Zach
"Cory, I swear if you don't hurry up. We don't have time for this. I told you we were doing it and you seemed to be fine with it."
"Seemed fine with it. I'm not fine with it, Zach."
"Oh my gosh! You are literally--"
"Both of you shut up!" Nathan walked into the room. "We need to go now. The longer we wait for nightfall, the longer Ian stays in that hellhole."
It was weird, this raid we had spontaneously planned. Cory was being a bigger douchebag than he had been two days ago. I know we all were mourning silently with Byung-chul and Ren, but he didn't have to take it that far. She had things to worry about and he had his brother to worry about. I wasn't about to let him ruin this moment. If anything went wrong with the plan I'd thought over for an entire night, I was blaming Cory.
Nathan grabbed Cory's arm and snatched him out the door. I stayed behind to talk with Ren. Dominick was going to come over in a few minutes to keep her and her brother company. She had yet to hear back from Ryder about the Korean-French agreement. Even I wanted to find out if they were going to hear Ren out.
"Don't worry about it, Chul Chul. I got it," Ren was saying.
"No you don't. I told you I had it," Byung-chul argued. "It's not like the world is going to end, if I don't go to school."
"We're going to be on a long waiting list. Not unless you plan to go back to America and attend school."
"I'm fine with that."
"It's never going to happen. Not with Tyler sneaking around killing people. I can't lose you, too. I'd love it if you actually listened to me for once and called the school. They're going to close soon and you won't have another chance until tomorrow."
"...Noona, you're being difficult."
Ren scoffed and prepared to hit her brother across the head. "I'm being difficult? You're almost 18 and acting like you can't call the school to get yourself into the system."
"Maybe if you took up law instead of mechanics, you'd know it takes more than a phone call to put myself into an entirely different school system." Byung-chul looked ready to hit his sister back.
"Should I be offended?"
"I hope you are."
I stepped in between them and smiled at Ren. She was slow to put her hand down, but she did it. Her face gradually changed from anger and spite to something more manageable for her age. I grabbed her hands and gently pushed Byung-chul away. He huffed and stomped off. Well, I'm glad I didn't have a sister or brother. They'd be dead by now.
"I'm leaving with Cory and Nathan to find Ian. I'll be back later tonight. Don't wait up," I said. "Not unless you really want to."
"Why now? You could have waited a little longer," Ren whined.
"I could've, but I don't know what Tyler is up to. You know he's in Milan now. He could slip up thinking we aren't onto him. With Ryder off doing your bidding, he probably thinks you're busy with the mafia. Perfect time for him to let his guard down."
"From what I heard, Tyler doesn't let his guard down. I doubt he'd slip up now."
I chuckled and pulled Ren into a much needed hug.
"Please don't get hurt. We haven't gotten a new doctor and you know Nika can't fall asleep without you." Ren tightened her hold on me. "Promise me, Z."
"I promise. Cross my heart and hope to live." I tugged myself from her grip. "I'll be back before you know it. You just don't get into any trouble, baby girl."
"...Don't worry about me. I love you."
"I love you, too."
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I watched the sun set gradually behind the clouds splashing pink and blue across the horizon as Cory and Nathan continued bickering in the backseat. Like who does that? Especially two grown men. My annoyance was reflected into the mirror as I glared at the idiots in the back seat. Nathan finally noticed me and pursed his lips. Cory kept talking.
"I'll wait," I said. He just has to have the last word. "Are you finished?"
"No, but you can say what you want to say." He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. I was going to use them as dice if he kept acting like a bratty little girl. "Go on!"
"...You mess up anything and I'm going to hurt you," I growled. "I went over this plan for an entire night and it's too perfect. Dominick should be watching the cameras now. When we go in, there should be two doorways leading into the main part of the building. We take the left, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Nathan and Cory nodded.
That's when I noticed there was already a hole in my plan and I hadn't even told the entire thing to them yet. I peered past Cory out the window at the guards that were conversing in front of the building without a care in the world. Cory turned a little in his seat and saw them too.
"Zach..." I averted my eyes. "Don't tell me you didn't think it all the way through."
"I don't know what you're talking about," I denied.
"Zacharias, we all know how you are with plans," Nathan pointed out. "We know you didn't know guards were going to be posted around the building. It makes sense and it also says that Tyler is gone."
"...If only we had Kais right now," Cory muttered.
If only. I forgot that he even existed at some point. He would be on top of the next building right now shooting down everyone. Well, you can only plan so much without realizing how much you left out. We can manage without him. I'm sure we can.
"Well...the sun's gone down. We might as well use the darkness as a covering. Getting inside will be easy with guns. Getting Devon will be a little harder."
"I thought we were here for my brother."
"We are. Did you think that we needed Devon out of the way? Assuming Ryder is still on their side, he's going to do everything in his power to keep him from coming to us."
"You don't like Ryder," Cory and Nathan reminded me. I sighed. They didn't get it. It didn't matter if I liked Ryder or not. Ren wouldn't like him dead even if I did. If Devon was willing to sacrifice Grayson when things got bad, Ryder was next. I was going to do everything I could to make sure he lived.
"Anyway, we're taking the left door into the main part of the building. There will be a hallway leading away from the main offices. A right and we're facing security. You two can use the cameras to find Ian. I'll go handle Devon." I smiled proudly, receiving death glares from Nathan and Cory.
"...Whatever. Just don't get yourself killed." Cory rolled his eyes. "I call dibs on Ren when you die."
"When?!"
"Yeah. You're heading to your death and don't even know it. Ren loves me now and without you...I'm sure we'll be fine."
"That's my fiancée you're talking about."
Cory scoffed. "I know."
Before I could reach behind my seat and grab him, Nathan opened his door. The car lights cut on and I immediately got out. There's no use having them come on more than once. We were already risking it being this close to the warehouse.
I screwed my silencer on my gun and tested the weight. I guess I could get used to it. Not much of a difference, but I can't hit anyone with it. Not unless it's Devon and Heaven knows I'm gonna have to hit him.
"Let's just go," Nathan said. "Once those men are dead, then we'll figure out what to do inside. Dom is on the line now. Say what you need and he'll answer."
"Unless you want me to do something outrageous," Dominick said. "Do your thing and I'll keep a lookout. Mason'll help, too."
"Good. Let's go get your brother, Cory."
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So...we finished and that's that. See you all Friday!!
💦XÃÑĐŘÍĄ & ✖DAVI