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“Is that why you called?”
Sloane let out a humorless laugh. “Wow, okay. You’re not even going to bother
denying it. Fine. Next time, I expect a fucking answer. Right now, I’d rather know why the hell you didn’t tell me about the seizure.”
“I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily.”
“Well, congratulations. You fucked that one up royally because I just had the ever-loving fuck scared out of me. I thought he was going to die.”
“He was not going to die. Austen assured you as much.”
“That’s why you sent him. Because you knew I’d trust him.”
“I wouldn’t have sent him if it weren’t the truth. For all of Austen’s… skill, he would never betray your confidence. Withholding information is one thing, but Austen would never be a part of something which would bring harm to someone you love.”
“What’s wrong with Dex?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Sloane shook his head. Yeah, right. “What about the tests?”
“They were inconclusive.”
“All of them? You’re telling me all those tests your people ran on Dex have come back inconclusive?”
“Yes.”
“And you expect me to fucking believe that? Are you out of your goddamn mind?” he hissed, mindful not to let the volume get too high despite how thoroughly pissed off he was right now. “I could have lost him!”
“If we believed that, we would have brought him in.”
“Brought him in? He’s not one of your operatives!” Sloane’s grip on his feral half was slipping. Did they think they could just swoop in whenever they felt like it and take Dex from him? That they could do whatever the hell they wanted and Sloane would go along with it? “I don’t care who you are. You lay one finger on him without his consent, without mine, and I will expose you. Do you hear me?”
“Your threats mean little to us.”
“Yeah? How much does your job mean to you? Because if you think I won’t testify against you, that I won’t spill everything I’ve seen, everything you’ve done, then you don’t know me.”
“You would betray your government?”
“For him? In a heartbeat.”
“Understandable. We’ve given you no reason to be loyal to us.”
“I don’t know anything about you or who you work for. For years you and your agency have toyed with us, using us like pawns, hiding behind smoke and mirrors, running us around in circles until we don’t know which way is up. This is our lives you’re playing with. I’m getting sick and tired of it. You want our help? You get us some goddamn answers or leave us the hell alone.”
“You want your white knight, your castle, and your happily ever after. I get it, Sloane. I do. Unfortunately it’s not up to me, so your fairy tale will have to wait for a little while longer. Dex needs to see this through, and without you at his side, he might not make it.”
The line went quiet, and for a moment, Sloane thought she’d hung up. He was about to do the same when she spoke.
“Despite what you may think of me, I do care. I shouldn’t, but I do.”
“You’ll have to forgive me for being a little skeptical.”
“It wasn’t intentional. Believe me. My directive was to be your team’s lieutenant, to train you, keep an eye on you, not get too close to you. Any of you. I promise. I am trying to get to the bottom of this. We’re dealing with events spanning over thirty years, involving government agencies and officials, Sloane. Getting to the truth is like trying to find a grain of salt in the sand. Even then, the truth is never the end of it. There’s more at play here than you could possibly imagine. For now, you and Dex must remain strong.”
With that she hung up, and Sloane was left with more questions than ever, and that’s what he hated most. It wasn’t so much the fight that wore at Sloane. It was the not knowing. Being purposefully kept in the dark. Whatever they were dealing with, it was big, and they’d been thrown right into the middle of it. He didn’t for one second believe that TIN didn’t know what was going on. Sloane had his theories, but he’d wait until Dex was well enough to share them with him.
Sloane stepped out of the bathroom, his heart squeezing in his chest at the sight of Dex curled up on his side, hugging Sloane’s pillow, facing Sloane’s side of the bed. In a couple of months, it would be their anniversary and just six months shy of two years that they’d officially been dating. He still couldn’t believe how much had changed in that time. With a smile, he walked to the bed and turned off the lamp before climbing into bed. He grabbed one of the spare pillows near the headboard and pulled it under his head. He lay next to Dex and studied his beautiful face. How was it possible to love someone so completely in such a short amount of time? Especially since Sloane had spent a good portion of their time together trying to figure himself out. His heart and Felid half had known far before his stubborn brain. Now he couldn’t picture his life without Dex.
