by Kaylea Cross
They cantered side by side for a couple of minutes before Marcus slowed them to a walk.
“Did you know you would inherit all this one day?” she asked.
“No. I used to spend time here every summer as a lad. I didn’t know my great-uncle had named me to inherit the place until I was called to hear the reading of his will six years ago.”
“It’s so beautiful here.” The wonder and enjoyment in her expression tugged at him. She made him feel things he hadn’t felt in a very long time, woke parts of him he’d thought dead. Without even trying she’d lit the banked fire burning inside him, and it threatened to burst into an inferno at the first hint of encouragement from her.
“We should head back,” he said abruptly, earning a questioning look from her.
“All right.”
Taking her out here alone might not have been wise, but he didn’t regret it. It only made him want more.
The others were unsaddling their horses when they arrived at the stable yard. Megan raised her eyebrows at him in surprise when he and Kiyomi rode up. He dismounted, hiding a grimace as the muscles in his hip grabbed, and came around to help Kiyomi, trying his damndest to disguise the worsening of his limp. “Drop the reins, lean forward and swing your right leg ov—”
Kiyomi swung her leg over Maple’s rump and dropped lightly to the ground like she’d done it a thousand times before. Marcus automatically caught her waist to steady her, and just touching her that way sent a bolt of heat through him. He let her go like she’d burned him and stepped back, her scent swirling in his head as she turned to face him, unbuckling the helmet.
She took it off, looking up at him as her shiny black hair fell around her face, those liquid dark eyes fixed on his. “Thank you. I loved it.”
“My pleasure.” He took the helmet, stepped back so he could think straight. “I’ll see to Maple.” It came out like a dismissal, and that’s how Kiyomi took it. She forced a smile, nodded, then joined Amber, Ty and Jesse as they headed to the house. It took all his discipline not to watch her go.
Megan stood by Rollo’s stable as Marcus put Jack in his and started unsaddling Maple. “How’d she do?” she asked.
“She was brilliant.” He wished they were still out there together. “How was shooting?”
“I only hit six reds. I’m getting rusty. Think we could put in some practice together this week?”
He smiled, the tension inside him easing. “Aye, I’d like that.”
“Me too.” She folded her arms and leaned back against the stall, ignoring Rollo as he lipped at her hair. “Did you ask her to ride, or did she ask you?”
Okay, now he was uncomfortable. Megan saw too much, knew him too well, and he had to be more careful about hiding his increasingly intense attraction toward Kiyomi. “I asked her.” Pulling off the saddle and cloth beneath it, he strode over to hang them on the wall, knowing this conversation wasn’t near over yet.
“She likes you. She trusts you.”
Marcus released the saddle and turned to face her. “Aye. I’m glad of it.”
Megan nodded, her expression troubled. “It’s okay to live, you know. You don’t need to keep punishing yourself.”
It wasn’t what he’d expected her to say.
Unable to hold her gaze, he looked away. Yes, he did need to keep punishing himself. And a washed-up cripple of an ex-soldier was the last thing a woman like Kiyomi needed anyway. She’d wouldn’t want him now, and after what had happened in Syria, he was the last person who deserved happiness.
“Marcus.”
“Leave it alone,” he said, his voice quiet but firm.
Thankfully he was saved from whatever she’d been about to say in reply by the chime of his mobile, alerting him to a new message. He pulled it from his pocket, then tossed the brush to Megan. “Mind untacking Jack and giving Maple a brush down for me? Trinity and Eden are back, and they’ve brought our newest guest with them.”
Grabbing his cane, he started for the doorway with Karas right at his heels. His once empty house was all but bursting at the seams. He had to make sure it remained secure.
Chapter Eight
This was their headquarters?
Zack gazed around in amazement as he stood in the entryway of Laidlaw Hall, feeling like he’d entered an alternate universe. Well, what was one more surprise in a day full of them? He sure as hell hadn’t expected to wind up here when he’d woken up this morning.
He’d spent the two-plus-hour drive from London mostly making small talk with Trinity, and convincing himself he’d made the right decision in joining the team. He didn’t owe the Agency anything, but Rod would rain shit down on him if he’d known what was really going on. Zack was now basically AWOL as far as the CIA was concerned.
Not that his handler or anyone else could track him at the moment, because as soon as he’d gotten in the car they’d taken his phone, switched if off and pulled out the SIM card, then swept him for electronic devices. Zack hadn’t protested. They were right to be cautious and he was willing to take whatever consequences came his way, as long as it meant having time with Eden.
She’d barely said two words to him the entire trip, answering only when asked a direct question, and in as few words as possible. She might not love that he’d agreed to join their cause, but too damn bad. They had unfinished business, and if he could help find justice for John as well, then he wasn’t going anywhere.
“This way,” Eden said without looking at him as she started down the hallway.
He hurried to keep up with her as the owner, Marcus, followed Zack, his cane tapping on the worn stone floors and an Anatolian Shepherd-type dog at his side. Zack still didn’t understand how Marcus fit into all this, and why he was letting the team stay here. This place was hundreds of years old and must be worth a damn fortune.
