by Kaylea Cross
Megan frowned. “I know that. We all do. We’d never let her do something so reckless.”
“So you’ll go talk to her until she drops it,” he challenged, unwilling to let this go. “That none of you would ever let her sacrifice herself for the rest of you—because that’s what she’s bloody well thinking.”
Megan’s eyes widened. “Marcus. We’ll handle it, I promise you.”
“So then handle it now—”
“Is everything okay?”
He whipped his head around to find Kiyomi watching them from the doorway. Her expression was composed, her voice calm, but he didn’t believe she was calm at all inside, and it sliced him up to think of what she was prepared to do to help the others.
“Yes, fine,” Megan answered with a smile. “Marcus just wanted to talk to me for a second but we’re done now.” She gave him a pointed look, then started for the door. On the way by, Megan set a hand on her shoulder. “It’s been a long day. Let’s all get some sleep and then we’ll talk again in the morning, okay?”
Kiyomi nodded. “Sure. Sleep well.” As Megan stepped past her into the hallway, Kiyomi turned back to Marcus. “Thank you for staying.”
She might as well have reached into his chest and crushed his heart in her fist. “Of course.” If she needed him, he’d be there.
She gave him a little smile that belied the shadows lurking in her eyes. “Think I’ll go up too, maybe read for a bit.” She turned to leave.
“Wait.” He caught her forearm. She stopped, her eyes snapping to his, and he felt the connection between them crackling like a live wire, sizzling from his hand up his arm. He released her. “What you said…”
She waited, watching him.
“You’ll all find another way to get what you need.”
“We’ll all do whatever it takes to end this, me included.” Her brave smile and surprised expression damn near broke his battle-scarred heart, as if she couldn’t fathom him worrying about her. “It’s all right, Marcus. I’m well aware of the risks and what my role is in all of this. I’m not afraid.”
Yes, she was, she just would never admit it to anyone, maybe even herself. But it was also the first time she’d said his name, and hearing it wrapped in her soft voice made his chest hitch.
He took hold of her upper arms, determined to get through to her. He was afraid for her. For what she might do to see this thing through. What she was prepared to sacrifice. “You’ll find another way,” he repeated, sure of it. “Whatever happens, the team will handle it together.” And dammit, he wanted to be part of whatever shape that took. He was sick of sitting idly by while all this shite was playing out in front of him.
Pain flared in the depths of her eyes for an instant, then was gone. “None of us are safe, including you. Not even here. And we won’t be until this is all over.”
Her words resonated inside him. From day one he’d known that bringing Megan here, then the others, was only a temporary reprieve. That sooner or later, his home would no longer be a safe haven for them. That the day would come when it posed more of a threat than safety.
And, selfish bastard though he was, he wanted to delay it as long as possible. Because when that day arrived, Megan and the others would leave, scattering to the wind once more, and Kiyomi with them. He’d thought losing Megan would be the hardest part. But now the idea of losing Kiyomi hurt just as much.
“I want to show you something,” he said. Only Megan and Trinity knew about it, but he needed Kiyomi to see it now.
She nodded slowly, searching his eyes. “All right.”
He released her, grabbed his hated cane from where he’d hastily leaned it against the wall, and turned right down the hall. The familiar, comforting scent of wood smoke and leather beckoned as he neared his study, but it was far more than just his place of refuge.
Flipping on the overhead light, he shut the door behind her. “This way.” He crossed to the section of built-in bookshelves to the right of the fireplace. “Here,” he said, bringing her to stand next to him.
Her feet were silent on the Persian rug covering the cold, hard stone beneath. “What am I looking for?” she asked, perusing the leather-bound volumes before them.
“This one.” He took her hand, placed it on the spine of The Secret Garden, and watched her face. “Press it.”
She did, her expression fascinated as a quiet snick sounded in the still room, revealing a tiny gap in the wood between that row of the bookshelf and the one above. She looked up at him, so close he could drink in her warm vanilla scent and see the various colors of brown flecks in her eyes. “A secret passage?”
Rather than answer, he pushed the panel inward to reveal a short corridor carved into the stone wall. Taking the battery-powered torch from its holder on the inside wall, he shone it down the corridor, illuminating the space beyond the corridor. “Go inside.”
She went without hesitation, him right behind her, and stopped at the trap door in the floor. “Do you have a dungeon?” she asked.
“No.” Setting aside his cane, he eased into a crouch, covering a grimace of pain as his hip and thigh muscles spasmed, and reached for the old iron loop on the trap door. The old hinges were almost soundless as he pulled it open, thanks to the oil he’d recently put on them.
Easing back, he aimed the beam of the torch downward so she could see inside. “It’s a priest hole.”
She frowned. “A what?”
“They date back to the Reformation, during the Tudor age. Religious upheaval was the order of the day back then, and Catholic priests were persecuted for maintaining the old faith. Some of them sought refuge in houses like this one, where they would stay out of sight until the people looking for them were gone.”
“What’s inside it now?” she asked, peering down the ladder he’d built inside it.
