Something deep within Brynleigh fractured as she reached for the earrings and placed them in her lobes.
She hardened her soul, gathered the remnants of her aching heart, and stuffed them deep inside herself. She’d deal with these emotions… tomorrow.
If there was a tomorrow.
The cold steel in Ryker’s gaze matched the metal’s icy bite in her ears. Clasping the back of the second earring, she folded her hands in her lap.
“I understand.” If he was going to treat her like an asset and nothing else, she would act like one. “Anything else,Captain?”
He stiffened, his shoulders going back, and he slowly turned to stare at her. Ice hardened his gaze, and the temperature dropped in the car.
For a moment, she thought he would say something. Anything. Would he fight?Would she want that?
Yes.
She wanted them to be… something. Fighting with him would be far better than this too-strange quiet that was a heavy blanket between them.
He didn’t fight with her, though. He just clenched his jaw and shook his head.
“There’s nothing else. Do you know what you’re going to say?”
Brynleigh scoffed. “No.”
She had no idea what kind of mood Jelisette would be in or what she was walking into, and there was no real way she could plan for that.
She’d come out alive… or she wouldn’t.
If tonight was any sign, Brynleigh didn’t think Ryker would care much either way. Not anymore. And damn it all, but that hurt more than anything else.
She didn’t let her pain show, though. She was just an asset, and an ocean of silence divided them. If he rejected her once more, she might drown in the waves of their brokenness.
“No matter what she says, you can’t reveal you’re working with me.” He gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled hands.
She didn’t know why he was afraid. He wasn’t the one going to meet with a Maker who was dangerous on a good day.
He ground out, “Is that understood?”
“It’s crystal fucking clear.” Brynleigh stared out the windshield. The rain had let up. “I understand exactly what’s happening here, Captain. No further clarification is needed.”
She had destroyed his trust, and now, she was nothing but a tool for the army to use. Just a vampire with a connection to someone dangerous.
“Okay.” He sighed, and for a moment, she thought she heard a trace of pain in his voice. “Let’s get this over with.”
The moment Brynleighstepped out of the car, she released her wings. They fanned out behind her, the black appendages heavy on her back as she strolled down the street.
The safe house was a block away, but she would make the remainder of the journey on foot.
Knowing that Ryker was listening on the other end, she was cognizant of every breath, every footfall, and every heartbeat.
He was still in the car, waiting where Jelisette couldn’t see or scent him.
Once, this path had been familiar.
The safe house was mediocrity at its finest. Located in a nondescript residential neighborhood in Astera, a modest subdivision on the outskirts of Golden City, the house wasn’t the largest on the block, nor was it the smallest.
The two-story home was well-kept but not extravagant. A white picket fence stood guard around it. A single-car garage housed Jelisette’s vehicle, which she never drove. The coup de grace was the solitary light flickering in the living room. It topped off the entire facade, screaming, “Nothing to see here.”
The only thing setting the safe house apart was the dark, shadowy mist constantly hovering around the base of the home. It had been there as long as Brynleigh could remember. Even now, shadows curled around the foundation. It was like they were drawn to the building, sentient beings wanting to protect its inhabitants.