Forty Three

Forty Three
"SANCTUARY"

Astrid's POV

The private jet gently hums and I press my forehead against the cool window, surveying the darkness careening below us. My hand covers my stomach protectively — a reflex I fell into after finding out I was pregnant. Switzerland awaits, along with answers, danger, and children to be saved.

“You should be resting,” Eagan says, sitting down in the seat opposite mine. “The doctor said no stress at all.”

“As if that’s something that can happen right now.” I turn from the window. “How can I sleep, knowing that we’re heading toward a clandestine place run by some deep-state cabal that’s after our baby?”

Eagan's jaw tightens. “I’m not going to let anything happen to either of you.

"I know." I stretch across the table for his hand. “But this is bigger than us now. All those children..."

“We will get them out,” he says emphatically.

"How can you be so sure? We hardly got out of the safe house.”

“Because they think I wouldn’t do it.” His gaze carries a shadow that I’ve come to know well. “They thought they were hunting a crime lord. They don’t know they’re up against a father who is defending his family.”

The word catches us both off guard. Family. Something neither of us have ever really had before.

“Have you given any thought to names? I ask softly.

His smile falters, slight insecurity dancing across his face.

"No. Have you?"

"Not yet. I keep thinking that we should wait until..."

“Until we are safe,” he concludes.

Everyone falls quiet except for the low whir of the engines. Eagan’s thumb circles on my palm, a rare act of tenderness.
“I’ve prepared a safe location in the Alps,” he finally says. “If something goes wrong at the facility —”

"Don't," I interrupt. “I do not want to hear contingency plans right now.

“Astrid, you have to ready yourself—”

"For what? For you not coming back? For not having to raise this child alone?” My voice increases even though I am trying to remain calm. “I’ve already lost everyone I’ve ever loved. I watched the orphanage burn. I can’t—” I choke, and the words get stuck in my throat.

Eagan slides over on my side of the cabin, leaning me into him. "That won't happen."

"You can't promise that."

"I just did." His voice brooks no argument. “But I just need you to promise me something in return.”

I look up at him. "What?"

“If I say, ‘You go to the safe house,’ you go. No questions, no arguments. One of us can at least survive this for our child.”

The brutal truth of her words hangs palpable and heavy between us. I want to argue, but being pregnant has changed my activism about survival.

“Fine,” I grudgingly concede. “But only if there’s no way around it.”

Liam walks up from the front of the plane. "Sorry, boss. Ren wants to review the infiltration plan again.”

Eagan kisses my forehead and heads back toward the rear of the plane, where Ren looms over a table covered with maps.
Liam sits in the seat that Eagan left open. "How are you holding up?"

“As well as can be expected when headed towards people who would like to experiment on my unborn baby.

He offers a rare smile. "You've changed."

“A person has a way of changing when they’re kidnapped and sold at auction.” I glance over to where Eagan and Ren are whispering. "Do you trust him? Ren?"

“About as far as I can throw this plane. But his info is legit. The facility exists."

“That doesn’t mean he’s not setting us up for a trap.”

“Reason we have contingencies for our contingencies.” Liam's voice drops. “Whatever happens, my first concern is getting you and the baby out safely. Eagan made that very clear."

A frigid sensation spreads within my breast. “He’s up to something that he hasn’t told me about.”

My suspicion is confirmed by Liams silence.
"Tell me," I demand.

"It's not my place."

"Then I'll ask him myself." I begin to stand up, but Liam places a hand on my arm.

"Let it be, Astrid. Please." The unease in his eyes stops me cold. “You don’t wanna know some things in advance.”

Before I can push further, Blair approaches with a guard following closely behind her. Her wrists look free now, but the guard beside her is there for a reason.

"May I?" she says, nodding at the empty seat next to me.

I nod, intrigued despite my caution.

“You’re welcome for talk him out of killing me,” she says, when the guard finally takes a step back.

"I didn't do it for you.”

I know. You did it for the children." Blair studies me. “You’re not at all what I expected.”

"What did you expect?"

"Someone broken. Submissive. The type of woman who would cower in front of a man like him.”

“Maybe I was that woman at one time,” I look her directly in the eyes. “But that was before I learned what true monsters look like.”

"The Order?"

"People who hurt children. Its champions are those who believe bloodlines and genetics justify treating humans as breeding stock.”

Blair looks uncomfortable. "I was born into it. My dad cooked them my whole life.”

"And you? Did you serve them too?"

“I did what I needed to do to survive,” she replies cautiously.

“I did too, but there’s a distinction between survival and complicity. Which side are you on now?"

Her eyes dart to Eagan, back to me. "The winning side, I hope."

"That's not good enough. I have to know that once we go inside, you won’t betray us.”

