by Kaylea Cross
“Bit of friendly advice—you need to watch out for Chloe,” Megan said, her hazel eyes dancing. “She’s straight-up crazy.”
“Am not,” Chloe argued, elbowing Megan in the ribs. Then to Eden, “She’s just jealous because my specialty’s way cooler than hers.”
Eden played along, fascinated and cautious at the same time. “What were you trained in?”
Chloe popped her gum and grinned. “Making things go boom.”
“She’s good at it, too,” Trinity said, “but we like to keep her on a tight leash around here, just in case. Okay, let’s get Eden inside and show her to her room. Where does Marcus want her?”
“The amethyst room,” Megan answered, then added to Eden, “Hope you like purple.” With that she turned and led the way up the steps into the house.
The first thing that hit Eden when she stepped inside was the smell. Clean, but old. Lemon oil or soap, the sweeter underlying scents of old wood and leather. She stopped in the foyer to glance around, unable to keep from gawking. “Holy cow.”
“I know, it’s pretty amazing,” Chloe said, hooking her elbow through Eden’s. It was evident right up front that Chloe was the social butterfly of the group, and that boundaries were probably going to be an issue. “The rooms are great, but wait until you see the study and library. And the grounds.”
Chloe chattered away to her while Megan led them up the main staircase with its scarlet-patterned runner, down the second-floor hall to another staircase that led to the third floor, and stopped at the second room on the right. “Here we go.” She swung the door open, revealing…
Purple. Deep plum carpets and drapes, elegant and expensive-looking patterned wallpaper in a pretty lavender shade, and a four-poster canopy bed that looked at least a couple hundred years old. It was draped in purple tone-on-tone damask satin, with a matching spread and pillowcases.
Eden stared from the doorway, trying to take it all in. “I’m going to be staying…here?”
Chloe clapped her on the back. “You’ll get used to it. Your en suite is through there, and your room overlooks the side lawn.” She took Eden’s bag from her and set it on the small sofa placed against the foot of the outrageously posh bed, then faced her with hands on hips. “Now. You hungry?”
“I…not really.”
Shrewd brown eyes measured her. “Too bad, because you need to eat. Come on.” She started for the door.
“You’d better offer her real food, Chloe, not just an energy drink and whatever junk food you’ve got squirreled away,” Megan said from the hall where Trinity and Kiyomi also waited.
Chloe shot her a dirty look. “Who says I hid it? It’s right there in the main pantry so everyone can help themselves. Unlike some people, I know how to share.”
“Whatever, you just know none of us will eat that crap,” Megan said, making the others grin. The banter felt natural and easy, and Eden couldn’t help but smile a little too, some of the residual tension inside her easing. She’d never imagined being back with her own kind, but if they could help her find the person responsible for Chris’s death, then this was where she wanted to be.
“Ignore her,” Chloe said, hooking her arm through Eden’s again. “We’ll get you something to eat and then we can talk after. Sorry about your handler, by the way.”
“Thank you,” Eden murmured.
“For God’s sake, Chloe,” Trinity said with a roll of her eyes. “Give her some room to breathe.”
Chloe blinked her big brown doe eyes at the elder Valkyrie. “What, I’m just making her feel welcome.”
“Let’s maybe give her a little time to adjust to her new surroundings,” Kiyomi suggested gently, and offered Eden an understanding smile. “Being made part of this all of a sudden is pretty overwhelming.”
Eden was grateful for the understanding. This was a lot to take in all at once.
“Okay, I’ll escort you down and leave you alone while you eat, and keep things light,” Chloe said, unfazed. She led Eden back down to the main level while the others followed, chattering away as they walked, telling Eden about her boyfriend, Heath. The floors here were sand-colored flagstone, worn shiny and smooth over the centuries by the passing of countless feet.
“We’ve got a team codename, by the way,” Chloe continued on the way down the hall toward the back of the house.
“A codename?”
“Yeah, and it’s awesome. Wanna hear it?”