Reaching past her, he slid a hand into the opening and found the switch he’d put on the wall. With the flick of his fingers, the lighting system came to life.
A soft gasp escaped her, her face full of wonder as she took everything in. “An armory.”
“Aye.” Dozens of pistols and rifles were mounted in neat rows along the stone walls at the base of the ladder, along with knives, ammo, food, emergency cash and medical supplies. “Megan and I started working on it when she moved in. There’s a tunnel on the far side that leads to another trapdoor on the south side of the house, just outside the garden wall.”
Kiyomi gazed around the space for a moment longer, then looked at him. “Why are you showing me this now?”
“Because I want you to know you’re safe here.” With me. He bit the last words back before they could escape. But shit, yeah, if it came down to it he would defend her and the others here to the last bullet.
Kiyomi’s expression softened. Easing back on her haunches, she lifted a hand to cup the unscarred side of his face. Marcus stopped breathing, the warmth of her touch seeping through his beard. “We’re safe here for now,” she murmured, her eyes holding him captive. “But that’s a promise you can’t keep. None of us can.”
Before he could argue she dropped her hand and stood to leave.
He quickly turned off the light, closed the trapdoor and followed her back into his study. Karas was sitting at the tunnel opening, and greeted them with a thump of her tail on the rug.
“Hi, sweet girl,” Kiyomi said to her, reaching down to stroke the dog’s head. Karas nudged into Kiyomi’s hand, asking for more, and it surprised Marcus. Karas was aloof with everyone except for him and sometimes Megan. But she obviously liked Kiyomi, and that in itself was meaningful.
Kiyomi turned to Marcus. “Thank you for showing me. See you in the morning.”
It took all his strength not to reach for her. To pull her close and crush her to him. Take that lovely face between his hands and wipe away every trace of fear and pain from her eyes with his touch, his lips. “Aye. Sleep well.”
The door closed behind her and the room suddenly felt colder, her earlier words
haunting him. He’d once failed to protect the men under his charge. They’d all paid the ultimate price for it, while for whatever reason he’d survived.
Never again. He would protect Kiyomi and the other Valkyries while they were here, by whatever means necessary. He was prepared to do whatever it took to keep them safe.
Full of restless energy, unsure what the hell to do about his escalating feelings for Kiyomi, he roamed the lower floor of the house, finally stopping in the kitchen. While the kettle heated he leaned over the counter to peer through the window into the growing gloom outside, unable to shake the unease growing inside him.
The October sky was gray and leaden, heavy clouds looming to the west. A storm was coming, and not just of Mother Nature’s making.
They’d all best be ready when it hit.
****
Wow. That meeting had been one hell of an eye opener, and Eden wasn’t sure what would happen now.
She crept into Zack’s room and gingerly shut the door behind her. He was asleep on his right side, facing away from her, and the sight of him like that with his torso bared and the bandages wrapped around his waist turned her heart over.
The meds she’d finally forced him to take a few hours before they landed should be wearing off now. She stripped, snuck around the other side of the bed and carefully crawled up beside him. The blinds on the windows were open, allowing just enough light from the twilit sky in for her to see his face. He needed a shave, though she liked the rugged look on him.
He stirred and opened sleepy eyes to focus on her. “Hi.”
“Hi.” She smoothed his hair back from his forehead. “You’ve got a bit of a fever.”
“Yeah, feels like it.” He winced as he shifted to slide an arm around her. “What’d I miss?”
She told him about the meeting, about what Kiyomi had said.
Zack’s brows drew together. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. And whoever the Architect is, sounds like they’ve been after us for a while now.”
“Would she really do it? Hand herself over to Rahman?” he asked, frowning.
“She’s prepared to do it, but it’ll never happen because we’d never allow it.” Sending Kiyomi back into the hands of her captor just on the chance that they might be able to find out who the Architect was? No way. “Between you and Amber working your magic together, hopefully we can get a lock on Rahman and an identity for the Architect so we can come up with some plans and go after them as a team.”
He hummed thoughtfully, his thumb sweeping across the skin between her shoulder blades. “And if we can’t?”
“Then we’ll figure out something else.” She wasn’t sure what exactly had happened to Kiyomi, but she could imagine easily enough. No way would they subject her to more of it.
“Glad to hear it,” he agreed, tugging her close to brush a kiss on her lips.
“Amber found evidence that Bennett ordered the hit on Chris and me, and your friend John. Bennett wanted to be thorough in covering his tracks.”
“Fucking bastard.”
Yep. At least he’d died a traumatic death, though they still didn’t know who the killer was. “Oh, and Megan and Ty are engaged.”
“Huh? When the hell did that happen?”
“I guess it’s been coming for a while now, but she finally said yes just before we boarded the plane.”
“The one that caught on fire, or the other one?” he said dryly.
Eden grinned, thankful everything had turned out. “The first one.”
Setting a hand on his chest, she eased back to look into his eyes. Today had been a massive wakeup call. She’d come so close to losing this man, and hearing about Megan and Ty had given her the added strength to go after what she wanted. To believe that kind of happiness could be possible for her with Zack.
