Chapter 11
eleven
The rest of the day passed in a blur of last-minute planning, adjusting pairs and teams, and bringing Dane up to speed on our plans.
He stuck close but gave me space. He stood at parade rest behind my right shoulder most often, unmoving except for his eyes, a granite monument to enforcer perfection.
Sloane and Liam had been corralled in my room to minimize escape options.
The lone window had been locked from the outside with a gadget meant for indoor use, but it only had to survive a few hours.
Their jailer had even given them each a laptop with access to streaming services and Bluetooth headsets.
I got the Big Sis discount from said jailer, thank God, because renting equipment from Goldie cost the earth.
To back her up, Fayne handpicked six enforcers who were more afraid of her than retribution from Liam. That was as secure as we could get them without resorting to chains on their ankles or silver-lined cages.
As afternoon bled into early evening, the planning session broke apart, and I stepped out for a breather.
“The first time is always the most nerve-wracking.”
I would have tripped over Rían if he hadn’t spoken. Okay. That was a lie. No one could miss a man of his size sprawled across the lowest step, his legs spanning the wooden planks from post to post. But I might have startled and fallen when I spotted him if he hadn’t given me a heads-up.
Which would have given him an excuse to catch me and then give me a thorough exam…
Argh.
I really had gotten spoiled to living within the safety of the wards and pursuing my relationship with Rían in stolen moments.
Since Brentwood had rejoined the outside world, there were no moments to be stolen.
It was wrong of me to pout, even if I hid my disappointment to avoid making him feel guilty.
Too much had gone wrong for us to slip away and see where our attraction led us, and it wasn’t like I had to lock him down fast or risk losing him. We were already betrothed, and he had made incredible sacrifices to be with me before he even met me. He had been patient. I could be too. Probably.
That didn’t make me want to smooch him or count his abs any less.
Sigh.
“Are you here to see me off?” I sat on the step above him. “I missed you last night.”
“I peeked in Sloane’s room before I left the clinic, but you were already asleep.” He traced the seam of my jeans with his fingertip. “I didn’t want to wake you, so I figured I would come wish you luck instead.”
“Thank you.” I couldn’t suppress a shiver, a wish his fingers would continue their exploration. “Hopefully, after tonight we’ll be one step closer to ending this.”
This meaning the threat of Carmichael forcing me to follow in my mother’s footsteps, the bombs, the poisonings. All of it. I wanted it over and done. I wanted these people, who had been nothing but kind to me, safe.
Faster than I could blink, Rían dragged me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head. He drew his legs in too, trapping me against him. He made a happy sound, down deep in his chest, and I relaxed against him, allowing him to tighten his hold.
Ear mashed against his chest, I chuckled. “Are you sure you’re not a boa constrictor shifter?”
“The long legs make me think not.”
“Unless you have such long legs in your human form because you’re like a twenty-foot snake.”
“No one wants to hear about Rían’s twenty-foot snake.”
A shadow fell across us, and the spit dried in my mouth, forcing me to bury my face in his chest.
“Fayne.” He stroked the back of my head. “You’re supposed to be guarding the invalids.”
“I came to pick up Goldie’s phone. She left it in her bathroom.” Her eyes gleamed with delight. “Imagine my surprise to find my grandson and future granddaughter on the porch discussing the length of—”
“No.” Rían clamped his hands over my ears. “Please, just get what you need and go home.”
“It could be worse.” I gripped his wrists and lowered them. “Liam could have been the one to hear us.”
“Do you honestly believe she’s not going to tell him the second she sees him so they can laugh at us together?”
The door swung open behind us, and Seamus exited with Goldie’s phone in hand. He cocked an eyebrow at us while tossing the phone to Fayne. Dane stepped up beside Seamus, scanned the area, then stepped back to give Rían and me room to untangle and rise.
“Be safe.” Fayne squished my face between her palms. “And most of all, have fun.” She frowned down at Rían. “Try not to pop more of those antacids, dear. They’ll destroy your kidneys.” She kissed his forehead. “Ana will be in safe hands the entire time.”
With the weight of so many gazes bearing down on us, we had no choice but to disengage and go our separate ways. I enjoyed teasing Rían and glimpsing the troublemaker Burdock swore he used to be, but I wished I had spared a moment or two for more serious talk.
