Page 16 of Resolve
Kellan snorts, but Dane continues, “Nope. I think he’d hoped his charm would win them over without the hassle of brainwashing, but he doesn’t understand what the fuck loyalty means. He’s still holding out for the Guild to turn to him, though. Once the month ends, he expects us to be out of money and desperate for a leader. And if we still refuse his offer, he said he’ll officially declare us enemies. I’m not sure if he’ll bother with brainwashing this time around. I think he meant it as a threat to take us out for good.”
My stomach turns at the thought, and I swallow the food downbefore it can stick in my throat. “So, how much time does that give us?”
“Three weeks,” Jack answers from the kitchen counter, one foot up and the other dangling.
“How many board members do we have left to find?” Aiden asks Dane, referring to Gifted Enterprise’s leaders after Charles.
“Two. But they’re just elects.”
Aiden frowns. “I still want them. If they know enough to almost be on the board, then they know too much. We’ll see if Reid can help us track down the last two so we can move on to them. We’ll split our fighters into teams to take out all ten board members and elects at once.” He curls his long fingers into a fist on the table. “We’ll have to attack Charles immediately after. Regroup in one place and then go after him before he realizes what’s happened.”
“That the Guild isn’t choosing him,” Dane fills in, and Aiden dips his chin.
“Everyone in the Guild will be in more danger until we kill Charles.”
Kellan chuckles darkly. “No pressure there.”
Aiden continues, “Once he’s dead, there won’t be anyone to step in and take his place with the board gone. The company will fall apart without its leadership, and we can finally get rid of every last trace of Gifted Enterprise.”
“As good as that all sounds, we still have to figure out how to kill Charles.Withoutlosing anyone,” I argue.
Aiden looks at all of us. “We have less than three weeks to come up with a plan—with multiple plans. We’re not depending on only one with him. We’ll have so many that we’ll guarantee our win.”
Chapter seven
Dane
“I’vecompletelyredoneournetwork, so if Vera left any trackers or back door access, they’re gone with our old one. The cameras and security system have been moved to the new network.”
Aiden leans one hand on the desk next to me, peering at my screen. “Good. We can finally use all the measures we’d originally installed to protect the Guild.”
Technology we can now use because Vera... she’s gone.
Something in my chest twists painfully, squeezing my lungs until there’s no air left. I shut my eyes and force myself to breathe in through my nose. To stop the annoying tremble that keeps trying to take control of me. I’ve kept myself focused on the Guild. On hoping for Raegan and Aiden’s recovery. On anything and everything else because I can’t lose my shit now. Not when they need me. I’ll have all the time in the world to grieve after we’ve killed Charles.
I can’t fall apart—frozen in grief like last time.
I won’t. Rae needs me. The others need me.
Aiden squeezes my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Dane.”
Swallowing thickly, I nod. “I know. Cibrina crematedthem—Vera and Harvey. Even if Royce is dead, there could be someone else out there like him. And I don’t want anyone to fuck with them anymore.”
He nods, releasing me. “That’s a good call. We can hold a funeral for her here. Where do you want her buried?”
“Close to my parents, so they can visit her after this is all over.”
There’s a long pause. “What are you going to tell them?”
“The truth.” Aiden’s face tightens, and I turn in my chair to face him. “They won’t tell anyone about it. Or about people like us. I know they’ll be happier knowing what happened. They’re good people, Aiden.”
“It puts them in just as much danger knowing about us. That’s why most of the friends and family of the Guild members who know about gifted are working for us. So we can help make sure they aren’t targeted, too.”
I grip my hair, trying to purge the stress that’s building into a headache. “I know, I just...”
Aiden sighs. “Don’t worry about it right now. Let’s focus on killing Charles and destroying Gifted Enterprise first. What countermeasures do we have for teleporting and portals?”
A few keystrokes bring up the various tabs I have open to research those very gifts. At least, the science fiction and fantasy versions talked about online. “I’ve been trying to find any useful ideas for how those gifts might work so we can somehow track them or at least identify them to give us a warning, but it’s all over the place.”
