Ember #2
“The consensus is that it’s a risky manoeuvre.” Kade pushes messy blonde hair from his face. “But we’re not in a position to be ignoring any viable leads at this stage.”
“Did we learn nothing from the swimming pool disaster?” Hyland tosses a hand into the air.
“That was an unfortunate incident, yes. But this time, we won’t be putting our remaining ranks at risk. Nor will we play into their hands. This meet would be a simple, transactional exchange.”
“Like what?” Suspicion coils in my chest.
Kade casts me a weary look. “Ask your Phantom that.”
Tensing all over, I peer up at Blaine’s stoic face. He’s never been one to shy away from his choices or opinions. Staring back at me without regret, the corner of his mouth lifts.
“I will meet her alone. No backup, no grand operation. Just me and her. A simple exchange of intel.”
My system flushes cold like I’ve been waterboarded head-first in the Arctic current. I drop his hand to crash a balled-up fist into his chest, gripped by terror so acute, I almost can’t see straight from the force of it.
“You will do no such thing!”
“It’s my risk to take, sweetheart.”
“You’re feeding yourself to the wolves, Blaine! This is madness.”
“I trust her.” His response is infuriatingly calm.
“You don’t even know who she is!”
“But I trust that she is my mother and understands the stakes. You don’t remain a prisoner for decades just to do your master’s bidding when the time for change comes. She’s a victim too.”
“Stockholm syndrome,” Warner supplies.
“Exactly!” I shout in agreement.
“For a man who sold her, raped her, stole her child away, sold her again then facilitated an entire lifetime of abuse?” Blaine bares his teeth, visibly disgusted by the thought.
“Yes. It happens.”
“I refuse to believe that after all this time, the years of searching, hoping, praying for answers, my mother is reaching out now to lure me into a trap. Frankly, if she is, I’m content to take that chance.”
“Well, I am not fucking content!”
Storming away from our group grants me a moment to catch my breath before I erupt into a volcanic explosion of rage. We haven’t come this far to take such a dumb risk now. Least of all for what sounds like a specifically designed honeytrap guaranteed to rip my family apart.
An empty liquor barrel cracks against the ground, then loudly rolls away after I smash my foot into it. Pain reverberates up my leg, but I don’t give a shit. I’d happily attack a line of opponents without breaking a sweat right now.
In the cartel, I understood their brutality. I knew what to expect. The torture became familiar, routine. Fight, win, earn a scrap of food or another day of life. The challenge was endurance, physical and mental. I learned to play that game well.
This elaborate dance of competing forces is a far greater test. It’s fraying every part of my mental fortitude down to its last fibre, ripping the vulnerable parts of my being wide open to receive enemy fire. And the most aggravating thing is that I can’t fucking stop it.
“Can you give us a minute?” I hear Blaine ask from somewhere behind me.
There’s a chorus of disgruntled sounds, but eventually, bodies shuffle and footsteps file out of the room. I don’t even bother to lift my head. I’m not going to be held responsible for my reaction if I do.
“Is it safe to approach?”
At the sound of his hushed laugh, I force myself not to whip around and gouge his eyes out.
“Don’t you dare make a joke of this, Blaine. You’re signing your death warrant!”
“No, I’m not.” A hand lightly clasps my elbow, tugging a little. “I’m learning to have faith. You taught me that. I never would’ve held out hope before meeting you.”
“So it’ll be my fault when you die?” My throat cinches into a knot.
“You’ve taught me to believe in people, Ember. To have faith in the power of love and family. To hold the possibility for more than the shallow existence I was told to live for so long. I want a real life now.”
“Then stay here with us.” I rip my arm free to whirl around, seizing his T-shirt. “Stay safe!”
The set of his jaw is resolute. “None of us are safe.”
“Safer than walking into the belly of the beast for someone you’ve never met.”
“Isn’t that what you did once when I asked you to trust me?” Blaine counters.
“That was different. I needed your help, I was desperate and trapped… I trusted you because I had no other options.”
“And we’re swimming in abundant options right now, I suppose.”
The damn logic infuriates me. I’m increasingly tempted to sink my fist into his pretty face.
“You’re talking about trusting a mercenary, bought and paid for, to bring you to a woman you’ve never known,” I spell out logically. “A woman who has spent her entire adult life at your father’s beck and call.”
“A woman who has just as much reason to despise the man as I do.”
“Or the mental damage to believe sacrificing you to her master is the right thing to do.”
“Equally, I could’ve stolen you away and sold you off to the highest bidder when we met.” He slowly trails his fingers over my braid, studying the blonde-tipped length. “I guess you got lucky.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. You came for me.”
“I did.” He idly traces the curve of his lip ring with his tongue. “And I’d do it again, over and over, even knowing what that fateful decision would cost. I’d lay down the lives of my crew without hesitating for the chance to hold you like this even for a second.”
“Then why gamble it all?”
Releasing my braid, his palm lifts to cup my cheek. “Because I’m choosing to believe I deserve more from this life. If that means risking it all, then that’s what I must do. But I need to meet her.”
I can see his determination in the rigid set of his jaw and the hard, unyielding line of his mouth. No amount of bargaining is going to throw my fearless Phantom off-course. Not from this. It’s the same resolute bravery that overlapped our paths and started this whole journey, almost a year ago.
“Please don’t go alone.” I nuzzle into his bergamot-scented neck.
“I’m not risking anyone else.”
“That isn’t your choice to make. If I want to come with you, I should be allowed to do so.”
“Ember—”
“I’m respecting your decision. Respect mine.”
He sighs so loudly, his chest rattles against mine. “The others will skin us both.”
“You’re the one talking about having faith. Trust them to know we can handle ourselves too. If this is what has to be done, then we do it together.”
“I don’t like it when you use my logic against me, sweetheart.”
“Then don’t try this shit with me in the first place.”
“Hm.” He kisses my forehead, temple, then slinks lower. “But I do enjoy seeing you mad.”
Our mouths gravitate together somewhere in the middle. No plan. No rehearsal. Not a single word spoken. His lips are heat-seeking missiles that wrap me in a blizzard of self-destruction without hope of rescue or survival.
His suicide mission doesn’t stop me from shedding every last part of myself I have left to gift him. He can have my bravery. My fear. My endurance. My doubt and exhaustion. All the ugly, broken shards that fit us together in a puzzle painted by the gods themselves.
Because I love this man. Oh, I fucking love him. Every last infuriating, scheming, conniving imperfection. He’s mine. I’ll follow him into any battle he sees fit as long as it means we’re together at the end of it all.
“I love you,” he murmurs.
“I love you, Blaine. More than life itself.”
“No, never more than life itself. You have a hell of a lot to live for, and it’s my mission to ensure we both make it out of this alive so I can watch you experience every last fucking bit of it.”
“Together?” I peck his lips, tender and needful.
His nose nudges mine, breath tangling invisibly in the air.
“Together.”