Page 72 of Midnight Torment

The problem was he was right. If this was Xavier or Ash, I would be the first one out the front door with a gun in my hand. “I’ll ring them now. Thanks.”

“Good luck.”

I met Flynn’s dark gaze. He nodded once in agreement, and I terminated the call and initiated another one.

“Hey, stranger,” Xavier answered. “You back on solid ground?”

Suddenly my throat contracted, and my eyes welled up. There was no way I could tell my oldest friend what had happened. Shame pierced through me like a dagger straight into my heart.

“Jay? You still there?”

“Is Ash with you?” I finally asked. “I don’t want to say this twice.”

“Give me a sec.” I heard him calling Ash in the background. “You’re on speakerphone.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. “Dante took Megan in the airport in South Africa.” Both of them started to shout, but it was too late for that. “I’m just about to fly out of London in pursuit, Flynn is with me.”

“What the fuck, Jay?” Ash demanded. “You should have told us as soon as it happened.”

“I couldn’t,” I replied. “I think Dante is watching all of us. If either of you move, then it’ll alert him. I got on that flight and pretended nothing was wrong, and the same at the airport.”

“You’re trying to show him that she means nothing to you,” Xavier surmised.

I stared at the window with unseeing eyes. She meant everything to me. “It will give her some time.”

“What’s the plan?” Ash asked and I could imagine him pacing the room.

“Flynn and I are flying to Marseille. Caleb is organising us a boat, and we’ll go in the dark.”

“That’s only two of you,” Xavier replied. “Your plan needs more bodies.”

“We can’t risk it,” I groaned. “Please don’t make me regret calling you.”

“I can mess with shit from this side,” Ash said. “The world is ruled by cyber technology. I’ll speak to Caleb since you’ve already clued him in. We’ll activate your tracker so we can keep eyes on you every step of the way. There’s no way you’ll be going in there alone.”

“He’s not alone,” Flynn interrupted. “I’ll be with Jordan.” He rolled his eyes at me and sat down with his arms folded across his chest.

“I think Flynn has my back; he’s been the one watching over Megan when I’ve been away with work. We all care about her.” Megan was the type of person who dug her way under your skin and made you care because she cared about you first. “We need to be smart and not play into Dante’s hands.”

“We’re about to take off,” Flynn said. “Marseille is roughly a two-hour flight. That gives you and Caleb time to organise anything you need to in the interim. I have everything packed for a full black ops mission, so when our feet hit solid ground again, we will be considered black and will not be having any chats on the phone.”

This was the reason I phoned Flynn. He was cold, dark, and impenetrable after many years as a hired assassin. He would shoot first and ask no questions before or after, just disappear into the night without a trace.

Dante would never see the two of us coming for him like harbingers of death and destruction.

***

Chapter Twenty-Five

Megan

In my head, Dante would have horns and a pointed tail, and be armed with a three-pronged fork. The man sitting staring at me from the other side of his desk reminded me of the uncle Cassandra described. There was something familiar about him that I attributed to Cassandra’s family connection.

“Welcome to my island,” he said, opening his arms as if to indicate it from his seat.

“Thank you. Can I go home now?”

His laugh sounded almost feral. “I’m afraid not. It would appear that you’ve taken up with the wrong man. I want his attention, and you’re the vessel to broker it.”

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