Flare of Promise (Asylums for Magical Threats #3) (7 page)

Millie grinned. “You’re inviting me to touch all of those lovely muscles?”

Petra resisted the urge to knock Millie flat on her ass. “Just hurry up and help me.”

Millie’s hands moved to Will’s shoulders and Petra quickly crouched down to feel his leg. Slowly running her hands up, she stopped at his pockets, which put her eye level with his crotch. Resisting the urge to look up to Will’s eyes, she inserted her hands into each of his pockets and felt around for anything unusual.

His body heat seared through the material and into her palms. Memories of earlier, when they’d been naked in the hotel room, flashed into her mind.

Petra clenched her teeth. Being near the man was dangerous.

Finishing the lower half check, she ordered, “Lift your shoes.”

After checking them, Petra stood. Millie was doing her last checks of his back and arms, squeezing and lingering longer than necessary. However, before Petra barked for the woman to finish, Millie put out her hands and said, “Ta-daa! He’s tracker free. Can we go now?”

Millie didn’t wait for an answer as she headed down one of the streets. Petra cursed and took Will’s hand. She tried to ignore how his large, warm hand engulfed hers. “Let’s go before she kills herself.”

Will’s voice filled her ear. “For someone who claims to not have any friends or people to help, your female partner acts like a friend to me.”

Glad to be in front of Will so he couldn’t see her face, Petra studied Millie’s form. The last few weeks had been both annoying and more fun than she’d ever admit out loud. Not that she trusted Millie completely. The woman had secrets, she was sure of it. “Millie owed me a favor. It’s as simple as that.”

Will squeezed her hand and she chanced a glance over her shoulder. Yet all she was greeted with was a neutral expression. Will raised his brows. “What?”

Shaking her head, Petra answered, “Nothing.”

As they wound their way down one alley and then another, Petra decided she must’ve imagined Will’s reassuring squeeze, unless he was deliberately messing with her head.

Regardless, Petra pushed all of her questions to the back of her mind. She needed to focus on making it out of Sichuan Province alive. And not only that, but also with a prisoner in tow. Giovanni Sinclair wouldn’t go down easily. His father, James Sinclair, was a power-hungry, wannabe politician who controlled the
Feiru
High Council and the AMT Oversight Committee with one hand tied behind his back. It was going to take all of her and Millie’s experience combined to pull this operation off.

She only hoped Millie’s boss would reward them in the end. Petra didn’t do charitable deeds. The instant she did that, her reputation as a mercenary would be ruined and people would consider her easy pickings.

Until Sean Reilly was out of the picture and her brother was safe, that wasn’t an option.

