Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,117

worthless body.

I left the door open, so he’d be easy to find. Mother would be home soon from her afternoon tea at the Carmichaels’. I didn’t want the carnage in my room for longer than necessary.

I washed my hands in the kitchen sink, and before slipping outside, I sent a message to my contact. Within three minutes, Lackley was ringing my tablet.

“It’s done,” I answered. “Your right-hand man told him. No one else knows.”

“Right oh, my boy. I’m glad we could mutually benefit from this,” he cooed before ending the call with a click.

The warmth of the sun spurred me further, and I walked with a bit of a bounce to my step towards the park.

The weather was divine, and I enjoyed the crisp air. It was a beautiful day for a walk.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ashleigh, Present Day

I packed a small bag with stoic determination, while preparing my speech to Huxley as to why I should travel with them. No kiss could distract me from being there for Cyler and Patrick. Especially kisses meant as a distraction tactic—that jerk.

Maverick discovered whispers of hope that Cyler and Patrick were in Galla, which was a fairly anticlimactic discovery. A storefront security camera down the street from the Stonewell Manor caught a glimpse of a government transport zooming by with tinted windows, and a quick heat signature showed two figures handcuffed in the back. I wanted to punch something. Josiah was behind this, I just knew it.

They all sat around the kitchen, each of them looking at tablets, trying to come up with a plan. Tallis observed them with a smirk while he picked his nails.

“We should just ambush them!” Jacob suggested with fierce eyes that slid across the room with intent. He twitched and seemed eager to act.

“Oh yes, then we can be abducted or killed, too. Brilliant plan, Jacob. Well done,” Huxley said with an eye-roll .

“They’ll be heavily guarded. There’s no way we can out man them. We need reinforcements,” Kemper said matter-of-factly. He peered at Tallis, as if hoping he could offer support.

“The other camps are still deliberating on even meeting with Cyler, let alone manning a rescue mission for him. I can only offer what men I have, and that still wouldn’t be enough,” Tallis replied. I noticed how he carried himself with calm certainty. He didn’t seem bothered by this at all. He acted as though he was merely intrigued by the problem.

Huxley continued to rewind and replay the footage at the shop while Maverick and Kemp whispered in the corner. Mia sharpened her blade with precision and kept silent and pensive. She was on high alert and observed the room with a stoic glare.

The front door slammed, and I looked up to see a very flustered but still beautiful Jules strolling into the kitchen. The entire room groaned in frustration.

“Oh my! Don’t act so excited to see me!” she exclaimed while plopping down on a vacant chair next to Mia. The two of them exchanged mutual scowls before Jules rolled her eyes and scraped her chair across the hard wood floor farther away from her.

“So what are you doing to get my brother back?” she asked without a trace of malice. She almost sounded genuinely concerned about his wellbeing, which surprised me.

Once again, I looked around the room, praying that someone would come up with a plan to rescue Cyler and Patrick. Something that didn’t involve us getting hurt, too.

Jules huffed. “Oh, the silence is super reassuring. This is a great plan. Just sit here quietly until they just magically appear,” she said while picking the paint off her nails. The gesture was a nervous tick I noticed she had in our few encounters.

“How did you even know they were gone?” Jacob asked with a sigh, leaning forward on his elbows. They both exchanged a sad look that seemed different from the other times I observed their interactions. Something had changed between them, and I wasn’t sure how it made me feel.

“Well, it's no thanks to you lot! It's a small province, word travels fast. I had to find out from Tallis that my own brother was abducted. I can’t believe you didn’t think to tell me Mav, after everything our family has been through!” Her screeching elevated the tension in the room to critical levels.

Everyone stared at Tallis who shrugged under their scrutiny. He lifted the right side of his lips in a brief but mischievous smile towards Jules.

“I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me. You