Darling Wildfire (Red Rabbit #2)

73

NYX

“We can drive in or walk in, but we’ll obviously need to get a lift out,”

Knight said.

We were all huddled around the dining room table where documents were strewn about. We’d been planning for several days already and a solid plan was beginning to come together. Now Knight was looking at North with a pointed look. North returned it for a moment before a slow smirk crossed Knight’s face and North’s eyes narrowed.

“No,”

North stated. “Absolutely not.”

“Come on, North,”

Knight chuckled. “You know she’s the best.”

“I don’t care.”

Atlas and I looked at each other then back between Knight and North.

“She?”

Atlas asked, eyebrows raised.

“Rebel Madigan,”

Knight said, looking like he was enjoying this way more than he should.

North scowled and shook his head. “Find someone else.”

“Mads is the best,”

Knight stated.

“No.”

“Well, she’s the best, and she’s the only option,”

Knight shrugged.

“You already contacted her didn’t you,”

North grumbled.

Knight ignored him and turned to Atlas and I.

“Mads was deployed with us—frankly one of the best pilots I’ve ever come across—she and North had a…thing,”

he chuckled.

My eyebrows raised, and I looked over at North with a grin. He scoffed and sat back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Knight.

“It was a very long time ago—before Whitney,”

North said begrudgingly. “I was young, wild and a soldier with nothing to lose—didn’t last very long.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“She started doing drugs, fell in with some bad people. We broke up—I started dating Whitney—then Mads asked for my help with something, nearly got me killed when I gave it.

I told her that was the last time I’d bail her out of her shit. Shortly after that was when I found out Whit was pregnant and I never heard from her again.”

North looked over at Knight. “I’m surprised she’s still alive honestly.”

“Well, she is—she surfaced a few years ago and reached out to me. She came to your funeral by the way.”

“Touching,”

North scoffed.

“Does anyone know a techie?”

Knight asked, changing the subject. “My go-to has disappeared recently.”

“I think I might have a tech guy we could use,”

I said. “He has a military background but is a killer programmer and hacker. Can I use your computer Knight? I’ll reach out to him. Speaking of—we’ll need phones.”

Knight nodded and disappeared.

“I have extra phones too,”

Knight said when he returned.

He handed me his laptop and distributed three phones to Atlas, me and North. I popped open the laptop and logged into my email, not bothering to look at the thousands of messages I’d amassed over the years I’d been MIA. I drafted up a quick email and sent it off before putting the laptop aside.

It felt weird having a phone after all this time. I took a few minutes setting it up while I listened to Knight and North bicker about this Mads character.

I was eager to head out to Austria. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited for a treasure hunt? A thrill rushed through me at the prospect of finding that much gold.

5.6 Billion. That was a lot.

It certainly would set us up for success.

My missing finger caught my eye and anger hit me hard and fast. I shoved it away but it was a constant reminder of how much Vetticus had taken from me. I had my own vendetta. I didn’t care how long it took—I would see Vetticus brought down. I wanted to see him crawl across the ground and clutch at my boots.

I finished setting up my phone and was about to put it down when I noticed a new email notification. It was West—the tech guy I’d contacted.

That was fast.

Although he was always on his computer so it made sense.

He was in.

By the end of the week we had a plan in place.

We all stood in the living room which looked like a tornado had run through it with the amount of papers strewn both across the table and pinned up on the surrounding walls.

“Everyone is confirmed to meet us in Salzburg,”

Knight said.

I pulled down the terrain map and folded it up along with a few of the other documents and maps before sticking everything in a plastic bag. Knight pulled out passports and documentation for each of us and handed them out.

“Plane leaves tomorrow morning,”

he said. “Weapons are this way.”

We followed him down a hallway and eventually down a flight of stairs into his basement where behind a vault style door lay an armory.

I actually gasped. I didn’t know where to look first. The firearms were backlit on the walls in various models and calibers. It looked like a scene out of a spy movie. Atlas made a beeline to the sniper rifles lining one wall.

“Damn, Pyro,”

I said, throwing my arm around Knight. “Holding out for an apocalypse?”

“Can never be too prepared,”

he chuckled. “Help yourselves to anything. Ammo is through that door.”

I couldn’t help rushing towards the far door. I pushed it open to reveal an equally large room with pallets of all different caliber of ammo.

