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“I stayed awake,” Dex murmured, nuzzling his face against Sloane’s shirt, inhaling his scent. He smelled so good.
“You did good, babe. It’s okay.”
Dex nodded, or at least he thought he did. There was cha
os around him, quiet chaos. He could hear the many whispers, the orders given to span out and search. All Dex cared about was that the man he loved had come for him and he was once again in Sloane’s arms. Now safe, the darkness came for him.
Chapter 2
SLOANE WAS going to lose his damned mind.
He paced the small, sparsely furnished room, feeling it closing in on him. Waiting room, my ass. Whatever TIN called it, it was a cell. A concrete block with a steel table bolted to the floor, padded benches along the walls, and a two-way mirror on the far left wall. The room had no windows and one steel door guarded by half a dozen TIN operatives in tailored black suits, pristine white shirts, and silk ties in a solid color. Their black shoes were immaculate, their posture flawless, and their expressions unreadable. All of them were Felid Therians.
“You need to sit down, Agent Brodie,” one blond Therian operative stated calmly.
“Fuck you,” Sloane snarled, ready to plant one in the guy’s face. TIN operative or not, he didn’t give a shit. Dex was hurt and in pain. Sloane could feel it. His arm itched, which was ridiculous considering he wasn’t the one marked. How long was Sparks going to keep them here without so much as an update on Dex’s condition? The relief he’d felt when he answered his phone and heard Dex’s voice had been unlike anything he’d ever experienced, and now instead of being at his partner’s side, he was stuck here doing fuck all. After Dex passed out in his arms, TIN insisted on taking him. Sloane would have ripped them apart for touching Dex if his Human senses hadn’t prevailed, telling him Dex needed medical attention. That had been hours ago. Now his feral half was demanding to be united with his mate, and the longer it took, the more pissed off he became.
Sparks had taken over the moment they’d moved Dex, her operatives emerging like shadows from the surrounding woods where Dex had been held. Destructive Delta was swiftly transported to a secure TIN location via a windowless emergency vehicle. Unfortunately, that meant handing over the keys to Dex’s Challenger. Sparks assured Sloane it would be in safe hands. He’d been hesitant. Dex loved that damn car. But if he wanted to join Dex wherever they were taking him, he had no choice. Within minutes half the team had been escorted home, leaving just Sloane, Ash, and Cael. Sparks promised their friends would be safe, and a cover had already been implemented to explain the team’s absence at work and Dex’s injuries.
Sloane moved toward the steel door, only to have his path blocked by three TIN operatives, all jaguar Therians.
“I need to see him.”
“I’m getting pretty fucking tired of this shit,” Ash growled, coming to stand beside Sloane. “Two days you assholes had us locked up in Dex’s house with your flying monkeys keeping guard. You tranqed Sloane.”
Sloane’s jaw muscles tightened, and he rubbed the side of his neck where one of Sparks’s goons had stuck a jet injector before pulling the trigger and knocking Sloane out. Had she really expected him to sit back and do nothing while TIN searched for Dex? In the end Sparks had given in and allowed them to join the search, and despite her insistence that Sloane not be out looking for Dex in the bright orange muscle car, Sloane needed it. He needed to feel as close to Dex as possible. The car and—heaven help him—that damned Retro Radio kept him from losing his mind.
The tallest of the three Therians stepped forward, his attention on Sloane. The guy had been at Dex’s house.
“I’m sorry, but you refused to cooperate. We couldn’t have you running around the city looking for Agent Daley. We needed more intel on who or what we were up against. If they couldn’t get what they wanted from him, you three would most likely be targeted.”
“What about my dad?” Cael asked worriedly. He drew himself up against Ash, who pulled him in close. Cael looked exhausted, his hair sticking up and his boyish face paler than usual. His eyes were red and his voice hoarse. Cael had a panic attack when they were shown into the so-called waiting room, when the reality of what happened to Dex finally sank in. It had been too much. It wasn’t like they had been on the job. When something happened to your teammate or someone you cared about while on the job, there were ways to rationalize it, to understand, but when they had no clue as to who was responsible for Dex’s abduction or why, it was a different story. Lucky for them, Ash managed to calm Cael down, and an operative swiftly materialized with Cael’s favorite tea. Sloane didn’t like how much TIN knew about them, which according to Sparks’s cryptic intimations, was everything.
“There are operatives guarding Sergeant Maddock. No one will get near his home without us knowing.”
“What do they want?” Ash asked, giving Cael a squeeze. “Fuck. Do you even know who they are?”
“We’re working on that.”
Sloane had heard enough. “So you don’t know who they are, where they are, or what they want from Dex? Is there anything you do fucking know? I thought TIN was supposed to be fucking Intelligence? How about finding some goddamn intel on why they took my mate!”
“Sloane,” Ash warned quietly. “Calm down.”
“I swear if one more person tells me to fucking calm down I will take them out.” Sloane turned to his best friend, unable to hide the fear that came through in his voice. “They hurt him, Ash. They made him suffer. I can feel it down to my soul.” It twisted him up inside, tearing, pulling, burning. Someone had hurt Dex, and Sloane had been helpless to stop it. If Dex hadn’t gotten himself free…. He couldn’t think about that. Sloane was having trouble controlling his feral half as it was.
Ash opened his mouth to speak when the door buzzed and the operatives stepped aside. Sparks entered the room wearing her formfitting black leather jacket, matching pants, and high-heeled boots. She had her high-tech bow strapped to her back and her backup weapon tucked into her thigh rig. Sloane was still growing accustomed to Sparks being Therian Intelligence. So much made sense now. The air of mystery that always surrounded her. The way she kept her distance. He’d believed it was her nature. Now he knew better. Was her name even Sparks, or was it a TIN alias? Whoever the hell she was, she’d given Sloane her word that Dex was receiving the best medical care available.
“How is he?” Sloane asked. “I need to see him.” He didn’t care that he sounded desperate. He was.
“And you will, but you need to be prepared.”
A lump formed in Sloane’s throat. “How bad is it?”
“He’s pretty banged up and in a hell of a lot of pain, but his wounds will heal. He has several lacerations, bruising, some minor kidney trauma, but that should clear up in a few days. It looks much worse than it is.”
Sparks met Sloane’s gaze, and a flicker of something flashed through her
eyes. Concern? Sympathy?
