Chapter 33 | Kincade
She was still sleeping when dawn broke. Curled against me. Her head on my chest. The steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed deep. Like she’d found some semblance of peace.
I didn’t move. Didn’t close my eyes. Couldn’t.
My hand moved through her hair. Slow, careful, memorizing the feel of it. She’d fought so hard. Pushed through pain and programming to choose this. Choose me.
Last night hadn’t been about desire. It had been about trust. About how close she could come to the edge without falling and how willing I was to follow if she did.
She’d torn down walls I’d spent centuries building. Seen parts of me I’d buried with the dead.
I see you. She accepted the truth—my truth—and accepted me, anyway.
Cashiel’s words surfaced unbidden. Be the man she chose. Not the warrior standing guard.
I’d spent lifetimes confusing the two. Hiding behind duty. Calling vigilance love.
Last night, she hadn’t needed a protector. She’d needed me—present, unarmed, unshielded.
And she’d given me everything—trust, vulnerability, choice. I’d given her the only thing I had left to give. The truth of what I’d lost. What she meant by comparison.
I’d given her my name. The real one. You don’t hand that over unless you’re ready to be found.
She needed to know. Not who I was now, but what it had taken to make me this. What losing her would do to me again.
Outside, the world came alive again. The gray light of morning pressed against the curtains of the one window. And soon, the quiet would be gone.
Next to me, she stirred. Coming awake. Then seemed to realize where she was and rolled to her side of the bed. Leaving a void where she’d been.
“How long have you been awake?” she asked, voice still thick with sleep.
“A while.” All night.
Her sleepy-eyed gaze drifted to my chest. “I slept there all night?”
“Yes.”
For a moment, she looked horrified. “Please tell me I didn’t drool on you.”
My mouth curved. “You didn’t.”
“That’s good. I’d hate to ruin the sexy morning-after vibe.” Then she laughed at herself.
Proof she was still her.
“Funny girl.”
She’d outgrown that word a long time ago.
She sat up, stretching. Muscle moved beneath soft skin. She’d been strong before. This was different. All of it earned. All of it mine to witness.
She caught me looking. I should have looked away but couldn’t.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
Nothing I wanted to say.
“Hm,” she said. “I need coffee and a shower.” Then scooted to the edge of the bed. “And some clothes, clearly.”
She was already moving on—claiming coffee and clean clothes like small victories. I let myself stay amused.
“Clothes are optional.”
“Ha.”
“It’s just a suggestion.”
“I can’t have you looking at me like that all day.” She picked up a discarded shirt. One of her oversized ones she’d left on the floor. Then tugged it on.
It covered little. That was on purpose.
“Like what?”
“You know how.” Then she leaned back across the bed and whispered against my cheek, “I’m a lady.”
I laughed. “You’ve never been a lady.”
I started to reach for her, but she managed to get away. “Yes, I have. Ballgown. That’s my claim to fame.”
And then she was gone.
As soon as she disappeared, I heard a faint buzzing. The burner phone still in the pocket of my pants.
Now that she was gone, there was no reason to stay in bed.
If the phone was buzzing, that meant Silas had information. I pulled it free and checked the screen.
Intel. Two hours.
Followed by GPS coordinates.
Silas never brought information unless it mattered. This time when it mattered, it would lead to the one thing she’d been hunting.
Vormund.
She strolled back in, coffee mug in hand, then halted. Saw the phone in my hand. “A message?”
“We meet him in two hours. That doesn’t give us much time to get there.”
“Since I’m not a lady, it won’t take me long to get ready.” She flashed a grin as she disappeared into the bathroom.
We were in the car heading to another nondescript building in another forgotten town.
True to her word, she’d been ready in ten minutes. Her damp hair pulled back from her face in a ponytail. Dressed like always. Henley, cargo pants, boots. I could still smell the faint scent of her soap and her natural scent under that.
“Do you think he has info about Vormund?” she asked.
“Likely.”
“And you’re going to let me go after him?”
I cast her a sidelong glance. “I don’t think there’s any letting.”
She smirked. “I was making sure.”
Testing me.
What she didn’t know—yet—was that I’d walk beside her when she did. I’d help. I’d make sure she did it her way, without interference.
Violence came easy to me.
With her, it was always a choice. And that was what made it dangerous.
The meeting point was another abandoned building. This one looked more like an old hotel that was nothing but a shell. Concrete walls covered in graffiti. No roof. Vegetation had grown up inside and around it giving it a rainforest-like feeling.