It would be rude to say no, and she got the sense that Chloe would just tell her anyway even if she declined. “Sure.”
A smug smile curved Chloe’s mouth. “We’re the Bitchilantes.” She sounded extremely proud of the term, and Eden caught a glimpse of a wild glimmer in Chloe’s eyes. It wasn’t hard to picture that same gleam being there while Chloe blew up a target. “Okay, here we are. Breakfast room. Take your time, and we’ll see you when you’re done.”
Chloe shut the door, leaving Eden in sudden and welcome silence. She was a little surprised Trinity wasn’t with her, since the other Valkyrie said she was hungry on the drive here, though in all honesty Eden was grateful for the break. Chloe seemed nice, but was a little like being near a human tornado.
The large rectangular table was already laid with two place settings. Boiled eggs sat in little glass cups, toast was waiting in actual toast racks, halved and roasted plum tomatoes were set on a platter, along with jam and butter in little silver pots, plus coffee and tea.
Eden sank into a chair, stared at the food a moment and then let her gaze stray out the tall windows at the back of the room into a well-manicured garden. She thought of Chris, probably in a refrigerated drawer in a morgue now, awaiting autopsy, while Eden sat here in the lap of luxury in this luxurious mansion, perfectly safe in the midst of a bunch of strangers.
A lump formed in her throat and tears pricked the backs of her eyes. She’d lost a friend today. Her only friend, really. Now her Valkyrie sisters, while strangers for the most part, had welcomed her here without question. Deep down, Eden had longed for this kind of acceptance and belonging for most of her life, had always wondered what had become of the other women in the Program.
Chris would be happy for me.
That hurt too. As gruff as Chris had been, she’d cared about Eden. No matter what, Chris would want her to embrace this opportunity. To use the intel on the flash drive and find justice with it—justice for Chris, and for all of them now in the crosshairs of whoever was gunning for them.
A soft tap on the door broke her from her thoughts. Kiyomi stepped inside with a soft smile. “Mind if I join you?”
Eden smiled back, Kiyomi’s quiet energy soothing to her jagged nerves. “I’d like that.”
Shutting the door, Kiyomi took the seat opposite her and poured herself a cup of tea. “I know it takes some getting used to, being here. When I first came here I felt just like you did—like I’d been ambushed and dropped into the middle of a sorority house.”
The description made Eden grin. “Pretty much, yeah.”
Kiyomi smiled at her over the rim of her teacup. Everything about her was dainty, almost fragile, and yet Eden could see the steel hidden inside the woman, reflected in her posture and eyes. Without it, Kiyomi wouldn’t have made it through what she’d had to do. “I’m really glad you’re here. When we initially identified you as one of the other surviving Valkyries, I kept hoping we’d get verification that you were still alive and okay.”
Eden wasn’t sure how much Kiyomi and the others knew about her past, or current situation with Zack. Though she didn’t much feel like eating she needed fuel, and helped herself to some breakfast. “Who was I talking to via email all those months ago, anyway, do you know? Trinity never said.” There were so many things Eden wanted to know and hadn’t had the chance to ask yet. Everything had happened so fast; this entire day had been a blur.
“Chloe. Or, should I say—Bam Bam.”
The humor in it didn’t escape her. “Oh my God, of course. It all makes sense now.” Tur
ned out Bam Bam was handy with explosives. Might come in handy when Eden found out who’d ordered Chris’s death, but then, Eden wanted whoever it was to suffer. A few bullet holes in painful and not immediately life-threatening places first.
“Chloe and the others saved those women you tipped her off about, you know.”
“I heard. Score one for the good guys.” It didn’t happen often enough.
Kiyomi nodded, her expression turning thoughtful. “It’s not easy for most of us to fit into a group like this, but… It’s worth it.”
Eden nodded, willing to be part of the team as long as they helped her hunt down whoever had targeted Chris. “I’ll get there.”
“I know you will. We’re survivors. Adapting is what we do.” She set her teacup down. “After you eat, Trinity wants us all to meet in the library. You’ll meet the guys later.”
