“This is precautionary only, ma’am.”
His stiff formality was actually hitting her as softer than his personal attitude toward her.
Great. The guy detested her but had been ordered to do…something with her.
Peachy.
At least he couldn’t read her thoughts.
But that idea gave her no solace. All it did was open up the door she’d shut to keep herself from longing for Devon.
Different worlds…
Major Garrick Gennaro was only too happy to begin outlining the differences.
“This is a Ranger unit. Most details are classified. Don’t ask questions, they won’t be answered.”
“Wouldn’t it just be simpler to drop me off at the local airport?” She was sassing him but needed to hide behind something or abandon her pride altogether. “It’s almost dusk, and you’re hiding behind those shades. That tells me you don’t like me being here anymore than I do.”
He reached up and tore the mirrored shades off his face. He’d already folded them when she saw it register that he’d reacted to her barb. His jaw tightened with irritation as he pushed the shades into a pocket on the front of his black uniform.
“I’ve got orders to transport you,” he stated.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not at this time.” His tone was about two degrees above freezing.
“Well…” Kalin looked past him, “…at least you travel in style.”
He stepped into her line of sight. “Don’t test me.”
Kalin had to tip her head back, but she locked gazes with him. “Don’t expect me to follow blindly or ignore details. It’s not in my nature.” Kalin delivered her own ultimatum. “But I will be happy to be on my way.” She extended her wrist. “You’re welcome to keep your electronic dog-leash bracelet.”
She expected him to be irritated, but he surprised her by granting her a half smile. Maybe more of a quarter of a smile, but it was like a burst of sunshine in the otherwise chiseled stone of his expression.
“No ER nurse worth anything ignores details.” He pulled a pair of leather gloves off his belt and pushed his right hand into one. “That electronic dog leash has a panic button on it as well as a trigger switch if it’s forcibly removed.”
He turned her wrist over to show her the tiny silver nubs on the side of the thing.
“Depress both and an alarm will sound on the base unit. Remember those details in the event things get sticky. Whoever was tracking Devon knows who you are and that you know what he is. That makes you a valuable commodity in their eyes. But only as long as they can use you to force him into the open. Something I won’t allow.”
It felt like he’d pounded a gavel. Her stomach tightened in response. “Which means I’m screwed if any of Gold Tooth’s buddies get their paws on me.”
The major donned the second glove and made sure the fit was snug between his fingers before snapping them both at the wrist.
He looked back up at her. “Even guard dogs have their merits.” His face set into a hard expression. “I won’t hand you an overdose and my men will put themselves between you and harm. Staying with us is your best option.”
All of her arguments fizzled. Gold Tooth rose up from her memory like a demon, but she only found herself feeling more confident as a result. There was a tone in the major’s voice that gave her an unmistakable sense of comfort.
“I think the bracelet is growing on me.” She aimed a hard look at him. “What’s my purpose beyond keeping me from being a loose end?”
Garrick took a moment to consider whether or not to answer her. She could see him debating it. “I can’t tell you what Devon has done to protect your way of life, it’s a lot and worth respecting. A loose end, I could leave here on post. I will take any chance at helping him make a full recovery, so we’re going back to where he was heading.”
“Hoping that if he continues on the journey he was set on, his brain will make a full recovery,” she finished.
Garrick nodded once. “You’re part of it, or at least I won’t risk that you aren’t. So you’re coming.”
The major opened his hand, extending his arm toward the helicopter.
But Kalin stood for a moment, considering what he’d said. His expression tightened and he put his shades back on as the minutes added up.
“Deal,” she said at last. “Not that you asked me, but I’ve never walked away from a patient in need.”
He didn’t like something she’d said. His expression remained rock solid. But she felt an inkling of something she’d normally have said was from her gut. Tonight, she wasn’t so sure. Maybe Sonya had a point about her abilities. She actually tried to reach out and get a feel on the major’s mind. It was there, like a book she could make out just some of the words in.
He lowered his eyebrows and she jerked herself back.
“If you weren’t coming before, you certainly are now,” he confirmed. “I felt that.”
