Phoenix Rising: The Veiðimenn Mob, Book Two

Thirty-Seven

Declan's Camry pulled into the driveway of the De Luca manor. Thomas, David, and Trace climbed out behind him. With a grace that he seemed to be born with, the auburn-haired man led the other three over to his nephew. Looking him over, he said, “Report."

"Kenni had enough time to shut down the signal blockers and kill the traitor before she was taken. The Maestro's en route to the hospital, along with the survivors from the team we sent with Ken. There are no survivors from Bianchi’s crew, however. Markus and Mem are working with Jax and Luke to break into the security feed to find out what we can from that,” the teen answered.

A heartbeat of time passed as they collectively braced for the coming storm. All of them knowing that the lines drawn had been crossed, and now the province had become a battlefield.

“She left her phone, Uncle Declan." Phoenix advised as he handed over the device in his hand.

David paled, "Kennedy wouldn't leave that behind unless she planned it. That girl does nothing without a damn good reason. She probably felt something off and went with her intuition. Good on her."

"My thoughts exactly, Uncle David," the teen confirmed. "Take a look at this video."

Taking the device, Declan silently praised the girl's ingenuity. As the video played, he noted the way that their guards moved around the red-head. Noticed how they spoke, and how Carissa kept glaring at the teen when she thought Kennedy wasn't looking. The video shifted focus, showing one of Kennedy's hands slipping a small black square into the inside pocket of Romie's blazer as she snapped at the younger teen.

"Good girl. She covered all her bases just in case," Trace whispered, his pride evident as he pulled out his phone and called the IT team.

David swallowed, "Let's hope that Princess and Ms. De Luca get out of this alive."

"Don't say s**t like that," Memphis growled warningly as he walked over to them.

His father stopped him, snarling a warning about his attitude with his elders. “You obey us, not the other way around. Show respect.”

Pissed well beyond reasoning, Memphis shook the man off and went to check with Sky’s group.

Markus jogged over to the group, "Hallo, Vater. I’m so freaking glad my boyfriend and little brother are techies. We managed to get past the Maestro’s firewall remotely, and the boys were able to get into the front gate’s security feed."

Eager to start things, Trace grinned, “Typisch. Gute Arbeit. Let’s check it out.”

"I never wanted this to happen," Phoenix muttered. "I just wanted to make her happy, to let her come here to have a nice dinner with her father. I swore I would do everything in my power to keep her safe. I failed, Uncle Declan. I failed to keep my promised to her."

He leaned against the wall of the manor, rubbing his hands over his face. Gripping his blond waves in his slender fingers, he cursed under his breath. Letting out an aggravated breath, he yelled, “Fokk! Hvernig í ósköpunum gerðist þetta?!”

Declan grabbed his nephew by the collar of his jacket and yanked him closer. Bringing the teen in until their noses were nearly touching, he said, "Buck up, punk. Is this the kind of behaviour your predecessors instilled in your sorry ass? Are you going to spend the rest of your life beating yourself up for something you had zero control over or are you going to get to work to find Kenni and Romie before time runs out? If you really love that girl, then you f*****g fight for her and you never back down. Not until you are the last one standing. Got me?"

Anger darkened Phoenix’s brown orbs, rage bubbling just below the surface of his ability to reason. His eyes closed, an ominous calm settling over him as he recentered himself. Beating back the pulsing darkness of his temper, he reined his emotions in. opening his eyes again, he nodded once. “Let’s do this.”

Seeing that the boy was ready to get back in the game, Declan smirked. Moving from the group, he raised his voice enough to let them all hear him. “Pull it together, people. We're losing daylight, and time is of the essence. Trace, show that vid to the IT team and get that tripod equipment back to the towers for investigation. Don Callum’s going to want to know who provided it. I want my little sister found ASAP."

Another motorcycle pulled up, catching their attention. Callum pulled off his helmet, shaking his blond waves out before stalking over to the group. He cut a look of pride at his son, before looking back at his people. "Twenty-four hours."

"Sir," Declan questioned.

