Lethal Consequences (The Aegis Series Book 2)

by Elisabeth Naughton

  Weird question. His brow dropped. “The serum. The antidote. Did you get it?”

  “Oh, that.” Her fingertips moved against his hipbone. “Almost.”

  Almost . . . He was obviously more tired than he’d thought. But when her fingers grazed the edge of the sheet, already riding low, warning bells rang in his head.

  Holy fuck. He was bare-ass naked only inches from her hand. He tugged the sheet up, glanced quickly to his left, and discovered Olivia’s side of the bed was empty.

  His eyes shot to the floor. Olivia’s clothes were gone too. Even her shoes were missing, an empty space now where he’d dumped her garments when he’d stripped her out of them piece by piece only hours ago.

  Jumbled thoughts rushed through his head. Dani here, Olivia gone, him naked. This had major-ass fuckup written all over it. He swung his legs over the far side of the bed, clenched the sheet together at his hip, and pushed to his feet. “Where is she?”

  Dani shifted on the bed where she was sitting and watched him walk around the room as if his being naked in front of her was no big deal. “Who?”

  Who? She knew damn well who. “Olivia.”

  Searching frantically for his jeans, he finally spotted them, hanging halfway off a chair. He turned away and tugged them on, then dropped the sheet when his ass was covered, not wanting Olivia to walk in and see him half-naked in a room—any room—with Dani. Son of a bitch, the last thing he needed was for her to get any crazy ideas about the two of them. He wasn’t interested in Dani. Never had been.

  “Oh. Her.” Dani waved her hand while he looked for his shirt. “I saw her through the window when I came up from the lab. It looked like she was going for a walk. You know, Landon, she’s all wrong for you.” She crossed one leg over the other, her bare foot dangling in the air. She was still wearing the same short shorts and fitted tank she’d had on earlier, but her chestnut hair now fell over her shoulders, and in the moonlight she looked way older than twenty-two, and way more worldly. “I hate to see you get so worked up over someone like her. Especially knowing how weak she is.”

  He stilled in the act of reaching for his T-shirt from the floor. “She’s not weak. You don’t have a clue what she’s been through.”

  “We’ve all been through bad shit. But you and I . . .” She pushed to her feet, crossed the floor, and stopped in front of him, the look in her eyes shifting from friendly to predatory. “We share a connection you can’t possibly have with her.”

  Her hand landed against his bare chest. She rose up on her toes and leaned toward his mouth.

  Landon pushed against her shoulder and moved back just before her lips met his. “Whoa. Dani, stop.”

  She stilled but didn’t ease away. “Why? You haven’t even known her that long. I’ve been here all this time. And you said you would take care of me. You owe me. You know you do.”

  Pinpricks of ice stabbed at his spine. She was right. He did owe her. But not like this. He closed his hand over her wrist, pulling her fingers away from his skin. “Dani—”

  The cordless phone on the bedside table rang, the sound echoing across the room with a sharp shrill.

  Olivia . . .

  Landon dropped Dani’s hand, moved around her, and punched Talk without looking at the number. “Livy?”

  “No. It’s Stone.”

  Raleigh. Landon swiped a hand over his brow. “Why are you calling me on the damn landline?”

  “Because you weren’t answering your cell, idiot.”

  Shit. Landon patted the back pocket of his jeans and found it empty. He’d stuffed his phone there earlier, after his chat with Dani. Just before he’d come back to this room and distracted Olivia from both their worries with his hands and mouth and body. He’d been so caught up in her he’d forgotten to set his cell on the nightstand before they’d fallen asleep. He scanned the dark floor near the chair, searching for the small device.

  “We’ve got a problem,” Stone said in his ear. “The northwest corner of the perimeter is down. Bentley’s checking on it but—”

  Everything inside Landon stilled. His gaze darted toward the door. Holy fuck. Olivia . . .

  “How long?” He whirled toward the closet and pulled out the black duffel. Tucking the phone between his ear and shoulder, he pawed through the weapons, pulling out the Sig Sauer P220 and the Glock 17.

