And that was okay. It was a pleasure to learn new things each day. There was no reason to rush a discovery that brought him so much joy; they had plenty of time ahead. That was, if the secrets they kept from each other didn’t rip what they had apart.
Dade swallowed, not allowing that thought to fix inside his head.
Arden’s lips skimmed the side of his neck. “The last time we danced, it ended terribly.”
“Shush, don’t jinx us.” He felt his laughter bubble up as he thought back to the night she’d first taken him to Undercity to avoid a govie raid. He remembered the joy of being there with her and not worrying about survival or who might stab them in the back next.
He hated that they hadn’t had any time for these simple pleasures. If they were different people, perhaps they could have made a life together. Not always fighting for their existence. Let someone else take their city’s burdens and figure out how to fix the problems their families had caused.
“We’re supposed to be working,” she reminded him. And yet she made no attempt to pull away or scan the area again. Her gaze remained solely on him.
He felt the weight of her focus, sensing how much he meant to her. The softness of these moments were few and far between. Arden rarely let down her guard.
Dade kissed her again. He couldn’t help himself. He worshipped her mouth, letting his need for her become expressed through his touch. He wanted her to remember this when they were separated.
She gave a little mewl of pleasure, grasping for him.
But then, as always, the kiss had to end.
They both panted as they continued to dance and stare at each other.
This moment couldn’t last. Reality crept in and filled his chest with heaviness. It wiped away the warmth of her. Left him feeling only cold regret.
Arden sensed the change in him. She pulled out of his arms enough so that she could properly see him and then reached up and clicked off her comm. She’d still be able to hear the others, but they couldn’t hear her. “What’s wrong?”
He also shut off his comm before answering. “You don’t owe Mina. You should leave.”
Not that he wanted her to go. He’d be devastated not seeing her every day. But he’d make it work. And if that was what it would take for her to be happy and safe, he’d manage to go it alone. Because he didn’t want her to be a part of this plan with the CRC. He was the one who’d indebted himself. He wasn’t going to allow her to die because of that.
“I’m tagged too, remember?”
“But not bound. If you asked, she’d let you go.”
Her eyes flashed and narrowed, sparking behind her mask. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“But, Arden—”
She cut him off, enunciating each word, her voice harder. “I will not leave you.”
He nodded slowly while gulping back his overwhelming frustration. Dade was all mixed up inside. Elated that she wouldn’t go, and sick that he was so selfish that he wanted her with him. Devastated she might be caught and tortured. He could not live with that.
Under her breath she asked, “Why does everyone ask me to leave? As if I’d abandon them.”
He wondered whom she meant by “them.” Though it didn’t matter. “I didn’t intend for this to happen.”
“Of course you didn’t.” She rolled her eyes. “We can’t second-guess our path. Looking back and wondering ‘what if’ makes us weak.”
“You’re so sure about everything.” Maybe that was his problem. Maybe he needed to learn to accept fate.
“I’m not.” Arden shrugged. It was an elegant movement that made her dress glitter. “But worrying about it hurts me inside—so I don’t.”
He wasn’t sure that was the healthiest way to deal with life. Dade opened his mouth to say so, but he realized that he’d lost her attention.
Her eyes had narrowed at something over his shoulder.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dade knew better than to turn his head. Instead, he tried to steer them around so he could see. But she stubbornly planted her feet in place.
“Stop,” she hissed. Arden gripped his shoulders harder, her stare not wavering from beyond him. “Move with me, to the right.”
He loved a whole lot of things about her. Yet the one thing that irritated him was how her usual instinct was to take control and shut him out in the process. He could help her if she’d let him.
“Do you see the dealer?” he asked.
She made a humming noise. “I think I see the Twins.”
“What?” He glanced to the side, but she jerked his shoulders back into place.
Arden gave him a look that told him to stop struggling. He pressed his lips together and forced himself to not protest as she maneuvered him backward, using his body to push their way through the crowd. They were working as two separate people, not as a team. Each of her demands reminded him that they weren’t in sync. Irritation flicked to life in the ever-present frustration that lived inside him.
They edged along the dance floor closer to the tables. “I can’t be sure . . . It has to be them.”
“Why would they be here?” The Twins certainly didn’t fit the demographic for this place. If it was them, they were here on Crispin’s business. Was Crispin after Lasair too? Or had he assigned the Twins to keep track of Dade and Arden?
Dade knew they should let Nastasia and the others know, even if this was only a hunch. It was their op, and Nastasia was the point of contact. Yet he didn’t move to turn his comm back on. Mostly because he was too focused on trying to make Arden listen.
If she would just slow down and talk to him, they could figure this out.
He pushed out a frustrated breath.
“If it is the Twins, I doubt you’ll get another shot at seeing them,” Dade said. “That you managed it once is quite impressive.”
Her mouth pursed as she thought. “Unless, of course, that was the point. And if Crispin does want me to see them . . .” Her thought trailed off as she stared at Dade. “What kind of game are we all playing? I feel like everyone knows the rules but us. And I have to tell you, it’s ticking me off that we’re being manipulated.”
