Chapter 19

CATALINA

The officer slammed me face-first into the car, pulling my hands behind my back and handcuffing me.

“Ouch!” I exclaimed.

“You have the right to remain silent…” His words faded into the background as I already knew how this was going to go.

All I could think was, ~this is a terrible plan and Lucifer is going to kill us.~

~Relax, kitten, he’ll never know,~ Kol said.

At the moment, I had all my other mates blocked from talking or hearing my thoughts, per Kol’s request.

~Why did I go along with this?~ I hissed back at him.

~Because you love me,~ he sent me a mental grin.

I lost connection for a second as the cop hauled me into the police car, bumping my head in the process.

All this over a pack of lollipops? And a slight redecoration of the store?

It seemed a little overkill to be hauling me to jail.

~Did you forget the man you killed?~ Kol asked in amusement.

~What? I didn’t kill anyone! That wasn’t part of the plan.~ Silence from his end.

~Kol, what the fuck! You didn’t?~

~Sorry, kitten, I needed you in prison.~

I was very tempted to contact Lucifer in that moment.

But I needed to trust Kol—trust that his plan would work.

~No sex for a month!~

The officer called in the situation.

I cringed when he mentioned murder.

Dammit, Kol, no wonder he was being so rough.

I sighed, my head falling to the side as I stared out the window.

I glared at Kol sitting on top of the gas station building, sucking on a lollipop.

He gave me a small wave.

Asshole.

KOL

“Are you out of your fucking mind? You got our ~pregnant~ mate locked up for a bonding exercise?” Lucifer growled, stalking closer to me.

Well, when he put it like that, of course it was going to sound bad.

I had gathered them all in the throne room bright and early the next day.

Before they could notice, Catalina was missing.

Pretending she slept in my room last night could only work for so long.

If the wolf still had his lycan, he would’ve noticed right away she wasn’t in the mansion.

“That’s exactly what I did.”

It was hard to contain my excitement.

“This is going to be a wonderful bonding experience. We’re going to break her out!”

I stood grinning, waiting for the others to realize how great my idea was.

I only received blank stares and a murderous one from Lucien that truly had no effect since he was human.

“I would ask if you’re out of your mind. But we’ve already determined you are,” Nick sighed.

I ground my teeth at the insult.

“And your mind will be out of your head if you don’t watch it.”

He arched a challenging brow at my words.

Lucifer stepped between us, annoyance written all over his face.

“Have you forgotten there are people after her, Kol?”

I shrugged.

“If she’s in any real danger, she knows to contact me immediately.”

“Any ~real~ danger? She’s in a prison for Christ’s sake.”

Lucien threw his arms up, seemingly fed up.

With me or this conversation? I never knew with the ex-wolf.

“And she’s ~pregnant!~ Why the hell she went along with this I’ll never know.”

I waved him off.

“If you care that much, you’ll be figuring out the best way to break her out instead of complaining about why she’s in it.”

Taking a seat in his throne, Lucifer rubbed his temples.

“He’s right. Let’s not keep her in there longer than she needs to be.”

I grinned.

Finally, someone got it.

“What prison?”

“Detroit State Prison.”

Several choice words were uttered at my answer.

I pulled the blueprints from my back pocket, looking around for a table.

Lucifer sighed, snapping his fingers.

I grinned at the wooden table now in front of me.

Laying the map out, I encouraged the others to gather around, but no one moved.

“Let’s get down to business. First things first, we’ll need police uniforms.”

Nick made a sound.

“And why would we need that?”

I narrowed my eyes at his tone.

He was lucky he was one of my kitten’s baby daddies.

“Easier to sneak us in under the pretense of being prisoners,” I pointed out to Sebastian and Lucien.

They were two of her mates who hardly ever spoke to each other.

It made sense, though.

Werewolves and vampires have always been natural enemies.

“You two will be the prisoners.”

I watched in amusement as Lucien glared in Sebastian’s direction.

Yes, this was a good choice.

They needed to bond the most.

“Who made you the leader?” Nick cut in.

I growled.

This fucking fairy.

“I came up with the idea, so I lead the plan,” I snarled in his direction.

If only I had my powers…

Mateo stepped between us.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a bonding experience?” he reminded us.

My anger deflated.

If I wanted my powers back, I had to play nice.

For now.

“I’ll get the uniforms. The next step is an escape plan.”

Lucifer leaned forward, pointing to an area on the blueprint.

“Our best chance is the yard. Lots of open space.”

I frowned.

“Wouldn’t that be the worst place then? We can’t just expose ourselves to humans.”

He swore, obviously not having thought of that.

I pointed to another section.

“This is solitary confinement. This is our best chance of getting her without exposing ourselves. If she’s alone, we can use our powers.”

I looked pointedly at Sebastian, who was currently the host of mine.

“You’ll have to teleport.”

He blinked at me.

“And how do I do that?” he challenged.

Why were all her mates so testy?

“Easy. I’ll teach you. It’ll be ~our~ bonding moment,” I grinned, sending him a wink.

Then I switched my focus to Mateo.

“You’ll be in charge of getting into their system. Make the cameras malfunction so no one sees what’s happening.”

He nodded, an excited look in his eyes.

“Nick and I will be the officers.”

“Great.”

I clenched my fist, trying to simmer down my anger.

“And lastly,” I looked at Lucifer, who arched a brow, “our getaway driver.”

CATALINA

I stared at my cellmate, wondering what she did to get in here.

Did she kill someone?

She looked like she could be a killer.

She was big, full of muscles.

One punch from her would probably give you a concussion.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” she snarled.

I cocked my head.

“What are you in for?” I blurted out.

Her face scrunched, like she had eaten something sour.

“Why are you talking to me?”

I smirked.

“You spoke to me first.”

She stood from her bed, and so did I. Kol had warned me not to let anyone intimidate me while I was in here—to remember I was a demi-god and they were just humans.

Otherwise, they would eat me alive.

“You got a death wish, kid? Walking in here like you’re all high and mighty?”

Her words held true malice. Again, I wondered what she was in for.

I smiled, irritating her further.

“I know for a fact I’m on a higher scale than you.”

She stopped a foot away from me, then grinned—a promise of hurt in her smile.

“Lunch is soon. You better watch your back.”