Page 185 of Reverie
So, the plan we’ve been working on for the last two weeks took a quick pivot. Instead of Winter and me returning to the States and then executing our plan from afar, we have to get messy. In total, we need to extract about a hundred and sixty people from Isla Cara—servants and the enslaved—and ferry them to safety. Then we can take out every Legion member on the island.
Even though I had to keep the update from Winter and lead her to believe that I’m running off to save Ella, it was necessary. She never would have let me go otherwise.
The plan is bold and risky and, if we succeed, catastrophic to The Legion. But like Misha said yesterday: I plan on living.
“Everyone is clear on their task?” Misha’s voice brooks no argument as he addresses us in his yacht’s massive meeting room.
There are at least twenty soldiers from The Resistance present, along with Leo, Jared, and me.
And Ella, who somehow couldn’t be convinced to stay behind in the States with August and Mom.
“I want to help with the extraction,” she says for the twelfth time, but before she can finish her statement, Leo is there with a fierce rebuttal.
“Ella, you’re not going to step a single foot onto that island,” Leo shouts, exasperation lacing each word.
The room falls into an uncomfortable silence.
“Ella, if you stay here on the yacht, you can help the others figure out who these people are and where they’re from. That way, we can have a chance of getting them back home. That’s a vital job,” I say.
She lifts her eyebrow before moving to stand in front of Misha with her arms crossed. “You’re really gonna make me stay on the boat,big bro?”
Misha winces. “Ella?—”
Ella throws her hands in the air before slamming them back down on her hips.
“Then what has the last month of training been for?” Her voice is calm in the delivery, but her eyes show how pissed she is.
Misha gives me a look that shares the briefest glimpse of helplessness. In his gaze is the message:What the hell am I supposed to do with this?
“Ella, be serious!” Leo stands and grabs her by the arm to spin her to look at him. He breathes hard; she breathes hard.
They stare at each other.
…what the fuck?
“You’re not going, Ells.” Leo’s voice is low as he speaks to Ella, and I look around the room to see if anyone else is watching what I am. I catch sight of Luna who looks at the pair with a smirk, but when I catch her gaze, she looks away from me.
Guilty.
Sucking in a deep breath, Ella whirls around to face Misha. “Fine,” she grits out, and she leaves the room.
“Again, everyone knows their position?” Misha brings us all back to the pressing issue at hand as soon as she clears the doorframe.
“Keegan and I will set the bombs while you and Luna get the servants and slaves out,” Patrick says.
“It’s ‘the enslaved,’” Luna corrects, tapping at the iPad in her hand.
“And we’ll meet you in the middle and take out any Legion fuckers in the way,” This comes from Keegan.
Misha nods and looks at me.
“I’ll find Morris Winthrope,” I say. Find him, get information about The Architect, kill him.
The pakhan, my brother, nods.
“Excellent. We begin in five.” And with that, he grabs his wife by the arm and escorts her from the room.
The other soldiers begin to move around, gathering weapons and bouncing energy off each other. There’s a quiet thrum in the space—like everyone knows that some big shit is about to go down and we’re ready for it.