“That would be amazing. I would kill for a BLT.”
Tommy’s smile faltered a little.
“Uh, I mean…an LT. Hold the B,” Gabriel amended. Tommy might have been fueled by veggies and panic, but he could be downright scary when he was angry.
“Hey, have either of you seen Blake?”
Tommy froze, just for a second, then went back to talking about shade plants versus full sun. He turned his back to Gabriel, shoulders hiking up.
“Tommy?”
The smaller man fidgeted with his shovel. “Um. No. Not—no. Haven’t seen him.” He still had his back to Gabriel. Even Phin looked confused.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, skin prickling with the beginnings of worry. Gabriel stepped closer to Tommy. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m trying to tell you about perennial?—”
“Tommy.”
He flinched and then looked up at Phin, then Gabriel. The fringes of his light brown hair hung over his eyes, but they did nothing to hide the guilt swimming in his irises.
“I don’t know…exactly.”
Gabriel’s hands clenched into fists. “What do you mean?”
Phin took a step closer to Tommy, not so subtly putting himself between Gabriel and the smaller man. “We need to know where Blake is.” His voice was as gentle as Gabriel had ever heard it, but it was like nails on a chalkboard to Gabriel. Too soft. Too slow. Urgency drummed in Gabriel’s head, and his heart was beating so hard he could feel it in his ribs, reverberating down his spine with theneedto see Blake. Now.
“I don’t know where he is, but I saw him leave.” Tommy swallowed. “He, ah, went with Team Beta.”
Gabriel stared. He heard what Tommy was saying, but he couldn’t process it. Couldn’t put the pieces together to make them make sense. That was impossible. Blake didn’t, wouldn’t leave. Especially not with Team Beta. Not when they were scheduled for a mission.
His hands began to shake. “What?”
Tommy picked at the shovel handle. “I don’t know. He just stormed off across the parking lot and got into the truck and left with them.”
It was getting harder to breathe. He couldn’t understand. There was no reason for Blake to be with Team Beta. WithAlvarez.That cocky motherfucker. Blake knew he was dangerous. Knew that Gabriel didn’t trust him. Hell, last month he’d lost a member of his team because he cut corners, because he didn’t know when to back off and reassess the situation.
Images of Blake in a burnt-out truck flickered behind his lids. Of him being led into a building not properly cleared. A Monkey Cat claw spearing him through the neck, frothy blood bubbling from his mouth. Of him being hit, the fire burning him from the outside, eating away at his chest, those intelligent, vibrant eyes going dark. Slumped in a dirty building, a hole in his head?—
Gabriel lunged around Phin, grabbing Tommy by the shirt. He shook him. “And you let him go? You just watched as he went off with them and didn’tsay a goddamn word!”
Tommy didn’t have a chance to answer before pain exploded in Gabriel’s face. His head rocked back, and he stumbled to keep his feet. Stars exploded behind his lids moments before he tasted iron. Grabbing his face, he swore as he felt his nose crunch under his fingers. Tears welled in his eyes, and he couldn’t stop them from falling down his cheek.
“Don’t fucking touch him,” Phin barked, his impressive frame looking wobbly in his watery vision. “It’s not Tommy’sfault Blake left, and if you so much as even look at him, I will put you down, Gabriel. I swear to God.”
Breathing through his mouth, Gabriel was finally able to stand up. His nose smarted, but it wasn’t broken. Phin had done him that courtesy.
“He just let him leave!”
“He didn’tleta grown man do anything,” Phin snapped. “Blake is a smart guy. If he left, it was because he needed to. And if he left with Alvarez, it’s because he couldn’t come to you.” Phin’s nostrils were flaring, eyes hard as flint.
Panic clawed up Gabriel’s throat. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Blake wasn’t here. Gabriel could almost feel him slipping away out of reach. Right now, he could be dead. Lifeless on the side of the road. Indistinguishable from the thousands of other bodies he’d passed. His bright spark. His intelligence. His heart. All gone from Gabriel. Crushed beneath the horrors he desperately tried to shield him from.
No. No. He lived. Gabriel would feel it if he... No, his heart would have ceased beating. Purpose having been driven from this world. Without Blake, he was untethered.Hewas pointless.
He raked his hands through his hair, breath coming in sharp, useless gasps.
Gabriel needed to find him. “Where?” he croaked, desperately looking past Phin to see Tommy. He was clutching the back of Phin’s jacket.
