by Nana Malone
Adrenaline was already spiking in my blood. My team knew that we wouldn't be able to have comm units, but the tracking chip I wore inside my tuxedo also served as a communication device in case of emergency. It was small, but it definitely served its purpose. It was enough for me, since I already knew that they were out there. I'd wondered about Lyra and that comment she'd made about not having a team she could trust. I knew she meant Tyler. What I gathered was that there was something more to that story. I knew she'd felt betrayed because she'd fallen for him, but there was definitely more than that.
We were led into a large receiving room. Gilded opulence was the motif with sculptural moldings and expensive-looking art. Pockets of people stood around the room.
Light from the massive crystal chandelier hanging above set the room a glitter. All around, waiters in tails served champagne and caviar. Whitestop, the group behind the sale, had spared no expense.
Very slowly and deliberately, we glanced around at each and every person, making sure our cameras caught them. Hers in her necklace, mine in my cufflink, putting a facial tag on each of them. None of them would be able to walk out of there without Exodus agents all over them. No one approached anyone else. No one spoke to anyone. We were all too busy sizing each other up. When Mads McLean walked into the room, I tensed. It was unlikely that he would recognize me, but Lyra had mentioned that she had fought him, so it was likely he might recognize her.
He hadn’t looked in her direction yet, though. I whispered to Lyra, “Is he going to be a problem for you?”
“Maybe. I’ll try not to let him get a direct line of sight on me.”
Mads stood at the front of the room. “Friends, thank you all for joining us. As you know, my associates and I have been working on this little party for some time. Thank you for placing your bids. The seller, however, wanted to meet with each and every one of you because they want to know the people they're doing business with. You understand, of course.”
Fuck.
Next to me, Lyra tensed, but her face remained placid and cool. She still kept her body at an angle, just in case. “This wasn’t part of the plan.” Her voice was tight.
“You have to be willing to improvise,” I muttered.
“If we get in there, and Stannis Prochenko is there, we’re made. He most certainly saw us.”
“I know. Let's just see what happens. I don't have the schematics, but my people are here. There will be a way out. Trust me.”
“You can't just tell me to trust you.”
“That's what we've got right now.”
And that was all we had. I made two taps on my audio unit to make sure Rhodes was receiving on the other end. “Whitestop is on site. I repeat, Whitestop is on site. Negative on the visual.”
One by one, I watched the other buyers stroll over to Mads McLean’s side of the room, and I bit my tongue. “This isn't looking good.”
“You're telling me?” Lyra glanced around then pulled the pins from her hair, letting it spill over her shoulders. Surreptitiously, she assembled her weapon.
“Stay cool.” As we approached, Mads was making his way toward us. As he got closer, I turned Lyra suddenly and planted a soft kiss on her lips. When I pulled back, I counted slowly to ten until Mads walked by us. Then sadly, I released her.
Slightly dazed, she frowned up at me. “What are you doing?”
I simply said, “Mads,” as a means of explanation.
“Jesus.” She dragged in a deep breath of relief.
As we stepped into the room, she frowned. There was Guzin Kola, number two at Whitestop. He'd been on our list for a long time. I made the visual tag so my team would know that he was there.
He smiled at the two of us. “I heard that you are Klaus Rangoon, but you haven't told me who your lovely associate is.”
Lyra stepped forward, brows drawn down. “Who’s asking?”
Kola grinned. “Ah, a bit of spice. I always like that myself. Step forward, we'll need your thumbprint to verify you are who you say you are.”
I stepped forward with absolute confidence and then very carefully slid my thumb into the pocket-sized device he had.
Several seconds passed, and the dial spun and spun and spun. Kola smiled at me, and the man next to him with the gun stepped forward. Which made Lyra step forward.
She, as far as they were concerned, had no weapon. Kola turned his smile on her. “Ah, little one, you're going to tear my men apart with your bare hands to protect your man? Where do I get one of you?”
“I'm not for sale,” she ground out.
He laughed. “Ah, my darling, that's where you're wrong. Everyone is for sale.”
“Not me.”
“Would you care to see how much your man here would charge me for you?”
I smiled down at Lyra. “She's not for sale.”
Kola grinned down at her menacingly. “Oh, in that case, I will either have to charm you or take you for myself. Which shall it be?”
Her gaze slid over him inch by inch. “Neither. You wouldn't survive the night.”
Kola chuckled. “Ugh, I do envy you for a woman like this. I have heard that black women are so much feistier in the sack. Are they?”
I ground my teeth, tamping down my urge to put my fist in his face. “Can we get this show on the road?”
He raised his hands. “Okay, okay. I didn't mean to cause offense.”
Next to me, I could feel Lyra vibrating, and I prayed to God she was going to be able to hold it together for the rest of this.
“I see you've made your bid. I do regret to inform you that—”
Before he could finish, I stepped forward. “Let's not do this little play where you act like you can drive up the price. I know I have the highest bid.”
He smiled at me. “There's no way you can know that.”
