by Anya Nowlan
“Alright now, quit your fucking bickering. Light it up, Rio.”
Rio nodded, unfurling his brow. He didn’t particularly enjoy the cold either – it was the dead of autumn and the ground was already frozen – but damn it all to hell if he didn’t hate the fact that people meddled with his fire sites more. He could smell another leisurely brawl the next time he and Thor were drunk at the same time from a continent away.
That wasn’t a very rare occurrence with Shifter Squad Nine either.
“Behold, the majesty of several tons of heavy explosives,” Rio said with a flourish, allowing the grin he’d been stifling for a while to break out over his features.
If there was something he loved, then it was the rampant destruction that well-placed explosions could bring forth. There was an artistry to it, figuring out what and where to place to cause maximum damage, to make the fires burn brightest and as long as possible. He didn’t revel in many things but this? This was his sanctuary.
His fingers traced over the controls swiftly and when he pushed the last button on the touchpad, he exhaled deeply, feeling in his bones how the signal was sent over the distance between them, how the triggers clicked to life on the armed explosives and then that very last second when the shudder of the makings of mayhem coursed through the building.
The large factory went up with such a bang that the roof flew into the air with the shockwave before even a single flame could burst out of the building. The shockwave rolled over the squad, making their bonfire of death flicker for a moment before it regained its composure. The heat came next and only then did the factory erupt in endless fire, destroying everything in its path.
Rio couldn’t stop smiling. It was beautiful.
Like the sight of a gorgeous woman naked for the first time, seeing something that big get destroyed was definitely in the top three things in life to behold.
“Shit, man. That’s pretty nice,” Prowler said appreciatively, nodding his head as the stark flames of their multiple fires cast eerie shadows in the night.
“Thanks. It’s all about location, you know?” Rio said, turning around to face his crowd of onlookers.
Damn, it felt good to be alive.
“Not too bad, Rio,” another voice added from the darkness, making every man in the squad grab for their gun and point it in the direction where the sound was coming from.
The only response to their reaction was a low, mirthless chuckle, a laughter that each man on the team knew far too well.
Spade.
“The fuck are you doing here? I thought command didn’t muddy their pristine boots with being on the ground,” Ryker huffed as the ghost of The Firm appeared before them in all his glory.
“Figured I’d come and see how my favorite team is faring,” Spade said with a shrug, his broad shoulders rising and falling in the most casual way.
Every single man, with the exception of Thor, seemed to be tensing up. Dice particularly looked like he was about to tackle the guy, which was a notable contrast to how buddy-buddy the two had been when this whole thing began. While the rest of Shifter Squad Nine had been in the service of Spade and the rest of the assholes who ran The Firm long enough, then Dice had to learn firsthand what it meant to lose a friend and gain someone whose life seemed to revolve around being in charge.
Rio wasn’t naïve enough to think that he could sum up the essence of the dangerous man before them now quite so easily, but it was a good enough approximation.
“Why are you actually here?” Dice asked, slinging his rifle behind his back and crossing his arms.
Probably so he wouldn’t strangle him on the spot, Rio pondered. If Spade dies in the Polish lowlands, does summer come earlier?
He grinned at his own mismanaged thoughts, tossing the now-useless control panel in the general direction of a pile of gear. Rolling back his shoulders, he assumed a leisurely stance as well, reminding himself to keep his cool, lest he get to enjoy one of the dreaded Holes, where problematic soldiers sometimes got to find themselves after pissing off a particularly prissy commander.
“You’ve got a new mission. Starting tomorrow. I wanted to come brief you in person.”
“So you came all the way out here?” Thor queried, having finished disassembling his gun.
If Thor was packing his gear, it was usually a good sign that the area had been thoroughly swept and there wasn’t so much as a fluffy bunny left within the two-mile radius who could speak of the, admittedly extremely fun, atrocities that Shifter Squad Nine had committed.
“I came out here because I wanted to see your handiwork. Nice guard-tower, by the way,” Spade commented, pointing at the pyre with a humorless smile.
“See? He gets it,” Price said with an exasperated sigh, receiving a smack over the head from his twin for it.
“Thanks. Some of my best work,” Ryker said grimly, turning his back to Spade and moving to the pile of gear to sort it out and ship out as soon as possible.
Rio was about to join him when Spade, in that loveable way that he had, decided to turn everything up on its head again.
“What’s the mission?” Thor asked, curiosity getting the best of the cat, apparently.
“A bit of extradition and mopping up on US soil,” Spade said ambiguously. “It should be interesting to the Tyren twins, though. Does the name Kayla Malone bring back any memories?”
Rio froze in spot. Suddenly, it felt like his blood turned into the very fire that was burning all around them, before it morphed into the coldest of ice. His gaze met Ryker’s, whose expression had turned into one that would have scared off the bravest of combatant, making him run like a little girl when facing a demon.
Rio could feel the corners of his mouth twitching up in an unexpected smile, one that died as quickly as it had formed, seeing the face of his brother.
Kayla.
