True to form, the acid flew from her tongue. “You can’t be serious?”
Loki stood up to his full six-foot-six height and looked down his nose at her. “I am always serious, Senora.”
“Don’t get all formal with me. I’m more than capable of helping beyond drawing maps and thinking about where you might find hidden entry points.”
“Senora.” He winced at her glare. “Daleyza,” he corrected. “It’s not that you’re incapable. Far from it. Steel has shared with all of us exactly how capable you are with weapons and hand-to-hand defense. It has everything to do with the fact that we are all familiar with each other’s ways because we’ve been organized by the same man, plus we’ve worked together periodically over the last two years.”
“That’s total bullshit. I managed to work just fine with the Tribe team to take out several unfriendlies by blowing them to smithereens, and while traveling at high rates of speed. I bear no love for my familyor their business, so there will be no feelings to get in the way of what needs to happen if a trigger needs to be pulled.”
“I’m sorry, but?—”
“If you leave me here, I’ll just follow you via the highway. You may be traveling through the wilds of Nahuel Huapi National Park, but I’ll probably get you caught because I’ll be spotted on the main road.”
Silence reigned as Loki squinted, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth. “You’re bluffing. You wouldn’t risk your husband in that manner. Not now.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Ildefanso knows me. Knows my tactics. He taught them to me, after all. I could capture all of you, but he’d know how to avoid it. That’s how much faith I have in my husband.”
Loki refused to back down, and everyone stared at the tiny woman opposite the Norse giant, waiting to see who would give in.
They didn’t have time for this kind of stalemate. Too much was at risk.
Steel wrenched the slide back and forth on his weapon as he checked the chamber, then closed it and handed it over to Daleyza. “She goes with me, as originally planned,” he emphasized for Loki’s benefit. “If I get turned around in the tunnels, she’ll be able to help me reacclimate my direction. Plus, if we are discovered, she’ll be able to guide me to hiding places I wouldn’t know.”
“God is not going to like this,” Loki argued.
“Well, he’s not here, is he? He’s off hunting for our boat driver and probably squeezing out a litter of kittens over her inability to follow orders. Of everyone here, I’m the highest in rank, even if no longer in the military, so in his absence, my orders are clear.”
Whoa. That was a bit of a head rush. He’d never wanted to be in command at any point in his career, and while he was in charge of men while working for the cartel, he’d controlled them through fear, not rank. Now he saw how easy it was to get drunk on power, and how quickly someone could amass that power and wield it.
Loki ground his teeth against each other, and Steel heard a cracking sound. Maybe the Mythos strongman needed to pick up God’s sucker habit so he didn’t break additional teeth.
“Fine. She goes with you. But she’s your responsibility.”
“She’s her own responsibility.”
“I’m my own responsibility.”
The two sentences came out in perfect stereo.
Steel looked at her, his words soft yet strong. “We are responsible for ourselves, but we are a team.”
The smile she gave him told him he’d said the right thing.
30
AUGUST 25, 2024
Daleyza
The lake waschoppy from the wind pushing it against the cliffside. Not only were they getting battered by the wind as it hit their backs, but it didn’t have anywhere to go, so it felt like they were getting blasted a second time in the face after it bounced off the rocks. Whether that was true or not, she didn’t know, but it felt like it, which made it true.
“I could push this boat faster than I’m driving it,” Medusa griped from behind the wheel.
When they arrived at the dock to meet her, she’d already been in a mood. Now, because she couldn’t go Mach 10 through the fissure into Puma Cove, her temperament was even worse. She also seemed extra twitchy, but there was no offer to explain why.
When they came to a standstill inside the cove, Nemo’s voice came out of the darkness. “Gem, check Zade’s harness.”
“What’s the magic word?” the woman simpered.
