Besides, it was more than wanting to tell someone; she needed to tell someone. “At first, nothing. They kept me locked up and wouldn’t tell me why. I couldn’t even make a call to my sister to let her know I was alive. The thought of her and my friends thinking I was dead was one of the lowest points of my life.”
Jorge took a step closer to her and briefly touched her arm. “They must’ve let you out eventually, or you wouldn’t be standing here in front of me.”
He was looking at her, his face almost soft like it had been in the old days, and she wanted him to touch her again. “They would occasionally question me to try to find out what I knew. Eventually, a Feiru lawyer came and explained my options to me—I could either spend the rest of my life in a special type of relocation center, or I could agree to work with the Feiru Liaison office as a type of spy. Since I could still see my sister occasionally with the latter option as long as I didn’t tell her anything related to the Feiru or my new job, I chose that one.”
Jorge was less than a foot in front of her now. She had to look up to see his face, but his expression was unreadable. This close, she could smell the unique masculine scent that was Jorge, but he didn’t touch her or reach for her. Instead, he asked, “How old were you when this happened?”
“It happened a little over five years ago, when I was eighteen.”
He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek. Her heart rate picked up and she barely resisted turning her head into his touch, afraid she might scare him away. Right now, she wanted comfort. Talking about her past and how bad luck had changed the course of her life forever was taking a toll on her emotions.
In addition to that, the strain of never sharing why she’d been forced to leave university had finally been eased, but if she wasn’t careful, she might start to cry.
Jorge’s voice was low when he said, “So, you understand what it’s like to live a life not of your choosing.”
She nodded, and he lifted his other hand to trace her cheek, the touch sending shivers down her spine. She searched his eyes and she said, “No one deserves to be forced into doing something the way you or I have. Do you believe me now, when I say I never would’ve shared your shadow-shifting secret if I’d known it would end up harming you?”
He nodded. “But in a way, it worked out for the best. If I’d never been forced to work for the Collector, you never would’ve told me your secret, and I never would’ve been able to do this.”
He lowered his head and kissed her.
Chapter Eleven
Jorge knew he should be focusing on Watkins and finishing this job, but as Sabrina told him about how she’d been snatched at eighteen and forced to live a life not of her choosing, the last of his doubt about her dissolved. She may have had better conditions than he’d had with the Collector, but at least he’d been twenty-five when it’d happened to him. Sabrina had barely been an adult, and yet she’d taken her new circumstances and ran with them. An average human might’ve resented their new life, but instead, Sabrina had worked hard, resulting in the smart and talented woman in front of him.
Deep down, knowing she understood what it was like to do things you didn’t want to do, made him want her more than ever. Out of everyone, Sabrina might understand and forgive the awful acts he’d committed to protect his sister.
And once he realized that, a loneliness he’d been denying all along finally came rushing forth. He wanted her, and he wanted her now.
Time was short, and even if the Collector found him tomorrow, he wanted to be with Sabrina at least once. They had until this evening to formulate a plan. Neena had said nothing about them needing to run or move until then, so Jorge was going to seize what might be his only chance with Sabrina. He lowered his head and kissed her.
He brushed his lips against hers, and again, desperate for her to respond. A second passed and then Sabrina placed her hands on his chest, grabbed onto his shirt, and nipped his lower lip.
He growled and moved his hands from her face to her back and pulled her flush again him. Sabrina gasped, but since she didn’t make a move to stop him, he kissed her again and pushed his tongue into her mouth.
As she tangled her tongue with his, he squeezed her ass before rocking her hips against him, the friction making his hard cock even harder. When she dug her nails in his chest through his shirt, all he could think about was her nails raking his back.
He tried to maneuver them toward the bed, but Sabrina broke their kiss and pushed him away. Her strength was no match for his, but he released her. He had done some horrible acts, but forcing a woman wasn’t one of them.
It took a second for Sabrina to catch her breath, and Jorge said, “What’s wrong? I can tell you want this as much as me.”
“Yes, but—” He reached for her, but Sabrina took a step back and shook her head. “Not now. Believe me, it’s been a long time and I’d like nothing more than for you to fuck me until I forget my name, but not until after we take down Watkins.”
“It’s only early afternoon. We have plenty of time.”
“It’s not only that—I don’t want you to sleep with me because you feel sorry for me. Give the air some time to clear, and if you still want me after tonight, you can have me.”
He growled. “I’ve wanted you for nearly two years, Sabrina Ono. Believe me; I don’t want you because of pity.”
Sabrina stared at the sexy, growling man in front of her and wanted nothing more than to run over and jump him. But she had a gut feeling that this wasn’t the time or place to do this. Jorge now knew things about her that no one else did, and she wanted a chance with him, but if they didn’t leave this place soon, she had a feeling something bad would happen.
The tough part was trying to convince the horny man in front of her that she wanted him more than anything she’d wanted in a long time, but just not right this second.
