Page 22 of Broken

He did. He’d told her so. He remembered the feeling—the helplessness, the rage, the explosive desire to be free, no matter what the cost.

She looked into his eyes. “Please don’t do that to me.”

Cole sighed again. He liked missions to be simple. A clear objective, a path to that objective. Yes, sometimes things went sideways, but he could rely on his instincts and his training to know what to do.

This was not simple. And he didn’t know what the fuck to do. He owed Thanatos his loyalty. But—although Thanatos financed the Ridge’s Ops team and did a lot of good in the world, Cole knew Thanatos usually had his own agenda—and wasn’t above using people for what he claimed was the greater good.

But it wasn’t safe out there. She had to see that.

“What are you planning to do about the Retrievers?” he asked her desperately. “I’m pretty sure they’re tracking that bracelet. At least our territory is warded, and you’ll have people to protect you there.”

Including us, his wolf said. She needs it.

But she doesn’t want to go.

We could make her.

Cole looked into those eyes… and he couldn’t do it. All Ireland wanted was to be free. How could he take that away from her?

He hesitated a moment, and then got up and dug a talisman out of the pocket of his combat vest—a metal disc about the size of a 50-cent piece. “Take this,” he said, handing it to her. “Supposedly, it helps keep people from being detected by magic. I don’t know if it can counteract the bat-signal that bracelet gives out, but maybe it will.”

She stared at him, disbelieving, and then slowly she took it and put it in her pocket. “Thank you,” she said softly. She took off her jacket to put on the shirt he’d gotten for her, and then replaced it.

Cole checked the outside security. Still no sign of any Retrievers—just the same workmen in the cul-de-sac.

When Ireland was ready, he handed her his backup handgun in its holster, and some spare ammo. “Take this too. You’re going to need it.”

She took it, and touched him gently on the arm. “Thank you. For everything.”

He hated this. Every instinct was screaming at him not to let her go out there alone, but he didn’t have any choice. She knew what she wanted to do, and he didn’t have the right to stop her. Even if she was probably going to get herself killed.

He couldn’t stand the thought of being the one who caged her again.

He reached down, cupped his hand around her cheek, and kissed her. She tasted of warm sugar cookies, like her scent, and a poignant sweetness swept through him—something found, only to be lost again. He held his lips on hers for a long moment, and then let her go.