“Why did you really not want us here?” This was Rowan.
“How are we getting her back?” Sawyer.
“Let’s all calm down.” Conrad.
“She’s innocent, Conrad.” That was Corbin.
Bree shook her head to try and clear her thoughts and push away the disconnected buzzing in her ears that seemed to have taken over for a few moments. She looked over to see that Declan was gazing at her, his expression worried. He’d moved his chair closer to hers and put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. She gave him a small nod. She was okay. Turning back to the rest of the room, Bree said, “Conrad, what’s the next step?”
The other voices in the room went silent and eight pairs of eyes turned to look at Bree. She looked directly at Conrad, unblinking. She knew that he would be the one to authorize any sort of retrieval mission. He’d be the person to veto one as well. She met his gaze and raised one eyebrow, as though challenging him.
Rowan studied Bree and Conrad as they faced one another down. He let his ability go for a moment, cycling through possibilities and probabilities, finally settling on one he’d already realized on his own.
“You knew if we all found out that we’d insist on going after her?” he said to Conrad in an accusing tone. “You thought that if it was just Bree and Declan that you could avoid a scene. She’s an innocent college kid, Conrad! A civilian. What the hell’s wrong with you?” He knew his voice was rising and his tone was sharp, but he didn’t care. He might be younger than Conrad, but he was a still a veteran in this war and he didn’t like the way this felt.
Conrad didn’t immediately respond but his cheeks flushed, whether from anger or embarrassment, Rowan didn’t know. He didn’t much care. He wasn’t denying the accusation. “Did you think we wouldn’t find out? Conrad, please tell me you didn’t really think we’d be okay with just letting Ephraim kill an innocent woman.”
Conrad finally responded. “No,” he said harshly. “I didn’t think you’d be okay with it. I’m not okay with it.” He sighed. “Try to understand. I’m responsible for every person here. So many of our people have died already.” He looked away for a moment before continuing. “Wherever they have her, you know it’s a trap. You want me to risk more of our people for one civilian?”
Rowan shook his head, angry. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
Gwynn’s voice carried clearly through the room. They hadn’t noticed her quietly slipping through the door. “The Praetorian Guard was originally meant to protect the people. Those without our abilities. We’re no better than Ephraim and his people if we turn our backs on someone who needs our help. I’ll gladly lead a team to rescue Zoe.” She stood, looking directly at Conrad who suddenly looked defeated.
Jon and Rylee stood. “I’ll go,” Jon said.
Rylee nodded. “Me too.”
Corbin stood and said, “I’m in.”
Sawyer was already standing but she said, “When do we leave?”
Declan and Bree stood together, his arm still around her shoulders. They didn’t need to say it. Everyone already knew they’d be going.
Another voice spoke in the silence. “I’ll go.” Stella. They all turned in the direction of the voice. Stella appeared in an instant. Bree wondered how long she’d been there, but she realized it didn’t matter. She shot the woman a grateful smile. Stella looked embarrassed by the attention and averted her gaze. Bree watched as Rowan came to stand protectively by her side. Stella immediately appeared less nervous with him beside her. Bree would have loved to analyze that further, but another thought occurred to her and she turned back to Conrad, her brows drawn low.
“Who was the man?” she asked. When no one answered her, she clarified. “The one who came to the door.”
Conrad and Pax shared a look. “He said his name is Paul Mason,” he said, shifting his gaze back to Bree.
Bree’s expression grew more confused. “Paul?” she asked. “How does Paul know anything about us or this place?”
“We asked him about that, but he wanted to talk to you first,” Conrad said in a resigned voice. “We’ve got him in a holding cell for now.”
Bree looked around the room quickly. “Take me to him,” she said.
Conrad looked to Rowan. “Prep for a ten-man team,” he said. “Pax, notify Cole and Hannah. If we’re going to do this, I want it done right.” He turned to Bree. “Wait for me outside and I’ll take you to holding.” Looking to the rest of the group, he said, “Head to the armory. Get prepped.”
Everyone but Conrad and Rowan left Operations. Gwynn lingered a bit and was the last to leave. She turned to look at Conrad and he could see the worry in her eyes. He felt his gaze soften when he looked at her. He turned to Rowan.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
He followed Gwynn from the room, stopping her a few feet from the door with a hand on her arm. She turned to face him, meeting his eyes directly. He loved that about her. She never backed down from a challenge. She never let someone turn her away from the path she believed was right. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he felt his lips turn up into a smile.
“Be careful,” he said, bringing his hand up to her cheek.
“Conrad,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” he said, stopping her. “Don’t apologize. You were right. I was taking the easy way out and it was wrong.” He pulled her to him in a tight hug. “I just want everyone to come home safe,” he whispered. “Especially you. I can’t lose you, too.” As they pulled back from the hug, he planted a quick kiss on her lips.
Gwynn smiled at him, “I’m bringing everyone home. Have dinner waiting for me,” she said with a wink.
Conrad chuckled with a nod as she turned to go. His smile faded slowly as he watched her walk away. Steeling himself for another confrontation, he went back into Operations to talk to Rowan. He walked over to where Rowan was standing, the phone pressed to his ear.
