Chapter Forty-Four
White Ravens
Gage
The Olympic-size heated pool was one of the rare places in headquarters that was empty and quiet enough that Gage could mute his thoughts.
His nerves were so crazy they made him restless, and it was impossible to just lie in bed and wait for Scar to come to him.
So he swam.
He cut through the water in smooth, steady strokes, earbuds in, his favorite clean classic hits station filling the constant noise in his head.
Three days.
He pumped his arms harder, keeping his breathing measured, focusing on the count so he wouldn’t start spiraling.
What kind of tasks had Scar assigned, and to whom? Where would the wedding be? How would he perform on their wedding night? And worst of all, how his parents would never know their son didn’t break when life tried to life him.
They would never see what he’d become.
A strong fighter. A man who defended the weak and the oppressed, who stood in the gap between tyrants and the ones they preyed on.
He wondered if they’d be proud.
He finished a lap and pushed off the wall again, turning clean, letting the water slap his shoulders and drown his unanswered questions, until something hit the surface behind him.
Not a sound…a feeling.
A ripple struck his ribs, the current stirring around him.
Gage stopped mid-stroke, treading water in the deep end. He pulled his earbuds out and let his surroundings speak.
Water lapped against the tiles, air shifted through the ventilation system, and the wall clock ticked away each second like a metronome.
But there, separate from everything else, the water swelled in his lane. Disturbed and cautious.
He waited for the person to speak, to announce themselves like a decent person would, but no one said anything.
“Who’s there?” he called out.
No answer.
He smiled, already assuming. Scar loved testing him, loved seeing what he would do.
“Is that my fiancé?”
Silence again.
Gage chuckled. “You trying to get me back from the haunted house? Save it. You’re not scaring me. I’m fearless.”
Still nothing.
Gage rolled his eyes. “Come here,” he teased. “I’ve always wanted to do sexy stuff in a pool.”
Water shifted closer.
Arms slid around his waist from behind, but the touch didn’t have the perfect balance of strength and care that made him feel loved and possessed at the same time.
He knew it was wrong immediately.
It wasn’t Scar. The man in the pool wasn’t his.
There weren’t enough cords in the forearms or strength in the grip. The hands were too smooth, too eager, not calloused from years of shooting guns.
The scent that’d been masked by chlorine hit him next.
Adrian.
Gage shoved against the bare chest that was too hairy, the contact so unpleasant it made his skin crawl.
“What the heck are you doing, Adrian?” he snapped. “Have you lost your mind?”
Adrian didn’t answer. Instead, he locked his arms around him tighter, yanking Gage back into him.
They dipped under for a moment, water closing over him.
Gage fought free, but Adrian kept grabbing for him, dragging them down a second time.
Panic tried to spark, but he cut it off.
He kicked out, slamming his heel into Adrian’s stomach, and used the momentum to twist away. He surged forward, swimming fast toward the edge.
He hauled himself out of the pool and hurried to where he’d left his cane and phone.
His bare foot clipped something, and he went down hard on his right shoulder, knocking the breath out of him.
He felt around and realized he’d hit a chair that shouldn’t’ve been there.
Adrian had rearranged things purposefully.
Gage pushed up onto his palms and listened.
Adrian’s wet feet were slapping against the ceramic tiles a few feet away, moving in his direction.
“You got me fired,” he said. His voice sounded strange…unstable. “Why would you do that? I helped you. I taught you to live better. And you just go to him.”
Gage stood, walking slower with his hands outstretched, searching for the chair where he’d left his things.
The lounger was there, but his cane and phone were gone.
He was kicking himself for taking his watch off, if he hadn’t, he could’ve used the emergency alert.
He would never make that mistake again.
Adrian rushed up behind him and slammed into his back with enough force to make him stagger forward.
Gage used the energy instead of fighting it.
He rotated, caught Adrian’s arm, and spun him around. His hands found skin, shoulder, then wrist. He twisted, stole Adrian’s balance, and slammed him to the floor in one clean maneuver.
Adrian hit the tile with a pained grunt.
“Adrian,” Gage said, in a measured voice. “Don’t do this. You can take my cane, phone, move furniture, and whatever else you think you need to do to get the upper hand, but I am still a Raven. I can still hurt you…badly.”
A ragged laugh came from the floor.
Gage held his stance, listening.
“Why would you hurt me? Don’t you know how much I love you?”
Gage gaped, stepping back carefully, trying to put more distance between them.
“Adrian, you might think you do,” he said, keeping his voice low, “but you don’t even know me.”
“And he does?” Adrian got to his feet, breathing fast. “He was always shitty to you. Can’t you see he’s manipulating you and taking advantage of your vulnerability?”
Gage’s blood sizzled.
“If you grab me again,” he warned between clenched teeth, “I’m gonna’ show you just how not vulnerable I am.”
