“Here. In Miami.”
“Less than a week to run recon and plan the op? Who is he calling in? A specialized CIA, alien hit squad?”
I sighed and braced myself for his reaction. “No. The CIA can’t handle these guys. He’s calling in a group of Atlan Warlords.”
Ethan went still. “Fuck no. You’re not going. Not to meet with Atlans.”
“I am. You can come with me and deal with it, or you can go home and let us handle taking out the Silver Scion base. I am perfectly capable of doing this without you.” I rolled out of bed and marched downstairs. I needed my armor. Weapons. A new heart. The one I had was breaking a bit more with every step I took away from him.
I was going to lose him anyway, once he found out what I really was. Realized I’d been lying to him from the first moment we met. Seduced him. Lied to him about us, about what he was to me. What it meant to be chosen by a beast.
Life with an Atlan was probably his worst nightmare.
He followed me down the stairs. Naked. The hint of newly growing beard making him look more intense. Dangerous.
He reached out and spun me around. Grabbed me with one hand behind my back and one behind my head. Kissed me. Hard. “You’re not fucking going anywhere without me. Especially not around aliens. The Warlords are killers, Lyra. They get mating fever and they turn into monsters.”
“I know.” I rested my forehead against his and let his concern sink into my very cells. If he knew the truth, he would shove us away. Right now, I was the monster he feared, the beast with mating fever. Barely in control. “We need them. The Silver Scions are too dangerous for humans. They have integrated members from every species, turned them all into cyborgs enhanced with Hive tech. You saw what happened in the morgue. Your bullets didn’t touch them. This is an alien problem. We need the Atlan Warlords to deal with them.”
“So send them the coordinates and stay here until it’s over. Where you’ll be safe.”
I shook my head, just a bit, never breaking contact with him. I craved his touch like I needed air to breathe. “I can’t do that. This is my case. My mission. I need to be there. I’ve been tracking these assholes for three years. I know their faces. Ineed to get my hands on their communications, their data. Their DNA.” The memories stored in their cells could give me a new lead to follow. “Try not to worry. I provide cover, that’s all. I won’t be in the fight.”
“You’re a sniper?”
I waited for my NPU to confirm the meaning of the word. “Yes.” I was small—compared to my Atlan brothers—easy to hide, and deadly accurate with an ion rifle.
“I don’t like it.”
“I know. But one of them killed my brother. I need to finish this.”
He sighed, his hands rough on my back where he rubbed through the fabric of the shirt. “Okay. But you’re not going alone.”
I didn’t have the heart to argue. Didn’t matter who he called. As soon as he learned the truth about me, he’d curse me and run in the opposite direction.
“Tomorrow we meet with the Atlans?”
“Yes.” Tomorrow he would hate me. I ran my hands along his shoulders and leaned into his lips. Today he was mine.
10
Ethan
Jenkins answeredon the second ring. Agreed to meet. I told him nothing about Lyra and he didn’t ask for details. Good man.
Lyra sat next to me in the white SUV we borrowed from the garage. She’d been quiet on the drive.
Too quiet.
She was keeping something from me, and it was making me nuts.
Of course she’s keeping secrets. She’s fucking CIA, you dumb ass.
Cold, hard logic. Unfortunately, my body didn’t listen well. Hadn’t since the moment I saw her. Now that I’d held her in my arms, tasted every inch of her body, lost myself in her? I was doomed. My heart didn’t care who she was or who she worked for. Right now, she was mine to protect. I wasn’t going into an alien shootout without backup. And she wasn’t fucking going alone.
I reached across the center console and wrapped my hand around hers, nearly sighed with relief when she accepted the touch and squeezed back.
My heart was already arguing with my head, trying to convince me everything was going to be fine. Things would work out in the end. We’d go on this CIA raid with the aliens—fucking Atlan Warlords—and then it would be over. Done.