Eden paused in chewing a mouthful of toast. “Guys?” No one had said anything about guys, beyond Chloe talking about her man.
“Amber, Megan, and Chloe’s significant others. They’re part of the team too. So is the owner of this house. All the guys have elite military backgrounds, and have been thoroughly vetted by Trinity and Alex Rycroft. You’ve been told about him, I assume?”
Trinity had mentioned the former NSA agent on the way to the airport in Vermont, and how he was assisting in their efforts. “Yes.” But Eden still had a lot to learn about all this—and everyone involved.
As soon as they ate, Kiyomi took her down the hall. The library was a gorgeous, sun-drenched room with wall-to-wall bookshelves stuffed with what had to be over a thousand books. The walls were a pale apple green with cream trim, and the large pieces of furniture were made of tufted velvet and leather. All the other Valkyries were waiting when they entered.
“Doing okay?” Trinity asked, giving Eden a critical once-over.
“So far, so good.” As long as she didn’t think about Chris.
“I just brought everyone up to speed on this morning’s events, and Amber analyzed the contents of the thumb drive during our flight. I also got an update from Rycroft a few minutes ago.”
Eden braced herself for bad news.
“Zack Maguire reported you to his superiors the other night,” Amber said.
“I know.”
“According to Rycroft’s team, Maguire worked several ops with the dead hitter in the past,” Trinity added.
Eden stared at her as cold seeped through her body. “You’re saying Maguire was involved today?” The toast curdled into a gummy ball in her stomach. She’d expected Zack to keep looking for her. But to think that he could have followed her with the intent to kill her, and may have been involved with Chris’s death? That was unthinkable.
“No, just noting the connection for now. The team’s investigating it.” Trinity leaned forward and set her hands on her knees, the others all quiet as she continued. “We need to talk to Maguire. See if he knows anything that might help us figure out why Chris was targeted, and who might be actively hunting us now.” Those deep blue eyes drilled into Eden’s. “What do you know about him?”
The room went eerily quiet, all eyes fastened on her. They all knew some things about Zack, especially Trinity and Amber. Eden wasn’t going to volunteer her past with Zack to them, however, even if they were fellow Valkyries. Not now, maybe never. “He was my way into a circle that included a previous target on an op in St. Petersburg last summer. I don’t know what he’s involved in at the moment, but he’s been a contract officer with the CIA for a few years now. He specializes in gathering intel.”
“He’s former Army intelligence.”
“Yes.”
Trinity nodded. “Rycroft’s going to contact him personally and set up a meeting. Better if he does it rather than us, given Maguire’s ties to the CIA.”
Eden’s insides clenched at the mere possibility of crossing paths with him ever again. Of confronting him face-to-face now, after everything that had happened. “Does Rycroft think Maguire was directly involved in Chris’s death?” Please, God, say no.
“It’s too early to be sure at this point, but Alex is looking into every possibility.” Trinity cocked her head slightly. “You know what our mission here is. You know what the stakes are. So I need to ask you. Do you think Maguire would kill you if he had the chance?”
“No,” she answered immediately. “He’d report intel about me to his superiors, and might assist in trying to capture me, but he wouldn’t kill me.” That wasn’t how Zack was wired. At least, she didn’t think he was.
“You’re sure.”
“Ninety-five-percent sure. He had the chance to kill me in Sevastopol and never even drew his weapon.” Whether it was because she was a woman or because of their past and that he actually cared about her, she couldn’t say. Her gut said it was both.
“Do you trust him?”
“Somewhat.” He could be out for revenge now.
“How much?” Chloe pressed.
“Enough not to shoot me dead on sight,” Eden answered.
“Think he’d help you if you asked?” Amber said.
“I don’t know.” Eden wouldn’t trust him that much now that he knew the truth.
“All right. Then will you meet with him and find out whatever you can about what’s happening to us?”
