To Die for Love

FOUR

FOUR

THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST TIME they’d spoken since Miami. Over and over, she’d asked to speak to her father and Styx. Every time she’d been ignored or denied.

She took a breath before raising the phone to her ear. “Dad?”

“Light-Sprite?”

Harry.

Relieved tears pricked her eyes. “Are you okay? Where are you?”

“Don’t worry about us. How are they treating you? If anyone’s laid a finger on you—”

“No! No, Dad, I’m fine. It’s more boring than traumatic. They’ve given me your quarters; I’m trying to keep them neat for you.”

“That I’d need to see to believe,” her father said, a warm almost laugh in his voice. “You won’t have to be there much longer.”

Was that a comfort? If they were setting up Gamma, as she believed was the plan, they could take as long as they wanted doing the job. But what was at the end of that journey? What would happen next? A consolidation of everyone would lead them back to exactly where they’d been before. With Zeus eager to extract JARR, there had to be something else, a plan she wasn’t aware of. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been kept in the dark.

“Is he harassing you?” Harry asked. “There are forms of t*****e other than physical.”

“I know.” Which he was her father referring to, Zeus or Ares? “I have a shadow who keeps his eyes on me, but I am allowed to move around the building. I mainly stick with the men.”

“Our men?”

“No, the new ones,” she said. “I haven’t learned their names. Where’s Styx? Is he okay? Are you driving each other crazy?”

“No more than usual. We haven’t forgotten about you.”

“I haven’t forgotten you either. Your life probably got much easier when I was taken out of the equation.”

“We’ll get through this, Light-Sprite.”

Being father to a daughter hadn’t come natural to him. Their relationship had endured its bumps… so far. Maybe they’d hit them again in the future, but her father had proved he’d be there for her if and when she needed him. He could’ve abandoned her rather than save her. Could’ve left her behind instead of taking her along.

Maybe it was for JARR. Although she wanted to discount that completely, experience taught her to be aware of any possible outcome. Sometimes the people she thought cared about her were actually prioritizing other things.

Of course, Daire came to mind. The last double-cross had been part of a larger plan, but it still stung. Some mornings she woke up grieving him and had to remind herself that he hadn’t actually used her to further Zeus’s nefarious agenda. Not for real.

“I need—”

“Lady?”

Oh, God, it was Styx.

Clinging to the mouthpiece, she clutched the phone closer. “Hi, Prince.”

“You better be keeping your head down.”

“Does that sound like me?”

“No,” he said. “You’d get in trouble there even if you were completely by yourself. How are the teamsters doing?”

She guessed that meant their cohorts. “They won’t let me see them. I’ve asked. I keep asking, but they won’t let me… Do you think that’s bad? That they’ve been hurt?”

“Take no news as good news. We can’t fix a problem we don’t know exists. Most of them are smart enough to keep themselves in line… only one or two who might not.”

“And what about them? It’s not easy to be locked up and powerless, you know that.”

“They’re not powerless, they’ve got us. They’re holding onto that, and you need to as well. This part, the waiting, it’s tough. Remember what I told you about waiting?”

That most of their game was waiting for something to change. “Yes.”

“Hold onto it. Stay alert. Stand ready.”

“For anything?”

“Hey, you never know,” he said. “Luck is always on your side, Lady.”

“I’m not the one out there…”

Anything could go wrong at any second. And Zeus wasn’t to be trusted. He could circumvent Daire completely and send someone out to take down Harry and Styx.

“Worrying achieves nothing. Keep that chin up.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but a click on the line silenced her for a second. “Hello?” she asked. “Styx, are you—”

Behind her, the door opened, so she swung around.

Ares was gesturing her out. “That’s it.”

“Was that you?” she demanded, throwing the phone to the desk, surging to her feet. “Did you disconnect me?”

“Everyone got what they needed.”

“No, they didn’t. I didn’t! What was the rush? Not like I’ve got a full day. You can’t just—” He grabbed her arm to pull her into the corridor. “Let me go! Stop!” Pulling back, she at least got his attention. “I wasn’t finished!”

“If you act like this, we won’t let you talk to them again.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” she asked, angry tears blurring her eyes. “What gives you the goddamn right to—I thought I wasn’t a prisoner. I thought I was to be treated as a guest.” Her chest tightened. “You can’t just cut me off from the people I care about! You can’t just decide to…” The pain in her chest grew as her lungs shrank. Gasping in one breath and then another, she couldn’t seem to fill them. “This isn’t right.” Another gasp. “You can’t just— you can’t—”

“Breathe,” he said, grabbing her again, only this time he planted her back on the wall.

“What’s…” Her throat screamed in stinging agony. “I… I…”

“Look at me,” he said, guiding her to the floor when her legs buckled. “Breathe out, all the way out, slow… Tess! Look at me!” He grabbed her chin, forcing her eyes to his. Tears dropped from her lashes when she blinked, clearing her vision enough to read his gaze. “That’s it…” He blew out a breath. “Slow it down. In…”

He breathed in and out.

Mimicking him wasn’t easy. “I… I can’t…”

The pain in her throat eased a little.