Leaning down, he brushed his warm lips across my ear as he said, “Come home safe to me.”
“I will.” I nipped his earlobe again to watch him shiver. “Everything will be okay.”
“We need to go before we lose the light.” Seamus sounded apologetic. “The general area where we suspect Sartori has burrowed down requires a short climb. We need the shadows to help conceal our movements, but I wouldn’t want to risk a misstep in full dark.”
Tension radiated through Rían, but he gritted his teeth, produced a smile, and kissed me once for luck.
“Dane will be in charge of getting you to the rendezvous point,” Seamus prattled on. “He climbs mountains on the weekends, if you can believe anyone’s daft enough to call that fun.”
A low growl poured into the air behind me, but I didn’t dare turn around to face Rían. I was too afraid I would cave. I didn’t want to pile more stress on him. He had more than enough already.
“You’re doing the right thing.” Seamus kept his voice low.
“Trust me when I say you don’t want to start a relationship with someone who doesn’t know who you really are.
They won’t be pleasantly surprised to find out the truth later.
” He sighed. “I tried selling Lisa on the idea I was a calmer, more polite man than I am to impress her. I didn’t want her to know how hard I was, how sharp I could be.
Part of me wanted to be that different version for her, but the rest grew stifled beneath the act. ”
“You’re worried if I fold now, to spare Rían pain, I’ll cave every time.”
“Worry might be the wrong word. The choice is yours. I won’t judge you either way. I just don’t want you to struggle with your identity like I did.” His smile was crooked. “You’re strong, you’re smart, and you care. You give a damn fine speech too. You’re a good match for Rían.”
“But?”
“He thought he lost you once, and he’s terrified he will again.
For good this time.” He gripped my shoulder, and the bones groaned under his wide palm.
“He’ll never be happy you’re going out in the field.
My wife is the same. But she knows I will take every precaution to ensure I return to her and our son in one piece.
Rían knows this too. Just as Lisa had to make her peace with who I am, Rían must do the same for you. ”
“It’s not often we get a second chance at life, and I don’t want to waste mine.”
The two teams parted ways at the street, and I followed Team One to the van that would carry us to our starting point.
The drive gave me a chance to use the same mental spigot as before to twist my link with Carmichael closed until we reached the area drone footage and rumor had convinced Liam was the most likely spot for him to hunker down.
This mission was a fine testing ground to determine whether I could deliver Carmichael as promised or if I had squandered clan resources on misplaced confidence.
No. I couldn’t think like that. I would make good on my word.
I had to because I refused to let Rían wrestle with his anxieties for nothing.
Unfortunately, the slight drop I was promised turned out to be more of a long fall to a stony basin if my foot slipped even once. Unease slithered through my stomach, reminding me I wasn’t great with heights and really should have considered that before giving Seamus two thumbs-up on his plan.
“You look like you’re about to vomit,” Dane commented from next to my elbow.
“This is a bit different than I expected.” I swallowed hard. “It’s a little high, isn’t it?”
“You’re a dragon.”
“A dragon who can’t fly.”
“Rían warned me, but I didn’t believe him.” He reached into a pack at his feet and withdrew a tangle of nylon straps. “I brought a harness in case he wasn’t pulling my leg.”
Warmth spread through my chest that Rían had been looking out for me, erasing the embarrassment of confessing my shortcoming myself. Mostly. I could already tell from the looks I was garnering that I would never live this down.
The only thing that would have been worse was if Liam was here and in charge of the harness.
Pfft.
What was I saying? He wouldn’t have brought a harness. He would have told me to piggyback and hoped for the best. He might be nicer to me these days, but it was more of a sibling relationship from what I had observed in others. That meant he derived joy from needling me.
While I did my best to pretend this wasn’t happening, Dane helped me strap in and got Seamus to hold me up while another enforcer snapped us together. The end result left me facing out, dangling a foot or three above the ground. I imagined I resembled an infant in a papoose.
Color swept through Seamus’s cheeks as he did his best not to laugh in my face, but I was worried he might rupture something if he didn’t release some of his pent-up humor soon.
“Go ahead.” I granted permission with a wave of my hand. “Get it out of your system.”
“Much as I would love to, I’m afraid if I start, I won’t be able to stop, and I don’t want Sartori to hear us coming.”