I smiled as I recalled the information Curtis had given me right before we entered the party. He had one of our hackers working just off site so he could get past the firewalls. “All right, the Italians offered $7.2 million. The New Masons offered $7.5 million. Shall I continue?”
Kola’s skin went pale. “How do you know this?”
“I told you. I know things. Let's not play any more games. I offered you the highest bid. Now, either you like money or you don't. But I'm not here to play if you don't like money. We’ll be on our way before you waste any more of my time.”
His gaze narrowed. “You think you're smarter than everyone, don't you?”
“It pays to be smarter than everyone. Then you don't get cheated.”
Kola stepped forward, and Lyra stepped in front of me, playing her role to the letter.
His man stepped up to Lyra and then made the mistake of putting his hand on her arm.
Lyra glanced at it, glanced up at him, and then smiled. The move she executed was so quick, with her hand on his, and a twist of her body, she quickly turned until she had him coming down to his knees with full access and control of his wrist. Kola smiled and clapped. “Wow. God. Are you sure she's not for sale?”
“No. And I'm growing impatient. Either the weapon is mine, or it's not.”
He nodded slowly. “Fine, fine. Let's not get testy. You are indeed the highest bidder.” He gave me a card. “It's at the docks. I assume you have your own people ready. Have them call this number. As soon as the money is transferred of course.”
I glanced at Lyra. She released his guard and put her hands up, showing she was no longer a threat.
Kola narrowed his gaze at her. “Have I seen you before? I would swear I have. But God, I would remember a creature such as yourself.”
Everything this guy said to her was meant to be somehow flattering, but instead, it was disgusting and full of mockery.
“No.” She kept her voice guttural. Low. Unrecognizable.
“If you're certain, my darling.” He turned back to me. “Here's the account number. Please type it in.”
As I typed in the account number, my team could also see the num
bers. The money would appear there, and then we would have exactly one minute to get the hell out of Dodge because that money would have vanished.
“The numbers are typed in.”
He grinned and clapped. “Ah, excellent.”
He had his men verify and then nodded. “Here is your card. I assume your people will be standing by.”
I made the call and then rattled the information off.
“Pleasure doing business. I do hope to do business with you again, Klaus.”
We’d just turned to go when Kola called out to Lyra. “My darling, just know that I'll be seeing you very, very soon.”
Lyra faltered, but then she kept moving. She walked in front of me again, and when we stepped out of the room, all hell broke loose.
* * *
Lyra
The power was cut, and somewhere in the distance, glass shattered.
What the fuck? My first thought was someone was raiding the auction.
I hadn't intended to actually have to protect Marcus. It hadn't really been part of the plan. Obviously, he could protect himself, but goddamn.
Marcus’s hand wrapped around mine, and we hustled out. People were running and screaming. I heard gunshots, and my blood chilled.
We busted out of the meeting room toward our egress route.
Down the hall, bright lights shone, and I dragged Marcus with me. The gunshots that shattered the plaster walls around us barely missed us. Jesus Christ.
We could see the shooter who waited for us, and I held my breath. He moved with a cat-like grace, and something made me pause. Why were his movements so memorable to me?
Marcus tried to stop me. Suddenly, the scope turned our direction. The light on the end illuminated my face. There was no mistaking who I was, and the man in the hall froze. Then he cursed.
“Lyra? What the fuck are you doing here?” Tyler asked as he ripped his mask off.
“I could ask you the same question.”
Behind me, Marcus cursed too. “Jesus fucking Christ. Is The Firm here?” He tried to tug me down the hall.
Tyler shook his head. “You can't go that way.” He pointed toward our egress route.
“What do you mean?” I frowned.
“Don't fucking go that way.”
“What are you doing? I don't trust you.”
“Right now, sweetheart, the feeling is mutual. But do yourself a favor, and for once in your goddamn life, listen to me.”
I expected him to shoot, to take me out, take out Marcus. But nothing happened. He just moved on.
Marcus grabbed my hand and we tried to head back toward our egress point, but more bullets came at us.
“I thought I was fucking clear,” Tyler said. “If you want to fight a whole handful of Firm agents, go that way. Fine. Don't listen to me. But I'll tell you now, it's not going to end well for you.”
Marcus looked at me. “We have an alternate route.”
I had no recourse but to follow him. Tyler grabbed Marcus's arm. “I already told you, you're going to get killed if you go that way.”
“What is your fucking problem, mate?”
“Both of you stop it,” I said. “We have trouble. So maybe we all get the fuck out of here and then figure out what we've got later?”
I could feel Marcus's tension.
But I didn't have time to fight with him right now.
Tyler led us up one hall and then down another.
“Where's the team?” I asked.
“They're trying to capture Guzin Kola so that they can intercept the weapon. You're not supposed to be here.”
“Leave it alone.” I muttered.
He grabbed my arm and dragged me against him. In a low voice, he asked, “What the fuck is he doing here?”
I swallowed hard. “Not your business.”
“It is if…”
His eyes suddenly went wide. “He’s Exodus.”
