Page 76 of Ramshackle
“Once we’re on the island, we’ll split into two groups. Kellan will lead the rescue team, and my team will be the distraction. You are not to seek out or engage in a fight unless you have to, and only if it is to incapacitate them so you can escape.
“Raegan, Jack, Reid, Tinsley, and Evie will be on the rescue team. Silas, Fabian, and Harvey, you’re with me and Dane.” Aiden continues to go over the plan, pointing to the map Cibrina has in front of us in shimmering, golden lines that outline the island and the buildings on it. The specific areas he speaks to glow brighter when he mentions them as he discusses the highest probability buildings where the prisoners are likely to be.
I try to stay focused on the plan, but after he lists out specific gifts of a few of the members in this circle, I’m too stunned to keep listening.
I cast a glance to Kellan, who shoots me a grin and bends down to murmur, “You have no idea.”
A familiar blond-haired member raises his hand. “Uh, Master? Can I switch to the rescue team? I think my ability is better served there, don’t you think?” He grins and shifts his blue gaze toward Kellan.
“No, Harvey, I’m keeping you with me. If you’ve got a problem with that, you can stay behind. I’m only taking members who can follow orders,” Aiden states matter-of-factly.
Harvey laughs and raises both hands, palms out. “Nope. My bad. Whatever you say, Master.”
A guy with styled black hair and dark eyes scoffs. He jabs the large, broad-shouldered guy with short curly hair standing next to him, who’s been binging on a plastic container of food the entire time Aiden’s been talking. “I’ve got money on him disappearing the second there’s trouble.”
The guy eating shakes his head. “I’m not taking that bet, Silas,” he mumbles with food still in his mouth.
“Damn,” the betting one—Silas—mutters. Then he leans forward to look at the only other female Guild member here, aside from Cibrina. “Hey, Evie! Care to make a wager?”
A tall woman with light brown skin and dark brown hair folds her arms but doesn’t look his way. Her focus doesn’t falter from Aiden, who is now whispering something to Cibrina. “If it’s about me hitting you for getting distracted, then sure.”
I lean around Jack on my other side to whisper to Dane. “These are the dependable members Aiden chose?”
Dane smirks. “Don’t let their laid-back attitudes fool you.”
Hm. “Last question, and please don’t take this the wrong way. I heard you were always being held back to stay out of danger and GE’s hands. Why are you coming on this mission?”
“Thorne warned me there’s a spy in the Guild,” Jackson answers between us, his voice low.
“What?!” I gasp, and Dane sends me a look to stay quiet.
“It could have been a lie since GE doesn’t know where we are, but rather than leave it to chance, Aiden wants us to stick together. So, where you guys go, I go.”
Fuck me. A spy?
If there was one, they would have given away where the Guild has been hiding the last few months already, right?
Or else, what are they waiting for?
Chapter twenty-three
Raegan
Cibrina’s gift dissipates beforeher. “Good luck, everyone. Claudia and her staff, as well as Cassandra, will be ready and waiting on the quarantine floor for your arrival. Be safe, and don’t cause Aiden too much trouble.”
Aiden steps forward. “Evie, if you would.”
The dark-haired woman picks up a small clear tub from the floor and walks it to the center of the deformed circle we’ve made. She sets it back down and then taps it with a finger. One second, it’s the size of a shoe box. The next, it’s a translucent wall blocking my view of the people on the other side of the circle.
I reach out, knocking my hand against the firm plastic. Aiden had mentioned Evie’s gift in the plan, and seeing it in action did not disappoint.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Dane snaps. Kellan lifts him up at the knees so he’s higher than the edge of the massive tub.
“Climb in, Rapunzel. How else were you going to get inside?”
“A fucking ladder!”
The others are already inside the tub or climbing their way in. The wall is at least ten feet high. How…?
