Rachel placed her last pair of sweatpants into the small carryon bag she’d been given for their trip to Istanbul. She feared she’d be too warm—it was August—but Adam assured her that the fortress would be chilly since most of it was underground and that she’d be fine wearing warm clothes. When she finally stood up from her packing, her rib cage protested, and Rachel grimaced. A week after her beating and she still hurt enough to pop pain pills regularly.
After a sigh, Rachel zipped up her luggage, and then checked the bedroom one last time to confirm she hadn’t forgotten anything. She snorted at the thought. Chances of her forgetting anything were slim to none since she didn’t own anything anymore. Still, she checked the bathroom, making sure she’d packed her toothbrush and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
Frowning, she studied her black eye. Urgh... I look like an abused wife, she thought, disgusted and wishing for some concealer.
As she left the bathroom, she heard a knock on her door. Rachel called out, “Come in! It’s unlocked,” thinking it was Adam or Zach, or maybe even Ella. The door opened to admit Simon. He ignored her, and instead, grabbed her bag with his signature scowl permanently in place, and then left the room. After her heartbeat slowed, she followed him out.
At the bottom of the stairs, she heard Adam’s voice. “You need a haircut again.”
“For god’s sake Black, leave my hair alone,” replied a grumpy Zach. “It’s not like I’ve had a chance to get it cut in the last two months.” Rachel stepped into the hallway in time to see Zach bat Adam’s arm away with his good hand. It was true, she realized. His blond spikes had grown shaggy in the last few weeks. Zach brushed his hair from his eyes. “If you need to brush it from your eyes,” Adam continued, “it’s too long.” Zach sighed, but Isaac’s arrival on the scene prevented his retort.
Isaac scanned the hallway, his expression somber. When his eyes fell on her, Rachel tensed and glared back at him. She’d yet to forgive him for putting her in isolation without so much as a by your leave. “Our flight is in two hours,” Isaac announced in his usual holier-than-thou tone. “Where is Simon?”
“He walked out with our luggage,” Zach told him, shrugging one shoulder.
“Without his trainee?” Isaac asked, his cheeks reddening. “My order—”
“You need to learn when to push and when not to, Isaac,” Ella interrupted, walking up behind him, and touching his shoulder. “I’m the one who ordered Simon to leave with the first car while we finished in here.” Isaac glared at her, but before he could respond, Ella cut him off, “Trust me, Isaac. I know my Hashashin, and right now, it’s not a good time to have both Rachel and Simon in the same car, let alone Rachel, Zach, Adam, and Simon.”
“You baby them, Ella. This is not a preschool with nap times and timeouts. I will not have personal feelings getting in the way of the duties we all are required to perform. Simon included.”
Ella’s lip thinned. “I know what I’m doing, and you will stay out of it.” Gracefully, Ella stepped passed Isaac and went to the front door. Opening it, she scanned the surrounding area before ushering everyone outside and into a black limousine waiting for them in front of the building. Rachel climbed into the car and gave the compound one last look from the car’s rear passenger window.
Zach nudged her. “You look lost. You okay?”
Rachel sighed and pushed the hood from her head. “Yeah. Sure.” She faced Zach and tried to smile as Adam settled into the seat next to her. Isaac and Ella claimed seats across from them.
“I wonder what it will be like in Istanbul,” she said, more to assuage her nerves than true curiosity.
“Sunshine, happiness, and rainbows!” Zach chirped.
Adam snickered and added, “Busy.” Ella snorted, and Isaac frowned. Adam continued with a diminished smile, “There are some ceremonies planned. A memorial for our fallen. Our trials. Once our official business is concluded, and Zach’s injury cleared, we will be reassigned.”
“Where?” Rachel inquired. “Do you know yet?”
Adam shared a look with Ella and then Isaac before responding, “No. Not yet.”
“Well, I’m hoping to stay in Istanbul, and continue my training under your tutelage,” Zach replied. “So, Adam, you better take that promotion.”
“Promotion?” Rachel sat forward curious.
Adam nodded and glanced outside. He seemed uncomfortable and Rachel had the impression he was hiding something, but with everyone in the car, she didn’t want to press him for answers. Besides, he promised to include her in any decision which affected her. So, instead of calling him on it, she relaxed against the seat and rested her forehead against the window. She let the sound of tires on wet pavement accompany her thoughts until they reached the airport.
After being released from the car, Rachel took a deep breath and adjusted her sweatshirt’s hood, and as their party of ten entered Heathrow, Rachel hoped this flight would be nothing like the last one.
Half a day later, they had arrived in Istanbul with no mishaps, and the first thing Rachel noticed as she stepped outside of the Atatürk International airport was the tang of the sea in the air. It reminded her of the Clearwater airport in Florida on the few times she flew to visit her folks instead of driving—well, before she totaled her car and gave up driving completely.
Rachel and Zach stood a few paces behind Isaac at the curb with their luggage, and Zach shifted his weight from foot to foot while they waited. Behind them stood Simon. Rachel wondered if Simon’s proximity had added to Zach’s fidgeting or if he was letting off steam after their flight. Regardless, the hushed conversation between Adam and Isaac had her attention.
When it ended, and Adam rejoined her, she asked, “Do we have a car in long-term parking like we did in London?”
“No,” he replied as he flicked his gaze to Simon behind her. “We’ll take a taxi to the rendezvous point. Our drivers will be waiting for us there.”
Drawing his gaze back to her with a touch to his arm, she queried, “How long will it take to get there?”
“An hour to reach the rendezvous and another forty-five for our destination.” His expression lost some of its hard edge. “I wish you could see it before we arrive, but only our drivers will.”
“Why?”
“Blindfolded.”
“Again? You know,” she said. “I’ve been wearing blindfolds so often since meeting you, that you’d think it was a fetish of mine.”
Behind her, Zach muffled a laugh and she overheard Simon’s huff of aggravation. Adam half-smiled. “Well, if you say it is, I might be able to accommodate that.” He wiggled his eyebrows, but then grew serious. “It’s also for your protection. You cannot be forced to reveal what you do not know.”
“I know,” she said, remembering all the information Mark gleaned from her when she was strapped to his machine.
Adam clasped her shoulders in his hands and rubbed. Rachel’s heartbeat kicked up a notch. “You, all right?”
Rachel nodded.
“Good,” Adam said, releasing her. “Because we’re going to have to split up.”
“Split up?”
“Yes. Our group is too big and going in several cars makes it harder for the Org to track all of us.”
“Okay,” she murmured.
Adam frowned. “You aren’t going to like this, but you are to ride with Dr. Campbell”—She sighed. Relieved. There were worse things than being locked in a car with Dr. Campbell. It could have been Simon.—“and Jack.”
Her shoulders tensed. Inquisitor Jackass and Dr. Talk-forever-about-your-feelings Campbell? She sighed. Relax. They aren’t Simon. “Yeah. Okay. Sure.”
Adam grabbed her bag at her feet and slung it over his shoulder. “You’ll survive.” He paused, seriousness returned to his expression. “You ready to go?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
After she clambered into the taxi with the others and settled, Adam addressed the driver, “Hadi gidelim.” Rachel had no idea what he said but guessed it was something about leaving because the driver nodded and moments after Adam shut her door, the driver pulled into traffic.
Rachel sighed and looked out her window. At least she had an hour or two to see what she could of Istanbul before she was sequestered away.
Again.
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