He sighed, his shoulders slumped, and some of the anger drained out of his body. “It’s okay, Lila. I understand. Believe me, no one can make Deah Draconi do anything that she doesn’t want to. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
I nodded, although the guilt continued to eat away at my insides.
“All right,” Devon said. “What’s done is done. Now that we know where the warehouse is, we can figure out how to get inside and break everyone out, including Deah. But first, we need to get out of sight. Now that Blake knows we’re still alive, the Draconis will be combing the Midway and all the shopping squares searching for us. We need to get back to the library and regroup. Agreed?”
Felix and I both gave him tense nods. Devon nodded back at us, then crept to the end of the alley and looked in both directions. The street was clear and he gestured for Felix and me to follow him. Together, we left the alley behind.
Twenty minutes later, we were back in the library basement. We trudged down the stairs to find Oscar pacing back and forth on one of the metal shelves, his black cowboy boots clack-clack-clacking in time to his sharp, hurried movements. Tiny was lumbering along the shelf, as though he were also pacing, albeit at his much slower tortoise speed.
“There you are!” Oscar shouted. “I was so worried about you!”
The pixie zipped through the air, landed on my shoulder, and hugged my neck. I patted his back. He hugged me again, then zipped off my shoulder and hovered in the air in front of us. Oscar looked me over, then Devon and Felix. It only took him a second to realize that someone was missing.
“Where’s Deah?” he whispered.
I sighed and flopped down on one of the cots. “She gave herself up and got captured so that I could escape.”
Oscar gave me a sympathetic look, flew over, and hugged my neck a third time. “Oh, Lila. I’m so sorry.”
I nodded, my throat closing up with emotion again. Oscar nodded back at me, then flew over to where Tiny was still lumbering along the shelf. The tortoise stopped and gave me a mournful look as well, as though he understood every word we’d said.
“Tell me about the warehouse where my mom and the others are,” Devon said, pacing back and forth across the basement.
I drew in a breath and told him everything I knew about the warehouse, which frankly, wasn’t much. Just that it was close to the lochness bridge, sometimes guarded, and that I’d never been inside.
“Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm,” Devon said, absorbing the information and still moving from one side of the basement to the other and back again.
Felix sat down on the other cot. “Hey, man, stop pacing already. You’re making me dizzy.”
Devon finally stopped and looked at me. “If I create a distraction, just like Deah did, do you think you can sneak into the warehouse and free the others?”
“Sure. I can sneak into the warehouse if the guards are looking the other way. It’s nothing that I haven’t done before.” I frowned. “What kind of distraction are you talking about?”
He pointed at the bags of black blades that were lying on the floor. “I’m talking about giving Victor exactly what he wants.”
Felix shook his head. “No, no way, Dev. You show up with the weapons and Victor will just kill you and take the black blades for himself.”
Devon’s mouth flattened out into a harsh line. He straightened up and anger flashed in his green eyes. In that moment, he looked every inch the bruiser, the leader, he was. “I know he’ll try, but he won’t succeed. I’ll meet Victor and offer to give him the weapons, while you and Lila sneak into the warehouse and free everyone. By the time Victor realizes what’s happening, it will be too late for him and his guards to capture everyone again.”
A cold fist of fear wrapped around my heart, squeezing tight. “And what about you? Because Victor will still have you. He’ll kill you for double-crossing him. You know he will.”
Devon looked at me, his eyes softening. “I know he’ll try, but we’ll figure out a way to get the best of him. Trust me, okay, Lila?” His face hardened again. “Besides, I’m the Sinclair bruiser. It’s my job to look out for everyone else. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be. So let me do my job now, when it matters most. Help me save our Family. Please.”
We all looked at Devon, then at each other. Felix’s eyes were dark and troubled, but he slowly nodded. So did Oscar and even Tiny. Finally, I did too.
I got up from the cot, went over, and kissed Devon. Then I drew back and stared up into his eyes. “I’m with you,” I whispered. “Now and always.”
Devon grinned. “I know you are, just like I’m with you. Now and always.”