“Got it,” he said. “Thanks.”
Looking up to meet Conrad’s eyes, he said, “That was Shaw. There was an encrypted message meant for Bree. They’re trying to lure her out. I don’t think she should hear the message.” He gave Conrad a meaningful look before he went on. “They gave a time and place for an exchange. Specified she come unarmed and alone.” He rolled his eyes and made a sound of disgust. “Like that’s an option.”
Conrad listened to Rowan without interrupting, not surprised at the new information. He’d been waiting for them to try and make contact with Bree. When it was clear that Rowan was finished speaking, he said, “I need to know that you think this can work. Without losing any of our people. I know the girl is innocent and I don’t like the idea of leaving her to Ephraim, but I won’t sacrifice our people needlessly. I need to know that you believe it will work.” The intensity of his gaze bore into Rowan’s and the younger man knew that he was thinking of all the losses they’d suffered. He nodded.
“I think it can work,” he said. “You know I don’t make guarantees, Conrad. It’s not going to be easy, but I think we can do it.”
Conrad nodded at him. “Call Sam. See who he can lend us. He owes us a favor.” He began to walk toward the exit. “The more people we can get on this, the better.” This was said over his shoulder as he walked from the room, leaving Rowan alone in Ops.
Chapter Nineteen
Bree followed Conrad to the elevator while the rest of the team went to the armory to prepare for the mission. The nerves dancing in her stomach made her wonder if she might be sick. She’d been on plenty of missions now and she knew that nerves were a normal part of it. She’d grown used to feeling nervous before a mission. This was different. This was Zoe. If they failed, she could die. She took a deep breath to calm herself and glanced at the man walking next to her. She didn’t think she’d ever spent a moment alone with Conrad. He was even more intimidating without the buffer of other people.
As though he sensed her scrutiny, Conrad turned to look at her, b
ut he still said nothing. When they reached the elevator, he pressed the button to go down and they waited in more awkward silence. When the doors opened a few seconds later, they got on and Conrad pressed the button for Level 5. As the doors closed, Bree resigned herself to more awkward silence, but Conrad surprised her by speaking.
“Bree, I’d like to apologize to you,” he said, shocking her even further.
“Um,” Bree mumbled, unsure how to respond.
“I want you to know that I’d never let an innocent person be killed if I could stop it,” he said, turning to face her. Bree thought he looked worried, but then he always looked worried. She nodded and attempted a half-smile.
“I know that,” she said. “I don’t know how you handle the stress of running this place. It must be awful.” She was telling the truth. She didn’t envy Conrad his position. He was constantly balancing keeping people safe with sending them into danger to try and stop Ephraim.
Conrad studied her for a moment before he nodded. “It is.”
Bree took a deep breath and released it in a rush. “We’re going to get her back and everyone is going to come home safe.” She didn’t know if she was saying it because she believed it or because she was trying to will the words to come true. Still, it made her feel better to voice it.
When the elevator doors opened, the two of them moved quickly down the hallways to the holding area. Paul was being held in a cell similar to the one they’d kept Stella in not so long ago. When Bree saw him, she wasn’t expecting the swell of emotion. She hadn’t seen Paul in months and she’d never expected to see him here, of all places. It felt as though the two sides of her life had suddenly collided and she didn’t know how she should feel.
Paul had been looking down at the floor, but when the doors opened, his gaze had shot up to see who was entering the observation area. When he saw Bree standing there, his lips curved up in a small smile. He raised a hand in greeting.
“Bree,” he said. “Hey.”
She looked at him for a long moment, studying the familiar shaggy blonde hair and friendly eyes. She’d known Paul for as long as she’d known Zoe and she trusted him. She’d thought she knew everything about him—the important things, at least. She and Zoe hadn’t kept any secrets from one another. Or they hadn’t until the night Benson had attacked Bree and Declan. Now, she wondered if there was more to Paul Mason than she’d thought.
“Paul,” she said. “What the hell?”
Paul’s smile widened slightly before his face turned serious. “That’s a fair question,” he said. “It’s a long story, but I’ll go over the major parts, so we can go get Zoe back.”
Bree gave him a nod but didn’t say anything.
“My parents are Praetorians,” Paul said bluntly. “I guess that makes me one too, but I didn’t grow up in that life. When I was a baby, my older sister was killed in an explosion. My parents never told me all the details and I never asked. It seemed too hard for them to talk about it and it was easier for everyone to leave it in the past.” He looked directly into Bree’s eyes as he spoke, and she could feel the truth of his words. “After that, they lost the will to keep fighting in Ephraim’s resistance.”
Bree felt the shock of those words slam into her. Ephraim’s resistance? Was that what they called themselves? A resistance? What were they resisting? Her confusion and surprise must have shown on her face because Paul’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“My parents believe that the council and its followers are the true cause of the war. They’ve kept it alive all these years. Ephraim wants nothing more than to be left alone to live his life, but they insist on continuing to hunt him and his followers. It’s only led to more death.”
