Chapter 27

Asher went into the room and looked around. The only one here was Blair, sitting at a table with his head down, writing in a notebook like he was doing an exam.

Jesse came in from the other end and looked around. “I guess we’re early for the meeting.”

Shrugging, Asher headed to the counter to ask for a coffee. “Do we know what the meeting is about?”

“Planning.” Jesse went over and sat on the other side of Blair’s table.

Calum and Gage came in at the same time, followed by Devin, Tripp, and Griffin. Asher wondered if it were only men at this meeting. In his opinion, that was a mistake. The women on the Alliance teams were invaluable, and to him, they thought of things the men didn’t.

“What are you doing?” Gage stopped at the table and looked at Blair.

Blair finished what he was writing and looked up at him. “Ideas. Writing down ideas.” He pulled a lolly pop out of his mouth and nodded. “To make things easier at home.”

“Good luck with that.” Gage grinned. “You look like a kid writing an exam with a sucker sticking out of his mouth.”

Blair waved the candy at him, “Big jar of them over there,” he pointed it at the kitchen window.

“Suckers?” Amari paused at the door and then headed to the counter.

“I thought maybe he was writing a romance novel.” Calum grinned at Gage.

Blair pulled the candy from his mouth again and shook it at each of them. “I could.” He jammed the sucker back in his mouth.

“Yeah?” Kobie came in with Noah right behind her.

Noah looked as rough as Asher felt. Two nights and the pair of them spent more time tossing and turning than sleeping. Hopefully, today’s meeting was to send them all out on ops and rescues.

Kobie walked over and leaned across the table, so her face was six inches from her mates. “A sexy romance novel?”

“Yeah,” he grinned with the sucker still in his mouth, “it would be,” his face creased with a focused look.

“Hot,” Kobie whispered, “scorching,” she pulled the candy from his mouth and put it in her own, “tantalizing.”

“Yeah,” Blair said in a low voice.

“Mmm,” she pulled the lolly pop out of her mouth and put it back into his. Straightening away, she smiled at him, “I think you should research more.” Giving him another come hither look, she walked away.

Blair grabbed the notebook and stood up quickly.

“Blair.” Calum stood there grinning. “No time for that right now. Everyone will be here in a minute, and we have ops to figure out.”

Blair spun around and looked at him, “this,” he waved his hands around, “is the closest we’ve been to having some time alone.” He scoffed, “You don’t understand.”

Calum’s grin got bigger, “Oh?”

Blair scowled at him and then looked at Jesse, Devin, Tripp, and Gage. He frowned even more, “fine, you get it.” Tossing the notebook on the table, he jammed the sucker back into his mouth. “What are we planning?”

“About six ops that have to take place almost simultaneously.” Devin sat down, got up, went to the kitchen counter, and took a lolly pop out of the jar.

“And a long boat ride.” Konner came in.

Asher saw Yolanda set a cup on the counter and smile at him. That woman must be psychic. He went over toward it. “You’ve figured out where the island is?” He gave Yolanda a quick salute and picked up the cup. He took a sucker too, just because why not.

“Not yet.” Konner turned and watched Illias wheel in what looked like a projector. “I believe you’re going to be tasked with figuring out where and then Taggart is going to scout it.”

Asher shrugged. “Okay.” He had no idea how they planned for him to do that, but if it was one step closer to shutting Tomas down, he was all for it.

“How do you feel about a boat ride?” Calum turned and looked at Blair.

“In the water?” Blair blinked in slow motion after he said it.

Everyone smiled.

“That’s usually where boats are.” Konner grinned at him.

“Sorry, my brain is all over the place.” Blair shook his head. “I don’t think that I’m a water person, but if it’s not in the water, I’m good.”

“Amari and I are going.” Tripp glanced at his mate, she smiled at him like he’d said something sweet and loving.

“Are you coming, Konner?” Jesse turned and looked at him as he helped Illias line up the projector to an open space on the far wall.

“Yes.” He nodded to Illias and then turned around and looked at them. “The salt water isn’t my friend, but I think my assistance will make things go smoother.” He blew out a breath. “Terah is planning on helping too.” He lifted his hands and gave them a helpless look. “She needs to help free the children.”

