by Kit Rocha
Dani sucked in a breath.
Rafe curled his fingers along the back of her thigh, and then they were moving, exploding upward as he rocked to his feet with inhuman grace and hoisted her up against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist instinctively, then celebrated and regretted the action in equal measure when his abs clenched.
She stared into his eyes, captivated by the desire reflected back at her. At moments like this, she could almost believe that his attraction to her was more than physical. That he didn’t just want her, he wanted her, and he knew the difference.
They froze that way, his fingers hot on her bare thighs, their lips so close she could taste his shuddering sigh of regret.
Then she realized she could hear it, too.
The music had stopped. There was none of the chatter and ambient noise that Dani would have expected to rise in its place, either. The whole club was silent, barely breathing. Waiting.
Breaking away from Rafe’s gaze almost hurt, so she did it gladly, deliberately. She followed other people’s riveted stares to the balcony, where Savitri stood, looking like a queen about to address her subjects.
Instead, she met Dani’s eyes, smiled, and crooked one finger.
Rafe sighed again as he slid her body down the length of his.
More regret. So Dani released him quickly—gladly—and stepped back with a breezy smile. “Great game, Morales.”
Heat flashed in his eyes, and Dani turned away. It was just another thing nobody had time for right now. Especially them.
TECHCORPS PROPRIETARY DATA, L3 SECURITY CLEARANCE
Birgitte Skovgaard has been demoted from her position as senior analyst and placed on administrative suspension pending disciplinary action.
Internal Memo, July 2065
ELEVEN
There was an actual orgy happening on Savitri’s balcony.
Naked bodies writhed under the pulsing lights, flashing in and out of shadow. Moans and cries drifted to Gray’s ears, sounds that had previously been drowned out by the music but were clear as fucking day—pun intended—once he got this close.
Maya walked straight past the scene, her eyes carefully fixed on the dais at the far end of the room, while Rafe studied the sweaty, enthusiastic participants with an appreciative grin. Dani was the one who lingered, eyeing the various tangles of limbs like she was deliberating over a dessert cart.
Gray elbowed her. “Put your tongue back in your mouth.”
She huffed. “Boring. So many other places to put it up here.”
“I have a few suggest—” Rafe cut off with a grunt as Maya stomped one boot down onto his foot.
“Focus,” she murmured, still staring at the dais. “This is one of the most dangerous rooms in Atlanta.”
It was definitely in Gray’s top three, and he’d been in some goddamn dangerous places—including Protectorate headquarters. On the surface, it might have seemed like nothing more than hedonistic fun. But if you really thought about it, every single person literally fucking around on that balcony was ready and willing to make themselves vulnerable.
They’d only do that with full, absolute confidence in Savitri’s ability to keep them safe.
The woman in question sat on a large, velvet-upholstered chair at the back of the dais. The image was undoubtedly meant to evoke royalty, a benevolent but powerful queen looking down at her subjects from her lofty throne. She even managed to look regal, even though her clothes were just like Dani’s—half cyberpunk club kid, half high fashion. The black leather she wore made her already dark hair look even darker, and her skin glowed like the burnished gold that accented her outfit.
A stone-faced man stood beside and a little in front of her. He was huge, taller and wider than Rafe, his stature as intimidating as his impassive stare. His skin was paler than Savitri’s, and his hair, though just as dark, was shot through with gray at the temples. It also peppered his short, neatly trimmed beard.
A guard. Not surprising, except for the fact that Gray only saw the one. It wasn’t unusual for people in positions of power to have undercover protective detail—not being surrounded by bodyguards made them seem more approachable, plus it was easier for those guards to thwart an attack if they had a little of the element of surprise on their side, too. But Gray could typically spot a guard at a hundred paces, no matter how good they were at blending into a crowd, and he saw … nothing.
The fine hairs on the back of his neck rose in warning. Savitri only had this one guy standing between her and the rest of the world. Was she naive? Reckless? Or was this inscrutable bastard just that lethal?
