He headed there now, despite the understanding that his arrival could blow everything up in his face. His covert mission. His commanders’ faith in him. Hel , his entire future as a warrior could be lost by bringing an unauthorized civilian—one with JUSTIS ties and a price on her head—into the Order’s domain.
But al of those things paled compared to the possibility of losing Devony’s trust at the same time.
The fact that he hadn’t told her about any of that—the fact that he couldn’t tel her without breaching his duty to the Order—ate at him as the highly secured command center and surrounding grounds came into view up ahead.
When he turned in to the property, Devony final y snapped out of her daze. “Where are we?”
“The only place we can go right now.”
He touched the security panel, holding his palm in front of the reader as he waited for a response. It didn’t take long.
“The fuck are you doing here?” Elijah’s low drawl over the speaker was anything but welcoming. With only a couple of hours left before daybreak, the patrol team must have only just reported back to base.
“I need to see the commander.”
“So cal and make an appointment.” His comrade’s attitude was to be expected, especial y considering their last conversation at Asylum.
“It’s urgent, Eli. I’m not leaving until I talk to Chase.”
The warrior snorted. “Then it’l be your funeral, man.”
When the gate opened, Rafe drove inside. He felt Devony’s apprehension as they approached the sprawling mansion. According to the elder
warriors, the Order’s original compound in this city had been impressive. This newer one was a fortress, constructed twenty years ago, after the first was compromised by an enemy and had to be destroyed.
Devony turned a worried glance at him. “Rafe, are you sure about this?”
“It’l be al right.” He kil ed the engine and faced her. He couldn’t resist reaching out to stroke the side of her wary face. “You’l be safe here, I promise.”
To his surprise, as they walked from the vehicle to the front door of the imposing mansion, Devony slipped her hand in his. He didn’t know if the gesture was meant to reassure him or herself. Nor did he care.
After the night they had just endured, he was glad to hold on to her. He was more than glad to feel her at his side; he was proud.
He wouldn’t even be standing there if not for the life-saving gift of her blood.
Through his bond to her, he felt the knot of worry tighten inside her as the door swung open and Eli stood in front of them. He was flanked by Jax, both warriors stil in patrol gear, right down to the weapons that bristled at the ready in their hands.
“I’l be damned,” Jax muttered to Eli. “I thought you had to be joking when you said he was waiting outside.”
For what wasn’t the first time, Rafe wished his teammates understood the truth. That he wasn’t the turncoat loser he stil had to pretend he was.
Their suspicion burned, even though he had worked hard for the past few weeks to make sure he’d earned it.
Seeing that mistrust leveled on Devony, too, put a sharper edge to his voice. “I need to talk to the commander.”
Neither one of them moved out of the way.
Elijah’s gaze narrowed on Devony for a moment before sliding back to Rafe. He let out a caustic laugh. “Who’s the stray? Didn’t I see her hanging with that gang of losers when we ran into you at Asylum the other night?”
Rafe lowered his head on a warning growl. “She’s mine. That’s al you need to know.”
The protective, possessive part of him rose to Devony’s defense. His response would be the same no matter if he were staring down a friend or a bona fide enemy.
To his credit, Eli stood down. Just a little.
Jax crossed his arms, stil in battle stance at the threshold. “You’ve got some kind of bal s, man. The commander’s not going to like this. Neither wil Nathan, once he finds out you’re here and you brought her with you.”
Rafe didn’t have the patience for reprimands or questions, especial y when he couldn’t tel his teammates a damn thing. And not while he was
standing outside with Devony knowing Opus’s death squad was likely combing the city for her.
“I’m not here to talk to either of you, damn it.” He took a step forward, ready to forcibly enter the mansion if he had to. “I’m only going to talk to Chase.”
“Let him in.”
From behind the pair of hulking warriors, Commander Sterling Chase appeared. Eli and Jax parted, making way for the immense Breed male.