"I want the girls found in the next twenty-four f*****g hours or heads are gonna roll," the Don said darkly. "Declan, take command of the soldiers here. Trace, you're in charge of tracking. Include Jax and Luke if it shaves time off the task. They’re her teammates, so let them help. Thomas, take Phoenix and friends back to the Towers to prep, then over to the Underground for some rigorous training. I want them ready to move as soon as the girls are found. Robert Drake, I need you to head back and sit on my head of security before he pisses me off. He’s blaming himself, and we all know how bad he can get, so get gone. David, take a team and search the building top to bottom. Kill anything you deem a threat."

Nodding, David snapped his fingers and gathered the few that were closest to him.

Callum looked at his son. Although proud that the sixteen, almost seventeen-year-old took control of the situation, he was not about to inflate the boy’s ego too much. "What the hell happened?"

"Bianchi and his men were waiting for them when they got here. Maestro De Luca was sent to the hospital along with the three from Kenni’s team that survived the attack," Phoenix told him. He fought a shiver of fear as he watched his father's face darken with rage. He waited, almost impatiently, as Markus opened his laptop and showed them what Lukas and Jaxon had found.

Callum watched Kennedy take a stand despite the odds stacked against her. His eyes widened, the blood draining from his face as he watched Bianchi shout something to another man after backhanding Kennedy. Seconds later, a gun was aimed at Andromeda's head. They watched Kennedy’s shoulders sag with feigned defeat just before the men dragged the now unconscious girls out of the cameras vantage point.

"Wait! Stop the playback and rewind it a few seconds," Phoenix hissed. "There! Stop there. Look at her hands, guys. She's signing something, knowing we would check the feeds for clues. God, I love her."

Markus zoomed in on Kennedy's hands, and played the video in slow motion. Carefully watching the way her hands moved, he spelled out what she was saying. “She's letting us know we need to question the Maestro. She’s saying it was a set-up, that "

Pulling out his phone, Callum called Ambrosia. He braced himself for the impact of her temper, knowing fully what the young red-head meant to his wife. One ring, then two. Finally his beloved wife picked up. “We have a problem.”

"Where’s Kennedy? De Luca just arrive and was spewing something about the rebellious girl doing her best, so where’s our girl?" She asked immediately, her temper already ignited.

"That’s what I was calling about, actually. Can you do your question Francesco about Bianchi. He was waiting here for them when the team arrived. The ambush almost succeeded fully, but Kennedy played her cards just right,” Callum replied.

He listened as her breathing hitched. "Good girl. Now she’ll show him what we’re made of. No worries, I'll make sure to take the trash out, babe. You do what you have to do. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart," Callum said before hanging up. He turned to his brother-in-law with a scowl, "She's handling that, but why is David here? He's supposed to be at the hospital."

"Yeah, I know, but my sister told him to stuff his job where the sun didn’t shine and stay with the team just in case. It’s scary how accurate her intuition is sometimes," Declan snorted as he pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket. Worry for the girl who he’d adopted on a gamble filled him. He’d only wanted her sister, but knew there was no way he’d be able to leave the tiny ten-year-old behind. She’d become a second sister to him, continuously making his life hell at the drop of a hat.

Taking a deep drag from the smoke, he said, "She told me this morning she'd gladly lay her life down to protect Andromeda as long as Phoenix stays as happy as he is with her. I never thought she actually meant it, but the same conviction she used when pledging her life to Nix was loud and clear. What the hell was she thinking?"

Laughing under his breath, Callum called Damien and Xander. Both had grown up with his father, and Xander was his Godfather. Once they promised to rally their contacts and troops, he called his father’s Goddaughter.

“Xena, I need you,” he said.

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then, a man answered, “Callum?”

“Ah, Master Dalhurst. Yes, this is Callum,” the blond answered, immediately recognizing the shaky intonation of Xena’s grandfather. Nikolai listened attentively, the angry breaths of the man were so tangible, the blond could feel it through the connection.

“I will get on it now, so you focus on what is needed to be done on your end of things,” Nikolai replied smoothly.