Eden walked out a doorway at the end of the hall into a formal, manicured garden, and along a path that led to a grassy area on one side of the house. He could hear feminine voices and laughter close by, as well as an occasional thud every few seconds.
As they rounded the side of the house, Zack stopped. Across a lush, neatly-trimmed lawn, four women were taking turns throwing knives into a target. Out in front of the group, a tall blonde reared her arm back and let what looked like a KA-BAR fly, hitting the center red circle with a solid thunk.
The other women started trash-talking. Then the one with chocolate-brown hair spotted them and alerted the others. Four pairs of eyes fastened on Zack.
“All right, fresh meat,” the blonde said, grinning as she chewed her gum.
The chocolate-brown brunette rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Don’t mind Chloe. I’m Megan,” she said, stepping forward to offer her hand.
He shook it. “Zack Maguire.”
“Yeah, I know. Welcome.” She introduced him to the others, and he was surprised to learn that the other brunette was her older sister, Amber.
“So, Maguire,” Chloe said, snapping her gum. “You ready for this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
The others snickered and Chloe kept grinning, seeming amused.
“So, these are the others,” Eden said, sounding less than thrilled at having to make the introductions. “You’ll meet the guys later. Now you might as well get settled in.” Okay, and even less thrilled at him staying here. He had an uphill battle ahead of him if he was going to make any headway with her, and he needed to know the truth about what had happened between them.
“Megan will show you to your room, if you’re ready to go up,” Marcus said in his accented voice, reaching a hand down to scratch behind the dog’s ears.
“Sure.” He’d rather Eden do it, but he was smart enough not to push too hard for the time being. Seemed she planned to give him as wide a berth as possible while he was here. Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t going to allow it. And then there was his dad, who was going to be crushed that Zack’s promised visit home wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.
&n
bsp; He followed Megan back inside and up to the third floor, mentally piecing everything together. From what Trinity had told him, all the guys living here were former military—some SOF—and thoroughly vetted by Rycroft’s people before being invited here to join the team. Zack was still fuzzy on all the legal details of this thing, but if Rycroft was heading it up, then he must have found enough loopholes and gray areas to make it work.
“You and Eden are the only ones up here aside from Marcus,” Megan told him as they reached the landing on the third story. “Everyone else is on the second floor. Well, Marcus would call it the first floor, because they classify it differently here in the UK. Anyway…here’s you.” She opened the second door down the hall. “Your room’s probably a lot girlier than you’re used to, but it’s one of the most masculine in the house.”
She stepped aside to let him into the room done in a medium gray tone. A dark, antique four-poster took up most of one wall. His suitcase was already beside it. “This is great.”
“Glad you like it.”
“Where’s Eden’s room?”
Megan met his gaze, her curiosity clear. “Across the hall and down two.”
He nodded and took a look into the en suite bathroom. Whoa. This was by far the nicest place he’d ever stayed, and it put him close to Eden, so bonus. “So what happens now?”
“We’re meeting downstairs in a bit to get everyone on the same page as far as recent developments go. We used to meet in Marcus’s study, but it’s pretty much the only room left that he can escape from us all now. There are so many of us here now that the library’s a better size anyway.”
“Lead the way.”
She smiled, her eyes full of curiosity. “I plan to.”
Down on the main level the library was off to the left, a large room stuffed with built-in bookcases, comfortable-looking furniture, and a bank of tall windows at the far end that let in lots of natural light. The room smelled faintly of wood smoke. Three men and all the women except Eden were already assembled, and they were all staring at him. Sizing him up.
This was where Zack excelled. He was an expert at making people feel comfortable and getting them to talk to him. He went straight over and introduced himself to the guys, even got a couple laughs from them, but when Eden stepped inside a moment later, he swore the air charged with an electric current.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She’d changed into a feminine, blue top that hugged her breasts. She’d also let her hair down, all those sexy curls falling around her face and shoulders.
She kept her distance, standing at the back of the group and folded her arms, her expression unreadable as she avoided looking at him. All that did was confirm she was very much aware of his presence. Good.
Being surrounded by all these Valkyries wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he’d taken way worse assignments in the past. Individually these women were lethal, with a ninety-five-percent success rate on their targets. Together? They could topple powerful organizations and destabilize governments.
This is the shit I saw on the news.
Every one of these women was a force to be reckoned with, legends within the operative and intel community, and here he was with six of them in the same room—had been romantically involved with one for months without realizing it. Unreal.
Eden had duped him completely, and if everything people said about the Valkyries was true—and he was pretty sure it was—then he was damn lucky she hadn’t just offed him before walking out of that hotel room that final morning, to protect herself and keep things neat and tidy. It made him wonder why she hadn’t simply killed him.
Because she cared about me, at least on some level. It was the only thing that made sense, and before this was all done, he wanted to hear it from her own lips.
“Okay, everyone’s here, and you’ve all met Zack,” Trinity said, moving to stand in front of the fireplace where a few logs burned in the grate. “He’s been briefed on the basics on the way here, and will be providing his intel expertise, so now I’m going to talk about our latest mission.”
