The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (66 page)

“Oh, great.”

He parked and I left him standing with the truck and stalked angrily to our room. Killian looked up in surprise when I walked in. He took one look at my face and crossed over to me with hard eyes.

“What happened to your mouth? Did someone hit you?”

Sean walked in then. Killian stared at the red handprint on his face and before I could stop him, he grabbed Sean by the shirt, lifted him off his feet and flung him backwards against the door. The force was hard enough to crack the doorframe and I flinched as Sean’s head hit the wood and his eyes rolled back.

Crouching over him, Killian said from between clenched teeth, “Primani
never
hurt our charges! If you can’t control your anger, you’re off this team! Is that clear?”

Flushing crimson, Sean didn’t argue the point. Killian held out a hand to help him up and he brushed it off. “I’m taking a walk.”

“Good idea,” Killian agreed.

After the door slammed, Killian turned to me and said, “I’m sorry you had to see that, babe. But I had no choice. He’s too powerful to let his emotions rule his brain. He's got to get it together. Losing control isn’t an option for us.” He sat next to me and said, “Let me see your lip.”

He touched the pad of his fingertip to the cut. The tiny wound knit together in seconds. I ran my tongue behind my lip and the cut was gone. The metallic taste of blood lingered unpleasantly though.

“How do you stay so controlled? I mean, you were really mad at Sean. I could sense it. But you didn’t go crazy.”

With a mocking smile, he said, “Years of practice.”

Later that night, the three of us pulled up to a stop sign a few blocks from the office building. It was late but still not quiet. Police sirens wailed a few streets over and the red and blue lights bounced off the windows of the building beside us. The eerie light gave weird life to the trees growing next to the road. They seemed to twitch back and forth in the humid night air. Weird. The ride over was tense and silent except for Killian’s last minute instructions. Mostly it was me and Sean who were tense and silent; Killian was in his element directing super-secret paramilitary operations. The perfect leader, he completely ignored the waves of anger rolling off of Sean and the not-so-subtle flow of annoyance ebbing off of me. With his usual thoroughness, Killian ran us through our jobs and backup plans. Sean would help him with the explosives, but I was relegated to playing lookout again. Back in the hotel room, Killian had taken one look at the mutiny on my face and pulled me aside while Sean idly watched.

Killian had said, “What’s the problem?”

Stealing a sideways glance at Sean, I said quietly, “Why can’t I help you inside? Dec taught me how to set the timers.”

“Mica, we’ve been through this. You’re not ready yet.”

Sean wasn’t even bothering to hide his eavesdropping and raised an amused eyebrow at me. Pointedly turning my back to him, I tried another approach. “I don’t like this set up. What if you need more help?”

I bit my lip before I gave voice to what was really on my mind. I wasn’t going to say it out loud. I didn’t want to jinx us. But he knew exactly what I was afraid of.

Leaning a closer to my ear, he promised, “We’ll be okay in there. It’s not going to happen again. I won’t let it.”

Not trusting myself to say anything, I had nodded with my lips clamped together. Raphael’s warning of more tribulations and pain bounced around my head. Could this operation go south too?

Sean interrupted my worrying by tapping the brakes hard enough to lock up my seatbelt. His half-smothered grin mocked me in the rearview mirror. Refusing to rise to the bait, I adjusted my mic and did a final check on the radio.

Eyeing my preparations with approval, Killian said, “Stay in the truck and keep us straight, just like you usually do. You leave as soon as the building goes up. Don’t wait for us. We’ll meet you at the hotel.”

“And if something goes wrong?”

“What could possibly go wrong?” he asked with perfect confidence and slung a heavy canvas pack over his shoulder.

Sean was similarly outfitted and scowled impatiently. They took the easy route this time and simply vanished and rematerialized in the building’s cavernous basement.

“We’re in.” Killian’s hushed voice came clearly through my earpiece.

Okay, it was time to earn my keep. Searching the surrounding area should be easy, but I couldn’t see like I normally could. Everything was black. Scrunching my eyes and focusing inward, I tried again.

Come out; come out, wherever you are…

Crap, I still couldn’t see anything. I didn’t like being blind. Tapping my fingers together, I peered out the front window and then it hit me. There were too many obstacles in front of me. I would have to get closer.

Grabbing my Sig and a flashlight, I slipped out of the truck and hurried up the street. Across from the building, the block was open with little cover to get behind. But there was an old boarded up house sitting diagonally across from the building. The faded gray paint and black shingles screamed invisibility. The streetlight was out so the darkness was complete. It would be a good hiding spot. With one eye on Dagin’s front entrance, I sidled along the street hugging the shadows until I made it to the porch. Ducking behind the wooden half-wall, I waited for someone to sound an alarm but everything stayed silent.

So far, so good.

Closing my eyes, I searched for Sean and Killian. Oh, much better. They appeared in my mind’s eye like bodies in front of night vision goggles. Their heat signatures appeared as a faint halo around their bodies and I could clearly see their faces which were both blank with intense concentration. They worked in unison stringing up plastique and wiring the timers. As I watched, Killian reached out and took a bundle of explosives from Sean and taped it the wall. After he let it go, Sean pulled up his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face baring most of his torso. A glint of metal winked at me. He was carrying two guns tonight, as was Killian. I smiled into the darkness as I remembered their earlier complaining about not being heavily armed for this. I privately thought they just liked the way they looked with automatic weapons slung across their shoulders…

Reining in that particular train of thought, I refocused on what they were supposed to be doing. There were several pillars in the center and those would be wired too. The explosion was supposed to take out the building without a large outward blast. I grimly pictured the sad little houses falling like so many dominos. Alex had specifically ordered Killian to limit the blast to reduce collateral damage. I wondered cynically if he had any idea what this crappy neighborhood looked like. A cat squalled shrilly and I jumped with a muffled scream. With heart racing, I peeked over the wall to see a fat tomcat chasing a female over the weed-filled yard.

