Page 61

The mention of their cousins brightened their expressions. Even the eldest boy, who'd been working hard on maintaining a brave, stoic façade, looked hopeful.

"Are they okay?"

"Yes." She smiled at him. "In fact, they have just spent a fabulous day touring Universal Studios, visiting the Harry Potter World."

The stunned silence that followed was almost comical.

"Can we go?" asked one of the boys from the back.

"Of course. I'll take you there myself. I've never been to Universal Studios."

Maybe she had, but the memory was lost along with all the others that Durhad had stolen from her.

30

MAX

There were so many things Max wanted to do with Kyra, but even though he wasn't a fan of theme parks, he would take her to Universal Studios and make sure she had the time of her life.

"We need to go to the one in Florida," Max said. "The one in California sucks."

"Are we going to California?" Parisa asked.

Max watched in the rearview mirror as Kyra smiled and nodded.

"Will we all live together?" the boy sitting next to her asked.

The names of the boys had been in the dossier Onegus had prepared for their mission, but Max had forgotten what they were. The little one was Kavir, or was it Arman?

"Yes," Kyra said. "Maybe not in the same house, but right next to each other."

"That sounds lovely," Parisa said. "I've always wanted to live next to my sisters and raise our families together, but childhood dreams were replaced by the cold reality of our world, where our wishes didn't matter much."

"Think of it as an adventure," Kyra said, probably to take the sting out of her sister's words. "It's going to be a new beginning."

As the van hit a pothole, jolting them all, Max muttered an apology.

"Two vehicles approaching from the northeast," Jade said, her body tensing. "They're moving fast."

Max glanced in the side view mirror. "I see them. Could be nothing."

"Or it could be trouble," Jade countered. "Better safe than sorry. Take the next turn."

Max complied, steering the van down a narrow side road that hadn't been part of his planned route. Through the rearview mirror, he could see two black SUVs continuing along the main road.

Never a good sign.

Why governments, the military, and bad guys always chose black SUVs was something he had wondered about before. Why not white ones? Or why not vans, which were more versatile and gas-efficient?

Maybe it was meant to intimidate?

"False alarm?" Kyra asked.

"Maybe," Jade said, though she didn't sound convinced. She activated her comm unit. "Yamanu, beadvised that we've taken a detour and might be a few minutes late. A possible tail that we need to lose."

"Acknowledged," came Yamanu's terse reply. "Proceed with caution."

Max kept looking at the rearview mirror, but when he confirmed that the vehicles weren't following them, he shifted his gaze to Kyra.