Page 63 of Black and Brown

“Everything will be different from here on, Mirage. Since I’ve touched you, held you, sucked on your tongue, and tasted your sweetness— If I lose you now, I won’t be able to…”

Grace’s voice dripped with anguish.

These were such new feelings for his partner, and Mirage ached for him.

“You can’t lose your shadow, Grace. It’ll always be there.”

Mirage wrapped his arms around Grace’s waist and placed his palm over his heart until he felt him relax in his embrace.

He breathed in his partner’s scent of leather and vanilla, allowing it to comfort him before they slowly broke apart and entered their own apartments.

They had pre-battle rituals, and they didn’t involve each other.

Mirage needed solitude to prepare his mind, and following Grace into his condo and spending these last few hours in his arms would distract him to the point that he wouldn’t want to get up when the moon rose.

Grace

Grace sat statue-still with his hands steepled in front of him.

The hood of his leather trench was lowered to the tips of his lashes.

He looked down at Hamburg, Germany, from the helicopter window.

He wanted to admire the architecture of the tops of Romanesque churches and the artful nouveau mansions. But he stared unseeing at the intricate winding canals, rivers, and bridges that connected the islands like arteries. The muted golden lights of the sleeping city did nothing to calm the pounding of his heart.

He wasn’t frightened. He was ready to complete this mission that would change the world.

Their stealth transport circled the vacated building while they waited for Spectre to complete the rescan of each floor before they descended.

Regardless that it was three in the morning and unlikely any laborers remodeling the tower would still be at work, their handler always triple- and quadruple-checked their intel.

“All clear.” Spectre gave the final confirmation in their earpieces that the seventy-five-story building was empty.

“I’m pissed with this delay from Woyashi’s scanners, fellas. But I’m still here. Stay sharp and stay alert.”

Upon the door opening, he and Mirage exchanged a final glance, their gazes meeting in a brief flicker of understanding—we’ve got this—before they propelled onto the rooftop.

With their duffel bags slung across their backs, he and Mirage raced down the stairwell, kicking up dust from the debris-covered floors, until they reached the sixty-fifth level.

Grace made his way to the hollow window socket sealed with plastic.

He cut out a decent-sized hole while Mirage squatted and removed his set of quality optics night vision binoculars to scan the area.

The surrounding shopping centers closed at ten and the clubs at two. There was little to no foot traffic below, and Mirage gave him the go-ahead.

Grace found the perfect vantage point before he began to set up his weapon.

Lifting the recoil pad was the final step of assembling the Daniel Delta before Grace laid down, pressing his belly to the concrete floor.

In one hour, the commander general would be evacuated from the facility.

When the Kenjuka Clan began to mobilize, Grace was ready to eliminate his targets from fifty-three hundred yards away.

Mirage

It was approaching oh four hundred hours, and they were lying in the same position as two hours before.

Grace was at his side, his eye an inch away from his own scope.