“I’m so sick of people taking,” Adrian growled. “Taking and taking. All I do is give, and nobody gives back. Don’t I deserve something back?”
Adrian sounded as if he were talking himself into defending what he was about to do.
Gage frowned. “Adrian, you were doing your job. You weren’t giving me anything. You were teaching, and I was learning. That’s it.”
“You flirted with me, let me take you out…and for what? You were just using me.”
“I never flirted with you.”
“Yes, you did!” Adrian roared.
Gage moved toward the locker room doors, keeping his hands out to avoid the obstacles Adrian had made.
His fingers found the handle and pulled, but it didn’t budge.
He tried again, with more strength.
Nothing. It’d been rigged too.
If Adrian had done all this, his actions weren’t a moment of passion. It was a premeditated plan.
“What do you want?” he asked finally.
“I have to leave. Come with me. We can be together. I can help you.”
Adrian’s voice was closer.
“They’ll find Scar another partner. You’re too good for this place.”
Gage scoffed. “Too good? Do you know what we do here?”
“I know that Ex and Meridian are emotionless, evil killing drones,” Adrian laughed manically. “Grace is so mean, Jo doesn’t allow him to speak. And Valor and Zorion aren’t even human for fuck’s sake.”
Gage shook his head at how misinformed Adrian was, but his position didn’t allow him top secret clearance.
“I promise you, none of that’s true.”
“You don’t belong here, Gage.” Adrian was getting louder. “You’re not a killer like these guys…like your partner.”
Gage held his ground.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, and I’m never leaving the man I’m destined to be with for the rest of my life.” He let the next part hit like a door shutting. “And Scar will be my husband in three days.”
Silence.
“You’re a user.” Adrian’s tone was darker. “Just like all the rest of them.”
Gage’s stomach twisted. He knew the change in a man’s voice the moment he was about to do something violent.
“Please don’t make me do this,” he said, trying one last time to keep this from turning into a fight. “I am a Raven, but I’m not evil, deadly, or inhuman.” He softened his voice. “I’m sorry if you think I led you on. I swear to you that wasn’t my intention, but—”
“No buts,” Adrian snapped.
“Please Adrian. Don’t do anything you’re going to regret,” Gage said firmly. “My fiancé will kill you if you attack me.”
That must’ve been the wrong thing to say because Adrian charged at him with an angry shout.
“Damn you!”
He tracked the beat of Adrian’s wet feet crossing the floor, heard the angle of his breath lower as if he were going to tackle him.
He waited until the last possible second before he jerked to the side and shot his knee up with trained accuracy.
He connected with the center of Adrian’s sternum, making him fold around the impact. Gage spun and swept Adrian’s legs from under him and let gravity do the rest.
Adrian got back up, swinging wild.
“Stop this, Adrian! Enough.”
Gage planted his feet, hooked an arm under Adrian’s, and turned his hips, using leverage instead of strength, and threw Adrian into what should’ve been open space.
He heard Adrian hit something that made a sharp, cracking sound.
Then a splash.
Gage froze, waiting for Adrian to break the surface, waiting for gasping, coughing, thrashing.
When he heard nothing, Gage dove in the direction Adrian fell in.
The pool swallowed him, and he combed through the water until he found skin, then a limb.
He gripped Adrian under the arms and hauled him up, forcing Adrian’s chin above the surface.
Adrian’s head lolled around on his shoulder.
Oh my God.
He swam them to the edge, muscles burning, and got Adrian’s body against the wall.
With one hand clutching Adrian’s armpit, he climbed out first, before he heaved Adrian up and onto the tile.
“Adrian,” Gage said, slapping his cheek. “Adrian, wake up.”
No response.
He dragged his fingers over Adrian’s face and scalp, finding a seeping gash in his wet hair at the back of his head.
He gulped hard.
No, no, no. Please.
He repositioned Adrian and pressed two fingers under his jaw. The pulse was faint, but he started CPR anyway.
Hands locked, he counted. “One. Two. Three...”
He hated this. Hated that a man he’d trusted had pushed it this far.
He was on the second cycle when he heard pounding at the door.
“Help me!” he hollered.
A heavy bang startled him, then another, before he heard the heavy door give way.
“Gage!” Roz barreled inside.
For a short moment, he didn’t speak, knowing his best friend was taking in the scene.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Call for a medic,” Gage gritted, still doing compressions.
“Command, this is Roz. I need immediate medical response to the pool.”
He kept working through the burn in his arms, his breath coming in rapid, shallow gasps.
“And send an alert to Scar,” Roz demanded.
Gage’s stomach dropped.
He didn’t want Scar or anyone, for that matter, to find out what really happened. He needed time to get control of the narrative.
Roz’s alert was going to spread like wildfire, and when Scar got wind of it, his fiancé would act first and ask questions later.