Page 8 of Cruel Salvation

Simon had been one of the soldiers from her time working undercover for John Smith with his wife Rhea Winslow as the target. Rhea had been hell-bent on annihilating anyone she deemed unworthy and had kidnapped hundreds of soldiers and drugged them so they became human robots with no ability to think for themselves. She’d been Rhea’s right-hand woman and had to ensure the men were always compliant.

It had been the worst job she’d ever done and she lived with the guilt of it every day, and no amount of platitudes about her saving thousands of people could make up for what she had helped do to those men.

“Yeah, we thought so too. We’re looking into it from our end, but he’s robbed a bank and killed two guards in Gloucester and left a dead body in a service station in Stroud.”

“Do we know where he is now?”

“No. That’s the problem. He has the skills to stay off the radar but they’re definitely on a spree of some kind, and he won’t stop until someone stops him.”

“I’ll go. I might be able to reason with him.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? If you can’t talk him down, you’ll have to kill him and I know that won’t be easy.”

Jack was all too aware of the guilt she carried, and the pain of losing Rykov she was dealing with, but this was her mess and she needed to clean it up before anyone else got hurt. “I can do it. Send me the details and I’ll leave now.”

“He isn’t your friend, Lotus. He’s a trained killer and Kelly is off her head on drugs with a record for violence.”

“I know. My head is straight and I can handle this, Jack.”

“I know that. You’re one of the best operatives I have ever met but I need to know you won’t be reckless with your own life.”

That was the problem working for someone like Jack. He was far too aware of things, and her lack of care about her own safety was more obvious than she thought. “Look, Jack, you called me for a reason. You could have called Bás or Duchess first but you called me because you know I have the best shot of ending this without more bloodshed.”

“Believe me, Bás is my next call, but you’re right. I do believe you’re the best person for this job.”

“Then let me do it.”

“If Bás is okay with it, then so am I.”

“Send me the details.”

Lotus hung up and spun around, a shriek erupting from her lips when she saw Damon leaning against the wall, waiting for her. “Were you eavesdropping?”

He pushed off with his shoulder and walked slowly toward her, only stopping when he was close enough to reach out and touch her cheek with his palm.

“Talk to me. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“It doesn’t matter, you can’t help me.”

“Naz, if it upsets you, it matters to me. Let me help you.”

Her gaze moved over his handsome face like a drowning man searching for a life raft. She wanted so badly to lean on him, to let him take the weight and make her forget anything but pleasure, but she knew she shouldn’t. “You can’t save me, Damon.”

“Then let me drown with you.”

“No, I won’t drag you down with me.”

“You’re not. I’m choosing to dive.”

God, this man was too much. She pulled from his hold, not trusting her body around him.

“One of the soldiers I drugged and ruined has gone on a killing spree. He and his girlfriend have robbed a bank and killed two guards. Do you know what that man did before he met me and I ruined his life?”

Damon shook his head. “Tell me.”

“He was a happily married father of two, with commendations for bravery and valour. He was a good man, a great man, and I reduced him to a shell, taking away his free thought, his right to choose, and his family. That’s what I do, Damon. I hurt people and I won’t let you become another victim.”

She saw him take a step back, his hand falling to his side, and her heart broke in two. She wasn’t in love with him, but she cared about him, and he represented something that, in another life, she would have wanted for herself.