Chase was always an imposing figure with his broad shoulders, muscled bulk, and piercing blue eyes beneath his crown of golden hair. Tonight,
there was a gravity to his demeanor that Rafe had rarely seen.
His displeased gaze moved from Rafe to Devony, lingering for a moment on their joined hands. He turned away from them without comment.
“Come inside, both of you. Rafe, my office.”
Rafe stepped forward, leading Devony. On Chase’s dismissal, Eli and Jax went back to whatever they’d been doing before Rafe’s arrival. And
from within another room on the main floor of the mansion, Chase’s mate, Tavia, appeared along with Carys and her mate, Rune.
Carys gaped, a hopeful smile spreading over her beautiful face. “Rafe? Oh, my God!”
When she would have run to him in greeting, the dark-haired behemoth who was her blood-bonded mate held her back, his thick arm wrapped
firmly, yet tenderly, around her midsection.
Although Carys was as unaware as anyone that his exile wasn’t permanent, it felt good to see she hadn’t lost faith in him. He only hoped her
brother Aric and the rest of the warriors would be equal y forgiving if and when he was able to return to the fold.
Of those in the room now, only Commander Chase and his mate Tavia were privy to the truth. Tavia strode up to Devony and him.
“Hel o, Rafe.” Her soft gaze lit on Devony. “Hi. I’m Tavia Chase.”
“This is Devony Winters,” Rafe said when she seemed incapable of words. “Her parents and brother both worked for JUSTIS in London, at the
headquarters.”
“Oh, I see,” Tavia said, a look of tender sympathy in her eyes.
“Devony’s Breed,” Rafe added. “She’s a daywalker.”
Carys’s eyes went wide. “Are you serious? That means we’re related.”
Tavia seemed less surprised, which indicated that Lucan had shared the information Rafe provided in his last report. Chase had obviously made
his mate aware of the half-sister she had lost in the JUSTIS bombing, and the niece who had unexpectedly ended up in the middle of Rafe’s
mission.
Through his bond with Devony, Rafe felt her jolt of elation as she looked at the older woman who shared her extraordinary bloodline. A smal
breath leaked out of her as she let go of his hand to accept Tavia’s in greeting. “I’m so pleased to meet you both.”
“Likewise, Devony.”
Chase nodded to his mate. “Tavia, would you and Carys like to chat with Devony while I talk privately with Rafe?”
“Of course. It would be our pleasure.”
“I’l be right here,” Rafe told Devony when she glanced at him in question. Although the way Chase’s displeased gaze bore into him, he wasn’t
sure he would have any of his ass left once the commander was through chewing it out.
He motioned toward his office. They moved inside and Rafe stood at attention on the other side of the desk while Chase dropped into his leather chair behind it.
“Go ahead and sit, son. We could be here a while.” As Rafe took the offered seat, Chase stared at him over steepled fingers. “I’m going to
assume you’ve got a damn good reason for showing up here unannounced tonight, with a civilian female under your arm, no less. Let me go al
the way out on a limb and suggest it might have something to do with the fact that you’re apparently fucking an Order asset. When Lucan gave you permission to keep the female in play if you needed to, I doubt this is what he had in mind.”
Shit. The accusation rankled, but it was the commander’s crude assessment of Devony that real y put an edge in Rafe’s tone. “She is not just
some asset, sir.”
Chase grunted. “I guess that answers the first part of my question.”
Rafe forged on, knowing there was no sense in trying to hide that he and Devony were involved. “She’s in danger. I wouldn’t have brought her here for anything less.”
“Am I supposed to be relieved to hear that?” Chase swore under his breath. “From what I understand, Lucan specifical y told you to hold your
cover with her. He’s not going to want to hear you defied an order by getting tangled up with her.”
“My cover is stil intact,” Rafe muttered, feeling sick about that now. It had eaten at him nearly from the beginning, but especial y now. “She doesn’t know I’m stil a part of the Order. Coming here tonight and running up against Eli and Jax only confirmed my cover.”
