by Paige Tyler
She leaned back into the warmth of his body. “You don’t seem that cold.”
“I’m half-bear,” he pointed out. “And I consumed about twenty thousand calories in the days leading up to this exercise. I could go out naked in a snowstorm.”
She laughed. “That’s quite the image.”
Despite his discomfort, Declan chuckled, too.
“I read the profile for Costa Rica before we left, but I never expected it to be this cold,” she said, serious again.
Most people didn’t think about that in the jungle, but with the temperatures in the fifties, the exhaustion, the intermittent rains, and thirty minutes in the icy-cold mud, it was pretty damn easy for the body’s core temperature to sink to dangerous levels.
“The jungle canopy makes it worse. The sun rarely gets a chance to penetrate down to the ground level and heat things up,” he explained. “You feel like eating something?”
She nodded and sat up, putting some blessed distance between them and pushing the hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear. He rummaged in his pack and pulled out an energy bar, then handed it to her.
“Brent and Gavin had the good camp food in their packs, so we’re stuck with the survival stuff we had in ours and whatever we can forage until we get out of here.”
But Kendra didn’t seem to care that the energy bar had the consistency and taste of shoe leather. She tore into it and took a big bite. She chewed, then frowned.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Nah. I wasn’t kidding about all the food I ate before coming down here. I can go without eating for a few days if I have to.”
Declan didn’t tell her the real reason he wasn’t eating was because they hardly had any food in their packs. Foraging for food sounded like a good idea, but it wasn’t going to be that easy with hybrids on their tails. Thankfully, Kendra didn’t press the issue. He picked up a few of the cinnamon-scented flowers and rubbed down her pack while she ate.
“Those smell nice, kind of like spiced apple cider. How did you know it’d fool the hybrids?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know. But the odor has always been overpowering for me, so I hoped it’d be as bad for them. It’s so strong that it could trick a shifter with a good nose—like Ivy. And based on how little the hybrids used their noses back there at the stream, I think their sense of smell is worse than mine.”
She regarded him thoughtfully. “I’ve always wondered about that. Why do bears generally have such an amazing sense of smell, but you don’t?”
Declan set down her pack and picked up his. “I don’t know. It’s just not something I’m good at.”
He tried to keep his voice casual, but it actually came out sharper than he intended. Maybe because it was Kendra asking and he knew she’d take it as one more reason to think he didn’t measure up.
“Guess that makes sense,” she said. “How did you learn so much about flowers? Is it something you picked up when you were a forest ranger?”
The question caught him off guard. He would have thought that since she had access to his personnel record, she already knew everything there was to know about him, including where he’d learned about flowers.
“My mother has a huge greenhouse. She raises all kinds of exotic plants and flowers, but orchids are her favorite. I used to help her when I was a kid—planting, watering, weeding, that kind of stuff.”
Kendra smiled. “Sounds like you and your mom are close.”
Declan grunted. He wasn’t going to tell her that his mom had all but disowned him when he’d dropped out of MIT.
Kendra finished her energy bar and shoved the wrapper in her pack, then took a quick drink of water from her canteen before digging around for a small canvas pouch. He watched in surprise as she picked up her M4 and started breaking it down. They’d gotten the worst of the mud off their weapons, but the M4s would need a detailed cleaning to keep them from malfunctioning later. That she was cleaning her weapon now wasn’t nearly as surprising as the fact that she was doing it in the near darkness of their shelter. Sure, he could see fine—he was a shifter—but she was doing it all by feel. Just another indication that she was way more comfortable handling a weapon than he’d realized.
“Something tells me you’ve done that before,” he remarked.
She didn’t say anything.
“Don’t take this wrong,” he continued, “but I watched you kill several men today, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the first time you’ve done that, either.”
Her hands stilled on the M4, then went back to work, moving with more determination this time. When she didn’t answer, he thought about pushing but changed his mind. He was the last guy to complain about someone keeping secrets. He had his share.
Declan picked up his own weapon. He’d pulled out the rear takedown pin and had the bolt halfway removed before her soft voice stopped him.
“It’s not the first time I’ve killed. The first time I’ve killed a man, yes, but not a hybrid. I’ve killed them before.”
How was that possible? “When? The DCO only learned about hybrids when Ivy and Landon found them out in Washington State.”
“I know,” she said. “I was there.”
Declan was glad it was dark or Kendra would have seen how stupid he looked with his mouth hanging open. He’d seen the reports. Ivy and Landon had taken on more than forty hybrids and lived to tell about it. Except now it turned out that Kendra had been there, too.
It certainly explained a lot. Like how she’d identified the hybrids on sight while the rest of them had been caught staring at the moving blurs. It also explained why she’d been able to calmly fight something out of most people’s nightmares.
“Is that why John sent you with us?” he asked. “Did he know there were hybrids down here?”
Kendra dropped the bolt of the M4 back in the upper receiver, then ran the carbine through a function check, reloaded it, and flipped on the safety before setting it aside.
“He doesn’t know I went to Washington. No one knows. There are people whose lives will be ruined if it comes out, so no one can ever know.” Though it was impossible for her to see in the darkness, she looked right at him anyway. “Promise me that you won’t tell anyone.”