Fuck yes that name brought back memories.
“The fuck are you playing at?!” Ryker roared, standing up to his full height.
The Tyren twins were by far the biggest men on the squad. They were both built like walls, powerful and strong, with Ryker having a slight size advantage over Rio as well. When either of the two of them rolled up their sleeves and held up their fists, it was usually enough to clear a room. This time, with just a few words, Spade had managed to piss off and rattle both of them.
It wasn’t a promising sight.
“Me? Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” Spade said, that cool, emotionless expression hanging on his features again like a cloak that he could just put on and take off again.
It was fucking unnerving.
“I will meet you at the safehouse. The briefing’s tomorrow. And I have a little surprise waiting for the both of you,” Spade said, looking Rio and Ryker in the eye before turning around and disappearing into the night from whence he came.
“The fuck was that all about?” Prowler asked, the usually jovial werewolf frowning now.
Rio looked to Ryker and clapped a hand on his shoulder. His older brother looked like he was about to take down a city block brick by brick and even after that, he’d have too much fucking anger to function properly.
“He’s playing us,” Ryker said, his voice low and agitated. “There’s no fucking reason to be bringing her up like this.”
“I know. He just wants to get a rise out of us,” Rio said, though his tone betrayed the extent of his feelings on the matter.
The little note of expectation couldn’t be hidden.
“Mission fucking accomplished,” Ryker said, scoffing.
Since when am I the one who could keep a cooler head? he wondered.
But Rio knew it had nothing to do with that. He hadn’t become any better at self-control than he had been when he was younger. Kayla Malone had left deep gashes in both their souls, it just seemed that Ryker’s wounds ran a bit deeper.
“Alright, show’s over. Let’s get our stuff together and get back to the safehouse. It’s been a long night,” Dice barked, prompting the team
into action.
But for the rest of the night, Rio Tyren couldn’t get the picture of Kayla Malone out of his head. Little did he know that he was going to have to get used to that real quick.
Three
Kayla
“That fucking psycho,” Kayla hissed for the umpteenth time, as if that would make the ropes around her wrists become any less tight, or the day run its course any faster.
Ever since she’d met Spade, though perhaps ‘meeting’ was a strong word to use when she’d honestly just gotten kidnapped by the guy, her life had gone from bad to worse. That was some sort of a feat, considering everything she’d been going through lately, but there it was.
It was worse.
She wasn’t even particularly sure where she was, other than the fact that it had taken a really fucking long airplane ride and then a chopper ride to get there. Now, she’d been cooped up in some featureless room, tied to a damn chair for the better part of the last few hours.
“I’ll be back right away, my ass,” Kayla murmured, wiggling her wrists painfully in their binds.
She’d been carried in like a sack of potatoes by some men who looked far too big and serious to be taken by one of her little tricks, tied to the damnable chair she was currently perched on, and then left by her lonesome. The promise Spade had given to her before stepping out, of returning quickly enough, smelled of bullshit then and it still stank of it now.
I should have never gone to fucking Chicago, she thought grimly.
Not that she thought it would have changed anything. She wasn’t sure why Spade had picked her off the streets like some urchin fit for being murdered, but she did know that a man like that never did anything for no reason. There was certainly something that she was here for, she just couldn’t be sure what.
Maybe he’s with them… Maybe I finally found them?
The thought was unsettling and she didn’t finish it. Even less did she attempt to name ‘them.’ It was too painful to think about.
Concentrating, she went back to trying to fight her way out of the ties around her wrists. She’d gotten the feeling that one of the men who had been tying her up took some pity on her and made the knots slightly looser than he should have to avoid cutting off her circulation. They’d taken every weapon she had on her, of course, but maybe she could still work herself free with some good old-fashioned elbow grease?
It was worth a shot.
Kayla felt like she’d been messing with it for hours when she felt the burning sensation around her wrists become a bit stronger, signaling that she might be on the right path. Perking up, she tugged and wiggled harder, just in time to hear the distant sound of footsteps somewhere outside her door.
Shit.
It was a magnificent word, encompassing within it all the pain and aggravation the world seemed hellbent on providing her as of late.
The steps came closer, several people by the sound of it, and Kayla gritted her teeth. She managed to get one thumb out of the binds and then her hands followed suit. Lunging forward, she quickly untied the knots around her feet and when she jumped up, triumphant, she could only attest to the fact that she’d done too little, too late.
The door swung open to her blank cell before she could try and hide, or take up a defensive position behind the door, but it didn’t matter. The sight before her would have rooted her to the spot regardless of her level of preparation for it.
How did you get ready to see two men who might as well have been dead?
“Rio, Ryker,” she muttered, dumbstruck as she stood perfectly still, a lamb fit for slaughter.
“Kayla,” Rio said, pushing past Ryker and crossing the distance between them with long, purposeful strides.
A second later, she found herself in the tight, comforting and completely safe embrace of Rio Tyren, one of the two men she’d ever loved. The tears brimmed in her eyes before she could think of another thought.
