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“You know Eden. It’ll take a lot to kill her.”

“Not that she doesn’t try at every opportunity,” Ash said.

Blaze grunted. Eden never saw the danger. Or if she did, she ignored it and charged in anyway. She had a death wish. Either that, or she was trying to prove something to someone. And it wasn’t him.

They strode into the mission briefing room. Ash took a seat next to his partner, Georgia, a sultry, dark-haired woman with an attitude and a biting wit.

Everyone else was there. Striker and Wren sat next to each other, their heads close together, deep in conversation, one of Striker’s hands resting on Wren’s thigh.

He glanced around the room, nodding at everyone as he grabbed a seat before his gaze lingered on Rexx and Daisy. Their relationship was new, but everyone had known for ages that Rexx had it bad for Daisy.

Now they were together, and Rexx was a changed guy. He was calmer, he smiled way more, and so long as Daisy was by his side, he was relaxed. It was awesome to see him chilled out. Well, chilled out by Rexx’s standards, which meant he wouldn’t kill you for stealing the last protein cookie.

Cleo Newman, who headed up the crew, nodded at him. “Welcome back, Blaze. We’ve been hearing from Eden about the successful mission.”

The group quietened as Cleo spoke. She had everyone’s respect. Cleo was a firm but fair leader. She always had the crew’s best interests at heart and kept most of the crap that High Command threw their way off their plates.

“It was good. How’s the snake doing?” He glanced at Eden.

“He’s still asleep. I’ve been to check on him a few times. He’s stable,” Eden said.

He looked at her arm and was relieved to see it had a fresh bandage on it.

“The guys on Tiavac will freak out when you bring in that snake. What a gift,” Striker said. “There were bets going around that the thing didn’t even exist, and you two just caught one.”

“It was an outstanding job,” Wren said.

“It was worth getting almost squeezed to death to catch him,” Eden said.

Cleo arched an eyebrow. “It was a good retrieval. Nice work, both of you. Hunter, send around the new missions. They’re already stacking up.”

Blaze straightened in his seat. As always, there were more jobs to focus on. When he’d joined this mission, he had no clue just how full-on the work would be.

The screens in front of them pinged to life as Hunter shot through their next assignments.

Eden groaned. “No way! Why do we get the boring mission? We just scored an ace.”

Blaze opened his screen and scanned through the information. “We’re going to Tiavac?”

“We’re almost at maximum holding capacity,” Cleo said. “Everyone’s been making great captures recently. We need to clear out the pens, so we can take in more animals. And the sanctuary has room for them. They’ve just opened a new area. And it’s reptile friendly, so perfect for your latest capture.”

“Can’t someone else do it?” Eden said.

“No. These animals are valuable cargo. I only trust my team with them,” Cleo said. “Everyone gets a rotation to the sanctuary. You know the rules.”

“And you could do with a break after the whole near-death snake eating incident,” Sloane said.

Cleo lifted a hand. “It’s important work. We’ve got thirty animals in the pens. They’ve all had health checks and vaccinations. They’re ready to go to the sanctuary and into the breeding programs. They can start a great new life, without the threat of some jerk with a gun trying to take them out or trade them.”

“Eden, take the offer of some down time. Plus, you’ll have Blaze there to keep you entertained.” Striker grinned at her.

Eden shrugged. “I guess we can find a way to party.”

“No partying, Eden. This is work. You get the animals there, get them unloaded, and make sure they’re settled in. It’s only a week. When you come back, I’ll find you something exciting to chase,” Cleo said.

“That’s more like it,” Eden said.

“And you won’t be traveling there on your own,” Cleo said.