Ghost Bird... Do You Copy?

They Still Fall For This Stuff?

Chapter Nine
They Still Fall For This Stuff? (Playlist Electricity by Ashley Jana)

I am not only thanking Jennifer, my Beta, on this one, but TheoneRae as well. Girls, you don't know how much you have helped me!! <3

Kayli's POV: I paced the floor back and forth waiting for Raven to get home. I was so angry at him for leaving with those men. Axel and Blake had been holed up in Corey's room with him since they left. Marc kept going in and out. Every time I asked for Intel, they would just ignore me and keep on walking. I had raised my voice, threatened hell and damnation, pretended to cry, withheld sex. Nothing. I had one more trick up my sleeve. I walked into Celia's room where all three girls were playing "wedding" with their dolls. "Celia, mommy needs you for a special trick." "Ok, mommy." And she hopped right up to follow. We loved playing this game with the guys, and they couldn't resist. I think. She stood her post in the center of the second floor and nodded to me. I went to my room and closed the door. Once it closed I knocked three times. This was Celia's signal to count to thirty. I waited, counting to myself... 28, 29, 30. Celia shrieked and took off down the stairwell. As predicted, three sets of thunderous foot falls followed. You would think after five years of playing this game, they would have figured out it was a ploy. Even Roxanne and Vivienne were just beginning to learn it. After I was sure they were all downstairs or outside, I quickly and silently made it over to Corey's room. Standing in front of the computer, it was blank, but it was obvious there were people talking by the sound waves being made on the screen. I sat down and placed the head phones on my ears. The first voice I heard was Raven's: "No worry. You are cute enough." Laughter. "All right, down to business." Thud.

"Der'mo! Give me that!" Flipping of papers. "What do you want with me?"

"We want you to be a professional Russian again." "How so? And I want this," tap, tap, tap, "to go away. All of it. My whole history. I am the good guy. A super-hero now. A bad-a*s super-hero.""We can do that. Even with Interpol. This is what is going to happen. There is a Russian underground movement. You are going to completely integrate yourself back into Russian society and become a part of the underground movement. They are trying to somehow overthrow the government. They want to stop the war as much as we do. You have specific skills that we think would help in their plight. You are going to start in Moscow. Go big or go home. You will have everything at your disposal there. Make your way to Spasskaya Tower in the Red Square. In the clockworks, there will be your guns, clothing, ID's, and everything else. I am assuming you are attending the wedding on Sunday?""Yes." "Be prepared to leave at noon the following day. There will be some training before-hand." Scooting of chairs."Tili Tili Bom, vozvrashchayetsya v Rossiyu-matushku." (The Boogy-man is returning to Mother Russia.) My jaw dropped. The swivel chair turned, and the headphones were removed from my head. Strong, warm hands enveloped my cheeks, while a thumb wiped away a tear that was falling down my cheek. I looked up into the dark, almond-shaped eyes of Axel. "You know he will come back from this. He has you and Alyosha, our daughters and his brothers. As long as all of us need him, he will go through hell to return home. They are just going to... borrow him for a while." I just leaned forward and started crying on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and let me cry into him. I know I heard several pairs of feet enter the room. The girls wrapped their arms around me, not knowing why mommy was crying. The men were saying words back and forth, but I was lost in my moment. I must have been there for quite a while. The next thing I heard was, "Little Thief. What has happened? I leave, you are smiling. I return you cry. Tell me." I slowly looked up from the chest I was leaning against, realizing everyone else must have left the room at some point. My sadness morphing into anger. Axel sensed it. It was palpable, because they both backed up. My breaths were coming in short and deep. My head sharply went to Axel. "Leave. Now." He was already leaving the room before I had finished my statement. As the door slammed, I marched right up to Raven and slapped him across the face, hard. "My Little Thief is mad. Talk. No get a second chance." I went to slap him again, but he caught my hand. The fight really was already out of me. I was just angry that he didn't call and discuss it with me. He saw it too. He pulled me into him, and kissed me hard, which I reciprocated. Well, what was the saying? When in Rome, or Russia, or home... ah who cares.