She didn’t say who she was protecting, but it wasn’t that hard to figure out she was talking about Ivy. The two women were as close as sisters. If there was anyone Kendra would keep a secret for, it would be the feline shifter. He could respect that.
“I won’t tell anyone,” Declan assured her. “You didn’t answer my other question. Did John know there were hybrids down here?”
“No. We had no idea there were hybrids.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He took a deep breath. He couldn’t even believe he was thinking this. John had brought him into the DCO. “I don’t think we just stumbled across these things, Kendra. Remember how I said earlier today that it was like we were being run through a search grid?” She nodded. “Well, I think it’s pretty obvious we found what they had us searching for.”
“That’s crazy,” she said. “If you’re right—and someone had us looking for hybrids—they had to know we’d all be killed.”
Declan nodded. “My guess is that they were willing to sacrifice us to find them. Only someone high up in the DCO could have made it happen.”
“It doesn’t mean it was John,” she protested. “It could just as easily have been Dick.”
“How many times has Dick ever gotten involved in a field operation? I don’t think he even knows how to arrange an ambush.”
Kendra didn’t answer.
Declan finished cleaning his weapon in silence. He could hear a lot of animals, but none of them sounded like hybrids.
“What are we going to do?” Kendra asked as he set down his weapon.
“We survive,” he told her.
“I mean about John…or whoever set us up.”
“We’ll worry about that later. R
ight now, we focus on getting out of this jungle and away from these things.”
She took a deep breath as if composing herself. The same steely resolve he’d seen all day came back into her eyes. “Okay. So, what’s the plan?”
“First, we lie down and get some rest,” he said.
Declan shifted a little to make room for her. She got the idea and crawled in close, her back against his chest. He automatically wrapped her in his arms. Her clothes were drier, but she’d get cold again as the night chill crept in. He needed her fully functional tomorrow. If she stayed close to him, she’d be warm—it was that simple.
“Tomorrow, we head northwest, back across the same general area we spent the last four days covering,” he continued. “It’s the shortest route out of the jungle.”
“Won’t that be like crossing right through their territory?”
“Pretty much, but that may actually be our best chance. The hybrid leader sent a lot of his men south toward the border, so going that way would be too dangerous. East’ll take us deeper into the Talamanca mountain range, which would slow us down to a crawl and keep us in the jungle for weeks. We’re not left with a lot of options and I’d rather do the unexpected and go where they don’t think we’ll go. With so many of them going south, the hybrids in the northwest will be spread thin. If we’re careful, we should be able to slip through without them knowing.”
“Being careful means going slowly,” she pointed out. “It could take a week or more to get back to civilization. Can we make it that long on our own?”
“I’m hoping we won’t have to. Tate, Brent, and Gavin are already out looking for us. We just have to hold on until they find us.”
Kendra didn’t say anything for a while, and when she spoke again, her voice was soft. “How do we know they even made it out? Our helicopter got hit so fast, I never had a chance to see what was happening with the other one. What if they went down, too?”
Declan’s chest tightened. He’d been teamed with Tate, Brent, and Gavin since he started working at the DCO, and they were more like his family than his real family. They weren’t dead. He’d know if they were.
“They made it out. I know that in my gut,” he told Kendra firmly. “They’ll find us.”
Kendra sighed. “Okay, we have a plan. All we have to do is sneak right through the middle of a valley filled with vicious hybrids, not to mention the regular soldiers they had with them. Then we somehow have to let Tate, Gavin, and Brent know where we are. Once we do that, it’s just a simple matter of the five of us fighting our way out of the jungle against a hundred bad guys. Doesn’t sound hard at all.”
He chuckled. “Exactly. You know what they say—the simplest plans are the best plans. Now get some rest. I’ll wake you in a couple of hours to stand watch.”
She must have been pretty beat, because she didn’t even try to argue with him. Instead, she snuggled closer to his chest and fell asleep.
Declan closed his eyes, carefully listening for the sounds of hybrids sniffing around, but he didn’t hear anything. He still couldn’t believe they hadn’t smelled him and Kendra in the stream. Thank God they had a crappy sense of smell like him.
But at the moment his nose was working just fine. Unfortunately, the only scent he could pick up was Kendra’s. Even sweaty and dirty, she smelled good—too good.
He ground his jaw. Why the hell was it so hard to ignore her scent? He wasn’t even attracted to her anymore.
Okay, so that was a lie, at least as far as his nose—and other parts of his body—were concerned. This close to her, he couldn’t deny it, not even to himself.
Declan shifted a little to get some separation between them, but Kendra only groaned and wiggled closer. Thank God she was asleep. It would be damn embarrassing if she asked him what the hell was poking her in the ass.
Of course, thinking about what his hard-on was poking just made it worse. Shit, this was irritating. He’d worked hard over the last few months to mentally distance himself from her. Now, here he was with a nose full of her scent driving him crazy and an erection that had a mind of its own.