She decided laying out the facts would probably be the easiest way to distract him. “It’s not only that, but I have a bad feeling about this place. If Neena knew about it, who else might? I don’t know a whole lot about Feiru latent abilities, but is there one that can find us?”
Jorge ran a hand through his hair. “Shit, that depends. If Watkins has anything you’ve recently worn or touched, he can find us.”
“I’m sure he does, but how can that lead him to us?”
Jorge snapped into work mode and started gathering things from the nightstand and other drawers in the room. “There’s a latent ability called a ‘Locator’. It’s incredibly rare, but any Feiru with that ability can touch something you’ve recently worn or used and get a general sense of your current location.” He tucked a gun into his back waistband. “I only worked with Luciana once, but as far as I know, she’s still alive. She’s a Locator and one of the biggest prizes the Collector has in her possession.”
Sabrina pushed away the five hundred questions racing through her head and focused on the most important. “But even if we run, won’t they just take something from here and find us again?”
Jorge faced her. “A person has to have touched the item with their skin in the last twenty-four hours. That time limit should be up soon for anything in your apartment, which means if we torch this place, they won’t have any new leads.”
She blinked. “You want to set this place on fire?”
He shrugged. “The houses in this area are abandoned. As long as we get someone to call the Merida fire department right away, they’ll be able to contain it and we’ll be able to make a clean run.”
There was always a risk when fire was involved since it was unpredictable, but she trusted Jorge’s judgment. Besides, in the crazy world of Feiru magic, it wasn’t like they had any other choice. “Okay, let’s do it your way. I’ll just need a few minutes.”
Sabrina started to gather her gun and a few other items—wallet, extra bullets, her new burner phone. When she had what she needed, she asked, “So, how are we going to do this?”
Jorge reached into a cupboard in the small
kitchen and pulled out a tin jug of turpentine. “With this. Wait outside for me. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She nodded and stepped out. Jorge had worked with arson fires before, in the Fed League, and she trusted him to set it off without killing himself.
It was odd to think the Fed League had taught them something useful.
While she waited, she kept an eye on any pedestrians and tried to digest what Jorge had told her about yet another latent ability. A Shadow-Shifter, a Night-Weaver, a Locator—just how many abilities were there? And why hadn’t her office trained her on how to deal with any of them?
If she managed to get out of this alive, and one of the higher-ups inside the Feiru Liaison office would listen, Sabrina was going to suggest some serious changes on how they not only trained recruits, but also on how they should work with the Feiru to root out those who possessed latent abilities. Without someone educating the Feiru on how to protect themselves against people like the Collector, some very ‘bad yet powerful people’ could make the world a whole lot worse.
She heard the whoosh of a rapidly set fire, and Jorge darted out a second later. He continued down the street and she followed him. She asked the first person they passed to call the fire department, and tried not to think about how much her life could change in the next few hours—for better or worse.
Jorge looked through his binoculars and surveyed the school perimeter before leaning in close to Sabrina. His intention was to whisper in her ear, but he couldn’t help but take a deep inhale of her scent. Crouching next to her for over an hour, but being unable to touch her except for a casual brush of his shoulders now and then, had been agony. He was well aware of the stakes and how they needed to succeed, but for once, he regretted being a man. Sabrina looked cool and collected while he was losing a never-ending battle with a hard-on.
Focus, Salazar. He needed to live if he wanted to undress Sabrina and explore every inch of her body. For the first time, he had something to live for past rescuing his sister.
With his new goal in mind, he finally whispered, “Still no sign of him. Are you absolutely positive that Neena was telling the truth?”
She glanced at him and nodded. She was about to whisper something back when he heard some rustling. It was faint, but since it was a windless night, it meant he needed to investigate the sound. He looked through his binoculars and noticed a shadow that was too big to be a cat or dog. After lowering his binoculars, he put a finger to his lips and signaled that he would check out the noise while Sabrina stayed here to cover him.
She nodded in understanding and he slowly made his way down the street. He was careful to keep himself hidden behind the cars, until he could cross the street out of the sight line of the shadowy figure. Since it was nearly midnight, the streets were empty in this part of the city. He crossed without being seen and crept between the trees and the school wall. As he drew closer, the shadow he assumed was a person was loud enough in its movements that a person walking on the street could hear it. That told him that the shadow he’d spotted wasn’t Watkins.
Still, he wasn’t taking any chances. It wasn’t beneath Watkins to use a teenage troublemaker as a decoy to draw them out.
He was soon close enough that he could make out some of the woman’s features in the faint glow of the streetlights—short, curly hair and dark skin. If he were to hazard a guess, it was Luciana Ribeiro, the Collector’s Locator.
To protect her, Luciana had always been kept away from the front lines in past operations. Something about her presence here was off.
He kept his gun in his hand and rushed her. When he reached her, he placed his free hand over her mouth and pressed the muzzle of his gun into her side. He whispered, “I’m going to remove my hand and ask you some questions. If you make a sound above a whisper, I’ll shoot you, Luciana. Understand?”