“I couldn’t stand for anything else to happen to you,” she began. “For you to get hurt again. You…” She swallowed, gathered her courage. “You mean too much to me.” She’d tried everything to get over him and put him behind her, but she never had, and now he’d cracked open something inside her that can’t be sealed up again.
His gaze intensified. “Yeah? How much do I mean to you?”
“A lot,” she whispered back, suddenly feeling shy and vulnerable. “So much that I think you should go home to visit your dad for a while, and—”
“No way in hell.” He caught her chin between his thumb and fingers, lifted it until she met his gaze. “I love you.”
Her heart clenched, part of her unable to believe he’d just said that, but before she could respond he continued. “I’ve been in love with you for almost a year, and I’ll be damned if I let you go now. So I’m not walking away, from you or this.”
The sudden sting of tears made her blink and pull in an unsteady breath. “You sure you love me? The real me?”
His fierce expression softened. “Sweetness, I’m lying here with a bullet hole from trying to protect you, and I’d take a hundred more bullets to keep you that way. What the hell else do I have to do to prove it to you?”
She gave him a watery smile. “I don’t know. Maybe I need to be knocked over the head with it.”
He gently bopped her on the top of her head with the bottom of his fist. “There. Now you believe me?”
Teetering on the verge of dissolving into tears, Eden wound her arms around his back, careful of his wound as she melted against him. “I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for being suspicious of you, for ever thinking you might sell me and the others out.”
He gave a dramatic sigh and hugged her to him. “This whole trust issue thing got old a long time ago.”
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He nuzzled the side of her face, then went dead still, his body tensing. “Are you crying?”
“No.”
“Pretty sure you’re crying.”
“Am not.”
He eased her head back to look into her face, wiped the tears from her cheeks. “No more hiding from me. No more lies, even little ones.”
That was fair. It wasn’t going to be an overnight change, though. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” He kissed the bridge of her nose.
He hadn’t pressed her to say the words back to him, but she could feel him waiting for them. Though it wasn’t bright enough in the room for him to see it, she flushed, squirming under his scrutiny and the acute vulnerability. She couldn’t say it back to him. Wouldn’t let herself. Not yet. Not until this was all over and she no longer posed a threat to him.
He grinned. “I can’t really tell, but are you blushing right now?”
She laughed softly and kissed him, glad for the reprieve. “You’re such an idiot.”
“I know,” he murmured against her lips. “But I’m your idiot.”
Her heart felt swollen to twice its normal size, like it might split her ribcage open. As incredible as it seemed, Zack loved her. He’d almost died today because of her, yet they finally had a chance at a future together.
If she wanted it, she was going to have to put her most secret fears aside and take it.
“True,” she agreed. “But if you were smart, you’d still walk away.”
“If I was smart, I’d have locked you down months ago and never let you out of my sight.”
Eden smiled in the dimness, wanting to pinch herself. “I wasn’t ready.” But maybe now I might be.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“You were what?”
Zack winced at his father’s shout and pulled the phone away from his ear. “Dad, easy with the volume there. I’m fine, really.”
“Calm down? You tell me you were fucking shot and then expect me to stay calm?”
“It’s a flesh wound.” Hurt like a mother, but every day was getting a bit better. “Barely slowed me down.” Okay, that was a lie, but he wanted to put his father’s mind at ease. “A few stitches and some downtime, and I’ll be good as new.”
“Where are you?” his father deman
ded, voice taut.
“In the UK.”
“The UK,” he repeated, his frustration palpable. “That’s all I get?”
“Sorry, but yeah.” He wouldn’t even be having this conversation at all if it weren’t for the heavily encrypted phone Amber had given him. With the kinds of enemies hunting them now, they had all doubled up on precautions.
“I’m sorry about John. He was a good man.”
“Yeah, he was. Did you send the card to his parents like I asked?”
“Put it in the mail yesterday. I hope they get some closure eventually.”
“They will.” He couldn’t say more, but they’d since found evidence that Glenn Bennett had also sent a hitter after Penny.
As for Bennett’s death, the attacks on the way to the airport the other day and Rod’s involvement, it was looking more and more like it had to do with the Architect.
“Can I talk to Paula for a minute?”
“Sure. Hang on.”
A rattle sounded in the background, then Paula’s voice came on the line, soothing and calm. He assured her he was fine, talked for a minute and then got serious.
“By the way, I’ve met someone. I want to bring her home to meet you guys soon.”
He could just picture her reaction. Ears perking, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Really? That sounds serious.”
“Yep.” He was deadly serious where Eden was concerned. He loved her. She hadn’t said it back to him yet, but he hoped that was only a matter of time.
In the background he could hear his dad trying to pump his wife for intel, but then the bedroom door opened and Eden walked in. Zack smiled. “Gotta go, Paula, but I just wanted to let you both know I’m okay and I promise to visit soon. Good luck with Dad.”
“I’m gonna need it. We love you—stay safe, and if you need anything at all, let us know.”
“I will, and love you too.”