Edge of Betrayal

by Shannon K. Butcher

  Either failure would have killed her just the same.

  This was all Sage’s fault. If the man wasn’t dead, Adam was going to make him beg for death before he gave it to him.

  He spun the aircraft around to see where Sage landed. All he saw was a pair of ripples spreading out over the lake.

  They’d landed in the lake. Both of them.

  A tiny beam of hope lit him up inside. The water might have cushioned their fall enough to make it survivable. But as cold as it was, Mira wouldn’t last long.

  His need to see her safe strengthened his weak body. He’d lost a lot of blood, but there was still some fight left in him. He was going to use every ounce of it to save the woman he loved.

  Without a second thought, Adam maneuvered the helicopter where he needed it to be, abandoned the pilot’s seat, and dove into the water.

  * * *

  How could Mira be so numb and in so much pain at the same time? The mystery consumed her, swamping her sluggish mind.

  She couldn’t breathe. It took her a second to realize that it was because she was underwater.

  It was too dark for her to figure out which way she could find air. She couldn’t even see bubbles in front of her face.

  Then, to her left, she saw a brilliant yellow flash.

  The sun? That didn’t seem right, but she swam toward it all the same.

  The water’s surface shimmered above her like fire. She didn’t know why, but her lungs were driving her now, urging her to ignore everything else.

  She was almost to air when something grabbed her leg and tugged her back down.

  Frantic, clawing hands ripped at her body, desperate to use her to reach the surface. She kicked and fought against her captor, but nothing helped. She was too weak from lack of oxygen to do more than try to shove him away.

  He was stronger.

  As his head passed hers, she saw her father’s face in the fiery light from above. He saw her, too, and yet he didn’t let go. He held her down as he resurfaced.

  Maybe he knew she’d kill him if she survived.

  Mira fought harder, punching him as hard as she could. His fist was tight in her hair, holding her under while the last of her oxygen ran out.

  Then something happened.

  She felt a heavy current push against her. Saw a glimpse of powerful arms above her. The next thing she knew, her father had let go of her hair and she was free.

  Mira exploded out of the water, gasping for air. She heard a violent splashing behind her, along with heavy, pained male grunts.

  Her head was so dizzy, her body so numb, she couldn’t quite figure out how to turn around. Finally, after a few breaths had restored function to her brain, she spun around and saw Adam holding her father’s head underwater.

  Just as her father had done to her.

  His eyes met hers. There was cold hatred there. The need to kill.

  It froze her insides over so they matched her skin.

  Beneath the water, there was a small flash, then a muffled boom.

  Something hit her shoulder. Blood stained the water soaking her shirt.

  She’d been shot.

  Adam snarled and his whole body jerked as he gave a savage twist to her father’s neck. She heard the bones breaking. Saw his body go limp and float off over the water.

  Her father was dead.

  All the strength left her body. The cold stole over her. She couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. She knew this was a bad thing but couldn’t remember why.

  It didn’t matter anymore. She didn’t have to keep fighting. Her father was dead. He couldn’t hurt anyone else. She could just let go now.

  Chapter Forty-two

  Adam saw Mira go under and lunged for her. The makeshift tourniquet on his leg came loose, and he saw his blood billow under the surface of the water.

  The burning helicopter nearby gave him just enough light to see the edge of the lake.

  He grabbed her and kept her head above water as he swam toward the shore.

  Each kick weakened him more. He was losing blood too fast. He could tell by the way his heart was racing just to keep pumping what was left through his veins.

  Only a few more yards.

  Headlights bounced over the ground. His breath fogged in the air, catching and holding some of the firelight.

  He felt himself going down—felt unconsciousness drag at him. He had only a few seconds left before both he and Mira went under.

  With the last of his strength, he lifted and threw her the last few yards to where the water became shallow. The move shoved him under, and he didn’t have enough strength left in him to resurface.

  Mira was safe now. That was all that mattered.

  * * *

  Mira woke being ripped apart by fire and ice. One half of her body was nearly blistered from heat, and the other was frozen stiff.

  She opened her eyes and realized why.

  Someone had pulled her from the water and set her near the burning remains of the helicopter for warmth.

  It took a few seconds for her brain to start spinning again, and as soon as it did, she wished it hadn’t. Those hazy moments had been a gift, and so much better than the stark reality that hit her now.

  Her father was dead. She could see his body still floating facedown on the lake. Adam had saved her, but he was nowhere to be found.

  That’s when it hit her.

  He was still in the water.

  Mira shoved to her feet and limped toward the shoreline. The cold night air took her breath away, but she couldn’t leave him down there to die.

  She loved him too much to let him die.

  As that realization struck, two dark heads broke the surface of the water. Adam was one of them, but his body was limp. The other man was Gage, who swam toward her with powerful strokes.

  Within seconds, he had Adam lying on the ground and was administering CPR.

  “Is he alive?” she asked, her voice a terrified thread of sound.

