Page 96 of Remnants
“Shut it,” Reid snaps, shoving away from him to move around the desk. Kellan shifts back, giving him room to look at the screen. “You heard him, right? Tinsley’s there.”
“And Royce,” Dane adds.
“And Charles,” Aiden tacks on the heaviest reminder. He was heading there immediately after his meeting with Harvey.
“Then we go tonight,” Reid counters, determined.
“Are you ignoring me after what I did for you?!” Harvey sputters. “What if he’d heard us?” He sniffs his armpit, and I crinkle my nose with disgust. “Orsmelledus?”
“From the sound of your meeting with him, he didn’t. Or do you have a reason to suspect otherwise?” Aiden inquires smoothly.
Harvey falters. “Well…no…but that doesn’t mean he didn’t.”
Reid only has eyes for Aiden, though. “Are we going or not?” His tattooed arms pulse with tension. “I’ve never asked for anything since joining you and your Guild. I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me. But this…he said she was beingtortured. What if they found out what she was up to? I’ll go alone if I fucking have to, but there’s a better chance of getting her back if I have your help.”
Aiden’s brows pinch, considering. I’m sure he hates the idea of acting so quickly without time to plan and prepare.
“It’s a chance to take care of Royce at the same time,” Kellan offers. “Get rid of someone off our girl’s kill list. You said we’d handle them as we gathered information. Now we know where he is.”
I chew my lip in thought, remembering what Reid told us about GE locations. “If they’re always moving, we should get him now while we know where he is. We got lucky finding out about this place, but we might not be if he moves again and we have to start over. He would never expect us showing up now. It would be a surprise attack.”
Aiden rubs his hand over the short bristles along his jaw. “We’ll go tonight. Just us, so we can sneak in to assess the situation, fight Royce, and rescue Tinsley and hopefully the other Guild members if they’re there. Cibrina and the others will keep a close eye on the Tower while we’re gone.” His finger traces a hard line between greenery and beach on the screen. “If this is a cliff, as I suspect, Reid will bring us to the beach below. Then he and Jack will scope outthe house to make sure we’re not rushing into an ambush. If it’s just Royce, they can bring us in and we’ll attack while his guard is down.”
Harvey clears his throat. “When you said ‘just us’…”
“Yes. You’re coming as well,” Aiden answers.
His face falls, and Kellan claps him on the back, his grin savage. “What good’s a stealth mission without our invisible friend?”
Chapter twenty-six
Raegan
Mybootscrunchintothe sand, the sound echoed by the others as we land on the beach at the bottom of the cliff. The night is eerily quiet, save for the soft crash of waves and the distant, muted roar of water. I scan the beach for the source of the sound, but a low, heavy fog blankets the area, obscuring my view. A shiver runs through me as the cool, damp air clings to my hair and clothes.
“I can’t see shit,” Dane mutters.
At least I can see the others within a few feet of me, but I can’t see the cliffside from here. The sea crawls up the sand, spreading wider and faster until it meets my boots, then recedes just as quickly. The cliff must be in the opposite direction, then.
“It’s good cover,” Aiden muses, drawing his whip sword free, the sharp diamonds still latched together so it’s shaped like any other sword.
Jackson angles his head back as if his eyes can penetrate the fog to see the top of the cliff. “Mm…even better if it reaches up there.”
I keep going through the thick vapor until I can make out a rock.And dirt. A whole wall of it appears, striped stone that reaches high above me before disappearing again into the fog. I press my hand against it, then check either side of me for another way up. The moisture in the air has leeched into my clothes, sucking away any of my warmth and making me shiver again.
Aiden plants himself behind me, so close I can feel the heat from his body teasing against my back, almost beckoning me to lean into him. “This cliff runs for over a mile down the coast. There’s no way up…short of rock climbing or gifts.”
On the flip side, that means no one should be able to come down here, either. We should be safe, hidden, and out of the way down here while the others do their recon above.
“You’re up.” Kellan’s voice carries from further back on the beach.
“Wait. You want me to use my gift onbothof them? And me?” Harvey whispers harshly. “I can only do one person after me. One!”
Aiden and I pivot to watch. The others must have followed us up the beach because I can see everyone a couple yards away.
“Well, time to figure out two,” Dane snarks, his hood up and arms crossed like he’s trying to keep out the chill in the air. “We’re not waiting down here all night for you to find your courage.”
“I’m a spyyy!” Harvey hisses, dragging the word out. “Spies don’t need courage! We hide, we watch, we report back.”