“I feel bad for anyone that tries to stop her.” Tripp nodded his head enthusiastically.

“I’m going.”

Everyone turned around to see Journee standing at the door, balancing her weight on one crutch.

Asher set his cup down, started toward her, and then stopped when she gave him a look that said, ‘I can do this on my own.’ He stopped and pulled out a chair, then stood by it.

“What does Shaelan say about your leg?” Devin watched Rayne come out of the kitchen. She smiled at him and then held out a folder.

“She says it’s healing very quickly.” Journee moved a lot faster with that crutch than Asher thought she would. “Something about no pollution.” She hesitated on the word.

“I said,” Shaelan came out of the kitchen area. “Your diet hasn’t been filled with junk and additives, so your system has less pollution in it than most,” she looked at her mate. “Her healing is twice that of any of us.”

Asher scowled at the floor for a second. The idea of her being able to shift and possibly take off wasn’t great. He watched her come over to the chair, “you don’t have to go.”

She stopped and looked up at him with a determined expression. “I need to go. I left them there. I need to go back for them.”

He understood that. The desire to right wrongs, even those that weren’t your fault. “We have to figure out where first.”

“We have a few ideas on where some of your sketches might be.” Illias motioned to the wall. “That’s mostly what this meeting is about, to see if we can establish a direction.”

“Are you coming for the boat ride?” Amari asked him.

“No. No.” Illias shook his head, “water is not my friend.” He shrugged, “I prefer my paws to stay on land.”

Amari smiled and looked at Jesse, “he’s so limited.”

Jesse shrugged. “As long as he keeps our communication going, doesn’t matter where he is.”

“Right.” Illias glanced around, “I forgot the book. I’ll be back.”

“How many are going? For the island op?” Blair crossed his arms over his chest and watched his mate come back into the room with a few of the others.

“We don’t know yet.” Devin looked up from the folder. “It will depend on where it is and how many we have to get off it.”

Asher watched Journee position her leg so it wouldn’t get knocked by any other chairs. “You want something,” he motioned to the kitchen.

“Juice would be nice.” She scrunched up her nose, “the water in bottles tastes like plastic.”

Konner chuckled, “Yes. Yes, it does.”

Asher noticed Calum giving Journee a focused look as he went by him.

“I think,” Calum went over and sat at the table across from her, “the green-eyed lady was my mother.” His voice was soft and not as sure as Calum’s usually was.

“I think so too.” Asher stopped at the counter and watched Journee nod. “You have her eyes.” She gave Calum a brief smile. “She’s a very strong woman.” Yolanda set a bottle of juice on the counter. Asher nodded to her and picked it up.

“I overheard one of the men say she was on the island so she couldn’t get away again.” Journee nodded at Calum.

“Sounds like she was a pain in their ass, Cal.” Devin smiled at Calum.

“Yes,” Calum inclined his head to Journee as a silent thank you. “That’s good.” He nodded, “I didn’t tell my family yet. I don’t want to get their hopes up.”

“I think she sounds like a very strong lady. If anyone survives that island, it will be her.” Shaelan sat down beside her mate. “What if she doesn’t like me?” The look on her face was genuine worry.

Gage snorted. “She will love you.” He grinned at Calum. “Her child was a bit of a punk when he was a kid. She’s going to love that you tamed him.”

Shaelan looked at Calum. “You were a punk?” She glanced at Gage. “In what way?”

“That,” Calum glared at Gage, “is a story for another time,” he motioned to the projector, “we have ops to figure out.”

Gage smirked at Devin, who had his hand over his mouth to hide the smile.

“We’re going to have to pause this,” Raymond came in from the lobby area, “the rest of the rogues are due to be here in ten minutes.” He zeroed in on Griffin, “I want you front and center.” He nodded, “If you recognize any of them, speak up.” Griffin nodded. Raymond glanced at Journee, “wouldn’t hurt to have you there either. If you’ve seen any of them, we need to know.”

Journee nodded and then looked at Asher. If she were asking if he would be there, he wouldn’t be anywhere else. He’d come across some rogues in his travels and never had any issues with them, but he always gave them a wide berth.

“Ten minutes.” Raymond turned and walked back out.