The really sad part? If she woke up right then, she’d move away from him in disgust and continue to ignore him. Because even if he was the last non-hybrid creature in the jungle, she still wouldn’t be interested in him.
He bit back a growl and moved again. She shifted with him.
Damn, this is going to be a long freaking night.
***
Without the DCO director’s clout, Angelo was convinced they’d still be sitting on their rucksacks back in Washington right now instead of standing in the middle of the camp where Tate and his team had set up. Not only had John arranged to have a fueled C-17 waiting for them at Bolling, but he also had two trucks of ammo and supplies waiting for them on the runway in Costa Rica. The rest of the op should go as smoothly.
Unfortunately, Tate and his team hadn’t been thrilled to see Landon and Ivy show up with the rest of them in tow. Angelo supposed he could understand their reluctance. Going into hostile territory with people you didn’t know and didn’t trust would make anyone uncomfortable.
Angelo still wasn’t sure when Landon had found a chance to slip away and call in a favor, but when they’d touched down in Costa Rica, there were two other Special Forces operators already waiting for them—Sergeant First Class Nik Carter and Lieutenant Zane Butler, both out of the 7th Special Forces Group from Florida. They’d been down in Panama training antinarcotic forces when Landon reached out to them. Angelo didn’t know them personally, but they’d put their own mission on hold to help Landon, and that told him everything he needed to know. Special Forces was one big family. When family called and needed help, you dropped what you were doing and went to help.
“These guys don’t even know Declan and Kendra, and you expect them to risk their lives to save them?” Tate demanded.
“They risk their lives every day for people they’ve never met,” Landon shot back. “You asked me to handpick a team and that’s what I did. They wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust them with my life, with Ivy’s life, and with Declan’s and Kendra’s lives.”
Angelo saw Derek’s mouth tighten. No doubt the medic wanted to point out that both he and Angelo knew Kendra, but admitting that would mean mentioning what happened out in Washington State, and that was classified.
“Do they know what we’re going up against?” Tate asked.
“Some of them do,” Landon told him. “Angelo and Derek have fought hybrids before. Carter and Butler will keep it together once they find out.”
Tate considered that. “Okay, I get that you’re comfortable working with guys from Special Forces. But Tanner? Shit, Landon. Why the hell would you bring him?”
Angelo grimaced—not only because Tanner was standing right there, but also because he wasn’t exactly sure why Landon had insisted on bringing the DCO’s pet hybrid, either. Putting a guy with a short fuse on the team didn’t seem like a good idea. But Landon and Clayne insisted the former Army Ranger could do the job. More importantly, the team needed him.
Behind Tate, Gavin and Brent looked like they’d rather go out in the jungle again without their weapons than fight alongside Tanner.
“If we’re going up against as many hybrids as you think, we’ll need Tanner,” Landon said. “He could be the difference maker for us.”
“More like the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Tate muttered. “I’ve seen how he reacts in stressful situations. He can’t be trusted out here.”
“I trust him,” Landon said softly.
Angelo knew that tone. His former commanding officer was about to get seriously pissed. Angelo was getting pissed, too. They should be looking for their missing teammates, not arguing about who was going to be included in the rescue party.
“Well, I don’t trust him,” Tate said. “He’s not going with us.”
“Then you’re going on your own,” Landon said.
Tate frowned, wondering if Lando
n was bluffing. Angelo could have told the man he wasn’t. Landon never had a problem standing his ground. Angelo had learned that the first day of basic training. Tate must have figured that out, too, because he turned to Ivy.
“This is your best friend we’re talking about, and mine. Are you honestly telling me you’re okay with putting their lives in Tanner’s hands?” Tate asked.
Ivy nodded. “I am. Landon is right, Tate. We need Tanner. I wouldn’t have agreed to bring him if he wasn’t ready.”
Tate looked at Gavin and Brent. Both men shrugged.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way,” Tate told Landon. “But if things go south, it’s on you, and I’ll be coming for payback.” He turned and strode off toward the big tent they were using as a makeshift headquarters, but stopped and glared at Landon again. “Keeping Tanner under control is your problem. Don’t expect any help when he loses it. And if he takes off, you’re going after him this time.”
With that, he ducked inside, Gavin and Brent on his heels.
“Don’t pay any attention to Tate,” Ivy told Landon. “He’s just worried.”
“Not to mention pissed that Tanner ran his whole team ragged for weeks before they brought him in,” Clayne added.
Landon didn’t say anything. If Angelo knew his friend, Landon had already dismissed what Tate’d said. His mind was focused on the next problem.
“So, why don’t they want to work with you?”
Angelo turned to see Carter regarding Tanner, his dark eyes wary. Angelo didn’t blame him. With the long, blond hair and beard, the hybrid looked a little like the wild animal he sometimes turned into.
“I have anger management issues,” Tanner said. “I tend to go nuts and kill people at the slightest provocation.”
If Tanner expected the comment to scare off the two Special Forces guys, it didn’t work.
“Must be a bitch getting through a holiday with your in-laws,” Carter said. “Ever consider meditation?”
Tanner stared at the sergeant for what seemed like forever before he finally cracked a smile. It was small, but it was there.
