He remained still, but now his mouth turned up in a small smirk.“Are you done?”he finally asked.
Kalliopi crossed her arms before responding.“Yes, I’m done.”
“Good.Now, first, it’s clear you’ve had some situations in the past that have made you suspicious of my motives.As we continue to get to know each other, I hope you’ll feel like opening up to me about them.But right now, I need you to leave the ghosts of your dating past out of all this, because it has nothing to do with what’s going on right here, right now, with us.I don’t want you off the case.I just think that you should be utilized for aerial surveillance.You’ll be able to detect the guards and Zagan’s bull-griffon.I’ll also need your wolf tracking skills for this mission should Zagan escape, because we have to remember that he's not the type to pass up a chance to get royal blood, meaning Treasure.She needs to be protected at all costs.”
Kalliopi sucked in a breath.“Wait, so what you are trying to say is you need both my stork and my wolf?Okay.That makes more sense than where I was going with everything.”
“Yes, that’s where I was going with all of this.It will be hard to hide that you are a crossbreed, but I will do all I can to keep your secret, if that’s what you want.This way you can get back to being a MILF without blowing your cover.Now that I’ve clarified things, we good?”
“We’re good.”
“Good,” Stan said as he parked the car.“Now let’s get in there and do a proper headcount.”
“Right.”
Kalliopi pulled up her list from her phone as Stan led the charge into the building at a quick pace.Her eyes locked onto Echo’s the minute she caught up with the group.
“We’ve looked everywhere, ma’am, and we can’t find him.We pinged his phone, and the last known location is his dorm.”
Kalliopi’s gaze turned to Stan.“He’s been taken.”
Stan palmed Kalliopi’s shoulders.“We still aren’t sure yet.He could have stepped out without his phone.But if he is missing, we are going to get him back.”
“Can you promise me that?”
“If I could, Kallie, I would.But you know as well as I do these things don’t go down the way we want them to sometimes.”
“I know.”
“But I can promise I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I can ask for, Stan.”Kalliopi turned to the rest of the cadets.“I’m sure you’ve heard this already, but until further notice, you must remain on campus in your quarters for your safety.”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”
“Dismissed.”Once they were out of earshot, she turned back to Stan.“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve decided they will miss classes tomorrow.It’s just that if Fedor’s phone is in his dorm, that may mean Zagan or his men are posing as students and abducting cadets right from campus.”Kalliopi let out a long breath and screwed her eyes shut.“This is all my fault.If I hadn’t messed up during The Talks, none of this would be happening.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that.”
“I sure can!If I hadn’t made heart eyes at you, I wouldn’t have been so distracted with Zagan during SHIT.We would have captured him then and not left him free to continue his reign of terror.”Kalliopi’s eyes widened as the words left her mouth, and she quickly clasped her mouth with her hand.Heat grew on her cheeks as Stan chuckled.How could he laugh at a time like this?Kalliopi’s eyes narrowed.She refused to allow him the upper hand.“Hey!This is serious.I lost focus and fucked up!Why are you laughing?”
“Heart eyes, huh?Well, good to know I had that effect on you even back then.”He waggled his brows.
She playfully punched his arm.“Come on, Stan, I’m serious.”
“And so am I.This isn’t your fault.It’s all on Zagan, and I’ll be happy to see him behind bars.”
“Is that wise?He’s escaped so many times.”
“What are you implying?”
“That I’m a soldier, not a FUC agent.If you need me to?—”
“Kallie, I won’t have you do that.We will collar him.It’s the only way this can end for us all.Revenge is never a good thing.And killing him won’t bring your sister back.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I guess you’re right.”
“Good.Now let’s get some food while we wait for Richard and the girls to get here.”