  “Barely.” He took off his belt and looped it around Adam’s leg. Adam groaned as Gage increased the pressure to stop the bleeding.

  “He lost a lot of blood,” she said.

  Gage looked at her then, his face a mix of fury and fear. “Get the med kit.”

  Mira ran toward the car as fast as her numb legs would allow. The bullet wound in her shoulder was still cold enough that she couldn’t feel much, but that was changing as her blood pressure skyrocketed.

  She grabbed the med kit from the trunk and hauled ass back to Gage and Adam.

  With movements faster than she could track, Gage started an IV and handed the bag to Mira. “Squeeze.”

  She did, pushing fluids into Adam’s body, praying they would keep him alive until help came.

  While she did that, Gage filled an empty bag with his blood and pushed that into Adam’s IV as well.

  “Are you sure that’s safe?” she asked.

  Gage nodded as he began filling another bag with his blood. “I’m a universal donor. He’s my brother.”

  “You know?”

  His eyes met hers, so like Adam’s it was a wonder everyone hadn’t guessed. “I do now.”

  The sound of a helicopter in the distance grew closer.

  Mira held out her hand. “Give me your spare weapon, just in case they’re not friendly.”

  She was in no shape to fight, but Gage did as she asked.

  As the helicopter landed, Mira raised her weapon. Payton leaned out and took off his helmet. “Don’t shoot.”

  The last of her adrenaline faded. She slumped to the ground.

  She must have passed out, because the next thing she knew, she was in a hospital room with Gage at her side.

  Her first thought was, “Where’s Adam?”

  “Surgery.”
<
br />   “Will he be okay?”

  Gage nodded.

  She leaned back in relief. “What are they going to do with him?”

  “Do?”

  He didn’t know his brother was a traitor.

  Mira’s heart ached. It hurt like hell that she loved a man who’d betrayed her and everyone she cared about. She could only imagine how much it was going to hurt Adam’s brother.

  “He’s working for Stynger. He has been all along, I guess.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “No, I’m not. I was there when he told my father the passcode to those files. Only someone working for her would know that.”

  “You’re wrong,” Gage repeated.

  “I was there, Gage. I witnessed his betrayal. He’s working for Stynger.”

  Gage leaned down. His voice was quiet but no less powerful. “He traded his life for you. Made a deal with her to find you.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  “His phone was in his car. I got her call. He promised to let her experiment on him if she told him where you were.”

  “Experiment on him?” The horror of that image rolled through her, lighting every nerve ending on fire.

  “You were lost. He thought it was the only way to find you.”

  “But . . . the passcode.”

  “Gave her access to Sage’s network. She stole his research.”

  “And he didn’t even know it.” Of course. She could see exactly how that would work—she’d done the same thing herself. The classic Trojan horse.

  As all the bits shifted into place, one critical point hit her. “Adam didn’t betray me?”

  “No. He didn’t. And if I hadn’t been there to pull him from the water, he would have died saving you.”

  Mira had thought she loved him before, but she’d been wrong. Those feelings were a dim shadow compared to the blazing bonfire she felt now. It was too much to contain—too much for someone her size to hold. She had to tell him and let it out.

  He’d risked his life to save her. More than once. Never again was she going to question his loyalty. He deserved better than that.

  He deserved her trust and her love—as much as she was capable of giving.

  “I need to see him,” she said, trying to sit up.

  “Later,” said Gage as he pushed her gently back down. “Sleep.”

  “But I have to tell him how much I love him. He needs to know.”

  Gage smiled, and there was so much relief in the expression, it confused her. “He will. Soon.”

  Chapter Forty-three

  Lila scrambled to answer the phone she kept hidden in the bottom of her purse. She’d been dreading this conversation for so long, her fingers were numb by the time she managed to answer the call.

  “Hello?” She slipped down the hall into the empty conference room where she’d killed a man. She’d never thought of herself as the kind of person who would be capable of murder, but that had been before her baby boy had been taken from her.

  “You’ve been a bad girl.” A woman’s voice was on the other end of the line—one that made Lila’s blood curdle in her chest. She thought she’d hear from one of the men, but instead, it was the devil herself calling, Dr. Norma Stynger.

  Lila’s fervent whisper wavered with fear. “No. I swear I haven’t. I’ve done everything you asked.”

  Dr. Stynger’s disappointment was clear in her tone. “You killed one of my men.”

  “He was going to talk. What if he told them about you?”

  “None of my men talk about me. I make sure of it. But what about you? You’ve been free to talk all along.”

  Lila shivered at the memory of those pictures she’d seen of men with surgical scars at the base of their skulls. She didn’t know how Dr. Stynger managed it, but whatever electronic gadget she shoved in those men’s heads worked. They’d die before revealing her secrets. Literally.

  The autopsy photos Lila had seen of the men who’d died from poison were gruesome proof that the doctor knew what she was doing.

  “I haven’t said a word,” Lila assured her. “Sophie doesn’t know I was the one who drugged her.”

  “Does anyone there suspect you?”