No wonder Charlie had declined to accompany them upstairs.
Savitri crossed her legs as they approached, baring one leg to the thigh as she lazily bounced her foot. Her gaze slid over each of them in turn, sharp and intelligent, and when she tilted her head, Gray caught the telltale reflection of light off one of her eyes. Smart lenses.
Maya stopped a few feet from the dais. Rafe continued another few paces, stopping just out of arm’s reach of the imposing guard. He swept an elaborate bow that should have seemed ridiculous, but the mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he peeked up at Savitri was concentrated charisma. “You summoned us, your majesty?”
Savitri tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair and studied Rafe. “Isn’t he pretty, Adam?”
The man at her side grunted.
“Can’t fault your taste, but you should know…” Dani’s flirtatious grin grew downright wolfish. “He’s all talk. If you want someone who comes through, you want me.”
Maya made a strangled noise.
“What? She’s fucking hot.”
“I am,” Savitri agreed with a lazy smile. “That was quite a show you two put on. You must have wanted to catch my attention a great deal. I’m intrigued. For the moment.”
It was a dance, just like the one Rafe and Dani had been doing downstairs. They’d spend the next few minutes prowling around each other, trying to size up so many things about the situation—motivation, intent, interest—without giving any real intel of their own away.
Gray knew the steps to this dance. He could do it when it was necessary. He was even pretty good at it. But Christ, sometimes he just wanted to ask a straight fucking question and get a straight fucking answer.
“Can we cut the shit?” he asked bluntly. “We’re not here to cause trouble or be a problem for you. All we need is some information.”
“Oh, is that all?” Savitri raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “I guess they’re not here to play after all, Adam. How disappointing.”
“We play,” Dani corrected. “We play hard. Gotta get the work done first, though. You know how it is.”
“I do.” Savitri inclined her head slightly, then returned her attention to Gray. “So. You want information. It so happens that I have a great deal of it, but it’s not always cheap.”
Nothing ever was. He’d learned about the transactional nature of life early, and he’d never forgotten those brutal lessons. “You get what you pay for,” he agreed. “Emerge BioCore Systems.”
Her brow furrowed slightly, and she glanced at Adam.
“Formerly Paradigm BioTech,” he supplied immediately. “Also PolyMax Bioengineering, ParaMax BioCore, ParaMax Bioengineering, ApiGen—”
“Ahhh, those assholes.” Her gaze developed a distinct chill as she surveyed them all again. “And how did you get tangled up with ApiGen?”
“We broke into one of their facilities,” Dani answered blithely. “We’d like to do it again.”
“You do play hard, don’t you?” Savitri tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair. “Let me guess. You went back only to discover they’d vanished. No trace. As if they’d never even been there, even though it should have been impossible for a lab of that magnitude to pack up and leave without warning.”
“They have it down to a science, don’t they?” Adam murmured. “The bastards.”
Maya took a step forward, speaking up for the fi
rst time. “So you’ve run into them before?”
“Them, and a dozen more like them.” Savitri sighed. “That’s why they’re so good at disappearing. Their survival is about hiding. Hiding their IP and scientists from the TechCorps. Hiding from Charlie…”
Adam growled. “Hiding from us.”
Gray dragged his hands through his hair. “So they’re just gone? That’s it?”
“They’re somewhere. But the one place they’re not is in Atlanta. If they were, I would know. You need to talk to the guy who knows everything that’s happening outside of Atlanta.”
Gray studied her, looking for the silent, subtle signs of deceit. But there was nothing sneaky or dishonest in her demeanor. Her eyes were clear and bright, and she gazed back at him easily, without avoiding or holding eye contact too forcefully.
Finally, he nodded. “Who is that, and where do we find him?”
“Jaden Montgomery,” Savitri began. “And you can—”
Dani snorted out a laugh, then clapped her hand over her mouth. Maya dropped her face into both hands with a groan.
Rafe frowned, looking back and forth between them. “Uh, is that a problem?”