Stupid cat sex!

Sean’s voice hissed in my earpiece, “You all right?”

“Fine. Sorry, false alarm.”

“Amateur.”

Asshole.

Settling in to wait, I watched as they moved across the basement. Other than the stupid cats, it was quiet. The police cars were long gone. Mosquitoes whined and a dog barked occasionally, but nothing else stirred. The muffled rumble of the first explosion brought me completely alert. Blinking sleepily, I looked around.

Damn it! I’d dozed off!

Where were they?

The ground under my feet vibrated from the basement explosions. Before I could move, the silence was broken by a loud blast and shattering glass from the first story. Frozen on the porch, I was hypnotized by the fire for just a few seconds but it was still too long. Flames lit up the street as more timers went off.

I was too close!

The blast wave from one of the explosions reached me and knocked me backwards into the side of the house. Struggling to keep my balance, I lurched off the steps and stumbled for the truck. By this time, the building was in full flames and I started sprinting down the sidewalk.

Police sirens echoed in the distance just as I threw myself into the driver’s seat so violently the keys went flying. Shit!

The sirens were getting closer; the lights flashed between the houses on the opposite block.

Where are those goddamn keys?

Wedged between the seats…Oh, thank God!

Slamming the truck into gear, I floored it and skidded around a corner just as the first cops pulled onto the street.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sean yelled in my ear from behind me.

“Jesus! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” My chest burned from the surge of adrenaline.

“What are you still doing here?” he demanded while climbing over the seats. “Are you stupid?”

Frantically looking in the rearview mirror, I snapped, “Oh, shut up and watch our back.”

I took the next corner on two wheels and he slid across the console into me. The wheel spun out of my hands and we drove up over a sidewalk and ran over a stop sign. The metallic crunch sounded supernaturally loud to me. He grabbed the wheel and yanked hard enough to put us back in the center of the deserted street.

“You suck at driving! Pull over!”

Spotting the freeway on-ramp, I headed towards it. “You can get out any time. I don’t need your help.”

Grimacing and finally sitting back in the passenger seat, he griped, “No, I can’t. Killian would
kick me off the team
if I left you here.”

“Is there a downside to that?”

“You’re the one who shouldn’t be out here. But Killian wouldn’t consider taking
you
off the team.”

“Well, you
did
tell him to take care of me while you were gone. Too bad you weren’t more specific,” I pointed out, swerving into the right lane.

“I should’ve never taken this assignment. You’re a pain in my ass.”

The hotel was on the next street so I ignored him and focused on driving and parking without hitting anything.

“Later,” I called as I sprinted towards the side entrance.

“Where do you think you’re going? I’ll walk you up to the room.” He caught up with me too easily.

I fished out the key as soon as we left the elevator intending to get into the room quickly and close the door in his face. But my hands were sticky with sweat and I fumbled with the plastic card and dropped it. I stooped to pick it up and when I straightened, Sean was standing behind me. In one smooth motion, he reached out and plucked the card from my fingers.

“Nervous?” he whispered against the back of my neck sending goose bumps racing over my skin.

“You wish!” I spun around to tell him to leave me alone but ended up too close.

The fine hair on his forearms tickled my shoulders as he framed me against the door. With both arms surrounding me like a cage, his lips turned up with a slow smile as the pounding of my heart grew louder.

“Ah…there it is.” With one finger, he deftly lifted the locket out of my shirt and held it against his palm.

It glowed happily.

Apparently it didn’t realize we’d broken up.

“Sean--” I started to warn him to let me go but the door to the room next to us flew open and a woman walked into the hall.

Busy on her cell phone, she ignored us and hustled past. Sean followed her with his eyes until she got into the elevator. I plucked the key out of his fingers and quickly slid it into the reader. Slamming the door in his face, I whirled around to find him standing right behind me, smirking.

“Really?” He shook his head like I was crazy.

“Okay, I’m safe now. Go away!”

I didn’t exactly feel safe…

Not with the way he was looking at me.

Hostility and something a little less ugly surrounded him like a halo. It was all I could do not to back away from him. He was enjoying making me squirm.

He stared at me; I stared at him.

He blinked first and shrugged.

Pulling off his sweaty shirt, he commandeered one of the beds and flipped on the television. I was speechless. “You’re staying?” I nearly screeched.

Not bothering to glance at me, he nodded smugly. “Killian
ordered
me not to leave you alone. And since he’s clearly not here…” He shrugged like he had no choice.

“He’ll be back soon. I don’t need a babysitter.” My tone sounded whiny and I clamped my mouth shut. I really wanted a shower and sleep.

“Don’t count on it. He went to The City to see Alex. He might not come back if he’s given new orders. We’ll leave in the morning though.” He stretched and grinned mockingly at me, “Just you and me…”

I stomped over to the bathroom and brushed my teeth until the enamel was thin and spit viciously in the sink. Damn him! I was hot and sticky and really wanted a shower. No way was I taking my clothes off with him in the room. Maybe I could put it off…I gave my armpit a tentative sniff and my nose objected. Okay, maybe not.

Stupid Detroit heat!

Not bothering to lock the door since he could pop into the shower if he wanted, I threw myself into the shower and broke speed records. I was in the middle of combing the tangles out of my hair when I realized my clothes were in the other room. Gritting my teeth, I bounced my forehead off of the door. Ugh!