“Daddy—”
He waved his hand and smiled, leaning back. “Sit, my sunshine. You look shredded to the bone.”
She settled into the chair near the table, and he rose from his desk and poured them each a finger of his very old scotch.
He set one of the crystal glasses in her hand. “I have already told the cook and housekeeper to prepare for the invasion. This journey you’re on…it’s powerful and it’s necessary. I’m proud of you for accepting it and fighting to keep all that we have.”
She sipped, the liquid potent and burning down her throat. Everything poured out of her, and by the time she was finished, he had her in his arms on the sofa, rocking her. “I have always taught you to be self-sufficient, and what you say already lives in me.” He cupped her face. “Our line has been tasked from the beginning, my child. Its knowledge passed down through the bloodline, and I know something’s amiss in this lifetime. But you’re on the path to figuring it out. Our red-headed friend will gain answers.”
She nodded. “Hopefully, it will be in time.”
“Your great wound. Ah, love, it does something to all of us, but there is no greater gift to find it, and that gift has a way of deciding when it’s done.”
“I love him, and I hurt him by mistake.”
He nodded. “Everything comes in time. Patience will open everything, even the heart. I have faith in you and your very large team. Let Brawler know that the kind of dog food he usually feeds his K9 will be available. No one will lack in this house.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
She left him with a kiss to her forehead, his warmth and strength running through her. When she entered the library, Flash rose and came to her. His eyes were still bruised with the knowledge of what had happened in the glade, and the memory of the way that blood had gushed out of him from a wound she’d caused was still vivid and devastating. She kissed him softly because he looked like he needed it, and she was rewarded with his muscles under her hand relaxing.
“Your dad?” Fly asked, sitting at the table with all his research still haphazardly strewn in front of him.
“He’s been briefed and is happy to accommodate us.” She looked at Brawler. “Even Beast. He’ll have the best food a dog could hope for.”
Brawler nodded, and Beast’s ears flicked forward.
The rest of the team of big, gorgeous men were sitting or standing in the room, with the addition of Komodo and Krait. Thank God they were on board. Clashing with them was the last thing she wanted to do. She felt North’s absence. He was two floors down with Twister checking him all the time.
Komodo pushed off the shelves. "I reached out to Silas."
Krait's head came up at the name.
“Division chief,” Tex said in his lazy drawl.
“Just to touch base. I gave him a report that we were close.”
Krait released a huffed laugh. “Close? Yeah, like in the same room. Is he pissed we haven’t made progress?”
"No." Komodo's voice stayed level, but something worked behind his eyes. "He didn't ask where I was. He didn't ask about her." He looked at Lechuza when he said it. "He asked if I'd been sleeping. Then he told me he hadn't. Said he’s been standing at his window most nights with the feeling that something is calling him from a long way off, something he can't name, and it won't let him go."
No one filled the quiet for a moment.
"The Veil," Lechuza said.
"He doesn't have the word yet." Komodo's mouth went grim. "But our boss is sitting in an office in Virginia, getting pulled toward his future. So however deep you think this runs, it runs deeper. We're all on the same thread now, whether we signed for it or not."
“The Veil would never force you. If you don’t take the oath, it’ll release you,” Lechuza said firmly.
Krait huffed out another laugh. “You think our chief is going to back down.”
Lechuza smiled. “No. Of course not. He’s a hard ass.”
Komodo chuckled. “For whatever it’s worth,” Krait said. “He didn’t want to issue the arrest warrant. When he got the news about your signature, I’ve never seen him so shocked in my life.” She looked at Komodo, and he nodded. “But we knew if he didn’t send us, it could have been bad for you.” She flicked her attention to Flash. “I was the one who suggested EAST. I said you had a connection to Flash and that could be used to our advantage. But I knew if it was possible to clear you, he would move heaven and earth to make it right.”
The faint draw under her sternum that never fully quieted anymore tightened, the same pull reaching all the way to a tired man at a window in Langley who'd spent his whole career certainthe world was only as wide as the part he could see. How would all of this change them all?
Komodo looked at Fly. “Can I see North’s body?”
