AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Anyway,” Kaige said, “someoneneeds to stand guard.”
“And from the looks of things, you’d block up the whole tunnel if we tried to squeezeyoudown there,” Wylder teased. He hefted his bag. “Let’s go.”
Rowan attached his flashlight to the pocket on his shirt and scrambled down the ladder. There was a faint thud as his feet hit the ground. We all gazed down at him. Seeing him in the dark, narrow space made my chest clench up all over again. I forced myself to keep looking.
He was taking on this danger when I couldn’t because I was too weak to get over my stupid claustrophobia. The least I could do was see him off. My brain had to figure out that I wasn’t going to be suffocated or buried alive when I wasn’t eveninthe damn tunnel.
Rowan ducked deeper into the narrow space to make room for Wylder’s descent. When the Noble heir reached the bottom, Kaige leaned farther over, frowning. “This place doesn’t look too stable to me. Just don’t get trapped in here.”
“We won’t,” Wylder said. “Send us an alert if you see any movement nearby, and don’t get seen yourselves. If this all goes according to plan, we’ll be back in less than half an hour.”
They vanished into the darkness, and I finally let myself look away. Kaige wrapped his muscular arms around me and nipped my earlobe, offering a welcome distraction with the heat of his body. “Guess it’s just us now. I can think of a few interesting activities to keep us busy.”
As much as I enjoyed having him this close, I pushed him away with a playful shove and an arch of my eyebrows. “We’resupposedto be standing guard. There might be Storm men around. We should keep a close watch.”
Now that I was no longer looking into the dark passage, my panic was easing, leaving only a leaden feeling in my arms and stomach. Even just standing next to him, Kaige’s massive, solid presence bought me comfort.
“What do you think they’ll find down there?” Kaige asked as he stepped back from the hatch, his gaze scanning the woods around us.
“The underground entrance to the compound,” I said. “So far everything else has gone the way Beckett said.”
He shook his head doubtfully. “I just hope it’s not a trap. It would be too easy to get us in there together and then bury us.”
I shivered at the thought. Kaige’s brows came together. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be talking like that. Don’t think about it—there are a hell of a lot of easier ways to trap us if they really wanted to, right?”
“Probably.” I rubbed my arms, willing away the renewed chill. “I just wish my fear didn’t hold me back in situations like this.”
“How often does it even come up? Like Rowan said, none of us can do everything.” Kaige stepped closer to me again, putting an arm around my shoulder. I couldn’t help leaning into him. He looked down at the hatch, and his expression turned momentarily serious. “I couldn’t have come up with a plan like this. My brain just doesn’t work in all these fiddly sneaky ways. I know that tackling our enemies like this is better for us in the long run, especially when we’re up against people as powerful as the Storm, but the only way that ever occurs to me is to crack some heads.”
I lifted myself on the balls of my feet to give his cheek a quick peck. “You’ve got more than muscle to offer.”
He shrugged without meeting my eyes. “Gideon and Rowan, they’re smart and quick on their feet. Wylder and you—you’re natural leaders, and I’ve seen the way you coordinate with each other and the people under you during fights. What am I except a couple of fists? Very powerful fists, sure, but I’m nothing without my body.”
The doubt in his tone squeezed at my heart. “You don’t really believe that, do you? Because I don’t.”
“I know what people see when they look at me—I know what I am.” Kaige seemed to shake off his momentary pensiveness. “But hey, there are some benefits to being a guy who’s all about the body. Think of all the amazing ways I’ve been able to handle this one.” He traced his fingers down my side to my hip.
I elbowed him lightly. “Focus on keeping watch. You can show me more of those bodily talents later.”
Kaige gave me a flirty grin, though I thought I saw a hint of his earlier uneasiness lingering in his deep brown eyes. “Is that a promise?”
I wagged a finger at him. “If you promise to keep your eyes on the woods instead of me until we’re done here.”
“Aww, you’re no fun.” He pinched my hip.
I rolled my eyes as I returned my own gaze to the darkened forest around us. “I think I’ve proven that’s not true at all.”
Kaige snickered, but he fell into a companionable silence, watching for any movement between the trees. My pulse kept pounding, not from claustrophobia now but the basic uncertainty of what Wylder and Rowan would have found at the end of that tunnel. Beckett had seemed sincere, sure, but how could we trustanyonein this kind of life?
On the other hand, look at how many great things had happened because my men and I had found a way to trust each other.
At a rustling near our feet, my gaze jerked down. Rowan was just climbing up the ladder. Dirt speckled his hair and clothes, and he had a smudge on his temple, but otherwise he looked no worse for wear. He panted a little as if he’d run the whole way, though.
“Are you okay?” I asked as Wylder clambered out of the tunnel after him.
“Perfect,” the Noble heir said with a grin. “The explosives were exactly where Beckett said they’d be, just waiting to cut off the escape route and destroy all the evidence inside if the Storm’s people were making a run for it. Of course, with our way, they’ll be the ones getting destroyed.”
Rowan matched his smile. “We laid the fuse all the way out here. There’s nothing left to do but light it.”