Bree felt her brows raise in surprise at the idea that Ephraim wanted peace. She found that difficult to believe.
“I was raised to believe in that cause, even if my parents no longer fought for Ephraim’s war. We left that life when I was just a baby and my parents never went back. They trained me themselves, taught me to use my ability, to understand how it worked and that it was a gift. They may not have stayed with Ephraim, but they still believed in his cause. They made sure I learned the history and understood it. When I was old enough, they let me choose whether I would go to fight with Ephraim or live out a normal life. By then, I’d met Zoe and I wasn’t leaving her. I didn’t care about my Praetorian “purpose”. I loved her and that’s all I cared about.” Paul looked at Bree and she found that the hardness in his eyes made him look like a stranger to her. “I don’t care who’s right or wrong in this war. I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”
Bree was still reeling from the shock of realizing that Paul was a Praetorian, but she found that she believed his story. She hoped she wasn’t biased due to their history, but she didn’t think so. She could see the desperation in his eyes when he’d talked about getting Zoe back. For someone who was raised to believe that these people were the enemy to walk up to the front door and ask for help was telling. She didn’t think he was lying. At least, not about wanting to save Zoe. For Bree, that was the most important thing right now. She nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “Let me talk to Conrad.” Something occurred to her and she said, “One more thing. Your ability? What is it?”
Paul said, “I’m a shield.” At her questioning gaze, he clarified. “I can create a physical shield around myself. It won’t stop mental abilities like mind readers, but it stops anything physical that tries to get to me. I can’t project it out from myself and I’ve never tested it on bullets, but it works pretty well.”
Bree raised a brow, “I’m guessing it works for 250-pound football players?”
Paul’s face showed a hint of humor and he gave a shrug off his shoulders. “Probably, but I never used it on the field. It didn’t seem fair.”
Bree nodded and turned to leave.
As she reached for the door, she heard Paul call her name. When she turned around, he was standing near the window that separated the cell from the room she was in.
“We have to get her back,” he said, the desperation clear in his voice. “Promise me you’ll do everything you can to get her back.”
Bree swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “I promise,” she said. “We’ll bring her home.”
Declan was helping Bree adjust the straps on her vest when the door to the armory opened and Cole walked in, followed by Hannah and Pax. There were solemn greetings all around. The three of them wasted no time donning their own body armor and equipping themselves with weapons and ammo. Pax walked over to grab a knife from the wall near Bree. He flashed her a smile.
“So, Bree,” he said. “This Zoe chick? Does she have a sister?”
Bree shook her head and a small laugh escaped her.
“What?” Pax asked, confused. “Swooping in to save the damsel in distress? Chicks really dig that.”
Bree’s smile widened briefly before she swatted his arm. “Only child,” she said. “Sorry to disappoint.”
Pax’s face dropped for a moment before the smile returned. “Maybe a hot cousin?” he asked enthusiastically. The two of them went back and forth for a bit and gradually Bree seemed to lose the haunted look in her eyes.
For the first time, Declan was happy to have Pax around. The other man hadn’t flirted with Bree since the night he’d apologized to Declan, but that didn’t mean that Declan liked him. He still found his complete lack of seriousness to be grating and he got sick of the constant jokes. Tonight however, he was grateful to him for distracting Bree. She’d gone silent after returning from talking with Paul. Declan wondered what was going through her head. He knew she was worried for Zoe. Pax’s pointless chatter had brought her out of her dark thoughts in a way that his reassurances hadn’t. Maybe he didn’t hate the guy so much anymore.
Declan walked over to the other side of the room where Sawyer was busy sliding full magazines into her various pockets. He looked back at the others to make sure they wouldn’t overhear.
She looked at him with a curious expression but didn’t say anything. He went on. “Bree,” he said. “Look out for her tonight. She’s not herself. I know she’s distracted and I get it. Just…if it gets bad...please…just make sure she gets out okay.” He looked directly in Sawyer’s eyes, trying to convey the severity of his request. He needed to know that Bree would be okay.
Sawyer nodded. “We’re all coming home tonight, Dec,” she said in the tone that he’d come to recognize as final. He nodded his agreement before walking back across the room to rejoin Bree. He went through one final check of both their equipment, weapons, ammo and their body armor. He knew firsthand how important the armor was and he knew he’d never take it for granted.
They all finished their final preparations as Rowan entered the room, followed by Conrad. They both wore dark expressions. Rowan carried a tablet in one hand. He let his gaze sweep around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes.
“We got some new intel,” he said, glancing at Bree before looking down at the tablet in his hands. “We intercepted an encrypted message from Ephraim’s people. They want Bree. We figured that was the case, but this just confirms it. Ephraim wants Bree to trade herself for Zoe. She’s alive and she’s not hurt. They sent a location for the exchange. He’s supposed to be there himself.” He looked around at the assembled team who were all giving him their undivided attention. “Now, they’ve asked that Paul bring Bree in. They’re supposed to come alone and unarmed.” His expression said quite clearly what he thought of that plan. “Clearly, that’s not happening. But we need them to believe it is.”
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