Chapter 15
Killian
I would follow Daria anywhere, and help her complete any mission if she so desired, but my heart was pounding wildly in my chest the entire time.
That was close, too close. We’d slipped from her safe house and out of the alley only moments before the net closed around that location.
Callum was murmuring warnings and updates in my ear that entire time.
His precise location on the Dragnell forces was the only thing that kept us from walking directly in their net.
It was still dark, and the streets were now mostly deserted.
Only a few stragglers were still out as they made their way home, and fog dampened the previously rowdy noise of the city.
It was gloomy, and a more fanciful person might think ghosts or monsters were hiding in the gray soup that surrounded us.
I was grateful for the cover it provided.
We slipped quietly through the streets, but at a fast pace, and I didn’t ask where Daria was headed.
This was her plan for now: her mission to expose the truth to her people.
I could only admire her for that and try to support her where I could.
Even if that meant all I could do was be a barrier between her and bullets, or her and the Dragnell.
Though she’d planned for the possibility of a scuffle with the superior alien forces, we managed to evade them.
Then Daria procured us an Earth vehicle, illegally and clearly something she’d done before.
I had to fold myself into the passenger seat of the compact car awkwardly, but Daria rolled her seat all the way forward.
Then we were off, the engine rumbling loudly in the quiet of the early morning hours.
I held my hand beneath my jacket as she drove, my fingers against the butt of the laser pistol in its holster.
I didn’t trust the situation. We’d slipped away, and Callum assured me that the Dragnell weren’t giving chase yet as they had converged on the safe house.
That was too simple, and our window to fly away without discovery was drastically closing.
In another hour or two, sunrise would hit this city and we’d be trapped here until dark.
“Can your handler find out if news broke yet? Did my friend come through for me?” Daria’s voice was barely more than a whisper as she asked the question. It was hard for her to say those words, to ask for help. That she did could only mean that she was starting to trust me, rely on me.
“Yes. I’ll ask,” I responded. I flicked my com connection open with my thumb.
Callum growled at the request, telling me to get my ass back to the ship with my Tally so we could get out of town.
It was definitely a risk to linger, the Dragnell would be capable of locating our small ship if they tried.
“Yes, news got out, and it’s being picked up all over the globe.
It’s slow though, considering it’s the first day of your new year.
Callum does not believe they can contain it. ”
Daria’s shoulders lowered, but the tension remained in the tight way she gripped the steering wheel.
“Okay, that’s something. Now we just need to make sure people don’t want them here.
” She flicked her eyes to the gauges on the dashboard before turning her head to look at me.
“I think it’s time I visit my dad. I burned my bridges, might as well set them all on fire. ”
I nodded in agreement. Though I did not know who her dad was or how he could help her incite her people to rebel against the formation of the UAR… Her pretty brown eyes went from bleak to a much more cheerful glint as she said: “Maybe you have a spot on your ship for me after this?”
Ah, she did not understand yet. She did not trust my words, and I could see why. It did not seem like the males in her life had been worth relying on. She saw her father as the enemy, and even the general who’d known her all her life had been willing to sell out the Earth.
“Ah, my darling, my Tally. Of course, there is room for you on the ship. I’m not leaving Earth without you.” I reached over to curl my fingers around her fist on the wheel, the digits icy cold against my flesh. “There is no one more loyal than a Terafin to his mate. You can trust that.”
She shot me a glance that was a bit frustrated and with a hint of fear. She did not think she could believe those words or anything I’d said that morning in bed. I knew she would. Part of her already did or she would have never trusted me to have her back. Not on a mission to see her father.
Callum was quiet in my ear as Daria swung the car into a gravel driveway to a pretty stone house. We’d driven for nearly forty minutes, so making it back into the city before sunrise was going to be a very close call.
I appraised the house, which was dark at all windows except one.
It was two stories, with a well-manicured lawn out front and barren shrubbery lining the perimeter.
At a glance, I counted a dozen cameras, which meant this place was well fortified for an Earth home.
It was no surprise it was home to Daria’s father, not if he was anything like his spy daughter.
“What is the plan?” I asked her as we climbed out of our stolen vehicle and approached the front door as casually as could be. It appeared that she planned to walk inside like she wasn’t the most wanted woman on the planet right now.
“The plan?” she said with a laugh, her fingers touching the body cam strapped to the collar of her sweater. “Poke the beast and hope he snaps.” Then she swung open the door, which was unlocked as though we were expected.