AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Taking down their main headquarters and both slave camps at once was critical. It would minimize the chances of anyone issuing a warning or trying to escape. Unfortunately, to do that, Talon would have to make some concessions. Including a high commander in on the mission plans meant they would have to follow Alliance rules and regs closer than Talon and his team were used to.
While that was expected, it was still pretty damn annoying.
Talon had set up conference calls with High Commander Matt Malloy and Commander Olivia Tavish on X21 to go over any questions they’d had. They’d both been sent all of the information Talon’s team had on each of the slave camps they would be storming so they could come up with their own plans of attack.
As of a few hours ago, they promised their Strike Force Teams were in position, ready for the go-ahead to rescue the captives and destroy the camps.
After a brief debate, Talon had made it clear he would not discuss their plans with the commander of Beta Station 4. They were heading to the station under the guise of delivering a shipment of the cure from Hart Pharmaceuticals anyway, so it was best to just keep everyone thinking that was all their visit was. They knew about some of the people helping the slavers on the station, but not all of them. Until the team could figure out every single person involved, it was better not to tip anyone off.
Secret felt Talon coming up behind her before she saw his reflection in the window. When his arms slid around her waist, she leaned back against him. “Is everything set?”
“Yep. We’re going to be docking soon.” He turned her to face him, glancing down to peruse her body in appreciation. “I never realized how sexy these uniforms could be. Do you think you have enough knives on you?”
She sent him a sly look. “These are only the ones you can see.”
“Oh, I know exactly how many you have on you right now, and I’ll be happy to strip them all off of you later.”
He had been meeting with Cedric in his workroom while she’d changed into the black armored uniform in their quarters. Once they had fully bonded, they’d quickly realized it had been uncomfortable for them to be away from one another. She’d been dealing with the brief separation better than he was. To ease his anxiety, he stalked her through their mind link whenever they weren’t together.
“You’ve developed quite the habit of lurking in my mind since we bonded, keeper,” she accused playfully.
“I can’t help it. I don’t like it when you aren’t close enough for me to see you, and this mind merge is too damn tempting,” he admitted. “I was never like this before. This is all your fault, so you have to just deal.”
That made her laugh. She wasn’t going to argue since she felt the same way about him. In the past, she’d thought being dependent on a keeper would’ve been constrictive, but it was quite the opposite. Knowing she had someone supporting and loving her gave her a happiness she hadn’t even realized was possible.
“You make me happy, too,”Talon whispered lovingly in her mind.
“Stalker,”she teased, then shivered when he lifted her hand and pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. She wondered if she would ever get used to his romantic gestures. Pulling her hand away, she waved a finger at him.“None of that now. We have to go kick ass first. Then we can get back to the fun stuff.”
“But kicking ass is fun,”he countered, pulling her close.
“It really is,”she agreed with a chuckle.
When his wrist unit signaled, he glanced down at it and sighed. “Damn it.”
“Your brother?” Secret asked, amused. “I can tell since he’s the only one who causes that particular aggrieved expression.”
“I was hoping this would wait until after we finished the mission. Then, I could explain everything properly, but…”
Talon had no one to blame but himself.
Of course, Jax had found out now that it was officially a sanctioned operation. Taking down any escaped Tarin slavers was a high priority for the Alliance, as well as the other races, and it had been easy to get the clearance they needed. High Commander Malloy had personally taken responsibility for that. The details were still undisclosed but having an open classified mission file that linked Talon, Malloy, and Olivia on X21 would have been enough to get Jax’s attention.
He was a regent, after all.
Talon was pretty sure there was a flag on his name so that anytime he was linked to a mission or assignment, Jax was immediately notified. Since Jax was friends with Malloy, he had probably contacted him as well. The high commander wasn’t a gossip. If anything, Malloy tried like hell to stay out of other people’s personal business, but he often got dragged into situations against his will.
Beneath his bold, brash façade, Jax was like a mother hen when it came to his younger siblings. He took every opportunity to nag, pester, and interfere in their lives. That was one of the reasons Talon lived off the radar the majority of the time. He rarely made visits home since he just didn’t know how to deal with the constant barrage of questions. He also didn’t like his loud, boisterous family constantly trying to force their social fun on him.
So, he’d decided that he could love his family and still not want to be around them.
Talon made his way over to the screen on the wall of the lounge and sent the call directly to the larger monitor. The image of Jax Spartan barely had time to pop up on screen before he was off and running his mouth.
“Did you fucking fall and hit your head, fang?” Jax’s intense gray eyes narrowed as he scowled on screen. “Or did one of your crazy team members accidentally hurt that tiny little brain of yours during training? I mean, seriously! What the fuck is wrong with you? What the hell is this I hear about your motley crew deciding to become space pirates and taking over a fucking space station?”
Since his brother was using Talon’s childhood nickname only his siblings used, he knew Jax wasn’t really angry. Just worried and venting. Used to his behavior, Talon just shifted into a comfortable position with his legs braced apart and his arms folded across his chest.
As his brother continued to rant and rave, his gaze flickered over to check on his keeper. Still by the window where she remained out of view, Secret stood watching him with a little frown on her lush lips. He felt her growing anger through their bond, and he felt his heart clench with love for her. While the world might see him as a monster or someone to be feared, she wanted to protect him.
