Page 28 of A Game of Survival

Silas’ abrupt tone cuts the tension. “What is it?” he asks, moving closer.

“Give me those,” I call over to Max, pointing my head towards the scissors on the desk. Max obliges, immediately bringing them over and we all watch, with bated breath, as I slowly cut through several layers of translucent plastic.

Once I get to the last layer, I freeze, looking over to Lucille who’s nestled under Max’s arm, with a sickeningly white sheen over her skin.

“Lucille, I don’t think you…”

“No Linc. You can’t shut me out anymore. Open it. I need to know what it is.” She cuts me off before I have a chance to voice my concerns. I share a look between Max and Silas, who both nod their agreements for me to continue. Fuck, here we go. I swallow thickly before fully pulling back the last layer of plastic and throwing it to the side, leaving a wooden plaque in the center of my hand. It’s a house number. A brass metal seven adorns the middle of the wooden plaque with a smaller line underneath that reads ‘Clifton Rise’.

“It’s an address,” Max states.

“Do you think that’s where Teddy is?” Lucille chokes, ripping the wooden plaque from my hand as she stares at it, like she’s willing it to answer her question.

“Silas, get the address up on the computer. We need to know where the fuck this is.” I urge, but he’s already across the room having the same thought. I knew Cole wouldn’t have fucked us over like this if there wasn’t a good reason behind it. He’s doing this to help us. I look over to Lucille who hasn’t moved from her place as she clutches the plaque to her chest, eyes closed and lips moving rapidly but with no sound coming out. I wouldn’t have taken her for one who believed in God, but I know she’s praying hard as hell to anybody that will listen right now.

“This better not be some sick fucking joke,” Max warns as he stands behind me while we wait for Silas to put the address into the search bar, bringing my attention back to the screen.

“Cole left this for me to find. He knew I’d check the crates before I left. This is a message from him,” I counter, willing Silas to move faster.

“It’s about a fifty minute drive from here, just out of town.” Silas says as he narrows in on the pinned location. “It’s pretty much deserted by the look of these pictures.”

“Fuck.” I snap, not believing that Teddy could have been so close to us all this time yet, we hadn’t fucking found him. “I’ll call Felix, see if he can get his hands on the blueprints so we can see what we’re dealing with on the inside.” I add, running my fingers through my hair.

“That isn’t one of our safe houses, he must’ve known you would go looking at those first. We need to go now!” Max demands as he begins to pace the floor.

“No, we need to make a plan.” Silas snaps, standing from his chair. “We can’t go in all guns blazing because of a little fucking house number that we’ve found. This could be anything. This could be a fucking trap.” He says, pulling rank. “And you,” he spins, pointing his finger towards Max, “are a fucking dead man walking. You can barely keep yourself upright let alone go into what could potentially be a warzone.”

Max moves to counter his argument but stops as a piercing cry echoes through the office. We all move as one towards Lucille who’s holding her chest like she’s just been shot.

“What is it, Love?” I ask urgently, pulling her into my arms, automatically checking her over for injuries, though I know she hasn’t sustained any. I feel her whole body begin to shake against my chest as she points to the house plaque on the floor at her feet but no words leave her mouth. Max bends to pick the sign up, faltering slightly as his injuries still are long from healed.

“What the fuck?” he snarls, holding it out to show Silas and I. On the back of the wooden plaque, carved into the wood, read two words that knock the air right out of me. “He’s alive.”

“We have… we have to bring him home!” Lucille sobs into my arms as the weight of the message rests heavily on us all.

Silas strides over to us and plants a kiss firmly onto Lucille’s head before resting his forehead against her own.

“We will bring him home to you, la mia luce. I promise” he whispers.

“I’m coming with you,” she says, putting on a strong front as she swipes the tears from her eyes and pulls her head up tall. But Silas just shakes his head in return.

“No, Lucille. If anything were to happen to you I would never forgive myself.”

“Silas, you can not keep me from bringing back my son,” she argues.

“I said no, Lucille.” Silas growls at her, but it does little to deter her.

“I’m coming with you!”

Silas glares at her before he walks from the room slamming the door in his wake so I squeeze my arms tighter around her to gain her attention before bringing my hand up to cup her face. The extensive pools of her emerald green eyes bore into my own and for a moment, I feel like a fucking fraud as I hold this woman in my arms who wields the power to make my heart feel like its being constricting in my chest with just one look. With all of the sins I have ever committed tarnishing my life, she refuses to let it come between us. I don’t know what I ever did in this life or a past life of mine to deserve such a woman, even to share just a third of her with my brothers. But for every day that I’m alive I’ll give her a reason to know how loved she is, and how special she is.

“Listen to him, Love. You will be more of a distraction to us out there.” I whisper softly against her lips, though I’m not sure my words have the desired effect as Lucille scoffs at me, turning her head away. Fuck. I grip her chin between my finger and thumb and bring her back to face me before trying a different route. “What I mean is that Teddy will need you here when we bring him home, he needs to know you’re safe too, Lucille.” I try to reason, and as her hard features soften ever so slightly under my touch, I know that she agrees with what I’m saying.

“I’ll stay behind, too.” Max offers, and Lucille snaps her head in his direction. “He’s right. I am a deadman walking. If it were the other way round, I’d tell them the exact same thing. They need to be quick and right now I’ll be more of a hindrance than a help. We need to get him back, Lucille. Let them do this their way,” he says. I stare at him utterly dumbfounded.

“Fuck me, Irish. Are you actually agreeing with me for once?” I ask, raising my eyebrows at him.

“Piss off,” he murmurs before hobbling back over to Silas’s computer.

---