Since Luciana wasn’t trained for combat like Jorge, she nodded as he had predicted she would. He continued. “You’re a Locator and shouldn’t be here. Tell me why you are.”
He kept his finger just outside the trigger and removed his hand. Thankfully, she didn’t scream but instead whispered, “I want to know how you got out.”
That wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. “Is this a stalling tactic?” He gave a quick look around. “I don’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” He pressed his gun harder into her side. “Now, stop with the games and tell me the truth.”
“But I am telling the truth. They used to keep my husband as ‘encouragement’ to keep me cooperative, but he disappeared. I’m not supposed to know, but I do. I want out so I can find him again before they do.”
“If that’s true, and your husband disappeared, he’s probably dead.”
She shook her head. “No, I refuse to give up. I know he’s alive. He has a valuable set of skills.”
“A latent ability?”
“No, but just as valuable.”
Her tone was final, and he could tell she wasn’t going to elaborate. Since he didn’t have time to waste on such nonessential information, he decided to push on. “Let’s pretend all of this is true. That still doesn’t explain why you’re here, alone, when you’re supposed to be tracking me.”
She looked at him over her shoulder. “They gave me thirty minutes to walk and clear my head of the others’ influences. You know how my abilities work—sometimes having another person too close will affect my ability to track. And before you ask, I found something you dropped back at the place you torched. That gives you two choices—help me and I can put the others off long enough for you to get Watkins, which I know where he is, by the way. Or, I can make noise and draw the others here, and you’ll have to shoot me.”
Judging by the defiant look in Luciana’s eyes, she meant it.
Fuck. He didn’t have a whole lot of choice in the matter. He could knock her unconscious, but then the others with her would come searching when she didn’t check in.
He had zero right promising anything, but he was going to try. It was the best chance he and Sabrina had. “How I got out is complicated, but all I can do is try to help you. After you give me the info about Watkins, I need you to go back and pretend to find me. If all of this goes off without a hitch, and you don’t betray me, I’ll find a way to contact you and get you out.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you, why?”
“Listen, I don’t have time to argue. I’m the best chance you have for getting free of the Collector, so take it or leave it.”
She stared at him and finally said, “Give me a piece of your shirt as collateral, and I’ll agree. That way if you don’t contact me within the next twenty-two hours, I’ll have two hours to locate you, find you, and turn you in to the Collector’s people.”
Chapter Twelve
Sabrina had agreed to trust Jorge, but as they finished surveying the old shop across the street, she still felt uneasy about his deal with the Locator woman. Sabrina had known nothing about the Collector last week, but from what little she did know now, she was starting to put together a profile of both the woman and the people who worked for her. It wouldn’t be out of line to assume Luciana was playing Jorge to protect her husband.
She shifted her position on the roof of an abandoned building and turned toward Jorge. “The windows are dark, and I don’t see any movement. Are you sure about this? We only have one shot; Watkins won’t let himself fall vulnerable again.”
“I think Neena told us to go to the school so that we’d find Luciana, probably so she could try and get yet another person to help her organization by trading favors.” He glanced at her. “Given the nature of your work, I gather you’ve spent years profiling people. Do you agree this fits what you know of Neena?”
At least Jorge was referring to her past and identity in a positive light. “It’s possible, but the woman isn’t exactly predictable.”
“Do you have any other ideas?”
“No.”
He reached out and brushed her
cheek with his knuckles. “Then that’s settled. The sooner we can finish this, the sooner you and I can talk about what happens next.”
She felt a sudden rush of happiness at the prospect of Jorge wanting a future with her. They had issues—lots of issues—to work out and discuss, but the thought of being herself again focused her. “Okay, then we’ll stick to the plan. When should your DEFEND friends arrive?”
Jorge had mentioned two Feiru named Santos and Jimenez organizing a team of DEFEND soldiers to help them. The phone call had been brief on their way here, but he seemed confident they would help out.
He nodded to the east. “The group in charge of the distraction should be there already, and the others should be in position near the shop. When the distraction is ready and the others are in place, the group in the east will signal us with a high-powered flashlight.”
She looked toward the east, but all she saw were streetlights. Good, that meant she had at least a little more time to say what she needed to say. “Jorge.” He looked back to her face. “Promise me that whatever happens, you won’t kill Watkins outright and will hand him over to the Feiru enforcers.”
“What makes you think I’d kill him?”
“Well, it’s more than likely that he’s the one who turned you over to the Collector.”
Jorge fell silent for a second before glancing to the east and saying, “You put that together too, huh? Well, as much as I’d like to kill the bastard for the pain and suffering he’s caused all of the Feiru he’s handed over to the Collector, there’s a reason why I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because then I’d never get a chance with you.”
Shadow of Temptation (Asylums for Magical Threats #2.5) Page 9