  “Three minutes,” Stone answered. “It could just be a glitch. You said Crossler messed with the system and that it’s touchy. We haven’t ironed out all the bu—”

  “It’s not a glitch.” He snapped a full magazine into the Glock and tucked it into the back waistband of his jeans, then loaded the Sig. “I’m taking Dani down to the lab.”

  “What about Olivia?”

  “I don’t know where she is. She’s not here.”

  “Fuck.”

  No shit. The whole situation was fucked. If this was the Red Brotherhood, they were earlier than any of them had expected. Which meant . . . either Dani’s estimate about the tags was wrong, or someone was leaking information to the terrorist group.

  He didn’t have time to speculate. Landon pushed to his feet and tugged on his shirt. Gripping the phone in his hand, he said, “I’ll find her. Get that damn system back online, then get down to the lab as soon as you can.”

  “On it. Miller, there’s something else.”

  There was more? God Almighty. “What?”

  “Ryder called. He found a picture of Danica Crossler. In it, she—”

  The line went dead in Landon’s ear. He pulled the phone away, stared at it. Hit Talk again. Nothing happened.

  “Son of a fucking bitch!”

  Behind him, Dani said, “What’s happening?”

  “The security system’s down, and the phone just went dead.”

  Her face paled. “Wh-what does that mean?”

  “It means we’re in trouble.” He tossed the phone on the bed. “It also means we’re moving.” After shoving his feet into his boots, he gripped Dani by the arm, tugging her toward the door. “Where did you see Olivia? Don’t think about lying to me this time.”

  “I . . .” Her voice shook. “She was closing your bedroom door when I was coming up the stairs. She didn’t see me. I don’t know where she went. She walked into the living room, but I didn’t look to see where she was heading.”

  No, because she’d seen her chance to make her move and she’d pounced. Pushing her behind him, he gripped the Sig in one hand and carefully opened the door just enough so he could look out into the hallway.

  The house was quiet and dark. No sound echoed on the first floor. Slowly, he drew the door open farther and stepped out into the corridor. When he found it empty, he motioned for Dani to follow.

  They made their way down the stairs to the lower level. He checked open doorways before they passed. Everything looked normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Behind him he could feel Dani’s fear vibrating in the air, but all he could think about was getting her locked somewhere safe, then finding Olivia.

  The door to the lab was pushed partway open. He hesitated a foot away and whispered, “Did you close this before you left?”

  There was just enough light coming from the lab to see her nod.

  Landon’s adrenaline shot up. He gripped the gun in both hands and moved forward a careful inch. Hesitating, he listened. A scratching sound echoed from inside the lab.

  He nodded for Dani to move back against the wall. Eyes wide as saucers, she listened. When she was out of range, he shoved the door open with his shoulder and swung the gun in front of him.

  Across the room where she stood at the far counter, Olivia lifted her head, dropped the pen in her hand, and gasped. The pen clattered against the Formica surface and stopped near what looked like an insulated lunch bag.

  “Jesus, Livy.” Landon’s heart lurched into his throat. He quickly lo
wered the Sig and tucked it next to the Glock at his spine. “You scared the shit out of me. What the hell are you doing down here?”

  “I . . . I was just leaving you a note.”

  “A note for what?”

  Olivia’s gaze skipped past him, to what he knew was Dani moving into the room, then back to his face. Nerves danced over her features, then darkened her eyes. “You were supposed to stay asleep, Landon.”

  He was having trouble following her, but tingles ran down his back, and a strange heat flushed his skin, telling him something about this whole situation was wrong.

  He took another step into the room. “What are you talking about?”

  She grabbed the insulated lunch bag on the counter and moved back, toward the door on the far side, keeping the island between them. “I’ve already made up my mind, and you can’t change it. This is the only way things are going to work. I’m going to die anyway.”

  His heart felt like it stopped, right in the middle of his chest. His gaze shot to the lunch bag in her hand, then to the open centrifugal machine on the counter.

