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Indescribable agony torethrough Secret as she grabbed hold of Talon and released her wings. When they surged out of her back and ripped straight through her body armor, only one white wing burst free while the other one appeared as the severed stump she’d been left with after that brutal attack years ago.
She felt the same torment she’d experienced when her wing had initially been hacked off every time she released her wings, so she’d only called them out a few times since it had happened. Thankfully, her single wing was enough to protect them both from the scorching flames of the blast. The intense fire seared the surface of her wing and what was left of the other one, but she didn’t care about the pain.
She had to do whatever it took to save her keeper.
The dark cloud of smoke swirled around them as she flapped her wing hard to try to slow their descent. Since she couldn’t see anything, she had to use the layout of the atrium in her mind to try to guide them toward a safe landing spot. With a bit of luck, she managed to glide them over to a stall with a cloth roof that had been set up on the ground level of the atrium.
They hit the fabric hard enough to topple the stall over, then they rolled onto the floor, landing amidst debris and people scrambling for cover. It was utter chaos. Screams and cries could barely be heard over the shrill alarm, and bodies of the fallen lay broken and bleeding on the ground.
Lying underneath Talon, Secret moved him off her and tried to hold back a scream as she retracted her wings. Her vision blurred, and the pounding in her head made it hard to think, but Secret desperately tried to shake off the disorientation. Losing that battle, she closed her eyes for a moment, or perhaps she’d just blacked out.
When she opened her eyes again, there was a brief moment of confusion. For a second, she couldn’t figure out where she was or what had happened. Then, everything came rushing back to her in startling clarity. Her muscles screamed in protest as she sat up. Everything hurt, but she forced herself to ignore her own injuries.
She turned Talon over to check him for wounds and was finally able to take a full breath when she realized he was fine. He’d just gotten knocked out during their fall. Her mask had helped her breathe through the blast, but now it felt too constricting. She pulled it off, dropping it on the ground.
Roused from sleep, Talon gasped and surged up to a sitting position. He tore off his own mask. “Son of a bitch, you’re bleeding,” he accused, reaching out to touch the side of her head. “Where else are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she wheezed.
“Fuck that, I can feel your pain. That’s what knocked me out. I’ve never felt anything as excruciating as that before, and I know it wasn’t coming from me.”
His hands raced over her, searching her for any injuries. She knew the moment he remembered to use their mind merge. She’d been trying to block him, but he easily forced his way in. The look of anguish that crossed his face told her that he knew how much it had hurt to release her wings. Ignoring the chaos around them, he jerked her against him.
“By the gods, keeper.” His voice shook with emotion as he whispered against her neck. Although his hold on her was tight, his fingertips were gentle as he stroked her smooth skin through the holes in her body armor.
“Commander Spartan!”Cedric yelled through the comms.“Talon! Laken! Teale! Someone fucking answer me!”
Secret winced when the voice shouting in her ear interrupted, then she noticed Talon’s earpiece was missing. Removing hers, she shoved it at him. “You deal with this.”
“We’re alive,” Talon reported once he shoved the comms unit into his ear.
“Thank fuck! The security feeds are down, so I can’t see shit!”
“I’m here,”Teale croaked out.“But Laken is down. Fuck, she’s hurt bad.”
“What is your location?”Winston demanded.
“I moved her behind the bar in the back of the main dining area.”
“Hold tight. We’re working our way to you,”Winston told him, sounding out of breath.“Targets engaged, but we lost four through the fucking hole they blew into the side wall in a secondary explosion. One of them is our primary, Kadir Siv. Plan F, boss?”
“Affirmative,” Talon growled out. “We’ll go after the others.”
“What’s Plan F?” Secret asked
“It means everything is fucked and we improvise until we complete our mission,” Talon admitted.
That worked for her.
Glancing up, her eyes went wide as she surveyed the damage. They really were lucky to be alive. The bomb the Tarins had placed in the restaurant had destroyed a good portion of the fourth, fifth, and sixth levels. The flames continued to rage despite the automatic suppression system trying to extinguish the fire. Parts of the balconies had broken to pieces, sending slabs of concrete and rubble crashing to the ground. Dozens of people were injured and medics rushed on scene to help.
As Secret scanned the area, her tracking gaze caught sight of a dark figure in the crowd. He stood out since everyone else was facing the mess, while he was heading away from it. She started to go after him, but she caught sight of another figure out of the corner of her eye. The male was on the second level, and when he glanced down, their gazes locked.
Both of them froze.
Kadir Siv’s black eyes widened with recognition, then he smirked in a familiar way that made her feel sick. When he turned and disappeared into the crowd, Secret took off after him.
“I just saw Kadir on the second level.”
