A Shadow's Embrace (13 page)

“Y’all are letting me go?”
 

“Recognizing the value of an asset is imperative in an op,” Trent stated. “We move in ten.”
 

He and Kaeden left the room, followed quickly by the rest of the team, including Dare. They had enough firepower to take on a small country. Okay, several small countries. Terror thundered through her when she imagined one of them getting hurt. No, she couldn’t handle any of them getting hurt because of her, because she’d let Rider get caught.
 

“Let that guilt go, babe. It isn’t yours to own.” Her pulse flared to life as Dagan fanned kissed along her neck. His fingers glided along her cheek. “This is what we do. We’ve got this.”
 

She shivered beneath the touch, and her skin tingled. He’d seized her fear and ripped it to shreds with the truth. They had this. She nodded her agreement and settled her hands on her gut.
Dear God, please let them have this.
 

“Do I make you nervous?” He pulled his fingers from her face.
 

“No,” she whispered as she turned to face him. “You know you don’t.”
 

He cupped her neck and kissed her softly. Pleasure rippled through her as he licked her lips as if they had an eternity to sample one another. “I need you to do something for me today, Devyn.”
 

“Okay,” she said breathily.
 

“First off, I want you wearing these.” He held up earrings that he put on her. “There’s a small transmitter in them. It should be undetectable by standard means, but it’ll have just enough juice for you to pop it on if needed. Ace said something about the components being broken up so they won’t be detected because they aren’t combined or something like that.”
 

“How romantic,” she quipped. Ace was a true God of geekly things. She’d never thought to break components apart. It was true genius because melding them into a working unit was simple enough.
 

“It’s the boy scout in me,” he teased. “Now, before Kaeden comes in and drags us out, here’s the real favor I need from you. We get to the site, you hang back and take charge supervising Diaz and his crew. You’ll be on the comm, able to hear everything going down. You can do your thing from a distance. Dare filled us in.”
 

“So I’m in, but out.”
 

“I can’t risk something happening to you. None of us can.” Dagan closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on hers. “Please understand, babe.”
 

Even though the initial euphoria of being one of the guys and in on the op had been doused with reality, she understood. “I get it. I’ll hang back, but, if things go south and I think I can help, I’m in. Don’t ask me to stand back and watch while everyone who means something to me puts themselves at risk saving my teammate.”
 

Dagan nodded. “Tonight, you and me.”
 

Arousal flared, pulsating within her core. She squeezed her thighs together and relished the feminine awareness overpowering her senses.
 

“I’d like that.”
 

* * * * *
 

“I’m impressed with your girl. She hung back without a fight. I expected drama.” Kaeden double-checked his weapon before sliding it into place along his right side. “Those kids of Diaz’s crew think she’s an angel who hung the moon.”
 

“The crew’s larger than I expected, harder to control. We may need to send some of them away.”
 

“Let Diaz work it, see how he handles his side of the op. The kid’s got a good head. Dare and Rider have done a good job working with him.”
 

“Think those two are level six?”
 

“My gut says yes, which makes me wonder what they were doing at the facility in the first place. It seems like a big risk to have them at an unsecured location, even if they were trying to break whatever bond they’d formed.” Kaeden looked over at Dare. “He doesn’t say much about that time.”
 

“I’m sure he has his reasons. Whatever went down, they weren’t Elite from what he said. It sounded darker, worse than what we’d done. He’d probably like to scrub those times away.” Dagan didn’t like to think about those times and knew most of the guys on his team agreed. “You okay? That footage was unexpected.”
 

“I can’t think about her right now, man. Trent and I have it locked down. We’ll process later, review the footage again, and figure out a game plan. For now all that matters is getting Devyn’s man back.”
 

“She thinks there’s more going on. She doesn’t see why the footage would be a big enough deal that they'd come after her, and I have to admit I don’t either.”
 

“Yeah. Something else is at play. We’ll stay alert.”
 