“Yes, you can,” he said, smoothing the hair from her face as he continued his measured breaths. “You can do it. You can do anything, baby.”

Pulling in another breath, it was easier to calm herself while looking into him. They were in Beta, probably being watched, anyone could walk by any second. This wasn’t right. She wanted to see her Heart, to lean into him and gather strength from his courage.

Her eyes closed. “I can’t do this.”

Breathing was one thing, but what did it matter. Whether she lived or died, everything was out of her control. No one was who they said they were. Loyalties were confused and inverted. The whole world was topsy-turvy.

“Come here,” he said, pulling her onto her feet.

He kept one of her hands as he walked down the corridor, leading her wherever he was going. “I don’t want to go to that lab again,” she said, pulling back.

“We’re not going there,” he said, tightening his grip. “I’m taking you somewhere else.”

“Where?” she asked, following as he went into a stairwell, though it wasn’t easy to maintain the pace with her head still spinning.

“Wait and see.”

That hadn’t always worked out in her favor. She trusted Daire. Had to. But he wasn’t himself there. If this was the time he chose to put her in front of Zeus, she’d seriously question his—

He burst through a door at the bottom of the stairs. Before she registered light, air hit her. Fresh air. Outside. Freedom.

Letting him go, she rushed past him, eyes closed, just breathing it in. The concrete beneath her feet and the obstructing perimeter wall detracted from the illusion. From the hope that there really could be a world beyond this confinement.

Weight lifted from her chest. “Oh, God,” she exhaled.

“Better?”

Spinning around, she rushed to him until their bodies met, taking both his hands in hers. “Let’s get out of here.”

Concern touched his brow. “What?”

“Let’s just go,” she said, tipping her face to the sky. “Let’s get the hell out of here for an hour.”

His fingers did stay in hers, but she had to open her eyes to judge his reaction. He looked to the side, his jaw moving like he might be considering it.

“f**k,” he said, but strode off, pulling her with him.

The smile she wore was the brightest it had been in weeks. They rounded one corner to a fleet of vehicles just lined up waiting. Daire took her to the third in the line, lifted her into the passenger seat, and got in the driver’s side.

Somehow, he started the engine and then they were driving. Right up to the gate. Out without any hitches. No one stopped them. No one asked questions. They were just… free.

Exhaling a single laugh, she couldn’t believe liberty was so simple.

“Breathe easier?” he asked once they were shrouded by the trees.

“Yes,” she said, her smile becoming a grin. “Much.”

“Good,” he said and stopped the truck right there in the middle of the road.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. One second,” he said and jumped out.

She tracked him going around to the back of the truck, then he disappeared. Looking this way and that, she wasn’t sure where to expect he’d reappear. Whatever he was doing didn’t take long. Within seconds, he was coming back, jumping into the driving seat again.

They were moving before he looked her way.

Her brows rose in question. “What was that?”

“Disabled the tracker.”

The corner of her lips responded. “Will you get in trouble for that?”

“The only one above me in the hierarchy these days is Zeus,” he said. “You think he checks the tracker logs?”

That sounded more like an Ares job than a Zeus one.

“If he doesn’t check, what does it matter if the tracker works? What are you protecting?”

“You’ll see.”

What did that mean? She wasn’t sure but could see the smile that flirted with his lips. It was too much to hope they were making a break for it. Though, they could, and pick up Harry and Styx on the way south of the border.

Shame that was the same as signing the death warrants of those held captive by Zeus.

Still, they were free, even if it was only for a short while. Slipping off her shoes, she put the seat back and just breathed.

“You feel safe?”

He’d asked her that question when they left Vegas together after London.

“Maybe,” she responded in a semi-tease.

“Just relax. I’ve got you now.”

She didn’t really sleep, but her muscles were definitely looser, even in spite of the uneven dirt road beneath their tires. Near the end of the road, rather than head for the highway, he took them into the forest. They bumped and swerved, avoiding this tree and that for quite a while, like miles and miles.

A vigilant passenger wouldn’t question the driver while they were concentrating. Though anyone who knew the man next to her would never assume he was incapable of doing more than one thing at once. If only she could be sure they weren’t being watched or listened to. Okay, so no one could track them, but just asking if they were being recorded would raise the suspicion of anyone who might later hear their voices.

She intended to put her theory on his ability to multitask to the test. Except they stopped. In a weird, middle of nowhere place. Surrounded by trees and little else.

“Where are we?” she asked.

He got out and came around the hood, smirking just enough to make her suspicious. Without a word, he opened her door and retrieved her shoes, turning her in the seat to slip them onto her feet with full entitlement.

What was going on? Did she want to ask?

He lifted her out of the truck, setting her on her feet right up against him. That smirk grew until his dimples made an appearance. Goddamn, she loved this man.

Linking their fingers, he led her away from the truck. They rounded a fallen tree, passed a boulder or two and… Something in the distance began to take shape. Not that far in the distance. As they got closer, she stopped, mouth open, submerged in shock.

“Don’t stop there,” he said with a slight laugh and came back to sweep her legs out from under her.

It was. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t… Her cheeks prickled and warmth rushed to her eyes. Getting so emotional was ridiculous. It might be, but…