Chapter 17
Water dripped off the chain fence as Jonah pushed it open.
Muted stars watched as we walked into the port, free of the passing storm for now.
The sudden rain made the air earthy, damp, and salty from the ocean.
Ray grumbled as a drop landed on his perfect locks.
My thighs clenched as I remembered him between them last night.
His hair had been the furthest thing from perfect, and he hadn’t cared.
The orgasm had put me into a drool-inducing sleep, or had it been the three of them around me again?
Something was wrong with me. I laughed under my breath and zipped my windbreaker until it choked my throat.
I could have an existential crisis about my emotions later, but now was mission time. Ellington pulled out his phone and ran his hand through his hair, pouting in mockery of Ray.
“What do you think, Lyra? Long enough to tug on?”
Ray bristled for a moment before adding his own sly grin. “You should copy mine, considering—”
I shoved my fist into his shoulder as I pushed past, lest he admit to everyone how he’d spent last night between my legs.
“Your hair isn’t the priority. Catching The Unseen in their web of hypocrisy is.”
Ray tossed his head. “Agree to disagree.”
“Right? Who made you the leader?” Ellington jabbed Connall with his elbow. “She’s getting too big for her boots, isn’t she?”
Connall moved away with a curl of his upper lip. “Let’s just get this over with.”
This wouldn’t be possible without Connall, and the long hours he’d been working had taken their toll on his body. He had dark chasms under his eyes. Beck slid him a look, too long for comfort.
“What?” the redhead bit out.
“You’re certain this shipment is legit?”
I bit my tongue to keep from defending him. Connall didn’t need my help, although he looked in my direction like he thought I could control Beck. He chewed on his lower lip, already cracked from worrying, before replying.
“I’m the one who has infiltrated the damn shipping company. Do you know how many meetings I suffered through that could have been emails?” His lips tipped in an attempt at a smile.
The sarcasm lingered long enough to spread as an ache in my chest. It had been a long time since he had been like the Connall I knew.
I caught up with him as we walked past the empty security booth.
Adelaide had pulled her strings to ensure it was unattended tonight.
She wanted to be here in person, but she was still in danger of coughing up a lung.
I threaded my arm through Connall’s, ignoring the way he stiffened.
“Can you give us a second?”
Beck clenched his jaw before he waved everyone off. He waited until they disappeared into the stacks of shipping containers before melting into one himself. I knew he wasn’t gone, and that comforted me in a way I couldn’t label. I let the warmth of it sit in my chest.
“Time sensitive mission happening right now.” Connall shook himself free of my grasp.
I tilted my head, and he shrugged, shifting his gaze over my shoulder. There was a sharp edge to him that was new, like a rabid dog, chained too long to be docile. This was what The Unseen made us, what Ellington forced us to see. My intestines knotted.
“How is your sister?”
“Fine.”
Water dripped from a pipe.
“Really?”
Connall rolled his eyes. “Of course she’s not. She has nightmares, feels disconnected from her kids, and doesn’t even trust herself around them. What difference would it make? Remember when it was just us against Ellington? Now you’re on his side.”
His words stung, and I shook my head.
“It’s not that simple. The Unseen are—”
Connall’s exasperated exhale hit me in the face. His edge flashed deadly. I felt it against my neck as it stole my breath and turned my blood cold.
“Evil?” He spun around with his hands tossed in the air. “Don’t tell me you’ve magically gained a conscience after all these years. You don’t care if they’re evil, just that they hurt the people you love.”
The conversation was the same as at Ray’s house, and the words didn’t hold any less truth.
I never pretended to be perfect or morally untouchable.
I was a duality of shadows, each steeped in a web of lies.
But underneath all of it, my heart beat for Adelaide, and this city.
I couldn’t save my mom, but I could make sure they didn’t touch her.
“I’ll always fight for the people I love.” I tasted salt at the back of my throat.
Connall’s gaze heated with serrated humor, especially as heat radiated at my back. Jonah, Beck, and Ray created a shield behind me.
“I guess that’s one thing we have in common,” Connall said with a cynical twist of his lips.
“We good?”
Connall’s nostrils flared, but Beck cut him off as he opened his mouth.
“Be careful what you say next.”
Beck’s tone made Connall pause before he added. “We’re good.”
My ears popped as a sharp shout pierced the murky sky.
A stampede of men interrupted the tense standoff.
Beams of light shone in my eyes as the sound of boots echoed through the port.
I looked up and saw snipers lining the shipping containers.
Their barrels pointed at our foreheads. In the chaos, Beck slipped in front of me, until I was sandwiched between three men.
“We had a sweep done thirty minutes before we got here.” Jonah cursed. “This is a well-organized setup.”
Not many people could trick Adelaide’s men. I knew one organization that could, though, and a shiver turned me to ice. Ellington snatched Connall’s collar and wrenched him close with a snarl.
“You double-crossed us?”
My chest fought against a heavy weight as Connall dashed away from Ellington’s hand.
