A Shadow's Embrace (17 page)

“Yeah, we handle shit internally,” Diaz stated. “Besides, I verify everything, and no one’s talking. No one. Indy, that ain’t right. I’ve never had problems getting the street to talk.”
 

“It looks like we’re past due for a discussion about communication,” Dare replied. “Go get ready, Indy. I’ll handle this.”
 

She choked back her gratitude. Dare wouldn’t want it. Darkness had settled in his aura. Knowing Mia had something to do with Rider’s abduction and subsequent torture made the situation even grimmer.
 

Somehow she’d channel her inner Lara. For Dare, for Dagan. For Rider.
 

* * * * *
 

“We don’t even know if she’s alone. That could’ve been Conver she was talking to. There could be an entire squadron in there.”
 

Dagan motioned toward the vacant tenement building where Mia had insisted Devyn meet her.
 

The abandoned structure was a popular squat for the smaller underground psychic crews because it sat at the edge of the city’s psychic sector without actually being in it. That meant surveillance cameras and technology were minimal, which translated to a weak spot for Devyn.
 

Cash and Corbin’s squads had been called in to wire up as much of the surrounding area as possible without alerting any lookouts Mia might have on the street. Diaz had insisted on dispersing his people. Everyone on his crew haunted this stretch of turf to ensure the inhabitants were okay.
 

Dagan watched Devyn move toward the building with a confidence that belied the terror, the anger, the hurt broiling her insides right now. He settled into her mind, absorbing as much of the excess emotion as he could. God, she was gorgeous—strong, determined, independent.
 

Can you hear me, babe?
 

Dagan.
His name was a breathless whisper sweeping through his soul.
I hear talking. She isn’t alone.
 

Neither are you. Just breathe and remember the cues, okay?
 

Okay.
 

The small button camera shone on the door of apartment 212 before she opened the door and stepped in. Her footsteps echoed against the concrete flooring.
 

Devyn halted several feet from Mia and two men, who had automatic rifles trained on her.
 

Son of a bitch.
 

“Everyone, stand down.” Kaeden shouted the order into the comms. “She’s an operative. We handle this like we would any op.”
 

She’s not trained for this shit, man.
 

She’ll be fine. Trent’s within striking distance, as is more than half the SEO. Pull it together before she senses anything.
 

Dagan settled, knowing Kaeden was right.
 

Devyn's voice punctuated the tension. “Mia. W—what’s going on?”
 

“I’m afraid there’s been a shift in management, Devyn. Oh, wait. Would you rather I call you
Indy
?” Mia pulled out a gun. Disdain charged her words. They were bitter shards ripping Dagan even from a distance.
 

“Put down the gun. This is ridiculous, Mia. What’s going on?”
 

“I’ve waited for this for years.” She slammed the gun handle into Devyn’s face. Dagan heard the grunt, felt the shock, and absorbed the bursts of pain across her face. “Devyn, Devyn, Devyn. Every fucking second of my existence was protecting Devyn. Do you have any idea how much shit I took for you? Dealt with because everyone in that fucking facility wanted to cover your ass?”
 

“So this is how you rebel? Years later? Guess what, Mia, everyone there suffered. Everyone endured the torturous tests, the pain experiments. The punishments.” The darkest pockets of her thoughts flashed open, and Dagan stifled his curse as the images assailed him. “You don’t think it killed me every time one of you was dragged back there, and I could hear your screams, knowing I might, just might, be able to get us away?
 

“But we agreed. We all agreed it was too risky. Death wasn’t an option, even if it meant surviving hell.”
 

“And that was all because of you. You ruined everything. They were supposed to break. If they’d broken and died or surrendered and been good little soldiers, I would’ve been freed. Don’t you get it? I was there because Dare and Rider couldn’t trust anyone else to read them.”
 

Dagan leaned forward when Mia began waving the gun around.
 

“What do you mean? Mia, you aren’t making any sense.”
 