“Hey, Shadows.”
 

Dagan stilled and turned to the young punk trudging toward them. He appeared to be fifteen at the oldest, but a lifetime of wariness resided in his gaze as he approached.
 

“You need something?” Dagan didn’t recall seeing the kid before, but Diaz had quite a few running in his crew.
 

“Yeah, I’m in.” He fisted his hands and shoved them into pockets. “Let Indy and Diaz know Patch and his crew are in.”
 

His head uplifted to his left, where a small huddle of three kids no older than ten waited. Their clothes were worn, but clean. They grasped hands and regarded Dagan and Kaeden with widened gazes.
 

Jesus, how did Devyn handle seeing shit like this on a daily basis and not go crazy? These kids needed to be at home with a glass of warm milk, a blanket, and an animated movie. The biggest worry they should have right now was whether to have chicken nuggets or fish sticks for dinner.
 

“You’re in?” Kaeden asked as he regarded Patch.
 

“Yeah, the op.” The kid looked around. “Indy here?”
 

“She’s with Diaz and his crew. You part of that crew?”
 

“Nah, Diaz and me are cool, but he don’t get our issues. I take care of us now. Indy makes sure we’re good, and we don’t got to listen to Diaz and his rules.” The kid stared Kaeden down. “I’m in. You owe me.”
 

“Oh, I do?”
 

“Yeah, I patched up your man there.” He pointed at Dagan. “Got himself shot up, but Indy got me and my crew on it. We did you a solid. Now you do us one. That’s the way the street works. Rider’s street. We want to be there when y’all get him out, patch him up quick so Indy don’t see whatever shit he got done to him.”
 

Dagan processed the statements and let the shock settle in him. This kid was the one who had helped him.
 

“I’m afraid I was out of it that day. Didn’t catch your name afterward.”
 

The kid eyed him a few seconds. “It wasn’t no big deal. Indy asked, I did my thing. That’s why people call me Patch. You okay now? You need a boost or anything? Sometimes it takes more than once. I’ve got enough juice to boost you and handle Rider. My crew’s got my back.”
 

“I’m good.” Dagan motioned toward the opposite side of the street. “Diaz is running the street op. If you’re in, you report to him. Indy’s with him.”
 

“Cool.” Patch nodded and turned. “Take care of our man. Rider’s good people.”
 

Dagan remained silent as Patch and his vagabond crew of kids trekked across the street to merge with Diaz’s burgeoning force. “Things keep going like this and we’ll have all of Chicago here.”
 

“Diaz assured me most of his crew is familiar with this area. This is their turf. No one will blink if they’re hanging around.”
 

“Good to know.” Dagan didn’t like being away from Devyn with Conver’s crew this close. “Let’s do this.”
 

The two of them rendezvoused with the rest of the team and made quick work of establishing the comm links. Ace double-checked everyone’s earpieces and tracking devices before green-lighting the op from the portable command center, a black fifteen-passenger cargo van halfway up the street.
 

The team was in position, surrounding the exterior of the building for a triple-point entry. All intel indicated Rider was being held in a mostly vacant sector of the third floor, just high enough up to create a problem if shit went south.
 

“Mark.”
 

Dagan’s gut clenched as they waited for verification that the systems were down.
 

“Done. They’re still up, looping cleared footage.” Devyn’s confidence settled the angst building in him.
 

Rex’s team encountered a minor skirmish on the first floor while Dagan’s squad handled three armed soldiers within the second floor stairwell. The fight was violent, but quick.
 

Too easy.
 

“These are all Conver’s low-level men,” Trent stated through the comm. “I’m feeling a bit insulted.”
 

“Clearly he didn’t expect us to intervene,” Kaeden stated.
 

“Or there’s no one alive to cover anymore,” Dagan mumbled. None of it made sense, but they continued with the op, clearing any barriers they ran across. By the time they hit the third floor, unease prickled along his spine and chewed his gut.
 