“Do you think I can control the police force? That’s your job, isn’t it?” Connall took a verbal swipe at Beck.
“Hands up,” a burly man with a bristly mustache barked. “I want your hands where I can see them, now.”
“Everybody knows that I’m a good boy, Officer,” Ray quipped with a wink.
I stomped on his toe, and he let out a muffled grunt. These men wouldn’t think twice about letting a few stray bullets take care of Ray’s careless, sensual mouth.
“You’re under arrest. Get your hands in the air. I won’t tell you again.”
My breath was hot as I held it in my lungs. Beck reached back and squeezed my hand before he stepped forward. His stance was all at once smaller, less threatening than I knew he was capable of. He held his hands up and wide, not quite the surrender the police officer wanted.
“Who ordered this raid?”
“Step back, hands up.” The officer’s barrel shook.
Overhead, the chorus of safety’s being released brought goose bumps to the back of my neck.
“My name is Chief Goldman, and I run the Greenich Bay Police Force. I’m going to reach into my pocket and get my badge.”
A ripple shuddered through the crowd of officers, and they exchanged wide-eyed looks. Beck dropped his hand to his jacket, deliberately slow. He had no desire to end up like Swiss cheese because a rookie got nervous.
Beck brandished his badge, and the officer turned his flashlight on it.
“W-we..fuck…” the officer stuttered.
“Officer Brantiff, right? Didn’t your daughter just graduate with honors?” Beck offered him a disarming smile, so pleasant that I was impressed, as he tucked his badge back in his pocket.
“Yeah, she did… How did you know that?”
The men surrounding us didn’t know what to do with their weapons. Some dropped them, while others let them lean like wilted flowers.
“I make a point of knowing the people who are supposed to have my back. You wanna tell me what you’re arresting me for?”
“Trespassing. We got reports of suspects matching your description.”
“Which was?” Beck arched an eyebrow. For a man who couldn’t feel, he excelled at pretending.
“Ah…” Office Brantiff cleared his throat. “A group of six suspects, a woman and a redhead among them.”
Connall growled and pulled his beanie over the strands of red poking out. “Of course. Pick on the redhead.”
“Who ordered this supposed bust?”
The scent of salt blew in from the choppy water of the bay. The men atop the shipping container disappeared, and the guns, fiercely wielded before, disappeared into holsters.
Officer Brantiff’s nose turned red. “It was Deputy Chief Cristern.”
Beck tapped his chin and paced in front of us, avoiding a puddle. I leaned back against Ray and Jonah, not because I was frightened, but just to make sure they were there. Beck had a handle on the situation right now, but I’d be stupid to let my guard down.
“I wonder why they thought protocol was worth defying? Is that how you afforded that lavish graduation party you threw, Brantiff?”
“W-well, I-i—” Officer Brantiff stuttered.
“I want your report sent to me, and I want the names of every person involved in this failure of police work.”
“We were obeying orders, and besides, you think you can explain away standing next to Raimondo ‘Taillight Ray’ Donato, and others known to associate with the Orazios?”
Ray let out a soft hiss of enjoyment. “Glad to know I’m not completely irrelevant even if I’m not heir anymore.”
Beck stalked Officer Brantiff the way a panther might hunt, with powerful ease and slow hunger. The metaphorical kill made the men behind Officer Brantiff shift on their toes, and mutter under their breaths.
This was what attracted me to Beck. The magnetism of his power made you want to bow down to him. His teeth could tear them apart in seconds, and he wouldn’t even blink at the destruction. A jolt of longing turned my spine into a rod of heat.
“You’ve ruined six months of preparation on a time-sensitive, classified job. You and your stupid men won’t have jobs tomorrow if you’re not gone in the next five minutes.”
Officer Brantiff’s cheeks puffed out as Beck jabbed his finger against his bulletproof vest.
“Do you understand?”
He nodded and whispered the order to leave, muttering a string of apologies to Beck. White danced in my vision as a torch beam hit my face. Their shuffling, red-faced retreat would have made me laugh, except I couldn’t shake the barbed wire scraping my bones.
Something wasn’t right. Nobody was supposed to know we were here.
“Your authority is smoking hot, Chief. No wonder Lyra couldn’t resist you.”
Beck leaned against a shipping container and crossed his arms. Ellington disappeared behind the group of police, with Jonah tailing to make sure they all left.
The only sounds were the distant scuff of boots and the groan of metal.
“Wait until you see me covered in blood. Irresistible, right, Lyra?”
Ray flashed a row of white teeth and leaned in close.
“Roleplay idea? Vampires have been my fav since Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gave me a predilection for blond men.” He grinned at Jonah, who returned through the containers.
“What are you saying about me?” Jonah’s cheeks darkened.
Ellington cracked his knuckles. “They’re gone. Shall we continue?”
I swallowed the sick feeling in my stomach and followed the group as they made their way deeper into the stacks. Something told me this was going to be a long morning.