Page 88 of Deadly Alliances

I nodded groggily, then gave myself a few slaps on both cheeks. “You’re right. The sooner we get the fuck out of here, the sooner I can sleep.”

Arya pretzeled her legs beneath her and leaned forward. “Okay, so if we can get everyone to the roof, we can pair off and fly out of here.”

“Let’s see, we have Tobias, Char, Caesar, and the other dragon soldier at the camp.” I counted each person with my fingers. “That’s four flyers. And as for passengers, there’s you, me, Kai,Janette, Julian, Alex, and the other three soldiers. That’s nine. How do we make that work?” I rubbed my face again because even this level of math was a struggle.

“Wrong, we have five flyers,” Arya corrected. “I’m a harpy, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “So, five flyers and nine passengers.”

“Eight passengers,” Arya said with a chuckle.

“Ah, for fuck sake!” I groaned. “Okay, five flyers, eight passengers. Unless I’m wrong, that math still doesn’t math right.”

“Well…” Arya pursed her lips, her eyes darting from side to side as she considered. “I’ll take Alex; he’s lightweight and small, so I should be able to carry him, no problem. Do you think Caesar can carry both you and Julian?”

I rubbed the back of my neck as I bounced my knees beneath me. “Well, once Julian is restored to his full strength, Caesar won’t have to carry him—he can run, at least until we make it to the airport. In fact, he might be able to carry someone. Which reminds me—Piper!”

Arya cocked her head in confusion. “Who’s Piper?”

“She was Julian’s Initiate before everything went to shit,” I explained. “She helped him when I got hurt—long story, but she’s on our side. He promised to help her get out, and we can’t leave her here.”

“Okay, well, I guess you were right about nine passengers,” Arya mused.

“Of course, I was,” I said with a wry smirk, and she shook her head. “So, Julian can carry Piper out. I can ride with Caesar, and he can probably take one more—Kai or Janette.”

“Then that leaves three of the soldiers and Kai or Janette to fly with Tobias, Char, and the other dragon,” Arya summarized, then she gave a firm nod with a smile. “I think we can do this.”

“God, I hope so.” I flopped back onto the bed, loving how I sank into the plush comforter.

“So the question is, how do we get everyone on the roof? And when?” Arya asked, flipping through her tablet for anything useful. There was nothing, of course. I had already looked. The vampire school info was focused more on their dominance over the shifters than anything else.

“Well, Julian and Alex are relatively easy since they’re practicallyonthe roof already,” I said, pushing myself up to sit before I melted into her gloriously comfortable bed.

“Maybe I should leave you with collecting them, then. I’ve got an idea for Tobias and Char.”

I stiffened slightly. “Does Alex know he’s coming?”

She sighed and tossed her tablet onto the bed. “Not yet. I was going to wait until the last minute and just use my siren voice on him if he resisted.”

“You don’t want to give him a choice?” I asked.

“It’s not that simple. He’s been told shifters killed his mom, though I’m not entirely certain that’s true. But he’s been groomed by Hadrian for a long time. And Hadrian is really good to Alex—at least, from what I’ve seen.”

“Doesn’t mean Alex wouldn’t want out,” I suggested.

She propped her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. “Alex might be okay with leaving, but I can’t risk him telling Hadrian of our plans if he’s not.”

“Okay, so we wait until the last minute. But maybe give the kid achoice?”

“He’s eight, Shea.” Her head rolled back, and she ran her hands over her face.

“And a smart kid, if everything you say is right.”

“I don’t want to leave him here,” she said into her hands.

“And maybe you won’t have to. Also, if I’m collecting Alex, I don’t have the siren voice,” I pointed out.

She removed her hands and looked at me with wide eyes. “Then you’ll have to come up with some lie to get him to come with you. Maybe you can use magic?”

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