“If it’s not her, it’s someone who works for her,” Thunder added. “Either way, we need to find them, disarm them, and take them home with us.”
“Rose and Cassandra, you two are going to wait for us in there,” Steel said, nodding to the same lab that had caught his attention.
“But—”
“No, little ladybug, no buts,” Steel said, cutting her off. “We agreed before we left, that if need be, you two would hide and let us do what we need to do without having to worry about protecting you as well.”
“Technically, I didn't agree,” Rose muttered, but it was clear from her tone that she knew she was fighting a losing battle.
“You're going to, though,” Steel said confidently.
“Only if you promise to be careful.” The slight wobble in Rose’s voice betrayed her fear for the man who had managed to capture her heart despite their crazy beginning.
“Nothing in the world will stop me from being as careful as possible, knowing that my little ladybug needs me.”
“Don’t need anyone,” Rose said, but she said it with affection and stepped closer to Steel, pushing up onto tiptoes to kiss Steel’s cheek.
“You're not?—”
“Arguing,” Cassandra finished for him. “I know I can't hold my own with you guys.”
The others kept watch while he and Steel re-cleared the lab they’d only just cleared. Leaving Cassandra behind felt wrong, but he also knew it was the only thing to do. The room was empty, the girls would lock the door behind them, and they were both armed.
Still …
“Dragon?” Cassandra caught his hand as he went to leave. “I know it’s …. The timing is …. But we don’t know what will happen, and …. Why do you call me little rabbit? Is it because of my old stuffed animal?”
The question caught him off-guard, but it was an easy one to answer. “You're intelligent and curious, friendly and affectionate, playful and outgoing. You're innocent and sometimes vulnerable, you're loyal, and yet you defend yourself with the skills you have. You're my perfect little rabbit.”
“Yours?”
“If you’ll have me.” Maybe he should be embarrassed or apprehensive to be this vulnerable in front of not just Cassandra, but Steel and Rose as well. But he wasn't. Cassandra was worth risking everything for.
Stepping up against him, she reached up and grabbed his shoulders, guiding him down so she could kiss him. “I’ll have you,” she whispered against his lips.
Her declaration and the kiss made it that much harder to turn his back on her, and he was glad Steel reminded them to lock the door, because he was having a hard time focusing on anything other than his churning gut.
Was it telling him something was wrong, or was it just having his little rabbit out in the field?
Moving in perfect sync, he and his team didn't need to talk to know what they had to do. They kept moving forward. There wasn't much of the building left to clear, but Blade had heard something, and the idea of a white noise generator confirmed they weren't alone.
They were about seven corridors away when he smelled it.
The faint scent of dynamite in the air.
It meant only one thing.
“Place is going to blow,” he yelled the warning, already starting to run back toward the room where Cassandra and Rose were hiding.
But he couldn’t get there fast enough.
The world around them exploded.
January 9th
9:06 P.M.
“Come on, wake up.”