“Not exactly.” Maya dropped her hands. “We know Jaden.”
“Well…” Dani tilted her head to one side, then the other. “We know Dakota.”
“One of Jaden’s drivers,” Maya supplied. Then she winced. “Also our boss Nina’s ex-girlfriend.”
“Emphasis on the girlfriend part, not the ex.” Dani started toward Savitri’s chair. “See, the problem with Jaden is—”
In a flash, Adam moved, blocking Dani’s path to the dais. He reached for her wrist, but she twisted away faster than Gray could blink. Adam’s eyes widened in momentary shock, and he reached for the weapon in his shoulder holster, only to stop short as Dani backed away.
“You’re fast,” Dani observed.
“You’re faster,” Adam retorted, his brows drawn together. It didn’t sound like a compliment. “Don’t get near her.”
“Sure.” A wink followed Dani’s breezy assurance. “But I’ve got to warn you—if she asks nicely, all bets are off.”
“Adam.”
That was all Savitri said, but the man stood down. When he moved aside, Savitri propped her chin in her hand, her expression amused. “Do continue. What is Jaden Montgomery’s problem?”
“He has a jealousy issue, not to mention a little bit of denial. And the two intersect wherever Dakota happens to be standing.” Dani paused. “Anyway, Nina’s not his favorite person.”
“Nina sounds fascinating,” Savitri murmured, before straightening. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. Consider this one on the house.”
“No, thanks,” Gray told her. “We pay our debts up front.” The only thing worse than owing someone was owing a stranger.
“I’ve got this one.” Dani smiled, the expression tinged with playfulness. “I don’t mind Savitri having my marker. I trust her.”
“I like people who recklessly trust me.” Savitri laughed and slipped a silver ring off her thumb. She tossed it to Dani, who caught it easily, one eyebrow upraised. “For you,” Savitri purred. “A VIP pass. Come back when you want to play hard. Bring the pretty boy.”
“You hear that, cupcake?” Rafe grinned at Dani. “No leaving me at home.”
“We’ll see.”
“Oh, you wanna go now?”
Maya drove her boot down onto Rafe’s foot again. “We should all go now. We have shit to do.”
“And I have people to do.” Savitri flicked her fingers at them. “Run along. If you do find them and need help crushing them, though … Well, that really would be on the house. Some practices are simply too abhorrent to allow.”
Dismissed, they made their way downstairs. By unspoken agreement—and with their mission completed—they headed straight for the exit. Gray found himself holding his breath as they wove wordlessly through the smoke and the neon glare and the jostling bodies.
Outside in the alley, he could finally breathe, though the night air was still muggy and thick. “That could have gone worse.”
Dani rolled the VIP pass Savitri had given her between her fingers. “Not as productive as I’d hoped, but at least we have a standing invitation from the owner.”
Gray snorted. “You and Rafe do, anyway.” Savitri had made her priorities—and her motivations—crystal clear.
“Next time, maybe at least try turning on the charm,” Dani advised. “It might work, even though you suck at it. You never know.”
“Hey.” Instead of putting it back on, Rafe slung his shirt over one shoulder and wagged a finger at her. “Gray has his strengths. We can’t all be smoldering sex bombs.”
She rolled her eyes in response, but her smile quickly faded. Her seemingly perpetual expression of flirtatious amusement vanished, replaced by pensive concentration. “One thing’s bothering me, though.”
That sent prickles of warning skittering up Gray’s spine. “What is it?”
“Her guard—I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
Fucking hell. “TechCorps?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Can’t place him yet, but I’ll figure it out.”
Maya remained silent, and Gray sidled closer to her as Rafe and Dani began to bicker and bargain over the VIP ring. She’d been bizarrely quiet during their interaction with Savitri, but he couldn’t tell if it was by design or because she’d had nothing to say.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
“Yeah.” She drew in a slow breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out in a soft sigh. “Savitri makes me nervous. All that sexy vampire queen shit doesn’t fool me. I’m pretty sure she could figure out who I really am if I made her curious enough … and I’d be worth a lot to someone who trades in TechCorps secrets.”
