Page 140 of More Tricks

“Little Demon, what about the fight? It’s tomorrow?” Void asked.

I rolled my head to look at him. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. I have a perfect plan for that situation. It’s going to be so much more fun and ensures that neither of us will get hurt.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What did we say about sharing the plan, little demon?”

“Can I just ask you guys to trust me on this, and once we get the important part settled, I’ll tell you the rest?” I requested. “This can only happen if the whole plan goes as it should, but we’ve seen how well that goes.”

“Does it put you in more danger, loba?” Cognac asked.

“Nope, it actually takes me out of danger,” I shared.

Cognac shrugged and looked at the others. “That's all I needed to know. You guys good?” Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement. “Great, now I think we need to get some sleep so we aren’t dead on our feet.”

Magnus grabbed keys out of his pocket and chucked them at Sprocket. “These will get you into the apartment downstairs. It’s set up for you guys, even food in the fridge.”

Heaving ourselves up, we managed to stumble into the apartment downstairs, and I flopped face-first on the bed. I felt the others come joining me, but I didn’t know who managed to fit, but I didn’t care. I just needed sleep.

Looking out the car window, I chewed on my thumbnail as we headed for Staten Island. Now that I’d gotten four hours of sleep and ran through the conversation I had with Tommaso over again in my brain, I realized I should have questioned why he had a base of operations in New York. If he’d been based out of Boston this whole time, when did he have the chance to make a place here that Diego didn’t know about? It was smart as shit to have people already planted where you wanted to take over. I just didn’t get the feeling he’d been that prepared.

All of this was setting me on edge. So much of this came down to relying on others that weren’t my people. It had me second-guessing everything. A hand reached up and grabbed mine, tugging it away from my teeth.

“Don’t be so mean to yourself, little rebel. We’ll handle whatever comes our way. The eight of us are a strong unit, and with the triplets added in, I don’t see much getting in our way,” Sprocket murmured, kissing the back of the hand he held. “I know giving up this much control is hard, but you’re not in this alone. The victory or the failure will be ours to share. Just keep your eye on the prize. We’re almost done with this whole thing.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, I leaned into him, allowing him to hold me, giving me his confidence in this that I was lacking. This wasn’t who I was. Dax Blackmore was a woman who stabbed first and asked questions later. Now here I was asking all the questions, afraid to make the wrong move. Then again, it had just been Wes and me. Now, I was suddenly the quote-unquote mockingjay heralding in the change of the criminal world as we know it.

As Eagle turned into a subdivision, I sat up again, looking around utterly confused. What the hell was he doing making a base here? Children rode bikes up the street, and there was even a playground with kids and mothers chatting as they played.

“Is he mad?” I demanded no one in particular. “Who the fuck thinks having a base of operations in the middle of happy hometown suburbia was a good plan?”

Cam looked at me from the front seat. “If he wanted to make sure that if someone figured out where he was, they’d think twice before doing massive damage. It's rather brilliant. I’m not saying I agree with him, but in a way, it’s incredibly cunning. Who would even consider him being here?”

I grunted as Eagle pulled into the driveway of a house at the end of a cul-de-sac that had a large field behind it and a baseball mound set up. At least he didn’t have innocent people all the way around him. Magnus parked beside us, his face telling me he felt the same way I did about all this. Tommaso might be smart, but he played on the edge of being someone I might need to take out. If he couldn’t see the lives he was putting in danger, I might have to reconsider my plan altogether.

“Don’t pass judgment yet,” Wes warned me as he settled his hands on my shoulders. “Let's see what’s going on first. Then we can make a judgment call.”

If anyone understood how much I hated bringing innocents into our fight, it was Wes. Criminals could kill, maim, and blow each other up all they wanted. Bringing it into a situation like this where people who had no place in our fight were casualties, I couldn’t stand for that. Wes pushed me forward, guiding us to the front door, where he reached past me and rang the doorbell.

Betta was the one who opened it, looking like hell. She had a massive black eye, split lip, and even more bruising around her neck like someone had been choking her. Her eyes were hard and full of rage when she met my gaze.

“Keep that,” I told her. “You’re going to need it until this is over. The first taste of the reality of this world is a bitch and a half, but chances are you’ll never let it happen again.”

She didn’t answer, only nodded and stepped out of the way, letting us in. In the front sitting room, I found François sipping coffee, reading a book like it was just a normal Friday afternoon. He glanced up and smiled, gesturing for us to come in and join him.

“Please sit. I’m sure Tommaso will join us in a moment,” François said as he set aside his book. “We are quite eager to hear what sort of plan you’ve cooked up for us, Miss Blackmore.”

“We’ll see if you’re still excited after I’ve told you what it is,” I answered, flopping down only to stand right back up. “Wait, is there more coffee somewhere?”

“I believe you should be able to find some in the kitchen,” François offered.

Waving everyone else to stay seated, I headed deeper into the house. If it was like any other typical American home, where they would keep the kitchen as the center of the house. Sure enough, I was right, but what I also found was it connected to the living room, and there were four men watching some trash soap opera. They looked up at me but didn’t seem at all worried, turning back to the show.

It didn’t take me long to find the mugs and pour some coffee into one. Just when I was about to head back, a woman holding a toddler came out of a room off to the side. She spotted me and came to a halt, eyes wide with fear. Glancing at the guys watching television, she noticed they didn’t seem bothered and approached.

“Hello there, can I help you find something?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize this house was actually someone’s home. I assumed Tommaso was just using it as a front,” I said as I reached out a hand. “Dax Blackmore, and there is a group of us in the front room with François, just so you’re not surprised… again.”

She shook my hand tentatively, giving me an odd look. “Cynthia, Tommaso’s wife. It seems it slipped his mind to tell me we were having guests.”