Picking up her speed, she kept her eyes and ears open as they followed Millie through the streets.
 

~~~

Millie Ward’s heart thumped double-time. Partly because she was nervous, but also because she was curious to see Giovanni again.

True, the bastard had kept her under watch at a remote cottage in Norway for a while. But since the man had had the chance to kill her instead of protecting her, Millie’s curiosity burned to know why he’d faked her death instead. Gio’s father was one powerful bastard and Millie wouldn’t put it past the arsehole to kill off his own adopted son if he found Gio had disobeyed him.

Focus on the prize, Ward, and worry about finding answers later.
If Millie didn’t make it to the west side of town, she’d lose her chance to see the reserved and powerful man. Not that she wanted to see his brown eyes flecked with gold again or his broad shoulders. Or, to find a way to break his control and see the man hidden beneath the mask.

No matter how much she wanted to find out more about Giovanni, her curiosity was secondary to her ultimate goal of handing Gio over to Millie’s boss and resident crazy lady, Neena Chatterjee.

For once, Millie wished the DEFEND co-founder would show up wearing a cape and offer one of her bags of trail mix. Neena was eccentric, but bloody good at getting people out of scrapes. Very few knew of Neena’s powers, but Millie was one of them—Neena’s foresight ability was helping DEFEND win the battle against the AMT Oversight Committee.

Even so, success wasn’t guaranteed. Millie would just have to try her damnedest to escape unscathed. After all, the AMT would only be destroyed if individuals took initiative beyond Neena’s predictions. The future was uncertain, but Millie was determined to rid the world of the AMT prisons. Just remembering her brother’s screams at being touched sent a rush of anger through her body. They’d put him through a series of psychological tests, which was just a fancy way to say they’d scared the crap out of him in the name of research.

Garrett wasn’t the only one suffering, though. The AMT system was little more than an excuse to experiment on innocents. Many more inmates remained trapped inside and needed rescuing.

Her resolve to succeed strengthened, and Millie stopped in front of a low wall to wait for Petra and Will to catch up. She noted Petra holding Will’s hand, but didn’t comment. The teasing would come later. When they were close enough, she said, “This is the fastest way. However, there may or may not be a slight drop on the other side.”

Petra raised an eyebrow. “Then climb up and find out.”

Millie raised her brows. “Hey, you’re not the boss of me. If anything, you should climb up.”

Will tugged his hand free of Petra and stood between them. “I’ll do it.”

Before either she or Petra could reply, Will reached the top of the wall and pulled himself up with ease. Damn, the man was strong and sexy. If only Petra wasn’t clearly still in love with the bloke, then Millie would probably try to lure him into bed. Her dry spell was approaching the year-mark and she wanted some release not brought on by her own hand.

Will lowered himself back down and turned toward them. Millie snapped back to the present when he spoke up again. “There’s a ledge about twelve inches wide from the wall. However, there is a thousand or more foot drop beyond that. Provided we’re careful, twelve inches is enough space to land without trouble.”

Millie snorted. “Says the man who probably has a price on his head by now. If they start firing guns at us, twelve inches won’t be enough if we need to jump without taking our time.”

Petra pushed Millie aside. “Ignore her. She just likes to whine. We can do it, no problem.”

Petra reached for the top of the wall, but before she could jump, Will had his hands on her waist and lifted. Maybe later Millie could lock the pair up in a room and let them hash out their issues. Despite all of Petra's badgering, Millie was starting to like the mercenary. If she played her cards right, she could get Petra and Will to join DEFEND.
 

Yes, that would be brilliant. The look on Millie’s older brother Jaxton’s face at netting a healer and a former mercenary would be worth all of the hassle.

Petra scaled over the wall and released her hands. The soft landing didn’t result in screaming, so Petra had to be safe. Millie approached the wall and jumped before Will could reach her. Sitting atop the stone structure, she looked down at Petra, noted the woman wasn’t in any danger, and then scanned the surroundings. The mountains dropped several thousand feet to a basin below. Falling meant death, but at least the sheer drop protected them from an attack on this side of the wall.

Well, provided the AMT enforcers didn’t have a helicopter.

Millie scaled down and landed with a soft thud. She pointed to her right. “This way.”

Petra muttered, “Sometimes, I wonder if you chose the hardest path on purpose.”

Millie shrugged. “As long as we’re quiet and don’t fall down the side of the mountain, we should be able to circle the city and reach the west side in no time. Maybe even undetected.”

Will landed gently behind Petra. “Then can we go already? I’m not a fan of heights to begin with and only the adrenaline in my body is keeping the panic from creeping up.”

Waving toward the basin floor, she murmured, “It’s only a one or two thousand foot drop. Calm down.”

Turning around, she walked at a brisk pace. Petra would ensure Will followed. All Millie wanted to do was catch Giovanni Sinclair and she wasn’t about to give the bastard enough time to flee.
 

~~~

Will kept his breathing even and steady. As long as he didn’t look to his right, to the valley below, he’d be fine.

Or, so he could try to convince himself.

Despite his various attempts to erase his fear of heights over the years, Will had failed. Watching his brother fall out of the tree as a lad had done its damage. The fact Henry had been confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life hadn’t helped, either.

Leyna glanced over her shoulder. “Hydrogen, helium, lithium.”

Her words brought him out of the memory of his brother’s fall and back to the present. The corner of his mouth ticked up. “You remember our distraction game.”

“Hydrogen, helium, lithium,” Leyna repeated.

Aware she would keep repeating the first three elements from the periodic table until he named the next three, he stated, “Beryllium, boron, carbon.”

Leyna continued, “Nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine.”