“You care about this female.”
Rafe couldn’t deny it. Chase’s look of sober understanding said he didn’t need the confirmation, anyway.
“Tel me what happened tonight.”
Rafe gave him a rundown of the chain of disasters, from the stolen—and now missing—crates of liquid UV to the wholesale assassination of Cruz
and his gang along with Judah LaSal e, the Order’s current best lead in their hunt for members of Opus Nostrum’s inner circle.
Chase listened to al of the bad news in grim silence, as if he had already lived through a thousand similar catastrophes in his tenure as a warrior, and, like Lucan, had the broad shoulders to carry them al .
As bad as his problems had gotten tonight, Rafe could handle them too.
Except for the one that had placed Devony in the line of fire.
“They burned down her brownstone tonight.” Just saying the words put a chil in his veins. Just thinking about the danger she was in made his
blood seethe with murderous intent. “I tranced LaSal e before he died. He told me that the death squad said they were coming after both Devony
and me. While I was squeezing him for the information, we saw the news bul etin on his TV. Reporters and fire trucks were al over her block in Back Bay. I brought Devony straight here.”
“Jesus, that inferno raging across town is her Darkhaven?”
“Was,” Rafe corrected. “She’s got nowhere else to go, Chase.”
“That’s not quite true. She can go back home to London. Mathias Rowan has been here in Boston on other business. I’m sure he’l be wil ing to
get her home safely when he heads back tomorrow. His unit in London can provide her round-the-clock protection while we deal with this situation with Opus.”
“What? No. No fucking way.” Rafe wanted to think his vehement rejection of that idea had more to do with concerns for her wel being than his want to keep her close to him. That’s not what his heart was saying, though.
“She doesn’t have a home in London anymore. Not since her family was kil ed. She won’t want to return there. Even if she did, you and I both know she’l be safer here, with us.”
With him.
Just because he didn’t say the words out loud didn’t mean they weren’t thrumming through every fiber of his being.
He wanted her. Not just to ensure she was safe and secure. Not merely as a valuable partner in his goal to see Opus destroyed.
He just wanted . . . her.
Chase considered him for a moment before exhaling a long sigh. He leaned forward, elbows resting on the desk. “Listen, Rafe, Lucan told me
about her situation. It’s rough, what she went through. Losing her parents and her brother in one fel swoop. Anyone would want a little payback for that. But this is our fight with Opus, not hers.”
“No.” Rafe shook his head. “Tonight, by threatening her, they made it my fight.”
It was true. As much as he craved retribution after being played for a fool by Opus in Montreal, this resolve to obliterate the cabal was something different. It went deeper, ran infinitely colder.
His own humiliation was nothing compared to the very real threat to Devony’s life.
“She stays with me.”
Chase’s brows rose in chal enge. “As commander of this operation center, I might have something to say about that. And I can assure you, Lucan wil —”
“I drank from her.”
“Ah, fuck. Tel me you’re joking.”
Rafe held the bleak stare of his commander. “Earlier tonight, after Cruz smashed a crate of liquid UV in front of me. The burns were . . . bad.
Devony wasn’t supposed to take part in the robbery, but she came looking for me anyway. If she hadn’t found me when she did—if she hadn’t
given me her blood . . .” Rafe slowly shook his head. “I owe her my life.”
“I see.” Chase studied him, then shook his head. “I’l put a cal in to D.C. I know Lucan wil want to hear al of this directly from you. He’s going to want to decide where this goes from here. In the meantime, I need to get boots on the ground to go try to contain what’s left of that UV supply at the warehouse. Aric and his new team arrived earlier tonight,” Chase added. “Looks like they just got their first assignment.”
Damn. His best friend’s daywalker team was already put together. They were here in Boston, and Rafe wouldn’t even have known if he hadn’t
shown up tonight.
