Raines, Elizabeth - Covert [Wicked Missions 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

While Tanner retreated to the bathroom, she caught Will’s eyes. He was still inside her, although his cock was slowly softening. “You’ll be careful, right?”

He kissed her once, hard and quick, before pulling away. “Of course.”

She grabbed his wrist. She’d never told them about her former partner, Earl Bruner, and what had happened on their only ill-fated mission. But losing him haunted her more than either of her men could ever know. Now it was her job to protect Will and Tanner. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

He kissed her hand, and she released him. “I promise, Alayna. Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ll figure out what’s going on with Priam Sisson, and I’ll come back to you.”

Then why was she so damned afraid?

* * * *

“Glad you could meet me here.”

Alayna jumped at the deep voice. Sure, she’d expected Luka to show up—she’d asked him to find a way to meet with her in private. But she’d been on edge ever since figuring out Priam Sisson might be Dracorian. Now that Will was tailing him, her nerves were even more frayed. Her intuition had been screaming at her for the last hour, making her normally cool disposition bubble and brew like some ancient witch’s cauldron. The disastrous mission with Earl kept playing in her mind.

It hadn’t been her fault. At least that was what her boss kept telling her. She’d repeatedly told him to wait for backup, after all. No way should they have gone into a buy between two known dealers who never traveled without bodyguards. The stubborn man refused to be patient, wanting to show everyone just how big his balls were on his first undercover assignment. She should have stopped him. She should have done more to keep him from charging in there. Shit, if she had it to do over, she’d hit him with the stun setting on her pulse pistol and face dismissal from I.D.E.A. instead of letting him go. At the time, she’d felt she had no choice except to protect his back while frantically calling for their reinforcements. Earl had been shot the moment he confronted the suspects while Alayna ducked back into the shadows, trying not to get killed.

Like a coward
.

“Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?” she finally said.

His smile didn’t help much. Neither did the fact he was pulling a lunch out of his tote bag and calmly unwrapping what looked and smelled like a liverwurst sandwich—something Earth had introduced that the Fraiquans took to like ambrosia. “I figured you’d expected me.”

“Well, I did. But you didn’t have to sneak up on me.” Although the ancient plant conservatory where he’d asked her to meet him was all but deserted and she knew he was coming, she’d still startled to his voice. At least this was a place they could meet and look like nothing more than people wanting to have a calm and quiet location to eat their lunch.

About to take a bite of his sandwich, he threw her an incredulous scowl. “Not sneak up on you? Are you serious? I’m a spy!”

She took a deep breath, too antsy to even open her own meal, let alone eat it. Tanner always tried his best to make something edible, but her stomach was already in an uproar as she worried about Will, and she simply wasn’t up to cold prolobeast disguised with some spices and stale bread. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I don’t want you in danger. Look, I’ve got some news, something I’m not sure you’ve figured out about Priam Sisson. He’s a—”

“Dracorian. I know.”

“You
know?
Why didn’t you say something to I.D.E.A.?”

“The same reason you didn’t—neither of us is sure he’s been altered, and we’re both no contact.”

How could Luka be so damned calm? She struggled to keep her voice low. “Crikey, Luka! He’s a
Dracorian,
I’m sure of it. And he’s acting as the
Fraiquan
Resources Director!”

“Careful, Alayna. Your Australia is showing.”

She narrowed her eyes, hoping he realized she wasn’t in the mood for teasing.

“You know,” he said, “Fraiquans are too fucking trusting. Always have been. Naïve, too. Up until a year ago, they didn’t even monitor one of their own moons. I’m amazed no one figured out about the bastard yet.”

“But…but…we should
do
something!”

“Until he shows me he’s here for something more than dealing patrile and making some money, I’m not blowing my cover to nail him. Not yet. The information I’ve gathered covers three planets, and it’s gonna bring down more than just this drug ring. I’m staying in this cover to see just how far I can take it.”

Although she hated to admit it, Luka made perfect sense. There was a lot at stake here, and stopping the flow of patrile was probably more important than revealing the deception of the Dracorians in getting one of their own inside a part of the Fraiquan government, especially when there was no real proof Priam Sisson truly was Dracorian. Right now, Fraiquans dealing drugs seemed like the greater threat. “Fine. I’ve got Will on his tail. We’ll see what we can find out.”

“Besides,” Luka pointed out with a shrug, “we’re not entirely sure the guy’s Dracorian. It’s just a guess. Our job is to stop patrile, and we
know
he’s part of that, regardless of his true ethnicity.”

She nodded, although in her heart, she knew she was right about him wanting to do more than deal drugs. No, it wasn’t
obvious
that he was truly Dracorian, and lots of Fraiquans wore gloves because the skin on their hands was very sensitive, as she’d learned firsthand. Yet…she just
knew
. “Will’s gonna find out for sure.”

Glancing around the area, he chewed the rest of his liverwurst before he finally spoke again. “I need to be going. We’ve got a shipment tomorrow, so I’ll catch you then. If Will finds out any solid proof, we’ll talk more about what to do. But don’t get your hopes too high. Dracorians are fucking slippery suckers.”

On that chilly pronouncement, he wadded up his sack, stood up, and strode away.

Then it dawned on her. When Luka had been talking about Fraiquans, he’d said “they” and not “we.” She’d assumed he was Fraiquan, but now she wasn’t so sure. Had he been transformed as well? And if he had, what species was he? Human?

Since no answers would be coming soon, Alayna pushed the mystery aside and headed back to work.

