provided, but there is a chance he could be wrong.
The guys are here, except for Zeke; he stayed home with Quinn and Julia to make sure they are safe. They aren’t, not with him blabbering his mouth.
“He has been this close this entire time?” I ask, staring at the small stone mansion from the boat we are on. I lift the binoculars again and try to find Gabriella, but she is somewhere else. She has to be inside. “I would have found him if he lived here.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. This property isn’t owned by him. It’s owned by some witchy organization. How would you have known to look into something like that?” Grayson says, throwing the anchor over the boat when we are close enough to get to shore, but far enough that we aren’t easily seen.
“Still…” I’ve failed her. She has been here, right under my nose. “That’s what he wanted. He wanted us close. He found it amusing, I bet.”
“How did you not see these psycho tendencies in your brother? Did he not do anything weird growing up?” Jaxon asks, zipping up his wet suit and making sure the waterproof bag of weapons is sealed correctly.
“I mean, he accidently killed the neighbor’s dog…”
The guys all raise their brows at me at the same time.
“Right,” I say. “Maybe it wasn’t an accident.”
“It wasn’t,” they say in unison.
Poor Syrup. That puppy was so cute. I shake the old memory out of my head and raise the binoculars again to see guys in black robes setting up a stage. A large pentagram stands like a cross would, and it has different flowers draped over it along with meat.
God … what kind of meat?
“They are getting ready. We need to hurry,” I say.
“Everyone suited up? And Owen?”
“I know. I know. Listen to Sebastian,” he mumbles.
“I’ll just stay here, I guess,” Heaven plays with a frayed end on his cast. Since he has a broken leg, he can’t be much help, but he can stay in the boat and keep a lookout. If he has to, he can come to shore and pick us up after we destroy this place.
“You’re an important member of the team, Heaven. Don’t look so sad,” Grayson says.
“Says the guy who got his stitches out yesterday,” Heaven pouts. “Just go. Bring Gabby back.” He cocks his gun. “I’m ready for anything even if I’m stuck here.”
Owen, Grayson, Jaxon and me sit on the edge of the boat and gently lower ourselves in the water so we don’t make any noise. Heaven heaves the weapons bag over the boat and hands it to Jaxon, and then we are on our way to the rocky cliff. How the hell Gabriella survived that fall, I’ll forever be baffled.
I thank my lucky stars every day for her return to me, though.
I hold my breath and dive under the water. The sea is dark and cold, but we manage to swim to the cliff without having to come up for air. We are professionals like that.
“Okay,” Jaxon says. “Owen and Sebastian, you take right. Grayson and I will go left. Wherever she is, we will bring her home, Sebastian.”
“Don’t kill my brother. He’s mine and Gabriella’s.”
“Noted,” Grayson says, changing out of his wetsuit into tactical gear. We all follow suit, dressing in black, and we strap our weapons to our thighs, arms, and waist. I have a gun, but I want to use a knife. They are quicker to use.
“There are a lot of robes showing up, guys,” Heaven says into the earpiece. “Dozens. Can you believe these freaks exist? Who the hell does sacrifices?”
“Think we can take on dozens?” Owen asks, a mad gleam in his eye as he twists the silencer on his gun.
“We have before,” Grayson says.
“Moon’s in the sky, guys. Time to get going,” Heaven informs.
I turned my head to the sky as I lace my boots. The night is still young, and the moon isn’t full yet. I see the orange hue surrounding it, normal for a harvest moon, and I know I don’t have long to get her out of there.
We give each other one last nod before we go our separate ways. Owen and I climb up the cliff. There is a pretty worn path in the rock. People have come down to this beach before. The cliff gets steeper and we grab onto jagged rocks to keep ourselves from tumbling down. The closer we get to the top, the more I hear the conversations