Dade agreed. Crispin was crafty, and Mina just as much. If the Twins’ being here was a deliberate ploy by Crispin, it made Dade even more cautious. Perhaps they should get the others involved after all.
“The Twins could be here to kidnap us,” he suggested.
“If that was the case, we wouldn’t have seen them. They would have come from the shadows and either grabbed us or stabbed us already.”
“True.”
Arden gave up any pretense of dancing. Her hands slipped from his shoulders, and she stepped around him. Taking his hand, she led him off the dance floor.
Dade squeezed her palm to keep them together as they wended through the maze of dancers. “They’ll see you.”
“I want them to,” she said as they kept walking. Her gaze stayed razor-focused on the dark edge of the club.
She moved fast.
He let go of her hand as he followed behind her. Keeping her in sight while giving her a few feet of space. He wanted to stop her and demand to know exactly what her plan was. At least she had mentioned seeing the Twins and not simply disappeared without a word. He half expected her to do so at this point.
“What’s going on?” Nastasia asked over the comm.
Dade didn’t stop moving. He couldn’t see Arden anymore. His senses screamed at him to stay alert. His muscles tensed even though he told himself to calm down, breathe, and assess the situation.
He growled. Where had she gone? They were working together for a reason. He couldn’t watch her back if she didn’t allow him to.
Turning his comm back on, he said, “I’ll tell you in a moment.”
He didn’t want to warn them until he figured out Arden’s plan and was positive she’d seen the Twins. And he certainly didn’t want them to know that Arden had ditched him. His pride was taking a serious beating.
“Venz?” Nastasia asked.
“I’m locked on their coordinates. They haven’t left the building,” Venz said.
Dade exhaled in frustration. He would have informed them if they’d left the club. He hated to be micromanaged. They said they wanted him to feel like part of the team. Yet they made no effort to hide that they were tracking his every move. It was hard to see the truth in their offer of partnership.
Between the tight leash they kept on him and his detachment from Arden, he felt like screaming.
The sea of people suddenly parted, and he caught sight of Arden. The sparkle of her dress drew his eye. She had paused, stepping behind a large group. Not hiding, but not being obvious that she was prowling either.
Dade slid into the space beside her. They stood in the shadows at the edge of the room. He scanned the area where she was focused, trying to find any glimpse of the Twins. Instead, he realized that she’d latched on to something different—their original target.
The boy wasn’t doing much to blend in. He had dressed like the clubbers, with his skimpy clothes and mask, though the look wasn’t quite right. There wasn’t the same ease about him. He stood steady, too alert, and he wasn’t holding a drink. His gaze tracked the dancers, darting here and there. He acted as if he knew he was being hunted.
Then the boy moved. He interacted with those in the crowd as he slipped through them toward the door. His hand would press against another in what looked like a greeting. And though Dade never saw the drugs exchange hands, he knew better. The boy was getting farther from them, closing in on the door at a rapid pace.
They needed to move. Adrenaline hit him, focusing him. They needed to trap the boy and make him talk.
Arden’s hand reached out to snatch his wrist, stopping him. Her eyes were narrowed, and her mouth had flattened into a frown. She’d picked up a drink from somewhere. Tipping it up, she pretended to sip it and waited.
She didn’t watch the boy leave, though Dade knew she’d seen him go. She’d tracked him when he’d started walking, but then her gaze had returned to the dark corner.
Time became an issue. He felt pressure to pursue the boy. Noted each second as it slipped by. And yet she still hung on to his wrist. Dade forced himself to relax, to trust. When she felt his body respond to her request, she released him.
Not knowing what they were doing, Dade stepped behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist. He selfishly wanted to hold her. Touching her calmed him. Allowed him to let go of his growing resentment. It kept him from following his instinct to tell the others and leave anyway, even though she’d requested that he not.
Arden didn’t seem to mind. She brushed back against him. Tipping her head to the side so that it rested against his shoulder. A quirky smile pulled on her lips when she glanced back.
He leaned forward to brush his lips against her hair. He kept himself there, filling himself with her scent.
She let out a sigh. It was inaudible, no more than a puff of breath. But she closed her eyes briefly, then stiffened, pulling away slightly to watch the shadows their target had left.
Roan interrupted over the comm, asking, “Does anyone see anything?”
Dade knew Arden hadn’t turned her comm back on and therefore wouldn’t answer. He got the feeling that she wasn’t ready to point out the boy’s location quite yet. Even though he had to be at least to the door or out of the club by now.
He said into his comm, keeping his other hand around her, “Nothing yet.”
Arden shifted. It was slight, barely perceptible. His only warning as her body subtly communicated things to him that would have otherwise been lost.
Separating from the shadows were the Twins.
Shock coursed through Dade. She’d been right.
The Twins made their way to the front of the club after the Lasair boy. They moved as if they were smoke and night. The androgyny of the two from this far away made them appear to be copies. Girls, boys—either and both, their gender fluid.
They were hunting the boy too.
“We should find out what the evil Wonder Twins want from Lasair,” Arden said. She tossed the cup away and followed them.