* * * *

Alayna was just putting on her weapon belt when the door to their apartment slammed open. Will stumbled inside, holding his side. His bloodstained shirt made her gasp as did his pallor. Her heart stopped for a moment before it suddenly kicked into a frantic rhythm. She needed all her concentration to push aside the images of Earl’s death and focus on one of the men she loved. “Oh, my God! Will! What happened?”

“Got…shot.” His breathing was shallow and rapid, but she couldn’t tell if it was because of the injury or because he’d been running.

“I’m getting the bugger bag and getting Tanner. We gotta move.” When all he could do was gape at her, she sucked in a deep breath. “We’re leaving! Now!”

She moved like lightning, punching a hole in the special wall as she screamed for Tanner. Jerking the crumbling drywall she’d used to create a safe place to stash away their emergency kit, she reached around inside the wall until her hand brushed the canvas bag. Grabbing the strap, she jerked it against the hole until enough of the drywall broke away to allow it to pass through.

Tanner stumbled into the room. He gaped at Will and took a step toward him. “Get the first aid kit,” she ordered. His blue eyes fixed on her. “Get the kit!” she screamed before taking a deep breath. “Get the kit. Then grab some clothes and get dressed. We need to bugger out.”

As he reached for a shirt he’d draped over a chair earlier, he kept staring at Will. “Fuck. What happened?”

Will pulled his hand away from his side. “One of the security guards got off a lucky shot with a pulse rifle when they caught me inside the restricted ministry offices.” He managed a weak smile. “But not before I discovered a lot of interesting stuff.” When Alayna tried to reach inside the hole in his shirt, he swatted her hand away. “It’s just a flesh wound. I’m…I’m fine.”

“But—” She tried to help him again, worried about the blood on his shirt and hand. “You’re hurt.”

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist to keep her from tending to him. “Later, love.

“They’re probably not far behind,” Alayna said. “I’m getting you two out of here. Time to run.”

Picking up the bag they’d prepared and jokingly called the “bugger bag” since they’d assembled it in case they ever had to “bugger out” of the mission, she rummaged around inside. Everything was there. Uni-credits. Forged identity papers. Cloned communicators.

As he shoved his feet into his boots, Tanner buttoned his shirt. “Where we buggering out to, boss?”

Boss
. The universe settled on her shoulders as the mission crashed down around her like trusses falling through a burning building. She’d failed.
Again
. There would be no arrests, no stopping the flow of patrile, and no preventing other planets from coming after the Fraiquans. All she had to offer her superiors were the names of some underlings who were working for a government official who might or might not be Dracorian.

No, her mission had been an utter failure—and it was all her fault.

Fuck, she was tired of being in charge. She was tired of kissing the asses of crooks. And she was tired of being someone she wasn’t. “We’re getting back to headquarters just as soon as we can. This undercover is over. I want to be human again.”

Chapter 8

Alayna looked up when the door to the exam room opened. “How is he?” she asked. It seemed like forever since Will had been taken into the treatment area, and with each passing minute, her stomach churned a little more. The place wasn’t more than a small infirmary. What if he needed surgery? What if his life was in danger?

He couldn’t die. She couldn’t lose him.

“He’s fine. It’s a clean wound, and he didn’t lose much blood.” The Fraiquan doctor bowed before striding away, leaving her behind with her worries and fears. Even Tanner holding her hand while they’d waited wasn’t much of a consolation. If she’d done a better job, Will wouldn’t have been hurt. No, she should have followed the Dracorian herself instead of sending a man who relied on her for his safety. She’d let everyone down, just like she’d let Earl Bruner down.

After they’d found a place to send a message, they’d been retrieved and taken to the closest I.D.E.A. safe point. They were still on Fraiqua, albeit in an area near the southern pole that was nothing but a barren desert. I.D.E.A. had set up a small holding underground, but it was nothing more than a few small sleeping suites, some conference rooms, and an infirmary. She’d been so worried about Will, she didn’t want to risk going all the way back to Rozale and the doctor who’d changed them into Fraiquans. Now that she knew his life wasn’t at risk, she wanted him to see someone who knew him better and could be sure there were no lasting problems from his wound. “Can he travel?” she called after the doctor.

The doctor turned, nodded, and then continued down the corridor and through the door to exit the infirmary.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Alayna tried to stand up, intent on going to see Will. Tanner stopped her with a hand on her thigh. “You want to go back to Rozale, don’t you?”

She nodded.

“You want Doctor Frankenstein to change us back.”

Since he’d stated that as fact rather than asked her, she didn’t bother to nod this time. Her mouth set into a thin line as worry after worry tumbled through her thoughts. She’d failed Earl—she wouldn’t fail Tanner and Will. She had to fix everything, to get these men she loved with every piece of her heart back to their real lives. Then, although she had no idea how, she’d get her ass back to the capital city and deal with the Dracorian.

“What if we don’t
want
to change back?” Tanner asked.

Alayna brushed his hand away and jumped to her feet. “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t have to stay like…
this
. It’s time to get your lives back.” Without waiting for Tanner, she headed to the treatment room to check on Will. Soft footsteps sounded behind her, which came as no surprise. Tanner had to be worried about Will too.

What would happen once they were changed back? How quickly would the bond between them dissolve? Damn, it would break her heart when they served her with annulment papers, as she was sure they would. Somewhere in her busy mind, she wondered if the two loved each other enough to stay in touch after they became human again.

Will sat on the table, looking no worse for the wear. Although he had a bandage taped over his side, practically covering half his waist, there were no other visible injuries. He glanced up and smiled at her. That smile quickly dropped to a frown. “What’s wrong?”