“Dare and Rider. This is all their fault. They were supposed to break. Mom and Dad swore I’d only be in for a couple of months at most, but then those two pricks saw you and knew. They knew you were different, thought you were worth enduring whatever shit Mom thought up just to keep you hidden.”
 

Mom? Dad?
 

“Son of a bitch. She’s Conver’s kid with Doctor Lang?” Dagan shouted, unable to believe what they’d just heard.
 

“Fuck.” Kaeden pounded the control panel. The image of Devyn flickered. “Sorry, I can’t believe we never made the connection between those two sick fucks.”
 

Dagan felt the weight of Devyn’s shock meld with his.
I know, babe. Just hold it together. Keep her talking.
 

She hates us so much.
“What did I ever do you to?”
 

“You lived,” Mia screamed. “I told Mom about you the day I heard Dare and Rider whispering about what they thought you could do. They didn’t realize I was a grade five. I could hear their conversations back then because they weren’t as careful as they are now. They were too weak, in pain to worry about anyone hearing them because we were all beneath them. Except you.”
 

Mia lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of Devyn’s hair.
 

“Don’t touch me.” Devyn screamed as she kicked out at Mia defensively.
 

“That’s it. I’m done with this trip down memory lane.” Mia laughed. “You don’t even get it, do you? The second Mom heard about you, even she turned on me, said you were too priceless for Dad to find out about you until she’d gotten a chance to study you in action. She pushed them harder, pushed you harder, until you all plotted your escape.
 

“She allowed it, ordered me to go along, and feed her intel so she could see you in your primal surroundings, as she called them.”
 

* * * * *
 

Shock coursed through Devyn’s mind before Dagan absorbed it all.
 

“Oh, my God. All this time you’ve been spying on us for Doctor Lang?”
 

"You know, for a supposed high grade psychic, you are really fucking stupid sometimes.” Mia pulled her hair harder. “You were the experiment that wouldn’t end. Your involvement with those fucking gutter rats, your ability to enthrall everyone and come across as so defenseless when you have enough power to destroy everything around you. If they knew what power you hold within, they’d cower. That’s what Dad said when he figured out you existed.”
 

“That’s why Conver started chasing me.”
 

“Mom grew impatient, wanted to bring you in for the breeding program. They’d shut it down after those two maggot twins got away, but you…You were worth breeding.” Mia spat. “With Rider. That fucking cow of a mother wanted to breed you with my man.”
 

Breeding program? Her man? Thankful for the tight leash Dagan held on her emotions, she wiped the spittle from her face and glared at the woman. “You’re crazy. Rider was never yours. He couldn’t even stand to be around you, and now I know why. Did he figure you out? Is that why you betrayed him?”
 

“I was this close to having you gone. Dad’s army had you surrounded, and you did precisely what I expected—turned tail and scurried home like the little lab rat you were. But you just couldn’t help yourself. You dragged that fucking Shadow
back with you to fix him. You’re always fixing every fucking thing. You had to bring in that street urchin to heal the bastard who helped you. But I’m resilient. I had it handled. Then Rider charged out of the compound, pissed off about what you’d been doing with the SEO. He stepped right into the center of Dad’s army.”
 

“Y—you blew up the compound, didn’t you?”
 

“Yes. Too bad that fucking Shadow moved so fast. You were supposed to be in it. When things went south because Rider screwed them to shit, I knew what I had to do. Destroy the experiment. Destroy you. I think you should experience exactly what I did to our Rider.”
 

Oh, God. Her limbs numbed under the weight of Mia’s words. The pain he’d endured rippled through her as Mia laughed. The anguish of betrayal he’d felt as Mia tortured him.
 

Nausea overcame Devyn, and she vomited, purging the contents of her stomach onto the concrete flooring as Mia thrust the violent cruelty she’d wrought on Rider onto Devyn.
 

Fuck. Hang on, babe. Just a little longer
.
 

She’d destroyed him. She’d raped him. S—s-she….
 

