He felt the eyes of his comrades on him, but he didn’t give a damn. Let them stare.
He released her only so he could tip her chin up and press his lips to hers for an all-too-brief kiss. There would be time for more of that later. He intended to make certain of that.
“Let’s roll out,” Lucan said. “Micah, you ride with Zael. We’ve got to make room for this piece of shit who’s going to tell us everything he knows about Opus.”
Scarface struggled against the restraints locked around his skinny wrists. “I don’t know anything,” he whined. “I wouldn’t tell you even if I did.”
“We’ll see about that,” Darion said, flashing his fangs in the human’s face. “Come on, asshole.”
He yanked Scarface toward the rear of the Order’s SUV and shoved him inside. They all climbed into their respective vehicles and headed back to the command center.
Phaedra stuck close to Micah for the duration of the drive. He’d never known a braver woman, but he could feel the depth of her shock in the small tremors vibrating through her. What happened tonight was enough to rattle even the most seasoned warrior. He hated like hell that she’d been there to witness any of it.
Everyone began to disperse once they arrived at headquarters. There would be reports to provide to the JUSTIS about what occurred, not to mention all of the countless public relations and political fires that would have to be put out now that video of the incident was circulating to all corners of the globe.
On top of that, the Order now had an Opus asset they needed to take apart for intel.
Micah would have loved a front row seat for Scarface’s interrogation, but he had something more important to tend to.
He dropped a kiss to the top of Phaedra’s head where it rested against his shoulder. “I’ll walk you to your room.”
His arm sheltering her, they made the trek in silence. Once inside, Micah closed the door and followed Phaedra to where she paused near the bed.
She stared at him, her pretty golden gaze troubled. “The Order’s enemies are never going to let up, are they?”
He shook his head. “Not until we stop them. And we will.”
“How?”
“We’ll keep fighting. That’s what we’ve done from the very beginning.”
“How do you do it, Micah?” Her eyes were soft on him, as tender as a caress. But there was pain in them too. Pain for him. “The violence that never ends. The ugliness you have to face every time you put on your patrol gear and go out there. All the hideous things you have to bear because of your gift. How do you keep it from consuming you?”
“I deal with it,” he said. It was an automatic response he was so used to giving, it slipped right past his lips now, too.
But she deserved more than that.
Reaching down for her hand, he traced his finger over the silken skin of her palm. He could feel her power thrumming there, the warmth of the light she carried within her, not only as an Atlantean, but as a unique, singularly extraordinary woman.
“What I’ve done, Phaedra, is built a wall. Stone by stone, one layer on top of another. Nothing could get past it. Nothing ever did. No has one ever gotten inside. Then I met you.”
She stared up at him, inhaling a shallow breath. “I thought you only had room for the Order, for your duty to their cause.”
He nodded. “If you had asked me that several days ago, I would’ve agreed. I would’ve told you that’s the only way it could be.”
“I’m asking you now, though, Micah.”
He brought his other hand up and stroked her cheek. A storm of emotions swamped him when he thought about Phaedra and what she meant to him. All the words he wanted to say jammed in his throat, inadequate and clumsy.
It would take him a lifetime to express what she had come to mean to him in only a handful of days.
He scowled, frustrated at his lack of eloquence. “I don’t want you to go back to Rome.”
“That’s where my life is,” she said softly. “That’s where my work is.”
He felt his brow furrow deeper. “It’s not safe for you there. Not without someone to protect you.” She started to draw back and he knew he was fucking things up. “I know you’re strong, Phaedra. I know you’re smart and resourceful. You’re the most courageous and powerfully gifted woman I’ve ever met. Yes, you’re immortal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be hurt . . . or that you can’t be killed.” The very notion gripped his heart in a vise. He blew out a curse as he caressed her beautiful face. “I thought about that tonight, when I saw that Rogue going after you. If anything had happened to you—if you had gone into that theater tonight and not come out . . .”
She turned her cheek toward his palm. “I felt the same way about you, Micah. I don’t know what I’d do if that Red Dragon had poisoned you like it did those other people. Or if it had been you the other night along with Eli when—”
