riping the wooden floor. Athena's eyes flew open. She sat bolt up

amp, cloying smell of the prison cell. The echoing clang of steel doo

. The empty space where it should have been-a brutal "parting gift" from a prison riot she'd barely survived-sen

r bare feet met the warm, solid wood of the floor, a small, grounding co

e. There was a permanent tension in her shoulders, a wariness in her gaze that hadn't been there five ye

eaked open, and a s

om

ft, laced with a

as dressed in dinosaur-print pajamas, his dark hair a messy halo around his head. He looked at her with a pair of deep, serious eyes-Armond's eyes. He was the secret she

on the floorboards. He tilted his head back to lo

turbulent sea of her memories. She buried her face in his hair, inhaling the clea

" she murmured, kissing his

olemnity far beyond his fou

as too young to be so serious, too you

dark years after her father's death, the only one who hadn't turned his back when the Barnes em

hould see someone," he sa

the warm mug from her brother's hand. "

hair. He walked into the room and ruffled Damian's hair.

sly and scurried off

grim. "Solomon Group is making moves again. Their latest acqui

ing little to thaw the chill in her veins. H

"But don't worry. Our firewalls are

ut him today. We made a promise to Damian." A genuine softness returned to her

one and only mission. It was the reason she got u

hind her smile and didn

a pair of worn jeans and a plain white t-shirt. She added a faded Yankees baseball cap and a pair of lar

e, trying to force the corners of her mouth upward u

ed in his own jeans and a tiny sweatshirt. He grabbed her han

in hers was the only