Seeing Zack again was the last thing she wanted, but saying no wasn’t an option. Chris was dead, there was no one left to help her except these smart, deadly and dedicated women. They each bore the Valkyrie mark on their left hip, a badge of solidarity and sisterhood. Eden wasn’t going to let them or Chris down.
She sat up straighter, glanced at the others before looking at Trinity once more. “Yes. I’ll meet with him whenever Rycroft wants.”
Chapter Six
This would either be really good, or really, really bad.
Zack ordered himself a coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the counter before finding a seat in the busy café in the heart of Covent Garden. This area of London was always busy, but on a Saturday it was even more crowded.
His phone buzzed with an incoming call. He expected to see Rod’s number on the display, but it was his dad calling instead.
Zack sighed. He loved his dad, but he had the worst damn timing when it came to phone calls. It was three in the morning back home in Indiana, so he must be really worried.
Zack wouldn’t normally answer at a time like this, but it had been over a week since they’d last spoken. Zack had texted, but that wouldn’t cut it with his father—his old man always wanted to hear Zack’s voice as proof that he wasn’t dead when he’d been out of touch longer than a couple weeks. “Hey, Dad. I’m just at a meeting right now, so I can’t talk.” He scanned the café as he spoke, looking for Rycroft or anyone paying too close attention to him.
“Are you okay?” his dad demanded.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“We haven’t heard from you in a long time. Where are you?”
“On a job.”
“You still coming back for a visit soon?”
“Everything’s on hold at the moment. I’ll know more in a few days. Call you later, all right?”
“You actually going to follow through with that promise this time?”
Zack couldn’t help but smile a little at the dig. “Yes, promise. Say hi to Paula.” His stepmom worried about him, but she was the calmer, more levelheaded one in the marriage.
His dad gave an irritated sigh. “Okay, son. Take care.”
“You too.” He ended the call and started eating his breakfast.
Why did Rycroft want to meet with him here? Zack had been in Frankfurt when he’d received the call yesterday, so it had been a short flight here. Rycroft was flying in from the U.S. and coming straight to the meeting from the airport.
Based on their short conversation Zack was hoping this had to do with Eden, but even if it didn’t, he still would have come. When Alex Rycroft called and asked you for a face-to-face meeting, you showed up.
&n
bsp; At this point he needed all the help he could get if he was going to have a prayer of tracking Eden. The woman was like a damn shadow. It bothered him that he hadn’t been able to find out anything more about her, though if Rycroft was involved with her somehow, he would only divulge as much intel as he wanted Zack to know. At this point, however, anything was better than nothing.
Eden had made him a desperate man.
He looked up when someone approached his table, expecting Rycroft, and nearly choked on the sandwich when he found her standing there instead.
His heart stopped beating for an instant, then went into double time while the food turned into a hard lump he had to force down his throat.
“Morning,” she murmured, pulling out the chair opposite him and sitting.
She looked amazing as usual, but edgy in a pair of snug jeans that molded to her hips and thighs, a turquoise top that hugged her breasts, and a fitted black leather jacket. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, little black curls framing her face. She wore no makeup except for a light pink lip-gloss that made it hard to look away from her mouth as he recalled the way those same lips had parted beneath his. How they had made him delirious with pleasure as they wrapped around his cock.
With effort he got the lump of bread, egg and bacon down his throat. “Morning.” He glanced around, searching for Rycroft.
“He’s not here. It’s just us.”
Zack eyed her, wary and hopeful and heartsick all at once. It was still hard to believe it had come to this—that they were essentially strangers now, and suspicious of each other. “Did you set this up?”
“No. He did.”
He waited a beat, then held out a hand. “Hi. I’m Zack. Nice to meet you finally,” he said, all sarcasm.
She shook it, cool and unreadable.
“What’s your last name?” he asked.
“Foster.”
Strange how that surname hadn’t come up once in all the digging he’d done on her. Not that much had. The first time he’d heard it was yesterday during the brief conversation with Rycroft. “Is that your real name?”