Kintsugi

The Chase

"This is such a bad idea."

"Call in reinforcements and wait on them to get here then. Nobody is forcing you along."

Sable stepped in once again to head off the bickering between Aisling and Anson. "Would you actually give us a chance to call in reinforcements? Because I'll remind you, the last time we tried this, Simm sorta wiped the floor with us. And now he's got Eveirdo on his side."

Anson shuffled in clear agitation. "I've left him alone for too long already."

Sable sighed, shaking her head. "You wolves and your mates." She smirked when Anson didn't deny it this time. Turning to Aisling, she raised a brow. "You've got our contingency plan worked out?"

Aisling nodded, finishing typing out the email to her mother on her phone and reading it over one last time before hitting send. "Yup. Mom's got all the information we do. And if we don't check in after twenty-four hours, she'll take whatever measures she sees fit." Aisling gave a morbid smile at that. "I almost feel sorry for Simm. He picked the wrong family to mess with."

Anson nodded grimly. "Leave Eveirdo to me. Send up those signals so I know what's going on. Don't die."

Rebecca huffed as she reached out to take Anson and Aisling's hands. "It's the not dying we really need to focus on. You, especially." Anson and Aisling took hold of Sable's hands and Rebecca teleported them back to the island. They landed on one of the tiers below the wall around the manor, to one side of the gates. Out of sight, hopefully.

The young Witch looked over the gates, considering. "He's bulked up his security. Nobody is touching that door without setting off the alarms. I'm afraid to even get close to it."

Aisling's eyes trailed across the top of the wall. "What if we just go up and over?"

Rebecca frowned. "That would work, for those of you who can jump that."

"I suppose," Sable mused, "you're all either too young or too out of touch to remember that barrel of monkeys toy?" She grinned when she got considering and confused looks back. Backing up a few steps, she prepared to make a dash straight at the wall. "Give me a boost Anson?"

Anson looked up at the top of the wall, then nodded in understanding. Bracing his feet with his back to the wall, he laced his fingers into a step. "Whenever you're ready, my lady."

Sable bounced on her toes a couple times and darted forward. Long strides covered the distance to give her a running start. She planted one foot in Anson's hands and jumped as he threw her upwards. A quick scrabble of claws had her clinging to the top of the wall above her and she braced her feet to reach down. "Come on Aisling."

Aisling nodded, making a running start and leaping out of Anson's boost to grasp Sable's hand. With her reaching down as another link in the chain, the distance Rebecca would have to clear without Vampire strength to rely on was manageable. She lightly got her running start, and Anson tossed her up to Aisling. There was a slight fumble as Rebecca didn't quite catch Aisling's reaching fingertips, but Aisling reached with her legs instead and the Witch caught a hold on her ankle.

Anson waited beneath, ready to catch Rebecca if she needed, but she made the awkward climb up the living ladder and was soon over the edge of the wall. Aisling went up and over next. Sable looked down at Anson for a final word. "Good luck."

He nodded. "You, too."

Anson hurried off around the side of the manor walls, climbing the mountainside until he found a good vantage down into the courtyard with easy access around the peak and down into the forested side of the mountain. Stripping down, he stashed his clothes and shifted. When he was done, he padded out onto the outcropping where he would be in full view.