Chapter 4

• Zain looked at his phone again and realized while he’d been strolling down nightmare memory lane, he’d gotten messages. They needed him to contact Asher and make sure he was good with anything he’d need. He reread the message. It was a long one but had very little information. They’d had a few hiccups, but everyone was fine. At last count, thirty were free. He looked up. He’d forgotten about the other ops.
• Sighing, he brought up Asher’s number and hit call.
• “Yeah.”
• Zain grinned. “I never got why you don’t say hello.”
• “Maybe I say it to everyone but you, Zain.”
• He scoffed. “I wouldn’t doubt that.” He blew out a breath. “How are you doing?”
• “Good. Five states to go.”
• Normally, he’d be at the map, tracing his finger over their travels. “I envy that. Going somewhere. Anywhere.” He mumbled. “Illias asked me to get in touch. He’s a whole lot of busy right now.”
• “Everything go okay?”
• Zain shrugged. “So far. Mostly.” He had no idea. “There were a few hiccups, but no one explained that to me in any detail, so whatever is classified as a hiccup, that happened.”
• “As long as everyone is whole…”
• He sat forward. “Oh yeah. I didn’t hear of any injuries.” He cleared his throat. He closed his eyes and remembered the message. “Four at once, and our population has grown by thirty as well as—” What had Illias said? “A big dog has been found.” He wondered if he should go chat up Barack and see who that one was.
• “That’s good news.”
• “Yes. Illias said the next two rounds were going to be more complicated.” He needed to check why. He usually knew everything that was going on.
• “That’s bound to happen, I guess, now that their presence has been announced.”
• Zain opened his laptop, checked the VPN was active and logged into the team leader’s messages. Illias wasn’t the only one who knew his way around tech. “Mmm, exactly.”
• “Do you have names?”
• Zain frowned until he realized Asher meant those freed. “Not yet. I don’t know if I will get them because, well, all of our rodent issues. Why are you looking for someone?” Names weren’t kept anywhere he could access now, not after the security team member who was sharing info with Aiden Tomas.
• “Yeah. Illias knows, though, so I’m sure he’ll give a shout if they turn up.” He paused. “Any news on that other thing we’re looking for?”
• “No.” Zain looked at the king’s office door. “It’s hard, Ash, to sit here and smile like it’s a beautiful day outside when a raging storm of fury is in my head.”
• “I’m glad it’s you and not me.”
• All of his teammates said that. Glad it was him sitting and doing nothing. “The only reason I’m here is currently missing, and I just want to do something.”
• “You’re good a doing that. I don’t know any of the rest of the team that could do it.”
• Zain knew he was right. Amari in an office job? He shook his head. “I’m good at other things too.” It was true. Every spare second he had, he was at the gym, the shooting range…
• “I’m sure you are, but until some things are resolved, you’re needed there.”
• Zain looked at the king’s door again. He was right. He exhaled. “I know. Okay, I have to go. Do you need anything? Paperwork is good for any crossings or questions?”
• “We’re good”
• “Excellent. Have a good day.” He hung up and then flopped back in his chair. He was good at so many things. Planning was one of them. Right now, he needed to get the stuff to Deva and set up a plane ticket purchase where he could just enter the destination later. Once he had all of that setup, he was going down to see Barack and see if he’d let him talk to the wolf. He needed to know what was going on with him. What did he know? Would he recognize him? He needed to know. Sitting up here picturing outcomes without all the facts was going to drive him mad.