“I thought you were dead,” she whispered, answering Rio’s hug with one of her own, while her eyes couldn’t stop staring at Ryker.
He was rooted to the spot, looking pale in the face as if he’d just seen a ghost. She might as well have been one to them as well, Kayla suddenly realized.
Choking her tears back, she was released from Rio’s arms in time for more men to appear at the doorway, men she’d never seen before. They all looked battleworn and now she noticed that not only they, but Rio and Ryker as well were splattered with blood and mud and they stank of fire and gunpowder and something that she couldn’t quite place.
Her head spun.
“So who’s this?” one of the men she didn’t know questioned, cocking a curious brow and grinning at her like she was some sort of a prize for a job well done. “Is Spade finally taking into consideration my suggestion box entry and giving us hookers for a job well done?”
Ryker snapped so fast that no one could have seen it coming. It was only the lightning-fast reflexes of the loudmouthed guy, a man with particularly unnerving, pale green eyes, and everyone else around him that saved him from a broken jaw. Ryker’s fist wound up and he spun around, ready to strike. Another large, wide-shouldered man with an air of command about him caught the fist and the target of Ryker’s aggravation dodged back and away like he’d been bit by a snake.
They moved so fast that Kayla’s eyes could barely track them. She found herself leaning on Rio slightly, not even noticing the way she was already reveling in his warmth and presence like she used to all those years ago.
I should have never left.
The thought ran through her like a bullet train, nearly flooring her.
“Ryker, please don’t,” she called, taking a step forward only to find that her movements were far from sure.
She wobbled and Rio was there, tracing a hand around her waist gently and giving her support. It felt far better than it should have.
“You heard the lady, Ryker. Don’t,” the commanding man uttered, his tone low and solemn. “You must be Kayla Malone. I’m Dice. It seems you know Rio and Ryker,” he said, nodding at the Tyren twins.
Kayla couldn’t help but smile a little, an uncertain simper that was equal parts mirth and fatalism.
“Oh yeah, I know them.”
That was the understatement of the century.
“Good. I don’t know why you’re here and odds are, you don’t either,” Dice said, making Kayla nod.
This seems to be far too common for these guys.
“I’ll leave you with Rio and Ryker here and we’ll give you some privacy, okay? There’s a briefing in the morning, guys. Don’t lose your cool.”
Kayla wasn’t sure who the words were meant for, her or the lion twins, but they seemed to be well-received by all three of them. Ryker took a tentative step inside and closed the door behind him as Dice ushered the rest of the team away.
One of them had already stalked off before Dice had finished his sentence. All of them projected an air of strength and intensity, with the latter being almost unnerving in a way. And while none of them could match up against the sheer horrific power that seemed to pulse around Spade like an unseen aura, Kayla was more than certain that she wouldn’t want to meet or piss off any of these guys in a dark alleyway either.
There was just something about them that seemed… dangerous.
In fact, she was going to make a point out of avoiding any alleys as long as she could from now on, really.
Ryker walked past her like she was more a column than a person. He went to the back of the room and pushed open a door she hadn’t noticed, which led into another room with cots and two fairly blank looking chests. She could hear the sound of metal and something being thrown.
“Come on,” Rio said, his voice soft. “I think we need to talk.”
He walked her into the bedroom and Kayla paused at the door, her gaze meeting Ryker’s once more. For years, she’d imagined this moment happening, playing it over and over again in her head and picturing all the ways she could be reunited with th
e two men that made her heart stutter and beat wildly in her chest.
Ryker looking at her like she’d ripped his right out of his ribcage had never been an option she’d considered.
Kayla hovered in the doorway, stuck between two large gear chests while Ryker unloaded his stuff into one of them. He was shoving them in there more than placing anything and Kayla cringed slightly as she saw what looked like delicate engineering equipment crashing against the walls as it fell into the dark depths of the container. Ryker averted his gaze from hers.
“What are you doing here?” he asked finally, and it was only then that Kayla noticed that Rio had walked her to one of the cots and had her sit down on it.
Her hand traced the coarse fabric of the blanket on it, made with perfect military corners, absently. It all felt more like a dream than reality and she wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing.
“I don’t know. Some guy came and basically dragged me out of a street fight in Chicago and now I’m here. Where is here anyway?”
Kayla frowned, realizing that she still had no idea where she was, or what her reason for being there was. She caught the twins looking at one another, doing one of their wordless communication things that she’d learned to love and loathe at the same time. It was great when they let her in on it but ever since they’d started dating, the two of them had kept their secret connection as something that could be used to pass thoughts and opinions amongst one another without a word spoken.
It didn’t help that they both towered above her and could do it over her head. It used to drive her wild.
Now it just made her sad. Sad for all the time she’d wasted and all the moments she’d lost with them.
I should tell them… That was the plan all along…
But the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth. What she needed to tell them was way too big and frankly, the less she talked about it, the less real the pain felt. Biting her lip, she bundled up all the confused emotions and pushed them in a box in the back of her mind, slamming it shut like Ryker did with the gear container he’d finished loading up.