Although he hadn’t actual y been ousted from the Order weeks ago, it stil took him aback to realize how life had moved on as if he were gone for good. Until now, he hadn’t realized how much he truly missed being back in the fold, an active part of operations.
Chase got up from his chair. “I can’t say I like what I’ve heard tonight, Rafe, or where things stand with you and Devony Winters. But I’m not going to act like you’re the first warrior to fuck things up six ways from Sunday on account of a woman.”
The sardonic remark gave him more hope than it probably should, but right now he’d take it.
Rafe rose to his feet as wel . “Thank you, sir.”
“Go on, get out of here.” The Order elder gave him a frown and a dismissive wave. “Go make sure your female is al right. Be ready to meet me in the compound war room in one hour.”
“Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER 20
Devony couldn’t stop staring.
Tavia Chase was stunningly beautiful. Tal and elegant in her basic black outfit of tailored pants and a fine-gauge knit sweater, she exuded a calm confidence that immediately put Devony at ease. Her face was a study in classic beauty, high cheekbones, smooth skin, and a generous mouth—
al of it framed by a luxurious mane of caramel-brown hair.
Carys shared many of her mother’s features and her remarkable beauty, but where Tavia conveyed a steady strength, her daughter practical y
vibrated with wild, magnetic energy.
For many reasons, Devony was awestruck by both daywalker females, not the least of which being that they were her own relatives.
After introductions in the foyer, the two women had taken her to a lovely guestroom suite in a quiet part of the mansion. They were seated together in a comfortable conversation area of the room, Devony on an oversized upholstered chair, Tavia and Carys perched across from her on a silk-covered sofa.
“Are you sure you’re al right?” Tavia asked gently. “I can only imagine how you must be feeling after your ordeal tonight.”
Devony had explained to them about her brownstone being attacked, but even after assuring the two women she was fine, it hadn’t seemed to
lessen their concern. They fussed over her, offering food and drink and the ful use of the sumptuous guestroom. Carys had even brought her
sleepwear
and a change of clothes from her own wardrobe. The silk robe and pajamas were as much a temptation as the oversized soaking tub
in the adjacent bath.
But it was difficult to think of her own comfort knowing Rafe was somewhere else in the mansion being confronted by another of the Chases, one
of the Order’s most formidable members.
Sterling Chase, his former commander.
“I can’t believe you’ve been right under our noses here in Boston,” Carys said. She had also been avidly studying Devony from the moment they
sat down. “How did you and Rafe meet?”
“It’s ah . . . kind of a long story.”
“And one for another time,” Tavia said. “I’m sure Devony would like to rest.”
Carys’s expression slumped. “Al right, until then. I’m sorry, I just have so many questions for you.”
Devony could hardly hide her curiosity, either. There was so much she wanted to ask these two women, so much she wanted to know about their
lives. But she hadn’t come there on a social cal . She wasn’t even sure she and Rafe would be al owed to stay.
“I’d like that, Carys.”
“Good. You’l even have a chance to meet my brother, Aric. He and his mate, Kaya, are here now from Montreal,” she said, her blue eyes
sparkling. “They’ve come with a few other daywalkers who’ve joined the Order as part of a special unit with him. You’l have to meet them al while you’re here.”
Tavia gently cleared her throat, more than likely to curtail her daughter from divulging Order business to a stranger. She rose, indicating for Carys to join her. “Please, make yourself at home, Devony. As I said, we’re going to let you relax now. If you need anything at al , consider it yours.”
She fol owed the pair to the door. Carys stepped out with a bright smile and a friendly wave, but Tavia paused there. She pul ed Devony into a
brief hug.
“I know these are terrible circumstances for our first meeting, but I’m very glad you’re here.” Her fingers were cool and soothing as she smoothed some of Devony’s hair off her face. “I’m only sorry I didn’t get the chance to meet your mother . . . my sister. I’m sure she was a very special woman.”
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