ena

mmered against the

of a glass coffee table pressi

he nature of hi

urious at my disre

and I began to stammer, the words

station, that I had no pl

no business intruding upon the li

his voice sharp as

mask of terri

road chest a wall of dar

my excuses were of

n for one reason only: Elena had requ

d acidic, burned th

eting, secret hope that my abs

gathered my equipment, and

mera a shield between myself and the world, staring at the

the safehouse, a profound exhau

split open, and a he

lack SUV pulled up to the curb, its headli

ped out in

d out a set of expensive designer lugga

ena climbed out of

face turned up to his, her voice a low mu

sted, a new and specific d

a lower-tier facility made no sense-until I saw the way her eyes cut toward me throu

der cracked overhead, a deafening boom th

untary shudder went through my shoulders,

n my direction at the

ned my face i

us to get indo

ache spread t

w about my ter

th his hands, a small, soli

ning first, her voice

iant smile and promi

an unwanted spectator to the in

returned to his SUV and drove off

the guards' offer of a luxury suite and insisted upon being quartered with

the darkness in the small room

cruel, unending murm

e, of the blood and violence they had nav

with a chilling note of pride, framing their s

t, to be hers. The absolute certainty in her voice made my stomach clench. She spoke not li

w cot, staring at the c

eticulous planning of a future wi

my chest, something I had guarded for a dec