Gray was more than pretty sure about that. “Luckily, she doesn’t seem to be hurting for credits.”
“No.” Maya’s lips quirked in an almost smile. “And Rafe and Dani are next-level good at keeping everyone’s attention on them.”
“Yep, I’ve gotten used to being invisible next to Rafe.” When she didn’t laugh at his joke, he touched her arm—lightly. Carefully. “Are you sure you’re all right? You seem…”
“Overwhelmed?” She twisted one of the half dozen rings she’d donned nervously around one finger, her gaze unfocused. “I should be. I haven’t had time to do my meditation exercises in days. But it’s not actually that bad? I just feel a little…” She choked on a laugh. “No. Not a little. I just feel. A lot.”
“Is that bad?”
“Probably.” She stole a quick glance at him but looked away before he could meet her eyes. “Nah, ignore me. It’s been a weird couple days, hasn’t it? Are you okay? I mean, you’re the one who had a friend come back from the dead.”
Gray almost stumbled.
He hadn’t thought about Mace at all during their outing—which wasn’t unusual. His Protectorate training had included harsh lessons on compartmentalization. It was a necessary part of life as a soldier, being able to temporarily quiet your racing thoughts. You couldn’t very well charge across a battlefield, with rounds zipping past your head and grenades exploding around you, if you couldn’t lock away basic things like fear and horror and self-preservation.
In truth, the Protectorate hadn’t had much to teach him that the streets hadn’t already taken care of. Gray had already mastered the art of shoving things into little boxes in his head by the time he’d joined up.
But he was always, always aware of it. And he hadn’t made a conscious choice not to think about Mace’s return.
How did he feel about it? The question was almost too huge to answer, and trying to break it down into smaller issues didn’t do a damn bit of good.
Mace was alive. And he had come after them, which meant someone at the TechCorps likely knew the rest of the Silver Devils weren’t dead, either. Worse, his friend was barely clinging t
o sanity.
Somehow, the fact that Mace had tried to stab Gray in the face was low on the list of things about this situation that were 100 percent fucked up.
Maya was still looking at him, so Gray shrugged, even though the muscles in his neck and shoulders were so tense the action literally hurt. “I’m worried about Mace, and about Knox. And about what this means.”
“That Richter thinks you’re alive.” Her low rasp couldn’t hide the way her voice hitched on his name. “He’s probably not sure. If he had proof, there’d be some trace of it in the official record. Doesn’t make him less dangerous, though. He didn’t have proof about Birgitte at first, either.”
Nothing made Richter less dangerous.
Gray opened his mouth to remind her of that fact, but the words wouldn’t come, and he wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as though it were new information; if anything, Maya knew it better than the rest of them. The official TechCorps story that Birgitte had been transferred to some far-flung satellite office was a fucking joke.
No, the woman who had raised Maya had been murdered, and Gray wouldn’t have been surprised if someone told him that Richter had pulled the trigger himself. The man was a lot of things, but hypocrite didn’t number among his many flaws. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Maybe the bastard even liked it.
Then again, bad memories were one thing—inescapable, perhaps, especially when the burden of your memory was as cumbersome as Maya’s. But they were still in the past, and that mattered. Gray didn’t want to be the one to shove merciless reality in her face for no damn good reason, to turn the specter of Richter into cold, murderous flesh.
Instead, he shrugged. “Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it. I’m glad Mace is alive, and he’s someplace now where we can look after him. Everything else is tangential.”
“Agreed.” She hesitated. “How do you think he found y’all?”
That much, Gray knew. “Mace is a good tracker. He’s patient, you know? Plus, he thinks just like Knox sometimes.”
“Takes a Devil to find a Devil?”
“Something like that.”
“We’ll take care of him,” Maya promised softly. “That’s what Nina does. And she’s a fucking rock star at it.”