“You know what? I don't even have to explain myself to you.”
“You do when you're interrupting a mission.”
“You should have called it in by now, Tyler. Why haven't you?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Wait. Because you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing right now too. So my question is, what the fuck is it?”
Marcus said, “If you two can drop your lover's spat, we have actual work to do.”
When we hit what would have been one of our alternate targets for egress, we started to duck in. Tyler stopped us though. “Where the fuck do you think you're going?”
Marcus laughed. “Oh, did you think we only had one way out of here? No. You're not stopping us from leaving.”
“I need to take you back to headquarters. Keep her out of fucking trouble. I can cover for you.”
I frowned. “You recognize I don't trust you to cover for anything, right?”
He glowered at me. “For fuck's sake Lyra, you're about to get yourself killed.”
“No, I'm not.”
I turned to go with Marcus, and Tyler clamped a hand on mine. “No. You're staying with me.”
Marcus didn't like that. “Let her go. In matters like this when there is danger to civilian life, I'm in charge of her now. You might even think I'm her daddy.” And then Marcus swung a fist.
Tyler was surprised, but he recovered quickly enough to hit Marcus on his jaw.
And then they were trading punches back and forth. Both of them swinging.
Shit. “We don't have fucking time for this.”
Kicks. Blocks.
Tyler glowered at me. “If you go with him, I can't protect you.”
“You were never protecting me in the first place.”
“Lyra, we have to go,” Marcus said.
While there was no love lost between us, Tyler represented everything about who I thought I was. If he went back to The Firm with this information, I was done. My whole life would explode.
Chapter 11
Lyra
As it turned out, Tyler was right. If we'd gone the way we had planned to, we would have run straight into Firm agents. From our vantage point at the top of the hill, I looked down through the binoculars and could see them.
Marcus said, “We should go this way, down the embankment. Make a right. We can still rendezvous with my team.”
“He was trying to help us.”
His voice was terse when he spoke. “Now is not the time. Can you worry about your boyfriend, you know, when we're out of here?”
“That's not even fair.”
“I don't really care about fair right now.”
“Fine.” I followed him down the embankment. The slit in my dress was coming in handy, but my heels were slowing us down some.
“Are you okay?” Marcus asked.
“I'm fine.”
“Jesus Christ, Lyra. Come here. I'll carry you.”
I scowled at him and slapped at his hands. “I don't need you to carry me.”
“You clearly do. The way you're going, we don't have time for that.”
“If you carry me, I'd flatten you. Besides, there’s no need,” I scoffed.
He rolled his eyes. “Is this what's going to happen, you know, every time we need to do something? We're going to argue about it, then we're going to fight, then we're going to fuck? Because if that's the way everything is going to end, I'm here for it. But in the interest of time, maybe we could speed up this process.”
“We are not going to fuck.”
“Ah, there she is. I get you, but this is faster. Besides, I’d qualify last night as a fuck. I promise next time will be slow and sweet.”
I dragged off the heels and pulled out the foldable slippers I'd stuffed in my garters. “First of all, I come prepared for every occasion. Second of all, there won’t be a next time.”
Lies.
He blinked at me in surprise. “Yes, there will be. And that,” he indicated my shoes, “was impressive.”
“Not my first rodeo. Let's go.”
My
feet felt infinitely better in the flats. These shoes weren't sturdy or meant for fast movements, but they were certainly better than heels or bare feet.
Down the embankment, as we were trying to stay out of sight, I saw two of my agents making the runs. I wanted to jump out. I wanted to scream, 'Hey guys, it's me. I'm here. I'm one of you.' But I knew that wasn't going to work. At the moment, I wasn't one of them. I was not on their team right now.
Somehow, that revelation hurt. It shouldn't have, but it still stung. When we made it to the main road, Marcus nodded his head. “Okay, just over there, Rhodes is waiting. Check your surroundings and then get across as soon as you—”
As he was talking, my gaze shifted just for a moment, and then I saw the red pinpoint of a sniper scope on his chest. I didn't even think about it. I tossed myself in front of him and shoved him to the ground, using the full weight of my body. My people were firing on me?
You don't know if they're your people anymore.
Footsteps were coming toward us quickly. Marcus rolled us over, pulling us to a crouch as he growled, “Run.”
There was no checking for cover. All we could do was lay cover fire across the road and book it. Because behind us, we had trouble incoming.
“Friends of yours?” he asked.
“They don't know it's me they're shooting at.”
We ducked and used the spindly trees for the bullshit cover that they were, but it wasn't enough.
“Are you sure?”
“I don't need this from you right now, Marcus.”
“Do you still want to tell me how noble your team is? How great they are?”
“Shut it.”
Someone fired from the left. Marcus hit the target easily. The target went down and then Marcus went over to him.
“What are you doing?”
He held up the walkie-talkie and the gun the guy had been carrying.
We booked it across, and when I fired, I aimed to fire at their feet. Because the last thing I wanted to do was hit a teammate.