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“I’m the only one who knows what to do in this case. The rest of you might work for the PD, but you’re not used to active duty. That includes you.” I point to Aria.
“I don’t work for the PD, but I know Broderick.” Her hands fly to her hips, and I swear lightning crackles around her head. “I’m going with you. Someone get me a gun, and I’ll be fine. I’ll disguise myself so the men he sends won’t recognize me and go from there.”
“No guns,” I rush to say.
“Should we go to Ashcroft with this? It seems like the sort of thing—” Jasleen starts.
“No.” One word, the one I’m hoping will shut down all arguments from this point on.
“I’m coming with you to survey the scene as backup. I won’t make a move unless you’re in danger, but there is no way on god’s green earth I’m staying behind again.” This is Naomi putting her foot down. “I’m not taking no for an answer. You either let me go as backup, or I will call Cap right now and tag your ass so fast that your head spins, Dev.”
“And we’re wasting time,” Aria finishes. She casts a longing glance at the door, then back to me. “Take the deal or leave it, Devan.”
She’s right, we are wasting time. And I console myself with the fact that it takes a relatively secure man to understand when he’s up against an unbreakable force, a tide he has no hope of parting.
The wind goes out of my sails. “Fine. Fuck it. Bill, you’ve got so much junk here. Please tell me you’ve at least got some firearms stashed somewhere. Because I’m all out of bullets.”
* * *
The biggest thing is the lack of ammunition, I realize on our way to the Feed the Streets event.
Adam and Bill were about as useless as tits on a bull for anything firearm related, seeing as their weapons of mass destruction are their brains and a keyboard, and Funko toys. Oddly enough, sweet Naomi, who is always so overly concerned with my coffee order and making sure she’s cornered the vanilla and cinnamon lotion market, comes to bat to the rescue.
She opens the trunk of her vehicle to pull out several police-issue pistols and enough clips to make my mouth water.
“Is this going to be good enough?” she asks sweetly. “Between the two of us, I’m sure we should be fine. It shouldn’t come to any kind of massacre. Right, Dev?”
Let’s fucking hope not.
I’m too grateful to do more than nod, even when she swoops in for another hug, seizing a not-often-given opportunity.
“I’m a hugger. You’re going to have to get used to it.” Her voice is muffled by my ruined jacket.
From isolation to full-on social immersion in less than a week. It’s enough to make a man want to lose his mind. I might have if Aria weren’t snuggled in the seat next to me, wearing an expression of weirdly combined emotions. Excitement, resignation.
Lust when she looks at me.
“Penny for your thoughts,” she asks in the hush of the car. Her red hair is covered by a hat, and most of the strands are tucked back into a braid and curled at the nape of her neck.
I chuckle and return, “You don’t have a penny on you. And you definitely shouldn’t waste one on me.”
“You’d be surprised at the number of places I can hide things. Currency, secrets, you name it.”
“Would I, though? I’ve seen your nooks and crannies, Miss Darklyn. I know very well what you’re capable of taking inside you.”
She doesn’t blush, which is halfway the response I want out of her. Then again, Aria does nothing if not keep me on my toes and keep me guessing. “If you want to see if it’s a tight fit, Tough Guy, then how about you try my ass instead of my pussy?” she asks.
I choke on my own spit at the response, casting her a glance out of the corner of my eye and finding her eyes squeezed shut in silent laughter.
“Fuck.” It’s the only response I can manage.Fuck.
Enough time passed in the cave of wonders for the sun to sink beneath the spearing skyscrapers, disappearing into the yellow-gray haze of evening. According to the information online, the event wouldn’t stop until nearly eight.
We’re cutting it close.
We might already be too late, but what are the odds Broderick Stevens and his goons are bold enough to snatch kids right off the street in broad daylight?
Considering Aria’s situation?
