Page 101 of Ravage
Kellan laughs and runs his finger over the other cigarettes in the box. “Are we going to keep doing this?”
“So long as I’m standing here, yes. Or I can walk away and leave you to it.”
He laughs and shakes his head at me, but pockets the pack and lighter. “You win this one, beautiful.”
I raise a surprised eyebrow. “Oh? And why is that?”
“Because I’m coming with you.” His gaze drops down to Portia and then back to me. “Though I didn’t think you’d have company for this mission.”
“How do you know what I’m even doing?”
“Come on, beautiful. You told us last night that you were going to save the girl. I knew it would be the first thing on your mind once you got some sleep, if you didn’t try going out last night. But Jackson made sure you didn’t leave Hype or your apartment to do that, so here I am, to pick you up and drive you there.”
My brain glitches.
Did Jackson see what happened with Aiden last night? Did he watch me drunk dancing with strangers?
Portia squeezes my hand, and I jerk back to the present. “I’ve already got all the help I need, but thanks anyway.”
I start down the stairs and he grabs my elbow.
“I’m helping whether you want it or not. You pushed all of the blame for what happened on Aiden, but I was there too. I’m just as guilty. It’s my responsibility to fix this too.”
“Having someone watch your back while you’re with the icky congressman would make me feel better,” Portia adds in.
“Fine. But if you mess this plan up for us, Kellan, then whatever trust we’ve been building back between us? Gone. Never coming back. Don’t fuck that up.”
He grins and drops a kiss on my temple. “I’ve missed you too, beautiful.”
Portia ‘awws’ behind me, and I flush and start hurrying down the stairs before either of them can see.
I’m half expecting the congressman’s house to be difficult to break into, but after hopping the brick wall around the back of the property and Portia using her gift to convince one of the staff to let us in and gather the staff in the kitchen, we make it inside without much difficulty.
Having her on the team really does make the plan run smoothly.
It’s the first time I see, or notice, her using her gift. It’s so…understated?
I’m not sure if that’s the best way to describe it, but considering the flashiness and impact of my gift and the ones I’ve seen, I wouldn’t realize she had a gift even while she used it unless I knew about it.
It’s perfect.
Even Kellan looks at Portia more warily afterward, now that he realizes what she can do. I smile with pride at my friend. She looks excited and wired over helping and I have to calm her down so we don’t stick out too much.
Kinda hard to do when Kellan is as large as he is, and Portia is scantily dressed in neon pink.
We walk through the hall and pause in front of the lounge double doors where I’d seen the little girl last. There’s no guarantee that she’s still here and hasn’t been moved, but we’ll search the entire house if we have to.
“Remember, Portia. Don’t even look at him. As soon as we see the girl, make sure she doesn’t sing and then get her out of here and back to the car.”
She nods. Kellan steps up behind me so close I can feel his body heat. Having him here with me, on my side, is a comfort I never realized I needed until now. I’ve always done things alone, where I never had to count on anyone else and worry about them betraying me or having their own agenda. He’s here for the same reason as me. And I know he won’t let anything happen to us.
It's a different sort of strength that flows through me in that knowledge. I straighten with a dark smile.
“Let’s do this.”
I open the door and raise my gun to aim it at the chair behind the desk. Not to actually shoot but it’s a good threat that will hopefully keep him under control from a distance. The chair behind the desk is turned away from us. I slowly move around the desk, keeping my gun trained on the chair. Empty.
“She’s not here.”