As Will and Leyna continued taking turns naming the elements, he forgot about where they were and what was happening. The last time they’d played this little game, it had been from the top of the London Eye Ferris wheel. Leyna had finally convinced him to ride the blasted contraption, but there’d been a mechanical issue when they’d hit the top of the wheel. Reciting the periodic table a few times had helped pass the thirty minutes they’d been stuck there.

He wondered if the game signaled Leyna still cared for him.

He blinked. What the hell was he thinking? It didn’t matter if Leyna still cared for him or thought of his well-being. He would find a way to help her escape the drug lord arsehole, but that was it. After running away from Gio and the AMT research facility, Will would be a wanted man. The last thing he wanted to do was involve Leyna in all of it.

True, she could probably handle herself. But there was more to it. Knowing her reasons for abandoning him assuaged the rational half of his mind, but his heart would never forget. Being near her was a painful reminder of what he’d once had and could never have again.

Just as Leyna recited the final element, Millie put up a hand to stop them. After making a “stay put” signal, Millie grabbed the top of the wall and slowly pulled herself up. While she was too young and daring for his tastes, he had to admit he was impressed with the small woman’s strength. Unable to restrain himself, he leaned toward Leyna and whispered, “Between you and Millie, I almost want to believe there’s an entire army of super women fighting the evils of the world.”

Leyna rolled her eyes. “Women can be strong without being superheroes. Most of us do it out of necessity.”

He burned to ask another question, but Millie slowly lowered herself down and came as close as she could to them on the small ledge. “This is where we need to climb back over the wall to head west. Where exactly are we going? I need specifics.”

Will met the woman’s eyes and debated doling out information as they went. However, that would only waste time. Still, he had one last question. “Tell me how you plan to capture Giovanni and I’ll tell you.”

Millie smiled slowly. “I’ll be the distraction and Petra can kick his arse. He’ll never see it coming.”

“Petra?”

Leyna answered, “That’s my name these days.”

Will frowned. “Not sure I like it. But regardless, Gio is probably armed and able to take care of himself.”

Millie waved a hand in dismissal. “Probably not. He was a university lad before working for his father. He has very little self-defense training, which should make him an easy target.”

Will shook his head. “You’re wrong. I know he carried some kind of stun gun with him. He probably has it now.”

Millie shrugged. “Believe me, when he sees me, he’ll be too shocked to whip out the stun gun in time. Petra will have him on the ground with her knee in his back by then.”

“What about his bodyguards?” Will asked.

Leyna spoke up. “Do you think he could lose them, if it came to it?”

Will scanned his memory and nodded. “Probably. He’s lost a few tails before, mostly in university. With a disguise, it could be done.”

Leyna bobbed her head. “Right, then tell us exactly where we need to go and leave the rest to us.”

Will scanned Leyna’s eyes, which were full of confidence. He had no reason to trust her, but he believed his former fiancée could handle the situation. He went with his intuition. “It’s just inside the tree line near the biggest house on the western side of the town. Once there, I’ll guide you. I had to memorize the route.”

Millie scrutinized him. “Do you think that’s wise? Someone could be lying in wait to attack.”

Leyna lightly poked Millie. “Leave him alone. He nearly took you out earlier today. Will can handle himself.”

For some strange reason, he stood taller at Leyna’s words.

Millie rolled her eyes. “In the future, I think we need a rule—no boyfriends allowed on a mission.”

Leyna and Will responded at the same time, “We’re not—”

Millie cut them off. “Save it. I’m not going to waste time arguing. Get yourself over the wall and follow me.” She turned toward the wall but then looked back at Will and Leyna. “And don’t waste time snogging, either. Tick, tock goes the clock.”

An image of earlier, of when he’d had Leyna naked and in front of him, flashed into his mind. Clearing his throat, he was about to dismiss Millie’s claims but the bloody woman had already scaled the wall.

Not giving Leyna a chance to refuse, he took her by the waist and lifted her up. Unlike before, he took advantage of the view and admired the toned muscles of her arse. Back in the hotel, he hadn’t the time to memorize the new planes and valleys of her body. And for some reason, he was curious to do so.