I lie awake with the various sounds of sleeping boys surrounding me. Owen took Nathan out on a last-minute call that I'm not entirely certain was real. Honey had stayed away from me all night, and I'm pretty sure that he went outside for a fair portion of the movie. When Owen asked him if he wanted to go with, he practically jumped at the chance to get away from me. It sliced at my already aching heart, and I know that it was because he didn't want to give me the opportunity to corner him again and force him to talk.
Part of the reason I'm still awake is that I'm waiting to hear that they get back safely, but another part is that I'm afraid that I'll have another nightmare when they're all close enough to know about it. I keep straining to hear my missing boys return, so to say that I'm caught off guard when Luke's face appears inches above mine is an understatement.
I suck in the screech that threatens to escape my mouth and Luke quickly places his hand over my lips. He presses one finger to his lips, indicating for me to be quiet, and I nod when I'm sure that I won't do anything that will wake the others. Luke removes his hand from my face and offers it to me, helping me to rise. We tiptoe across the room, and quietly close the door behind us. He motions me further down the hall, and we enter the room that I remember Victor telling me was his office.
Luke shuts the door, and then takes a seat in the leather chair. He pats the desk top and I sit where he requests, peripherally noticing that the ornate piece of furniture has a carved dragon on the side facing me.
Luke places his hands on my knees and smiles. "Hey Cupcake. I just got a message from Mr. B, and we need to go out on a quick assignment."
I feel my heart skip a beat at the thought that Owen had requested me, and I beam back at Luke. "Okay," I whisper, still afraid that I'll wake someone.
"This is time sensitive, so we need to leave now if we want to make it."
I hop down from the desk and follow Luke out of the office. We tiptoe back the way that Kota had brought me in, and I suppress a giggle when Luke snatches a cookie from a jar above the fridge. When we get to the door, I realize that I'm still barefoot, but when I tell Luke, he nods and whispers, "That's probably best. We need to be sneaky, and I'm not sure what shoes Gabe packed for you."
I shrug my shoulders and follow Luke silently across the driveway. He leads me to a hidden gate and in moments, we're outside of Victor's enormous estate.
"Don't try that without me, Sugar, until I teach you how to bypass the voltage switch." I feel my eyes go wide when he says that, and he snickers at my expression.
"They electrocute trespassers?" I ask in astonishment.
Luke stops and pulls me up onto his back when we reach the edge of the grass, and winks at me when I get situated. "Nah, it just zaps you. It's more of a deterrent, and when it's activated, security is notified. We don't want anyone aware of our movements right now, though, so we needed to deactivate it.
"Wow," I exhale, amazed by the breadth of his knowledge. "How do you know all of this?"
Luke jogs down the block without answering me, and stops beside a sleek black motorcycle. "I helped Victor design it, so I better know how to work around it."
He says it as though it's common for teenagers to know the intricacies of security systems. Even with my limited knowledge of the world, I'm pretty sure that that's not the case.
"Hop on," Luke says, breaking my train of thought and straddling the motorcycle in front of me. He holds out a hand, and I take it, steadying my nerves as well as my balance as I climb up behind him. He hands me a helmet and helps me strap it on, and then starts up the bike with a resounding roar.