  “No.” She’d taken her blood samples. She was leaving with them. Taking the signal with her so no one could track her here. Saving him. She had no idea the Red Brotherhood could already be outside. “Olivia, wait.”

  He moved to the right. She rushed for the door on the far side of the room.

  Panic closed his throat, and he reached for the edge of the counter, trying to get past it. Olivia shoved the door open and took one step into the cement stairwell that led up to the lawn, then yelped.

  Landon’s adrenaline went sky-high. He reached back for the SIG. Two burly men dressed all in black shoved Olivia back into the lab. The lunch bag hit the ground at her feet. At his back, Dani gasped. Landon pulled the gun and aimed his sights on the thug holding Olivia at the throat. “Let her go.”

  “I wouldn’t advise that,” a woman’s voice echoed from the stairwell.

  Footsteps sounded, and then the woman stepped into the lab. A woman who was supposed to be dead. “You’re not going to need that weapon, Mr. Miller.”

  The blood drained from Landon’s face, and against the gun, his hands grew damp.

  Victoria Crossler’s dark gaze skipped past Landon and landed on Dani at his back. “Hello, darling. I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Mom?” Danica gasped.

  Mom? Hands gripping the forearm against her throat, Olivia glanced from Landon to Dani, then to the scarred face of the woman who’d moved into the room.

  “Yes, it’s me,” the woman said. “I know this is a surprise, dear, but I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  Dani’s cheeks were ashen. And Landon’s didn’t look much better.

  This was the woman he thought he’d killed. Olivia’s mind scrambled for a name. At one point she was sure she’d heard someone with Aegis call her Victoria. A thousand questions whipped through Olivia, especially when she noticed the puckered burn scars over one whole side of Victoria Crossler’s face, but when she opened her mouth to ask them, the forearm tightened at her throat, cutting off her words.

  “How . . . ?” Dani sputtered, taking a step closer to Landon. “Why . . . ? You were dead. I heard the fight.”

  “Not dead,” Victoria Crossler answered, her icy gaze skipping to Landon. “Just injured. Luckily, my associates saw the fire when the lab went up in flames and pulled me out.”

  Dani’s mother stood several steps ahead and to the left of Olivia. Dressed in slim jeans and a loose-fitting blouse, she was in good shape for her age, but her pinned-up hair exposed the intense scarring running over her cheek, down her neck, and across her bare arm. And it also left the tattoo on the nape of her neck visible for anyone to see. The same tattoo Olivia had seen on the people who’d taken them in Sardinia. The compass in a circle cut by two diagonal blades.

  “Your associates,” Dani gasped. “You were already working with the Red Brotherhood? Did Dad know?”

  “Of course your father knew. Who do you think got him connected? Your father’s work was very important to our cause. He made Cerberus for us. We were training you to join us when this man”—she nodded toward Landon—“got in the way.”

  “But how . . .” Dani sputtered. “How did you know to come here?”

  “Splitting the signal was a smart move,” Dani’s mother said, looking toward Landon, “but we know more about Cerberus than either of you. The signal fades rapidly outside the body.”

  Faster than they’d obviously calculated. Olivia’s fingers tightened around the hand at her throat. The man at her back was big. Muscular. Landon’s gun was trained on his forehead, and Olivia could see that his gaze was skipping from one person to the next, calculating how and where to shoot to get her free. She ran through self-defense moves in her mind. The ones Mick Hedley had shown her in Italy.

  “Put your gun down, Miller,” Victoria Crossler snapped.

  “Let go of the girl, and I will.”

  The second thug pulled a large black gun from his side and held it to Olivia’s head.

  “I’ll not say it again,” Dani’s mother snapped. “Put the gun down.”

  For a heartbeat, no one moved. And Olivia’s pulse turned to a roar in her ears.

  Tension filled the air. Slowly, Landon lowered the weapon, but his gaze didn’t flick to Olivia’s. His expression didn’t change. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking or what he was going to do next.

  “Kick it over here,” Victoria Crossler snapped.

  He did as she said. The rasp of metal sliding over cement filled the room. At his side, Dani stiffened and moved closer to him.

