Page 107 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

Thirty-Three

Zian

I should probably stop being surprised by how fancy every vehicle Rollick owns is. I mean, do private jets that aren’t fancy even exist?

The leather seats are wide enough that I don’t feel at all squished even when the middle arm is in place, and padded enough that I can sink right into the cushioning. The bathroom is nearly as big and shiny as the one attached to my bedroom on the yacht.

It’s too bad I can’t enjoy the fanciness more. My pulse is thrumming through my veins at a heightened pace, and it speeds up even more when Rollick swivels his seat into the aisle so he can face all five of us.

“It’ll be difficult to come up with a definitive plan before we know what location we’re dealing with," he says. "But I've made my calls, and I have people on standby with the supplies to create some excellent disruptions.”

Riva straightens up in her seat. “And to get the shadowbloods we break out to someplace safe.”

The demon inclines his head. “Of course. I’m not sure how close we’ll be able to bring any vehicles while avoiding detection, but we’ll carry the young ones on our backs if we need to.”

He pauses with a slight grimace. “Unfortunately I won’t have as much backup for this mission as I’d prefer… Kudzu and his friends have spread the word through the community. Quite a few of my typical associates balked at getting involved, and I prefer to work with willing help.”

“We wouldn’t really be able to count on them if you were forcing them into it anyway,” Andreas says from where he’s sitting in front of me.

“There’s that too. But qualms don’t apply to my material resources, so we’re still well covered there.” Rollick’s dark eyes glint with amusement.

I haven’t been able to tell how much this “mission” is important to him and how much he sees it as a game to pass the time. But I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as we pull it off.

He clasps his hands in his lap, squaring his shoulders as if bracing himself. I understand why when he makes his next announcement.

“Also in the interests of avoiding detection… you need to be prepared that if we identify a facility where your counterparts are being held, you won’t be able to charge straight at it. That’ll give them time to realize you’re coming.”

I knit my brow. “Won’t they have more time if we take longer getting there?”

Rollick’s gaze settles on me. “The problem isn’t really the time. It’s how obvious you make it where you’re going. If we don’t want them picking up on your route… the five of you will need to split up to make the journey.”

A jolt of horror shoots through my body. We haven’t been more than a few hundred yards apart from each other in weeks.

The whole point is that we’re in this together.

Dominic tenses in his spot behind Riva. “You want us to go off on our own?”

Rollick shakes his head. “Not entirely. I think it should be enough to break off into two groups and then take an indirect route to reach the facility. I have two helicopters already standing by at the airfield we’re headed to.

We only need to confuse the tracking efforts enough to obscure your intended destination. ”

Jacob leaps out of his seat, his eyes flashing. “I’m staying with?—”

He cuts himself off as he swings around and his gaze sweeps over all four of us. His stance goes rigid, but he dips his head. “No. Never mind. Riva should have Dom and Drey with her. They’ve proven themselves.”

My throat constricts with a pang, both at his clearly pained acceptance—and the knowledge that I’m excluded from that proven circle too.

Before any of the rest of us can jump in, Riva clears her throat. “I don’t like the idea of us splitting up at all. But it does make sense. And if we have to, I think either Dominic or Andreas should be in the other group. That way, no matter what happens, we’ll be able to find each other.”

Her hand brushes over her collarbone where she showed us the marks that’ve formed on her skin.

The two guys who share those marks tighten their expressions, but neither argues.

The demon is watching our discussion with apparent interest. In the momentary silence, he speaks up.

“That sounds like solid strategy. I’d also suggest that your two physical powerhouses should split up between the groups, so that both have physical might if you need it.”

That means me and Riva. There’s no chance of me staying by her side, even if I deserved the spot.

But he’s right. “That’s fine,” I mutter reluctantly.

Andreas pushes to his feet like Jacob has so he can more easily look at all of us. “I’ll go with Zian, then. The two of us should make a good team if we run into any trouble before we meet up again.”

He hesitates and catches Riva’s gaze. “As much as I’d like to be right there with you the whole way, I’d rather know you’ve got Dom nearby in case you’re injured.”

Riva aims a baleful look at him. “I don’t want any of you dealing with injuries on your own either.”