  “No. I’ve been so careful. Just like you said.” Lila pulled in a deep breath for courage, and then asked, “When do I get to see my baby?”

  “That depends on you, of course.”

  “I’ve done everything you’ve asked. Please let me see him.”

  “Soon. If you’re a good girl.”

  Hot, silent tears slid down Lila’s cheeks. “I killed a man for you. What more could you possibly want?”

  “Stay where you are. I’m going to need your help soon.”

  Lila wanted to say no. She wanted to defy the woman who’d taken her boy and used him as leverage to gain her cooperation. He was only three. He had to miss his mommy. There was no way he could understand what was happening or why he was all alone.

  “You’re hesitating,” said Dr. Stynger. “Is it because someone is there, or because you no longer care what happens to your son?”

  Even the thought sent fear winging through Lila’s body, making her shake. “Please don’t hurt him.”

  “Ah, so you do care. That’s good. He’s such a sweet thing. I’d hate to see him orphaned.”

  Lila had no living family. Her ex had dumped her as soon as he’d found out about the baby. She’d raised her son on her own. If anything happened to her, no one would even know he existed. She hadn’t dared tell a single soul at the Edge about him for fear of the questions his absence would raise. After all, she’d gotten the job because her son’s life had depended on it.

  Stynger’s voice dripped with eagerness. “I need one last little favor from you, and then your boy can come home.”

  Lila wasn’t stupid enough to believe something too good to be true, but at the same time, her heart betrayed her, jumping in hope. She wiped her tears away and said the only thing she could. “What do you want me to do?”

  * * *

  Gage left Mira’s room as soon as he was sure she was asleep.

  He wanted to see his brother and talk to him, but there was no time for that. He had an appointment to keep.

  Stynger had been clear about what would happen if he was tardy. As it was, he was grateful that she’d allowed him to pay his brother’s debt.

  As weak as Adam was now, he likely wouldn’t survive whatever it was Stynger had in store for him.

  Gage dialed Bella on his way to the meeting.

  “How did it go?” she asked.

  “Mira and Adam are alive. Sage is dead.”

  “Are we sure this time? I don’t want him coming back to life again.”

  “I checked.”

  “Good. And your assignment?”

  “I found what we needed.”

  Excitement lit her tone. “Already?”

  “Opportunity knocked.”

  “What happened?”

  “I let it in.”

  “You’ll be careful?” she asked. “Just like we planned?”

  “Always,” he said.

  “I won’t hear from you again, will I?”

  “No.”

  “You’re one of mine. I will come for you,” she promised.

  Gage only hoped he’d survive that long. But if he did, the outcome would be more than worth any suffering he might endure. “I know.”

  “Find her as fast as you can. Once you do, send the signal.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, then hung up and tossed his phone in the trash.

  Where he was going, he wouldn’t be needing it. All it could do was serve as a list of contacts that could be used against him.

  Chapter Forty-four

  Adam worked to shed the effects of the d
rugs from his system, unsure where he’d find himself. Had Stynger come for him already? Was this lethargy something she’d done to him? If so, the warm, soft cocoon she’d put him in was far from the torture he’d expected.

  As soon as he was strong enough to strike, he allowed himself to open his eyes.

  Mira was curled up next to him, her arm around his waist. She was wearing a hospital gown, and beneath the edge he could see a thick bandage on her shoulder. Their matching IV stands were next to each other, creating a tangle of tubes across his body.

  He breathed in her scent, letting it drive away the antiseptic sting of the hospital air. Even in his sleep he had known to hold her tight against him—so tight she couldn’t get away without him knowing.

  His body was a matrix of pain, but he tucked all that away in tidy little boxes where it couldn’t reach him.

  Mira, however, took his full attention.

  She lifted her head. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

  “Fine,” he said. He was weak, but that was fading by the moment.

  “No pain?”

  “Not with you here to distract me.”

  She smiled and rose over him, being careful of his wounds. “I got in trouble when the nurse found me, but I scared her away.”

  “You are a terrifying force of nature.”

  “I am when someone tries to tear me away from my man.”

  “Your man? I thought you hated me for betraying you again.”

  His smiled faded. “You didn’t betray me. I know that now.”

  “How?”

  “Gage told me.”

  “Gage?”

  She nodded. “He pulled you out of that freezing lake. Gave you his blood when you’d lost too much.” She stroked his forehead. “He knows he’s your brother.”

  “How long has he known?”

  “Not long. He left you a note, though. I was nosy and read it.”

  “What did it say?”

  “He said they’ve got Stynger on the run and she won’t be looking for you to visit anytime soon. What does that mean? You weren’t actually going to let her touch you, were you?”

  Adam didn’t have to uphold his end of the bargain with Stynger? He could hardly believe his good fortune. He’d get to stay with Mira. That news was a priceless gift for which he’d never be able to thank his brother enough. As soon as he saw Gage again, he was going to make sure the man knew he had Adam’s undying gratitude.