Her mouth went dry. It was like a noose was knotting around her throat. She was surrounded by things she shouldn’t know about, and the blunt truth was there were only a few ways to ensure she didn’t talk.
None of them particularly savory.
She felt exposed and unbearably alone against the hardened men around her.
Like being caught in a trap.
“Devon is waiting for us.”
She stiffened. The major’s tone had softened.
Yeah, like a hunter’s did right before he wrung a rabbit’s neck.
But there was nothing she could do. Well, except not panic.
If dignity was the only thing she had at her control, she was going to maintain it. She suddenly understood how nobles had walked to the block and paid the executioner before lying down to have their heads chopped off.
But it still made her sick.
She started toward the helicopter, the major keeping pace with her, hanging just a half step back like a cop did. She focused on the aircraft. The thing was even more ominous looking up close. The exterior was coated in some sort of black armor. Garrick pulled the front passenger door open for her.
She caught a hint of approval on his face before he closed the door and sealed her inside the aircraft. The lights were soft and different colors. She reached back and found the shoulder harness. The pilot’s door opened and the major climbed in.
“Helmet on,” he ordered briskly as he started his preflight checks.
Suspended from a hook on the dash in front of her was a black helmet. The thing was heavy, but once it was on her head, she was linked into the internal sound system. The major continued his preflight check, the two other helicopters answering him through the communications system. He was focused on his task, giving her the chance to compose herself.
When he lifted the bird off the ground, it wasn’t the soft motion she’d felt inside an air ambulance. Major Gennaro left the earth and arced upward in a smooth, fast motion that would have made his bird harder to hit.
She shivered. But it wasn’t the tightening in her belly that made her respond. It was the blunt reminder that there were people out there interested in shooting at them.
At Devon.
She closed her hands around the straps securing her to the seat and ordered herself to relax.
But she wasn’t listening to her own advice.
“You feel her coming.”
Devon jerked, turning to peg Grace with a hard look. Grace wasn’t impressed. She considered him for a long moment before looking at the horizon and stretching out her senses toward Kalin.
“I wondered why Garrick let you out of his sight so soon after recovering you.” She looked past him to where a Ranger was keeping an eye on Devon. The junior officer was taking his new posting very seriously, shadowing Devon and making notes on his tablet from time to time.
“He wants to know my reaction when he brings Kalin near me.” Devon shook his head slowly. “I think I hate this part of the job.”
“Actually, you blend in far better than the rest of us,” Grace admitted.
Devon felt the stirrings of a memory, but something else teased his senses. He looked away from Grace, toward the dark night sky.
“Your link with her is very strong, Devon,” Grace observed.
“Which is your way of saying you can’t link with her.”
He was frustrated and his tone was short, but he didn’t like anyone else trying to gain the same link with Kalin that he had. In short, he was jealous. Grace didn’t take offense. She turned her attention back to him and he felt the full force of her abilities hit him square between the eyes.
Grace often had her own way of making points.
“I concede the point.” He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “But I am going to enjoy you getting a feel on Kalin.”
“You think she has ability? Sonya does. It would explain your link with her,” Grace said, looking back toward the dark horizon. They flew mostly at night to keep the curious residents from spotting their birds. But the forest surrounding her mountain home was federal property. The only human inhabitants were hikers who didn’t stay long.
It was the perfect setting. One she was going to miss dearly if they had to evacuate.
“I’m sorry about that,” Devon announced. “I didn’t have enough of my memory back to realize I was putting your home at risk.”
Grace linked with him, sinking into his mind without a struggle. Devon fought the urge to fend her off. Not that it would have mattered. Grace was too strong when it came to her abilities. He’d have better luck punching her out if he wanted her out of his head.
“I don’t suggest doing that,” she muttered. “Jacobs is already jumpy. Hit me and he’ll take you down hard.”
There was a movement off to her right. Her commanding officer sent Devon a hard look right before he flexed his hands so his knuckles popped.
“You’re inside my head, Grace. It isn’t fair to take every impulse as something I’d actually try.”
