Chapter Fourteen

Rosie

She relaxed into the couch, stretching her legs out, grateful that the other men had gone outside for a bit, leaving the women alone. Her room wasn’t anywhere the size of the one Mila had rented for everyone. This looked like two rooms had been amalgamated into one large suite. It was much easier for the four women to spread out and chat in there.

Girl talk had been fun, but it had died away as the day wore on.

“Where did you say Kassian had gone again?” she asked.

Rosie vaguely recalled Kassian telling her when he’d come into the room, but she’d been so pissed off at the time that she’d not been listening to him. Now though, she wished she had, because it made it clear that they were fighting.

As if they didn’t know that. Stop worrying so much about what they think! These women are trying to be your friend. But for that to happen, you need to let them. To give them some trust.

It was hard though. She’d been stabbed in the back by “friends” before. Any time they thought they’d be able to make a quick buck off her, it seemed. But these women weren’t like that. She knew that. They were too nice. Too genuine. It might have been possible for one of them to be like that. Mila, Lena, Madison… any one of them could have been that awesome, genuine person Rosie had always dreamed as having for a friend. But all three of them? At the same time? Impossible.

Opening up to them had been tough, but it had instantly helped her form a bond with them. They were able to share the same experiences to a degree. Though yes, the other women were mated to the men. They used the term easily and without hesitation when describing their own relationships. Rosie had confessed her inability to believe, and all three of them had reassured her that they too, had been like that at first.

Rosie had expected them to continue on, to tell her that she should just give in, to accept it, that there was nothing she could do. But they hadn’t. Not one of them. They’d instead told her to be skeptical. To hold Kassian to a high standard, and never to drop it. That just because they were mated, it didn’t mean that she should allow him to control her.

Not that Rosie was worried about letting that happen. She’d been independent from men for a long time. She wasn’t about to start using Kassian as a crutch now, even if they were “mated.” Although she wouldn’t mind leaning on that muscular body of his from time to time. Or all the time. Without clothes, and with him inside of her.

“He went with that dickbag gryphon shifter to scout out the site. To see if he could come up with anything based on the situation out there.” Mila shrugged. “I told him to take me with him, but Gregory wouldn’t allow it.”

Rosie nodded. She knew Mila was the combat-trained one of the bunch. She’d probably have a better eye for ways to work with the terrain and any objects around it. So it made sense for her, and not one of the others, to have gone. Madison was the smooth-talking spy of the group, and Lena was the tech pro. Neither of them could have been much help.

Though they’d still be more helpful than I would.

All of the other women had something they could contribute to the team, to the fight. Which left Rosie without a real solid place among them. She had no real skills that she was aware of to help. But that wasn’t going to stop her. She could learn to wield a gun like Mila, or talk her way into places like Madison, she was confident. The only problem with all that, was the time factor needed. Namely that there wasn’t much of it.

“Did they say when they’d be back?” she asked.

“No.”

“He didn’t seem like he’d given in, did he?”

“I don’t think so,” Madison responded. “But you never know. Kassian is the closest to Maximus. By a long shot. They’ve operated together for longer than the others can remember. He’d do anything to get his brother back.”

Rosie scoffed. “You can’t actually believe that.”

Lena looked up from her computer, her fingers pausing in their constant dance across the keyboard. “Can’t believe what?”

She frowned, realizing that all three of them were staring at her as if she were crazy. “That the Institute would actually give Maximus back.”

Madison looked confused. “Why wouldn’t they?”

Wrinkles formed on her forehead as her eyebrows rose. “Seriously? You can’t see it?”

Heads shook.

“Ladies! Think about it. Why is Kassian even considering doing this mission that the Institute needs him to?”

“Because they have Maximus,” Lena replied immediately.

“Exactly. Which is what?”

There was silence for a moment, then Mila spoke. “Leverage.”

“Precisely,” Rosie said, stabbing a finger at the blonde. “Leverage. They have Maximus, and they’re forcing him into doing something in hopes of getting his brother back. Now, what is something that Kassian and the others are currently not thinking of doing, that maybe they would normally?”

“Attacking the Institute,” Madison said quietly.

“Attacking the Institute,” she agreed. “Now, tell me again why they would give up Maximus after having just proven that they can not only protect themselves, but get someone else to take care of their dirty work for them? And don’t say ‘because they said they would’.”

Silence reigned, filling the room completely. The three other women looked back and forth between each other, faces stunned.

“Did none of you ever even consider this?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “They’re going to do exactly one of two things. One, they’re going to just keep using Kassian until he is useless, at which point they’ll kill him, Maximus, and any of the others they can get.”

“What’s the second thing?” Lena asked hesitantly.

“The second thing is they skip part one, and just go straight to killing us all. They’ll use the lure of Maximus to get us all into one spot, and then hit us with overwhelming force.”

“So you’re saying that we should just let Maximus die?”

Rosie spun. Gavin was standing in the entranceway, framed by the light from the setting sun outside, a silhouette of darkness against the light. She hadn’t even heard the door opening.

“What would Maximus want you to do?” she fired back, determined not to let him intimidate her.

The hulking shifter stared at her for a moment, brooding, their eyes locked on each other.

Gavin looked away first. “He wouldn’t want us to kill for his sake. Not unless the person deserved it. Like the people guarding him.”

She nodded. “If only we could just bust into his prison to rescue him.”

Gavin shrugged. “I would, but I have no idea where he is. None of us do.”

“Do you even know if he’s alive?” she asked.

“We have the picture,” Mila replied.

Rosie jerked. “Wait, that’s it?”

There was no response. She sighed in frustration. “Seriously? None of you thought to ask for proof that he was still alive before you let them try and blackmail you?”

Silence.

“So, you’re going to do that, right?” she prompted.

Heads nodded around the room.

“Good. That’s a start. You all need to start thinking more deviously if you want to beat the Institute. They’re not going to play by your rules of honor and morals. They’re out to win, and they’ll do whatever it takes.”

Gavin moved into the room, the door closing behind him. Nobody followed him in, so she assumed that the other two were still outside.

“If you’re so devious, then perhaps you should put that to use and come up with a plan.”

Rosie grinned. “I’m working on it. I have an idea, but the big bitch is that damn gryphon. If he’s as strong as you say he is—”

“He is,” Gavin interjected.

“Right. Well, if he’s that strong, then that’s a problem. We’re going to need to get rid of him. If we can do that though, then I can make this work.”

The door opened again, and this time the others came in. All of them, including Kassian. He was back, apparently. She noticed his shirt was torn, and stained with blood in a couple of places. He looked a little rough for wear, but nothing too serious. All in all, she decided it wasn’t worth setting aside her anger at him from earlier to go and ensure he was okay. He could apologize and learn from his mistake. Then she would go to him.

“What happened?” Gavin asked, but Kassian just pushed by his brother and made his way into the kitchen and through the makeshift hole into her room.

Rosie sat up from her position on the couch and trailed after him.

This ought to be interesting.