The onslaught of images, searing pain, and desperation wouldn’t end. They struck her like waves of battering rams. Devyn sensed a third then a fourth presence in her mind. The third exploded a brushfire of power that blasted the imagery.
 

Mia screamed and grabbed her head as she fell to her knees. The two men focused their guns on Devyn, but a blur of movement from the corner gave her the signal  to fall to the floor. The whirl of bullets, followed by splays of blood, gave her something to focus on as the strangers in her mind helped Dagan keep her from losing it altogether.
 

“You’re okay, Dev. It’s over.” Rex lifted her into his arms.
 

“They’re all dead.” Bodies were strewn along the floor. Blood pooled around them. She shuddered in revulsion as a coppery stench filled her nostrils. Nausea threatened when she saw Mia’s lifeless body lying there. How the hell had all this happened? Devyn shivered in revulsion, outrage and shock.
 

“Shh. We’ve got you. Let’s get you to Dagan.”
 

Yes. That sounded right. Good. He’d make her feel clean again. Rider. God, the things Mia had done to him. Tears streamed down Devyn’s face, ribbons of anguish and despair permanently etched into her soul.
 

A sea of Shadows parted as Rex took the stairs two at a time. Devyn held on to him. “I’m not sure Dagan would be down with you carrying me. I got the impression earlier he’s a bit possessive.”
 

“Little rabbit, you were wearing his shirt and nothing else. Our heightened senses could smell what you’d been doing. Were you my woman, I would’ve dragged you upstairs—to hell with the meeting—tied you to my bed, and spanked your sexy ass until you figured out you were mine.”
 

Well, okay then. Devyn remained silent for a few moments as they trudged through the first level toward the exit.
 

“You did good today, little rabbit. I’m glad my man has you.”
 

Devyn sensed his presence and lunged toward him, a pile of limbs and anguish. His arms settled around her, cocooning her into his fiery heat as he splayed kisses along her face. A warm blanket covered her entirely. Sheathed in the comfort of his embrace, she broke.
 

“You’re safe, babe. I’ve got you.” He rocked her gently as she allowed the tears to flow.
 

“Make it go away, please. I’m not strong enough to handle knowing what she did to him. God, it was so evil. How will he recover?”
 

“He’ll recover because you are strong enough to know. You’ll be there for him. We all will be.” The confidence in his voice was a salve that cooled the burning wounds of betrayal. “Let’s go home.”
 

Devyn tugged playfully on the restraints “securing” her to the bed. She’d never imagined being tied into a doggie style position. Anticipation pulsated in her core, resonating in an aroused thrum between her legs. The more she’d thought of Rex’s statement about what he’d do, the more she’d wanted to have that with Dagan. Broaching the subject had proved…interesting.
 

Dagan pinched her nipple, and she gasped as bursts of sensations streamed through her. His hardened length plunged into her. A satisfied grunt of triumph fanned across her neck.
 

“Tell me again,” he demanded.
 

“I love you.” The confession rumbled from her heart easily. She didn’t give a damn if it came across as premature. Life was riddled with wrenching heartache and acidic stench they battled daily. She had no intention of screwing around when it came to what she wanted.
 

“Mine.” The guttural declaration made her pussy clench around him. He was such a jealous, dominant, fantastic, gentle, demanding, and complicated man. “Mine.”
 

The reiteration continued thundering in her ears as he fucked her hard. Pleasure shot through her, pulsating from where his fingers now rubbed and taunted the epicenter of her arousal. The tiny bud flared to life beneath Dagan’s talented fingertips.
 

“I’m thinking I prefer you in control,” she whispered breathlessly.
 

He growled and spun her, pressing her softly into the mattress. Gentle hands checked her binds, ensuring her wrists had endured the abrupt shift in position.
 

“Open for me.”
 

She spread her legs wide and moaned as he slid slowly into her. His gaze captured hers. Locked into the aroused depths of his eyes, she drifted over into the hedonistic bliss only Dagan made her feel. When she moved to wrap her legs around him, he growled that commanding, sexy, grunty sound that made her entire body tingle with delight.