Page 72 of Harper’s Renegades

“Calm down,” he said, waving off their threat as he sat up. “It was meant in the most loving way possible. By saying no, it hurts my pride, but saying yes means I should go and help you because I’m a manipulative bastard. Brilliant, Harper, fucking brilliant. You certainly put me in a tight spot.”

Mouse hemmed and hawed about my question, showing me just how dramatic he could be when he chose to be.

“Fine,” Mouse blurted. “I will go with you. I’ll even get us into Russia with the same guy who got me here. He owes me another trip, after everything I did for him… the kinky bastard.”

“Who is it?” Magnus questioned.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Mouse taunted.

Magnus was across the room in two seconds with Mouse’s neck in his grasp, slammed up against a wall. “Yes, Mouse, I would very much like to know who will be flying us into Russia. See, now that I have a wife, I’m not going to be taking your word for shit. I’m not putting her life in the hands of someone I don’t know, you got me?”

“It’s Baloo,” Mouse squeaked.

“The skin smuggler?” Ghost asked, having removed his face from my neck. “That rat bastard is who you want us to trust? If he gets one look at Harper, he’s going to try and sell her off.”

Mouse tugged at Magnus’s arm, trying to free himself from the man’s death grip. I could tell he was trying to say something, but Magnus was squeezing too hard.

“Maggie, let the man speak,” I ordered.

He flicked his hazel eyes at me, then back to Mouse, but he let up on the pressure, allowing Mouse to gasp for air. He took a few lungsfuls of air before he could speak, but when he did, I almost wished I hadn’t given him the chance.

“He’s already got a full load that he needs to drop off in Russia for the mob. Coming here wasn’t too far off course, so he gave in,” Mouse explained.

I shoved out of Ghost’s arms, charged up to Mouse, and decked him right in the mouth. Mouse’s eyes went huge for a moment before he passed out and crumpled to the ground. “I’m not riding in a plane of women being sold off to the mob, you cocknugget.”

Whirling on my feet, I looked at the others, crossed my arms, and paused for a moment to make sure I had their attention. In reality, I didn’t need to worry about that. They were riveted to me.

“Listen up and listen good. I might be naïve for thinking this, and I know I’m new in this world, but there is no fucking way I’m ever going to help support the persecution of women. You three kill people. Most of them are bad guys or have done something to deserve what’s coming to them. However, when it comes to shit like knowing there is a plane full of women and supporting the scum who do that shit, it’s not okay,” I yelled. “It’s not ever gonna be okay with me, understood?”

“God, just when I didn’t think I could be more in love with you…” Ghost answered, his voice having a dreamy quality.

Jaxson looked at Mouse with disgust. “Maybe we don’t need to bring him along.”

“We sure as fuck aren’t going to be flying with that bastard Baloo. I don’t care if it would be the smartest way for us to get into Russia. I’ll walk before stepping foot on that plane,” Magnus snarled as he drew me away from Mouse. “I think our cousin has overstayed his welcome and should be heading home now.”

“Mother of pearl,” Mouse groaned as he started to get up. “That is one hell of a right hook.”

“You’re lucky it was Harper who did it and not me. I think it’s time for you to go. Tell Baloo if I ever see him or hear he’s been spouting shit about bringing you here… I’ll kill him,” Magnus stated as he picked Mouse up and walked him to the door. Opening it, he chucked him out and slammed it shut again.

“That’s the thing about family, right? You can’t pick who they are, but you can sure decide how much time you spend with them,” Ghost announced. “I think it’s time for wine, don’t you?”

“Yes, please,” I begged, heading to the kitchen to get it myself.

Who knew, depending on how good it was, I might just keep the bottle to drink on my own. I think I earned it putting up with all that crime world bullshit for one day.

Chapter thirty-one

Harper

If I had known Magnus’s brilliant idea of not traveling like they normally do involved taking a boat to Tallinn, Estonia, then boarding a train to St. Petersburg, where we would switch trains to Moscow, I wouldn’t have downed a bottle and a half of red wine the night before. It had been a great evening of us playing Monopoly, of all things, but it became heated when Ghost and I got tipsy. Who am I kidding? I was wasted after the first bottle but kept stealing Jaxson’s glass when mine was empty.

Now here I was two days later, on the last leg of the trip, snuggled into Ghost’s side as I watched the scenery pass by. The awesome part of this way of traveling is I got to see so much of the world I hadn’t yet. Everything was so interesting to look at as we followed the coastline on the first day. Now, as we approached Moscow, things were becoming much more rural. If you looked on a map, Moscow stretched out like a starfish with the heart of the city in the middle.

I was beyond ready to get out of these cramped spaces and get moving. The ferry was nice because at least we got to wander around the boat, stretching our legs, but the train didn’t offer that as easily. Sure, we wandered up and down the train, but it wasn’t as easy with having to shift between cars.

Magnus had been working away on his laptop, getting information about this Primakova Maximovana we were supposed to find. We found the coffee shop she worked at and her school. It was the prestigious kind meant for smart kids, where normal school would be too easy. I glanced down at her picture on the tablet, wondering what kind of kid she might be.

Her blue eyes gave off a fierce look as if she were a wild animal chained for too long. Her father was an absolute deadbeat, and she cut him out of her life as fast as she could. Prim was close to her grandfather, but he was hard to track down. It seemed he wasn’t a fan of modern technology or the way of doing things via the internet. Magnus said he was the contact if something went wrong but that we should only reach out in desperate need. I hoped to God that wasn’t what would happen on this trip. We just needed to approach her, save her, get the hell out and back home.