  “I’m tired of how long this is taking,” Dani’s mother said, picking up Landon’s gun. “Tracking these two all over Europe to get to you, dear, has messed with my schedule. So this is the way it’s going to work. Dani’s going to come with us, and no one will get hurt.”

  “No, Landon,” Olivia blurted out. “You can’t let them take her. You know you can’t.” If they took Dani, they’d have the antidote. They’d control Cerberus completely. There’d be no stopping them.

  The arm tightened around her throat, and she gasped as her airway was blocked. Pain spiraled up her spine. Her eyes flew wide as she grappled to breathe.

  Across the room, every muscle in Landon’s body tensed, and his jaw clenched down hard, his eyes blazing. “Let her go,” he growled.

  “We will,” Victoria Crossler said. “As soon as Dani comes along like she knows she needs to do.” She looked to her daughter. “There’s no choice for you here, dear. If you come with us willingly, everything will be fine. I promise. If you don’t”—her gaze skipped back to Landon—“I’ll kill him.”

  She lifted Landon’s gun and pointed it at his chest.

  Fear rushed over Dani’s young face. She looked to Landon, then back at the gun in her mother’s hands. Indecision warred in her blue eyes.

  No, Dani, don’t. Tears formed in Olivia’s eyes. Tears of pain. But not for herself. This wasn’t about her. This wasn’t about Landon. This was so much bigger. “Landon,” Olivia gasped, pulling the arm away enough so she could draw a ragged breath. “Do something. You can’t let them take her.”

  A split second of indecision rushed through his eyes. Olivia saw it. She didn’t want to make him choose, but he had to. He couldn’t save them both. He had to know that.

  He pulled a second gun from somewhere at his back and held the barrel against Dani’s temple.

  Dani’s eyes flew wide as saucers, and terror streaked across her features. “Landon, oh my God, what are you—”

  “Drop your weapon,” Victoria Crossler hissed, fury flashing over her face. She closed both hands around the gun she was holding, but Olivia saw it shake. “Drop it or I’ll shoot you and my associate will kill your girlfriend.”

  “Do it and Dani’s dea
d.” Landon’s voice was flat. Emotionless. Colder than Olivia had ever heard it. “No one wins here. Walk away from this before it’s too late.”

  “Landon . . .” Dani cried, shaking. “Please.”

  Landon didn’t move. Didn’t respond to Dani. Didn’t take his eyes off Victoria Crossler. His jaw was a slice of steel beneath his skin, and his eyes were as hard and lifeless as Olivia had ever seen them, but she knew in the bottom of her heart that he wouldn’t actually shoot Dani. He was bluffing. Playing the last card he had. And Olivia had never loved him more.

  Rage rushed over Victoria Crossler’s face, pulling at the scars on her cheek and around her eye. Tense moments ticked by in the standoff. Her fiery gaze finally flicked to her daughter. “He can’t keep you away from us forever. We found you once, we’ll find you again.” She nodded to the two men at her back. “Go. Take the girl.”

  “But . . .” The thug holding a gun to Olivia’s head looked right and left.

  “We have other ways,” Dani’s mother snapped. “Go.”

  The man at Olivia’s back yanked her toward the door.

  “No.” Panic rushed over Landon’s face. His stance widened, but he didn’t drop the gun from Dani’s temple.

  “You have something of mine,” Victoria Crossler said, inching backward as well, “now I have something of yours. Consider it payback, Miller.”

  “Livy,” Landon said, his voice pained.

  “It’s okay.” Her feet slipped as they reached the threshold to the stairwell, but the brute at her back hauled her up, keeping her from going down.

  And it was okay. It really was. She was so damn proud of him for making the right choice. For not saving her. “Just keep Dani alive,” she rasped.

  The door slammed shut in her face, blocking her view of Landon’s tormented features. And then she was dragged up into darkness.

  “Goddammit.”

  Landon dropped the gun from Dani’s temple and lurched around the island, heading for the exterior door.

  Dani crumpled to the floor. Just as Landon’s hand wrapped around the door handle, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the hall.