Silas waited—a different beater car—leaning against it holding a thick folder in one hand.
She exited the car first, shading her eyes from the morning sun glinting through the foliage.
“Where does he find these places?” she asked. “It’s like something off Mysteries of the Abandoned.”
I didn’t answer. Silas had a way of finding those lost places that were perfect for meeting covertly.
He greeted us both with a nod. Then, “I found what you wanted.” He handed it to me. “Dr. Elias Vormund. They call him the project architect.”
Next to me, she stiffened. “Architect? Butcher, more like.”
“This is all the background information I found. He was recruited by the Knights over thirty years ago.”
“Thirty?” she said.
I heard the recognition in her voice.
“Aye,” he said. “When he started hunting for dream walkers.” He gave Anna a pointed look.
“My mother,” she whispered. “He did that to her, didn’t he?”
“He was the one who led the research,” Silas said. “It’s all in the file.”
She went still, her hands in fists. I flipped open the folder. It was a full dossier on him.
Now she had more reason to destroy the man. I wanted to feel sorry for him. But I didn’t.
“Anna’s mother was the first.”
“So, he took my mother from me, too. His list of sins continues to grow.”
There was such heat in her voice, I looked her way. Fury lined her face.
“I’m sure you can make use of that information,” Silas said. “He’s leaving the Brotherhood ruins and moving toward a facility in Istanbul. A smaller one. Only a small personal detail.”
“Confident, isn’t he?” I said. “When is this happening?”
“Two days.” Then his gaze went back to her. “He got your message loud and clear.”
“Oh?” She folded her arms over her chest.
“My sources tell me he thinks you’re unfinished,” he said. “Which means he’s decided to see you in person. He’s moving to the Istanbul location because that’s the city where you found your mother.”
And where she told me she killed Schneider, the man she thought was the leader.
Vormund wasn’t coming to negotiate. He was coming to reclaim his prize.
“He wants me to feel that. He wants me to know that,” she said. “If he’s trying to piss me off, he’s succeeding.”
“Where is this facility?” I asked.
“In an industrial area. Tuzla, on the Asian side,” he said.
“And how do we get there?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll handle transport. There are passports in the folder for you both. The place is heavily guarded. You’ll need a solid plan to get in there if you’re going to confront him.”
“I already have one,” Anna said. “I plan to walk through the front door.”
I went stiff. Silas glanced from her to me, question in his one good eye. Neither of us spoke.
“That’s what he wants,” she added.
If she’d already made up her mind, there was no talking her out of it. But I still planned to try. That was suicide.
“What else can you tell us?” I asked.
“He has an office in the facility. A private home in the city,” he said. “He’ll be at one or the other. He might be easier to get at his private home than the facility.”
Her face was neutral, but I could tell she was thinking of a retort. She didn’t say it.
I nodded. “Thanks.” I flipped the folder closed.
“If anything changes,” Silas said, “I’ll be in touch.”
We started to turn back to the car.
“Kincade, a word,” he said. “Alone.”
She gave me a look that said she didn’t want to be left out.
“I’ll meet you at the car,” I said.
She hesitated a moment, then nodded and walked back to it.
I turned back to Silas.
“I was right about Munich,” he said. “But it’s not only a new facility. It’s the Knights new state-of-the-art headquarters. It will be operational soon.”
“How soon?”
He shrugged. “Possibly a month or less. I don’t know. This is where Vormund is planning to launch more experiments. He has… different research.”
I glanced at the car. She sat in the passenger side keeping her gaze focused on us.
“Different how?”
He shook his head. “Not sure. It was classified. I couldn’t get it. What I could get is in that file.” He nodded to the folder in my hand. “You may not want the lass to see it.”
“I’m not sure I can keep her from it,” I said. “She’s tenacious.”
“And reckless. Don’t let her expose herself. That’s what he’s counting on. If she’s captured—”
“I know.” I was all too aware of the grim possibility.
“I’ll arrange transport and send safe house coordinates. You move then. Ditch the car at the airport. There’ll be another waiting in Istanbul.”
I nodded.
Then we parted ways.
Back in the car, she sat with her hands folded in her lap. Waiting.
She wanted an explanation. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give it to her yet. Once I did, there would be no turning back.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“We’ll have to move soon,” I said. “He’s securing a place in Istanbul.”
“Good.”