One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
“False alarm. Prepare to breach. On my count.”
“Copy.”
“Copy.”
I wait.
“Br—”
Doors slam open and a car flies out from between them. I shoot at the car half-heartedly.
“They’re getting away!” Noah yells in my ear.
Luca curses and I hear him grunting.
An explosion on the far side shakes the building. Smoke billows up as fire starts to burn and alarms blare loudly.
“Get clear. We need to move,” I bark into the coms.
“Copy,” Luca grunts.
I move through the night like the ghost that I am. The weapon I was trained to be. When I make it back to the van, Noah is pacing outside, and Luca is running up from the opposite direction.
“What the fuck happened there?” Noah looks between us.
Luca storms up to me, shoving me back hard enough that my boots scrape on the concrete.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Noah watches. I don’t say anything.
Luca’s voice rises, I can see the tremble in his shoulders. “You called late! Again. That’s the third mission we’ve botched in the last week, Jace. Third. We used to run ops blindfolded and now we can’t even get through five minutes without something going to shit.”
His eyes are wild, his breath fogs in front of his face.
“And she’s gone because of it!”
Noah stiffens. I meet Luca’s glare with my own. “Don’t bring her into this.”
“Fuck you. Don’t tell me what to do. You were supposed to protect her. But you had to fall and dislocate your shoulder.” His voice cracks. “And ever since that night, you’ve been different. You disappear for hours, sometimes days. And no one knows where the hell you go. You don’t talk to us, you barely even fucking look at us.”
“Drop it.”
Noah places a hand on Luca’s shoulder right as he opens his mouth.
“Where do you go?” Noah presses.
I exhale through my nose. “I said, drop it.”
“No.” Luca gets right in my face again. “You don’t get to shut us out. I’m done with that. You’re not the only one who’s worried about her, the only one who misses her. We lost her, too. So fucking tell us what’s going on.”
I stare at him, unblinking.
“Stay out of it.”
Luca’s voice lowers, his eyes narrowing. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
