Her fist trembles as she clutches the front of my jacket. “You came back.”
“That was always the plan.”
She presses her body against me, the breath shuddering out of her. I set my weapon aside so I can envelop her in both arms. I rest my chin atop her head and allow my eyes to close for a couple of seconds, anchoring us together.
Behind me, the compound is alive with the sounds of the battle’s aftermath: foot traffic, clipped voices, radio noise. But in this small space, it’sjust the two of us.
Then a familiar, poisonous voice disrupts our peace. “Where is she?”
Kira’s body jerks in my arms, then goes rigid.
“You’re safe,” I remind her. I tip her chin up to meet her eyes. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
As she hesitates, her eyes wide and unblinking, boots tramp through the corridor.
Federal agents escort a man in cuffs. Snow clings to the hem of his dress coat. His hair is slick and perfect, his face pinched in annoyance. He looks more like someone who’s running late for the symphony than a federal criminal who’s about to find out what happens when you fuck around.
His hands are bound behind his back, and he’s struggling under the tight grip of his captors.
Kira steps out into the hall next to me, and when Vaughn spots her, his features curl into something even uglier. “There you are.”
I shift to put myself in front of her, one arm still around her back. I’m not hiding her. I’m her shield. “You don’t get to speak to her,” I calmly tell the waste of oxygen.
Vaughn’s laugh is brittle and false. “You think this is over because you played soldier in the woods?” His eyes cut to Kira. “You humiliated me. You made me look?—”
She steps forward. Not past me. Beside me.
“You did that to yourself.” Her voice is measured, even though her hands are shaking. “Did you even hesitate? About killing me? About our child?”
The piece of shit laughs.
“I never wanted a kid. I didn’t want to have to clean up your mistake, but a senator with my demographic can’t have a bastard child.”
As he spews his venom, Grizz and Viper approach from behind, just in time to bring me to my senses. My fists are balled and ready to strike when Viper grabs me. Another second and I’d have laid the son of a bitch flat. It would have been so fucking satisfying.
“Please don’t waste your time on him,” Kira tells me.
Vaughn notices the way the three of us have closed ranks around her. The way Grizz leans in despite his injury. The way my hand goes back around her as soon as I decide not to punch him.
Seeing how close the four of us are, the disgraced senator completely loses his cool.
He screams and thrashes, and calls her names I won’t even acknowledge as the agents tighten their hold on him.
Viper grabs hold of a fistful of my jacket, reminding me to let the agents haul him away. They can’t get him out of my sight fast enough.
“He’s done,” Grizz says as Vaughn is forcefully taken outside.
Viper goes to the command desk, where he pulls up surveillance feeds that show the senator being shoved into the back of a cruiser. The door is slammed shut with a satisfyingbang,silencing the man’s rants.
Kira shudders, then goes limp with relief. She falls back against me for a moment, but quickly straightens with a jolt. “You’re injured. Are you okay?”
She surveys my sleeve first, but notices Grizz holding one arm tight against his ribs, his sleeve coated with drying blood. She quickly scans Viper, but he tells her he’s fine. He’d tell her that even if he’d taken a hard hit.
When I assure her that I was only grazed and am also fine, she turns all her attention to Grizz, gingerly touching him as she tries to get a better look. “You need to see a doctor, Boyd,” she says when he winces.
“I figure my favorite nurse can patch me up, like you did with my shoulder,” he tells her.
She isn’t having any of his attempts at humor, and considering how pale his skin is, I don’t blame her. “We didn’t have bullet wounds at summer camp, Boyd, thank god. You need to see a doctor,” she says firmly.