She shrugged and backed out of his head. “You came to my home.”
Grace didn’t spend much time on conversation. She tended to drift with her senses. A character trait that alienated her far too often. He found her ability to link with him interesting, but it was nothing like the way Kalin made him feel when their thoughts merged.
That was beyond hot. It epitomized the meaning of ecstasy, because he sure hadn’t experienced any sexual encounter prior that might be labeled with that word.
“I agree.”
Devon threw up a wall, but too late. Grace had already heard him.
“Get out of my head, Grace,” he growled.
“My skill isn’t as great as yours when it comes to empathy.” She pegged him with her emerald-green eyes. “Stop broadcasting at such a high level if you don’t want to be overheard.”
Devon dropped his defenses. She knew him better than he knew himself and it was frustrating. “How?”
He didn’t like being reduced to asking.
His question brought Grace up short. She blinked rapidly. “Each of us has to learn that for ourselves.” She tapped the black bracelet locked around her right wrist. “I’m wearing this because I was linking so completely with you that I just took off.”
“And you almost ran her over, because one of my newer men dropped the ball,” Jason Jacobs added. “He’s history.”
Devon looked past Grace to where her C.O. was hovering. They were at ease with one another. A bitter taste filled his mouth as he felt the sting of loss again. His unit was on the way, but they were all new draws into the shadowy world of psychic Operatives. Only Garrick knew him and Devon couldn’t fully remember him.
It was enough to drive him insane.
But something punctured the frustration threatening to smother him. It was familiar and he reached for it, hungry for stability. He found himself connecting with Kalin. The thrill of her first ride in an ultra-high-tech helicopter was consuming her. He ended up grinning, enjoying her excitement.
“When did we stop enjoying our lives?” The words just sailed out of his mouth. Devon didn’t really notice until his new shadow pulled out his touch pad and made a note, jotting down what he’d said so it could be analyzed. A feeling surfaced from a long time ago. A sense of invasion that he’d somehow grown past caring about.
Grace blinked. “We all have to.”
The men watching them didn’t understand, but Devon did. Grace pulled back, shielding him from her thoughts for a moment.
“You never forgave yourself for Heather’s death,” Grace answered. “And I started enjoying mine when I let someone inside my heart. I didn’t make it very easy for him though.”
Heather’s face surfaced from the dark pit that his memories were hiding in. Just a glimpse of her fear-filled eyes before she faded away, leaving the sting of loss behind.
But Kalin remained.
She was radiant and full of life. Just as Heather had been. He recoiled from it, backing into the darkness as the lights of his unit’s birds came into sight. Garrick was right. He needed to distance himself from Kalin. Maybe he didn’t recall the details, but he could feel the intensity of his feelings on the matter. Civilians didn’t transplant into his world.
He had to let her go.
The landing spot Major Gennaro aimed for was lit only with red light. Kalin gripped the straps of her harness until the rough material dug into her skin before she realized there was a clearing. In the dark, tall trees rose up looking like there was nothing but forest below them.
The red light was hard to make out until Major Gennaro decreased altitude. His motions were smooth and confident, but she heard the faintest sound from him that betrayed just how much he noticed her distress.
She relaxed her hands, her fingers aching from how tight her grip had been. The helicopter hovered slowly before touching down gently. Garrick began to power the mean machine off while Kalin pulled the helmet off her head. She set it down before reaching for the door handle.
It remained locked. The major was looking at her, a hard shake of his head letting her know he didn’t like her moving without permission. Kalin shot him a hard look right back. The instrument panels illuminated his face, granting her a glimpse at his mood. For a moment, it almost looked like he was amused, but he turned away and climbed out of his seat.
Kalin groaned, grateful for the noise coming from the rotors as they slowed down. Her door opened and the major offered her a hand. Maybe it was perverse, but she declined the offer, climbing out of the aircraft with the use of a sturdy handle. The major didn’t take rejection well. He reached over and cupped her nape, pressing her head down as they walked beyond the range of the rotors. The moment they gained a safe distance, she twisted away from his grip.