She lifted the tablet in her hands and held the screen so everyone could see the picture of the strawberry-blond woman on it. “This is Penny, and she’s the last surviving Valkyrie we’ve been able to identify. Given the state of things and the current security situation facing us all, she’s obviously in grave danger. So far all attempts to contact her have come to nothing. But thanks to the intel on the thumb drive Eden’s handler provided her, we think we have a possible location for her. Zack will be working with Amber more on this to confirm, and I’ll be their link with Rycroft and the analysts Stateside.”
“Where’s Penny now?” Eden asked.
“Best we can figure, Edinburgh,” Trinity answered. “But we’ll need Zack to look at the files Chris gave you, and analyze them further with Amber before we can be sure it’s a good place to start looking for her.”
“Do we know what she’s doing there?” Chloe asked, her arm around Heath, a former Pararescueman.
Trinity nodded. “We think she’s hunting an escaped war criminal. Both Eden and Zack are familiar with him.”
Alexei Popovich.
Eden’s gaze shot to Zack, understanding in her expression. “That’s why you were at the dinner in Sevastopol. You were gathering intel on Popovich.”
“Yes.” Until Terzi had mysteriously been poisoned…by her, killing the entire operation.
Trinity lifted an eyebrow at him. “You ready to get to work?”
“Ready.” He had a fake cover that would still work and allow him access to some of his old contacts, so he should be able to get answers about Popovich, and maybe Penny as well.
“Good. Once you and Amber verify the likelihood of Penny being in Edinburgh, we’ll get moving.”
Everyone listened as Trinity handed out their assignments. If they confirmed Penny was likely in Edinburgh, he, Eden and Trinity would fly out tonight on a private jet and start the search as soon as they arrived in the city. From there, it was wait and see, but if anyone had a shot at finding her, it was another Valkyrie.
When the meeting broke up everyone went to the kitchen to grab something to eat, but Eden headed left. Zack followed her outside into the formal garden where she stood near a fishpond close to the stone wall in the far corner.
“You should eat,” she said without looking at him as he approached. “It’s gonna be a late night.”
“I’ll get something in a bit.” He hated this awkwardness between them.
She blew out a breath as she looked across the garden. “Why did you say yes?”
“Why do you think?”
She eyed him coolly. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t have asked.”
“Because of you,” he said after a beat.
His answer made her uncomfortable enough to look away. “Why, you still thinking about turning me in?”
“You think I would?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re capable of now. I don’t know you.”
Yeah, she did. Way more than he knew her, and that put him at a huge disadvantage, especially since she didn’t trust him anymore. “That goes both ways, though, doesn’t it? Because it turns out I never knew you either.”
She was silent a moment, then lowered her gaze to the pond. “Look, I’m sorry for leaving the way I did, and severing contact. But I had no choice.”
“Didn’t you?”
Those gorgeous honey-brown eyes swung back to his. “Not that I could see. Chris had warned me that Valkyries were being systematically hunted. I had to go to ground.”
“Did you know I was a CIA contractor when we met?”
“Yes.”
Anger sparked inside him. “Then why didn’t you come to me for help?”
She didn’t answer, just held his stare, and her silence told him everything. Because he worked with the CIA she hadn’t trusted that he wasn’t involved in the hunt somehow. Some part of her hadn’t been sure if he might be trying to get
close to her to extract intel on other Valkyries, then kill her.
Everything in him recoiled at the thought. He would never hurt her, ever, not even if he’d been ordered to. He couldn’t. That wasn’t how he was wired.
Pushing aside his frustration, he shoved all that into a box for later. “And now? Do you still think I pose a threat to you?”
Her soft chuckle held a bitter edge that made his skin tighten. “Oh, I know you do. But this is for the greater good, so I don’t have any choice but to deal with it.” She turned and walked away before he could answer, leaving him standing there and fighting the urge to go after her, have everything out here and now.
Zack ran a hand over his face, hit with a barrage of emotions. But most of all, he felt bereft. Sad for the loss of everything they’d had for that brief time together. That it had all been based on lies.
One thing hadn’t changed, however. He wanted to see if another shot was possible for them. To move past everything that had happened before and see if they could start over. To find out if they could have something real together now that they both knew the truth.
No matter what had happened in the past, he wanted to reclaim what he’d lost with Eden, more now than ever. He just hoped her feelings for him hadn’t all been in his head.
Chapter Nine
“Are you there yet?” Glenn asked the man on the other end of the phone. He was in his car again, the safest place for him to make these kinds of calls. It was six in the morning here, and eleven in Edinburgh. That didn’t give the contract hitter a lot of time to find their target.
“Yeah, and I hope you’ve got a good tip to give me a solid starting point.”
“Her legal name’s Penny Green. She’s been sighted recently in Sweden and the UK. We have reason to believe she’s been tracking Alexei Popovich.”
“Wasn’t he accused of war crimes?”
“Yes. If we’re right, she’ll be in Edinburgh to target him at some point over the next three days, beginning tonight. Once she does, she’ll get out of the country as quickly as possible, probably by boat, so you need to find her before she makes her move. I’ll send you his known itinerary in an encrypted file, as well as any up-to-date hits on her from facial recognition.”