“Fuck,”

I exclaimed.

“Like kids in a candy shop,”

North chuckled.

“Don’t act like your trigger finger didn’t just get real itchy,”

Knight laughed.

North walked over to the handguns and picked up two .45s. Checking them over, he grabbed an AR and a few knives for good measure before heading in to stock up on ammo. Atlas was already gathering up rounds for his rifle and other selections.

But I’d seen something even more enticing.

I was hoisting up the RPG when I heard North from the other room.

“We’re not taking that with us,”

he said loudly, not even looking up from the box he was rifling through.

“There is always a use for one of these,”

I insisted.

“No,”

North stated.

“Party pooper,”

I frowned and reluctantly put it down.

Knight walked past me and hit my arm. “Check this out.”

He pushed open another panel.

“Holy shit,”

I breathed. Knight pulled out a freakin’ flame thrower. I knew I liked this guy.

“This is my baby,”

Knight said.

“You’re not bringing that either,”

North called.

“Don’t listen to him,”

I whispered loudly.

“You’ll light the entire forest on fire,”

North insisted.

“I will not,”

Knight argued. “I managed not to set this one on fire.”

“That’s not what I saw,”

North chuckled.

“Fine, I didn’t burn the entire thing down,”

Knight amended.

We spent the next few minutes packing duffle bags with additional weapons and ammo before heading back upstairs—sans grenade launcher and flamethrower—amidst complaints from me and Knight. I looked over at Atlas who looked just as happy as I did lugging a duffle of firepower up the stairs. We deposited the bags near the door. I watched his muscles bunch and ripple under the t-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders.

This entire week I’d been stepping carefully around him because I didn’t know what to do. I was attracted to him—there was no denying he was one hot viking piece of ass—but I still had to get used to the fact that if I wanted to touch him…I could. No one was watching, well besides North and he’d probably enjoy it.

We could be intimate. But for the first time in my life I was terrified. More terrified than if a gun was pointed at me. This was different and yes, it’s definitely fucked up to not be afraid of death but terrified of intimacy—I know that.

It was also fear of the unknown. I was afraid of what could change if I crossed the line. What if we tried to be something and it didn’t work? We had a plan to execute and I didn’t want anything to get in the way of that.

My eyes traveled up his chest and clashed with a pair of intense green eyes glimmering with humor. I could feel a blush creeping up my neck.

Fuck me—how come he always made me feel like a teenager with a crush?

A low rumble of a laugh escaped Atlas and I quickly looked away, dropping the bags and turning away. I physically felt the air shift as he came up behind me.

“You can look you know,”

he said gruffly. “I won’t tell anyone you’re checking out a man.”

“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t,”

I shrugged. “What are you—”

I turned to smirk at him but I hadn’t realized just how close he was to me and my shoulder bumped into his chest, bringing my face inches from his. My eyes dropped to his mouth as his lips curled into a rogue smile. I lost the ability to breathe. The air between us rippled with static tension.

“What am I going to do about it?”

He finished the sentence I couldn’t seem to get out. “I can think of a few things.”

My lips parted, whether to say something or close the distance and kiss him, I will never know, because Knight appeared around the corner.

“What do you guys want to—oh shit, sorry,”

Knight chuckled.

I stepped back to put some distance between Atlas and I like we were a pair of teenagers caught doing something we weren’t supposed to.

“My bad,”

Knight went on, his grin a mile long. “Just was coming to see if you guys wanted whiskey but now I’m thinking we should take a few shots of tequila—”

Atlas laughed and strode over, punching Knight playfully in the shoulder.

“Tequila just makes me want to fight—or fuck.”

He turned and winked at me before throwing an arm around Knight’s shoulders and leading him back into the kitchen.

“Fifty-fifty—I’ll take those odds,”

Knight said, his voice fading as they bantered their way out of the room.

I let out the breath I’d unintentionally been holding. I ran a hand through my hair and shrugged my shoulders, trying to alleviate the tension I felt as though my skin was too tight on my body.

God, this was confusing.

Fuck it. Since when was I ever hesitant about fucking shit up? In true Nyx fashion, I was always one to mess around and find out—ask forgiveness, not permission, that sort of thing.

Why would this be any different?