“They killed my father once he became an inconvenience,” she says, bitterness punctuating her voice. “They put a bounty on my head the second I tried to negotiate better terms.

“Not answering my question.”

Blair sighs. "I want immunity. A new identity. “Enough to be able to disappear somewhere there’ll never be able to find me.”

"And in return?"

“I’ll let you on the restricted side where they have the research subjects. The children." She lowers her voice. "Including the nursery."

My breath catches. "Nursery?"

“For the babies born to the breeding program.” Her eyes drop to my stomach. “Your child would not be raised by you. They’d be taken at birth, assigned a number, housed with other persons of similar genetic potential.”

Nausea rises in my throat. “How can you speak about this so casually?”

“Because I’ve watched it my whole life. My mother was one of them. I never knew her. She died giving birth to me."
The confession changes things between us. Not forgiveness, but — understanding.

"I'm sorry," I say softly.

"Don't be. It made me what I am." She sits up with more purpose. “Good enough for you to help bring them down.”

The pilot’s announcement that we are beginning our descent is accompanied by a chime through the cabin. Eagan returns to my side.

“We’re going to get ready,” he says to me. “In thirty minutes, we’ll land at a private airstrip.”

In the tiny bathroom of the plane, I run my face under the sink and look at my reflection. The woman who looks back hardly resembles the girl in the orphanage who watched from a distance Frederick Salvatore. My eyes are hard now, my posture resolute.

When I come out, Eagan is there with a special-pregnancy bulletproof vest.

“It’s light but will stop most rounds,” he says as he helps me into it.

"Is this really necessary?" I ask, knowing the answer already.

“Until we get to the safe house, yes.” He secures the straps.

“Once we touch down, we break into two teams. Liam leads you, Blair and two guards straight to Alpine property. I will take Ren and the main strike team to recon the facility.”

"Why can't I come with you?"

“Because I need to know you’re safe before we’re colliding.”

He holds my shoulders for a few moments. "Let me do this, Astrid."

The please is unsaid, but I can hear it in his tone. This is Eagan King requesting, not demanding.

"Two days," I negotiate. “You don’t show up at the safe house within two days, and I’m coming after you.”

A semblance of a smile flits across his lips. “Always trying to negotiate with me.” He cups my face. "Two days. But only if Liam says it's safe.”

The aircraft banks sharply as it enters its final approach. I catch a flash of moonlight shining on snowy peaks through the window.

“What if there are additional facilities?” I ask suddenly. “What if this is only one of many?”

“Then we shoot them down one at a time.” The conviction is held in his voice. "Until every child is freed. Until our child can be raised without their shadow.”

So it’s Liam, with a satellite phone and an envelope. "Everything's set. The cars will be ready for us when we land.'

Eagan takes the envelope, pulling out a small metal object that appears to be a watch. “Wear this,” he says, buckling it around my wrist. “It’s a tracker and emergency beacon. “If you’re in danger, press these buttons at the same time.”

"What about you? Do you have one?"

"I'll be with Ren. Getting tracked would put our position at stake.”

The aircraft lands with a soft bump, and then taxis for a short while until it stops. The cabin door opens, a blast of cold mountain air fills the cabin.

“Stick tight to Liam,” Eagan says, inspecting his weapons one last time. “Trust no one else, not even the safe house staff.”

"I know." I pull him down for a kiss that says too much fear, too much uncertainty. "Come back to us."

“Always,” he vows, palm grazing my abdomen for a moment.

Ren comes to the door in tactical gear. "Vehicles are in position. We need to move."

Eagan, cast once more with a final, fairly dismissive glance at me, becomes the cold, calculating crime lord before my eyes. He grabs Blair’s arm and whips her around.

You think I’m fucking civilized? If anything happens to her, if anyone discovers that safe house, I’ll hold you personally responsible. Understand?"

They nod, fear passing over Blair’s face. "The location is secure. I swear it."

"It better be." He releases her arm. "Liam, get them out of here."

Inside, the Swiss night is frigid, our breath hanging in clouds in the dark. Black SUVs idle on the tarmac. Liam directs me to the first vehicle; Eagan and Ren go for the second.

As I get inside, I see Eagan’s eyes across the distance one more time. In that instant, I look beyond the bloodthirsty mafia king and see the man behind the mask, the man who bought me at an auction only to realize I would be the one to steal his heart.

The SUV doors shut, and we drive away into the night, toward an uncertain sanctuary while the father of my child travels the opposite direction, toward danger and a facility crowded with secrets and children needing to be saved.

“He’ll be fine,” Liam says from beside me, reading my thoughts. “No one survives what he has without knowing how to stack impossible odds.”

I set my hand on my belly, sensing the slight hardness there — the first corporeal proof of new life.

“For their sake,” I whisper, “he can’t be.”