, up the stairs, down the hallway, and outside.
We went across the street and behind another building where some of our team were waiting for us—the rest were still watching the building. The second Ailin saw us, he walked over.
Without a word, he pulled Oakley into his arms, hugging them and holding the back of their head as he whispered, “You did the right thing. I promise. It’s gonna be okay, kiddo. It’s gonna be okay.”
I thought my dragon would freak out, but he didn’t see Ailin as a threat. He was so very clearly stepping in for Garrick right now that I couldn’t even be upset at him. Ailin was in Dad Mode, and my dragon recognized that. He recognized that was exactly what Oakley needed right now.
Oakley sobbed, and my eyes watered, and before I knew it, I found myself in Sebastian’s arms. He hugged me tight, giving methat dad hug everyone always talked about, and even though I was so much older than him, he still somehow felt fatherly.
I guess Oak wasn’t the only one who needed some Dad Mode right now.
Seb whispered, “They’ll be alright, Rome. We’ve got this, okay? We’ve got you, both of you.”
I nodded and hugged him back for a long time before releasing him and offering a small smile.
When I turned back to Oakley, they seemed calmer, and Ailin slowly released them from his arms, passing my viramore off to me. I pulled Oak into me, holding them as tight as I dared, kissing their hair, and breathing them in.
Ailin patted me on the back and whispered, “We still have our perimeter up. I’m gonna collect a handful of people and meet you in our base of operations.” We’d rented out a small office space in the guise of a new business close by so we’d have somewhere to be without leaving the area or possibly leading the cult back to our safe houses. “We’ll make a plan, but we’ll have eyes on the building at all times. No one is escaping us.”
I gave a nod, relieved that he was taking charge for a few minutes so I could concentrate on Oakley.
Leaning back, I cupped Oak’s face in my hands. “Babydoll…” I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t okay. Nothing about this situation was.
They only met my gaze for half a beat, looking off to the side as they spoke. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted like that in the middle of a mission. That was horrible and so unprofessional. I’m sor—”
I popped a kiss on their mouth. “Don’t do that. You’re fine.”
They snorted. “I’m not, and I almost cost us the mission. Hell, I almost got us all killed. You should be firing me.”
“No one’s firing you. You’re fine, love. You’re really fine.”
They blew out a breath and let their forehead fall to my chest. “I’m sorry.”
Letting out a sigh, I rubbed their back and held them for a long time before I led them to our base of operations to figure out how the hell we were going to pull this off.
There were a lot more victims than we’d expected, between those in the cages and those walking around in chains, and there were a lot more soldiers with a lot more weapons and spells than we’d thought.
This was going to be harder than we’d expected.