“That’s not our mission.” Dade stepped after her, staying beside her even though it caused the clubbers to yell at him when they were shoved out of the way. His chest was tight with annoyance. Of course she might take off without any backup and ignore every safety precaution. Even when he was working with her, she didn’t spare a moment to discuss her plan.
Yet he followed her, not wanting her to leave unprotected. They were partners. She might not treat him like one, but he wasn’t about to leave her back exposed. Plus, he was very concerned about what the Twins wanted. Chasing after them without a plan wasn’t smart. This could be a double cross.
He reached out to pull her to a stop. “Tell me exactly what we’re doing.”
“The Twins are following the boy. If we follow the Twins, not only are we still following the boy, we can also figure out how Crispin fits into this and ultimately what he wants from us.” Arden gave him a flat stare. “It’s important to know what everyone wants so we can we figure out a way out of this mess when it all goes to hell.”
Arden didn’t wait for him to agree. She twisted out of his hand, this time moving with a speed he hadn’t seen in weeks.
Dade cursed under his breath while reaching for his comm as he started running. “We’ve found the Lasair dealer. We’re following him out of the club.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Arden, wait,” she heard Dade call to her through her comm as she left the club. Then they were all yelling in her ear, scrambling to meet up with her. But she was already striding down the street, turning the corner in pursuit of the Twins.
She’d lost track of the dealer some time back. Had to trust that the Twins were still tracking him.
Following the Twins proved challenging. They were competent trackers, aware of everything. If she got too close, they’d notice. It forced her to hang back farther than she was comfortable and allowed them to slip in and out of her view.
Noise continued to crackle in her ear, chatter that she didn’t latch onto. Distantly she knew that it was the team talking. They followed her, as she knew they would. Venz gave directions to her location, tracking her with the tag.
Arden let that all fall away. She stayed focused on the prize. If she wasn’t going to be given answers, then she’d find them herself.
Her feet pounded the pavement, and she felt the tattoo of that movement reverberating in her chest. She breathed through it, only a small hitch as it expanded her lungs. She’d kicked her shoes off some time ago. The gravel from the street bit into her soles. Yet even that kept her focused. It honed and cleared her as pain often did.
Arden barely remembered to grab her cloak on the way out. Her focus was completely on the chase, but that didn’t mean that she would leave the club without some kind of camouflage. Her dress was too showy. The Twins would see it straight off.
As she ran, she swung her cloak around her shoulders, fastening the toggles to hide the shine of her dress. Next she pulled out the gauze flowers, letting them flutter to the ground, and began to braid her hair back with swift fingers. She kept her mask on, pulling the hood up over her so that the edge rested low over her forehead. At once she was someone else. Not the fun-loving club girl she’d been moments before. She was now a weapon looking for revenge, a girl on the hunt, blending with the night.
It was the unknown that lent her caution. Whispered to her to watch her every step and focus her moves several paces ahead. She couldn’t ignore that there was a price on her head. It only took the right person to see her in the wrong circumstance and she could be caught. Her life would be forfeit.
She was in enough trouble. No need to add avoiding death to the mix.
But there was also that need, the pulse under her skin she couldn’t ignore, to kick some ass and take names. The combination of excitement and fear wa
s potent and addicting.
The warm burn in her legs made her feel alive. She pushed faster. Hearing the beating of her heart as it pumped and the harshness of her breath as she gulped air.
She turned everything to white noise. Used it to focus.
Arden almost smiled. It was ridiculous how happy she was. This was who she was meant to be: a warrior, not a person to be sidelined. She had a choice.
Red lights blinked in the darkness. Cameras that had never worked during Arden’s entire life in Undercity had been switched on. The cameras monitored the area using infrared.
It was the question of who watched the other side of the feed that concerned her. Was it the govies? Or the Lasair? Or maybe even Mina? Someone had taken control of large chunks of Undercity.
Dade came up beside her. He kept pace, running silently. For once, they were in sync—their movements, their breath—both focused on keeping up with the Twins. They navigated over trash piles and turned into sections almost too dark to see. Eventually entering a residential neighborhood in front of a section of row houses.
The Twins slowed.
Arden and Dade slowed as well, keeping several paces behind. They were close to wherever Lasair was holed up. Her heartbeat felt like it had taken over the space under her ribs. Swallowing, she pulled herself back and reined in her excitement. She tasted the thick, wet mineral tang of the air as she breathed heavily from exertion. It was the unique taste of Undercity, and it held the memories of her childhood.
She didn’t know of a Lasair hideout in this section of Undercity. It had to be new or stolen from another gang, which confirmed Mina’s statement that they had switched up their hideouts. Just how many other things had changed and why? She’d been gone only a few weeks. This level of transition shocked her. It made Mina’s warning that something more sinister was happening in Lasair sound more reliable.
Secretly she’d harbored hope that she could reconcile with Lasair. That maybe she could change their seeing her as a threat. Now she wondered if finding a way to go back to Lasair was the best option.
The Stolen Sky (Split City Book 2) Page 12
