‘Either way, Carter, that doesn’t change the fact that we will not harm the humans on that ship if we can avoid it,’ I said firmly.
‘Not to mention,’ Lincoln added, ‘that unless you were planning to blow up the boat with Grigori shrapnel, it would at best only injure the exiles on board.’
Carter grunted. ‘We could always fill it with something else,’ he said looking at my wrists.
I flinched and Carter froze when, beside me, Lincoln growled. I could feel the overwhelming anger flow from Lincoln in waves, and from the look on Carter’s face, he could too. I hadn’t told Carter about my blood, but he’d been privy to a lot of information lately and, with the number of rumours circulating, I wasn’t surprised he’d put two and two together.
‘Of course, we could always just stick to the plan,’ Carter said, looking back out towards the river, clearing his throat. ‘It’s a good plan.’
I bit my lip to hold back my smile and discreetly slid my hand into Lincoln’s. Instantly I felt the tension in his body ease.
Mia shifted closer to the edge. ‘Come on,’ she chanted impatiently. ‘Please, we need to get him back.’
‘We will,’ Lincoln consoled, and I felt a clear flash of his feelings towards her: warm, protective, deriving entirely from his sense of brotherhood with Spence. And I realised that was why Lincoln had been looking out for Mia the night she was dancing with Gray, and why he had often deferred to her counsel when it came to matters that affected Spence’s life.
I tightened my grip on his hand, my heart clenching.
Mia nodded and kept her eyes fixed on the steamboat.
I looked out to the other positions where we had hidden our small teams. It wasn’t as easy to sneak up to the river as we had hoped. There was a lot of open land, which made visibility a problem, and the streetcar line divided the river from anywhere we could park surveillance vehicles. So, we had broken into small groups and scattered.
Gray and Salvatore were captaining speedboats currently on standby. Tactically positioned close to the navy Destroyer and on opposite sides of the river, they waited for our signal.
A few hours later, my limbs numb from holding the same position for so long, my phone buzzed.
The text from Phoenix, who was positioned precariously at the top of a nearby electrical cable tower, was brief.
Incoming.
We all looked up in time to see the speck in the sky come into focus, the thumping chopper sounds growing steadily louder.
I could hear Mia whispering. ‘Please, please, please.’
I did the same internally. If Spence wasn’t on this helicopter, we were out of ideas. And that wasn’t acceptable. The only thing that made me believe we were right was the knowledge that Sammael wanted me to find him.
He needs me.
I pushed the thought aside.
‘You sure you’ve got us covered?’ Carter asked Mia as the chopper neared.
Mia sent him a sharp look. ‘Of course I have!’ she replied defensively. It really wasn’t a good idea to question a senior Grigori’s capabilities, and Carter knew it. ‘Do you even have a strength?’ she added.
Before she finished her question, Carter was suddenly no longer next to me, but lying beside Mia.
She gasped. ‘How the hell did you do that?’
I would’ve rolled my eyes if they weren’t fixed on the helicopter as it approached the steamer. ‘He has a five-second rewind,’ I explained. ‘Usually by the time he realises he needs to go back, it’s too late. But every now and then it comes in handy.’
‘Like the time I blocked that axe from going through your spine?’ he offered.
‘Like that,’ I grumbled, then added, ‘Look. They’re down.’
We all waited as, beneath the rotating blades, a well-dressed exile jumped out, then another. Then we saw three humans jump down, all wearing business suits. All shadowed. I held my breath for a small eternity and finally, we saw another exile emerge. He was large and dressed in loose pants and a T-shirt. Fighting clothes, like ours.
Spence was draped over his shoulder.
‘He’s not moving,’ Mia hissed.
My phone buzzed again. This one was from Chloe.
He’s alive.
‘She wouldn’t say it if she wasn’t sure, Mia,’ I said, trying to give her the strength she would need. Because we could all see, even if he was alive he clearly wan’t in a good state.
‘Our boats are on the move,’ Lincoln said, putting his phone away.
And that was our cue. We all pulled on the ropes – anchored to the rooftop and threaded through quick-draw D-rings – attached to our waists. Without pause we backed off the edge, plunging quickly to the ground and landing easily.
By the time we ran to the river’s edge Gray was pulling up in his speedboat, slowing to give us a chance to leap into the back.