Gunfire erupted, ricocheting off the door behind then. Dagan fell into a roll and shot toward the hail of bullets. Screams pierced the enclosed space.
 

“Clear,” Dare stated.
 

He and Corbin secured the perimeter while Dagan made his way to the center of the gutted room. Rider hung from chains, his condition worse than anticipated. Dagan pulled out his lock picks and worked the lock. The man was dead weight when the manacles securing him fell away.
 

Thank fuck. A pulse. Weak, but there.
 

Hang on, man. We’ve got you.
 

“Package secured.” Dagan grunted under the weight as he shouldered his weapon and secured him in a hold. “Move out.”
 

“Status, Diaz.” Kaeden’s request set the pace as Dagan and his team headed toward the extraction point. Two minutes to exit the building.
 

“Hold for status,” Diaz replied.
 

Hold for status? What the fuck? They were either clear or not. It wasn’t rocket science.
 

“I’m going to hold status his ass when this finishes,” Dare muttered beside him as he shoved a door open and secured the stairwell.
 

“Perimeter clear.” There was an edge of unease, fear in Diaz's voice that punctuated the comm link with a burst of adrenaline. Something was wrong.
 

They hit the street and loaded into the waiting cargo van. The vehicle tore off as Dare and Dagan began checking Rider’s vitals. Fuck. Not good. Six minutes to the rendezvous point. Hopefully he could make it.
 

The van ground to a halt a few short minutes later. Dagan had managed to stave the worst of the knife wounds, but blood was still running out at a disheartening speed. Fuck. There was so much blood.
 

The side door slid open, and Patch leaped in, determination on his face. His voice boomed as he looked over his shoulder. “Everyone out. Now. Nels, you and Reg get in here. I need backup.”
 

Dagan sat back, remaining in the vehicle despite the kids’ triple glares. They worked quickly, efficiently, as Patch barked orders and processed their unconscious patient with shockingly decisive accuracy.
 

The three collapsed against the side of the van, their faces pale. High-fiving one another, they regarded Rider with joy evident on their face.
 

Dagan breathed pure relief.
 

“How is he?” Devyn hustled into the van and stared down at the unmoving Rider.
 

“He’s good,” Patch said. “We took care of him.”
 

“I owe you.” She turned her attention on the three kids. “You’re too pale. You shouldn’t have used so much energy. Rider won’t be happy if he wakes up and you’re ghost white.”
 

The three kids chuckled.
 

“Seriously, we owe you.” Devyn squeezed Patch’s hand. “I know this was hard, working with Shadows, taking orders from Diaz. I appreciate it.”
 

“They weren’t so bad,” he grumbled as he fiddled with a band around his wrist. “We were talking earlier while the op was going down. We’re thinking we’ll get back with Diaz and his crew, have their backs. Diaz says there’s lots of peeps who could use our help. We’d be like a mini Indigo Order.”
 

“Diaz is good people.”
 

“Yeah.” Patch motioned toward Dagan. “Your guy done good getting him secured before they got here. Rider was bad. I’ll need to juice him a few times probably.”
 

“I’m thinking he’d rather you just visit him. Knowing the SEO, they have lots of people on standby to help Rider.” Devyn lowered her voice. “You’re more than your power, Patch. You’re family. You don’t need an excuse to be around. None of you do.”
 

“It’s the street way. You do for someone, they do for you.”
 

“You’re more than the street. You’re family.” The emotion churned between them. Dagan could see the change on their faces as they nodded. “I’ll always do for you, no matter what.”
 

“Well, we’re heading out. Cadence said something about burgers down at the Order kitchen. I wouldn’t want her having problems with the grill. You know I’m the grill master.”
 

Devyn grinned as the three departed. She turned, quietly regarding Rider with tears in her eyes. Dagan squeezed her hand, unsure what to say. Her emotions swirled from the darkness of terror for Rider to relief. They enveloped him with such swiftness he could barely breathe.