“Any trouble?”
“Who do you take me for?” Kit replied. “I might not be a wanted rogue with a million-dollar bounty, but I can handle one little felony.”
Well, there went my hope that Kit wouldn’t recognize Zak as the Ghost. My apprehension calmed as I realized Kit must be a criminal pal of Zak’s and he wasn’t a real agent after all. Talk about your smooth breakouts, seriously.
I opened my mouth to speak—then lunged to grab Aaron’s arm as he surged toward the druid, his teeth bared furiously.
Right. Aaron and Kai didn’t know Zak was back on our non-shit list.
“You bastard,” Aaron snarled.
Zak shot the pyromage a cutting look, then asked Kit, “Did you get them out without anyone noticing?”
“More or less.” Watching me yank on Aaron’s arm, Kit canted his head curiously. “Is this a ‘Captain America and Iron Man’ thing or a ‘Captain America and Red Skull’ thing?”
Zak ignored that. “Let’s get moving.”
“Wait.” I pinched Aaron’s arm so he’d stop trying to shake me off. “Wait, wait, wait. What’s going on? Why are you here? How do you know this skeevy agent guy? Where—”
“Skeevy?” Kit muttered in a hurt tone.
“—are Ezra and Darius?”
“I’ll explain in the car. Get in.”
Fuming with anxious irritation, I jerked the door open. We all climbed in—Kai, Aaron, and me in the backseat, Kit in the passenger seat, and Zak driving. He shifted into gear and peeled away aggressively.
“Where’d you get the car?” Kit asked conversationally.
“Stole it.”
“Nice.”
I leaned over the center console. “Explain. Now.”
Kit twisted in his seat to peer at me. “Have you seen The Untouchables?”
“No.”
He huffed with disappointment. “Fine, I’ll explain the long way. It all started when Zak called me up and was like, ‘Kit, I know I’m an unlovable jackass who claims not to care about anyone, but there’s this girl—’”
The druid took a hand off the wheel and mashed his palm into Kit’s face, shoving him sideways.
“Try again, Shakespeare.”
Kit straightened, completely unruffled. “He called me up and was like, ‘Kit, there’s some weird shit going on in your precinct. Can you find out what’s happening?’”
“Wait.” Aaron leaned forward beside me. “You’re actually an MPD agent?”
“No, I’m Batman.”
“I called him when you didn’t contact me after a few hours,” Zak added grimly. “Clearly, your plan hadn’t gone well.”
Kit propped his arm on the console, and the teasing humor faded from his eyes. “My partner and I already knew something was off in our precinct, so Zak’s call wasn’t a surprise—except for the part where he actually called me. Söze is a real piece of work. He’s usurped the entire precinct from Captain Blythe, and there’s nothing she can do about it. Officially,” he added under his breath.
“What does Söze want?” Kai asked. “How does he benefit from executing Ezra and disbanding the Crow and Hammer?”
“Everyone in our precinct hates your guild,” Kit replied airily, “so that last part is a no-brainer. As for the rest, we’re not sure yet, but you have bigger problems than Söze’s private agenda.”
That silenced my next question, and I pressed my lips together. He was right. Just because we were out of the precinct didn’t erase all the charges against us—to which Agent Söze could now add “escaping custody.”
Which begged the question of what we were supposed to do and/or where we should go. I was about to ask when I glanced out the window and recognized the street we were zooming along. This couldn’t possibly be a smart idea, but I wasn’t willing to suggest Zak change destinations.
He parked in front of the Crow and Hammer. The guild’s windows glowed brightly despite the late hour, beckoning me inside. An illusion of safety, I knew, but I wanted it anyway. I wanted it really badly.
Right after Zak cut the engine, headlights glared through the car’s rear window as another vehicle pulled up. I twisted around to look.
Darius’s gunmetal-gray SUV had just parked behind us.
Aaron and Kai threw their doors open, and I scrambled out after them. The SUV’s doors had opened too, and Ezra slid out and straightened, part of his face still covered in white bandages.
An instant later, Aaron and Kai reached him. Aaron grabbed Ezra’s arm, and Kai stood unusually close, his gaze trained on Ezra’s face. They bent their heads together, Ezra’s lips moving as he spoke quietly. He grinned, then Kai gave up on composure entirely and clamped Ezra in a hug. Aaron’s laugh rang out.
Despite everything else, happiness bubbled up inside me. This moment. This was what we’d all worked for. This was what we’d struggled and suffered for.
“How was the containment floor?”
At Kit’s question, I tore my stare away from the guys. The young MPD agent had joined an unfamiliar young woman, slim and average height, who’d exited Darius’s SUV. Her stern expression was at complete odds with her appearance—namely, the eclectic assortment of beads and charms hanging from her ponytail of thick black hair, the jumbled collection of necklaces resting on her slim chest, the mismatched bracelets jangling on her wrists, and the brown satchel slung casually over her shoulder, its strap decorated with even more random baubles.
“As expected,” she replied in a voice that was soft but with a hint of exasperation. “How much chaos did you cause getting those three out?”
“Henry was very concerned when he saw a horde of adorable kittens stampeding through the archives. He really shouldn’t have left the security hub unattended to investigate the kittens, though, don’t you think? As for the rest”—he shrugged—“Vincent is used to my pranks.”
She sighed. “Always Vincent. You’re giving the poor guy a complex, Kit.”
“He can take it.” Kit peered at her. “How about your jailbreak attempt?”
“Remarkably easy once I freed Mr. King. He can actually make people invisible.”
Kit’s face scrunched into a sulk. “I can—”
“No way!”
Aaron’s loud exclamation snapped my attention back to him, Kai, and Ezra. The pyromage was holding Sharpie, safely