“I can’t be with both groups, as much as I would like that,” Dominic says in his usual quiet way. “I think we’ll all feel better if I’m with you.”

I can’t help nodding.

Riva lets out a huff. “So I’m outvoted, is what you’re saying?”

Jacob has noticeably brightened since it turned out he was getting to stick with Riva after all. “Four to one. No complaining.”

She wrinkles her nose at him, but there’s more fondness in her gaze than I’ve seen her direct at him in weeks.

He’s reconnected with her too, if not as fully as Drey and Dom have. All at once, my skin itches with the sense that I’ve found myself separate from our group in a totally different way.

I tried to talk to her the other day on the ship, but I don’t know if she really understood what I was getting at. I don’t know how to convey half of the things I’m feeling.

And one very big part of it I’d rather not even think about.

I want her to know I’ll be here for her as much as I can be, though. That she means just as much to me as she does to the other guys.

How much more time do we have before she’s going to be walking away from me, and I might not even get the chance?

As I grapple with my doubts, Rollick chuckles. “It sounds like it’s settled, then.”

With the discussion over, Riva squirms over toward the window where the sunlight is beaming in. We’ve all taken a double row for ourselves, sliding the armrest in the middle out of sight so it’s like one long seat instead of two.

My chest clenches up as if my ribs are closing in on my lungs. I close my eyes, picturing the move I want to make.

Reassuring myself that I can do this, just this, and it won’t be anything like the moments I’m avoiding.

Bit by bit, I gather my self-control. Then I push myself out of my seat and cross the aisle with two careful steps.

“Can I sit with you for the rest of the trip?”

Riva’s head snaps around. She blinks at me, obviously startled—and then a small smile crosses her lips.

“Of course. I’d like that.”

It feels like a much greater feat than it probably should to lower myself into the seat next to her. Even with my broad frame taking up plenty of space, she’s so tiny in comparison that I don’t need to worry I’m crowding her as long as I keep to my side.

Riva peers up at me with a little mischief dancing in her bright brown eyes. “Got lonely all by yourself?”

Despite her teasing, I can see the uncertainty in her expression. That’s exactly why I needed to do this.

I fumble with my words. “I—I wanted to be close to you for a while, before we have to split up. So you remember that I’ve got your back too. Even if I’m not right there with you.”

The amusement fades from Riva’s gaze, softened into something more bittersweet. “I know that, Zee.”

“Well, I thought—I thought it’d be good to really show it.”

My face has heated to the point that I think it might burn right off my skull, but Riva doesn’t laugh at me. She just keeps looking at me with that soft shimmer in her eyes that makes my heart beat twice as fast.

From the tilt of her body, I think she might have reached over and held my hand or something if the situation were different. If I hadn’t flinched away every time she’s touched me in the past.

I’ve come this far. I can manage a little more, right?

Slow and calm, totally controlled. Only one precise movement, nothing a friend couldn’t offer another friend.

I lift my arm and ever so carefully extend it in offering to wrap around her shoulders. Riva’s eyes widen, and then she scoots a little closer to accept the gesture.

I rest my arm across her back, my hand settling loosely to cup the peak of her shoulder. Riva exhales, and her muscles relax against mine.

“Are you sure this is okay?” she asks in a voice as careful as my embrace.

My nerves are jumping around like they’ve been zapped with a live wire, half panicked, half begging for more. But when I hold still in this position, I can tune them out enough to say, “Yeah. It should always be. We’re blood, right?”

“Always,” Riva murmurs happily, and leans in to nestle her head against my chest.

I don’t have words for the joy that clangs through every inch of my body at her acceptance. I just wish it didn’t come with an equal portion of fear.

I have her with me now. What’s going to happen in the fight ahead of us?

For the rest of the flight, I barely dare to move. I know that no unwanted flares of emotion will spark inside me as long as I stay just like this.

As we begin the descent, Riva straightens up so she can buckle her seatbelt. The loss of contact wrenches at me.

But once she’s secured the belt, she holds out her hand. Not touching mine, just giving me the option.

I hesitate, gathering my resolve, and curl my fingers around hers.

The plane touches down with a bump and a light jostling. My stomach sinks with the knowledge that the hardest part of this mission is still ahead and approaching faster by the second.