by Wade, Maddie
Poor, Lucy–she’d be devastated if anything happened to Sly. She’d loved him for half her life and they hadn’t had chance to do anything about it yet. Skye sent up a prayer to the big man that Sly and his friend would be safe.
Snuggling down next to her son, she held him and sang his favourite rhyme. “Hush little baby don’t say a word, momma’s going to buy you a mocking bird…”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nate was wired. He paced the room while he rang Zack. The man never slept, so he had no worries about waking him. He wondered if the dream was accurate and hoped like hell it wasn’t. These were nasty bastards and god only knew what they would do to Sly and whoever else was with him.
Zack answered with a terse, “Yes.”
“Zack. Do you know where Sly and his unit are?” There was a pause and Nate knew, then, that Zack knew something.
“That is classified, but, yes, I do know. Why?”
“Because Noah just had a dream,” Nate heard Zack sigh, “And he says the people who took him have Sly and his friend.”
“Fucking, fuck, fuck,” Zack swore savagely. “Let me make some calls and I will get straight back to you.”
Zack hung up and Nate felt coldness seep into his bones. Something bad was going to happen, or was happening. The feeling had abated for the last few weeks, but now it was back with vengeance. Knowing he would not sleep anymore tonight, he got dressed and went to the kitchen, stopping by Noah’s room on the way.
Skye was curled up with her son, he thought she was asleep, but when he got closer, she opened her eyes and gave him a small smile. She put her finger to her lips and edged her body out from under Noah’s.
She tucked him back under the covers, pulling them up to his chin, and walked to the door with him. Slipping her hand in his, she eased the door shut and they walked downstairs to the kitchen.
Nate grabbed one of his hoodies that was slung over the chair and pulled it over her head. It hung to her knees, and she had to roll the sleeves up four times, but she looked sexy as hell in it, as usual. He immediately decided that he liked her in his clothes. It was primitive, but he liked the thought of her wearing something that had touched his skin.
“What did Zack say?” Skye asked as she busied herself making coffee.
“He’s going to check it out and get back to me. He knows something, though.” Nate’s voice held and edge to it that made Skye turn.
“What?” she asked him as she slipped her arms around his waist and snuggled into his chest.
“I just don’t like Zack not giving us the full picture. We are a team and that should mean we have the same information, not have him decide when to tell us what.”
Skye tilted her head back and he knew she could see the frustration etched on his face. She nodded, “I can understand that, but…” she paused before going on, “Zack has a lot of confidences to keep and a lot of lives to protect. I get the feeling Zack doesn’t always see you as his team, but sometimes as family, and he has definitely taken on the dad role in that family.” Nate laughed, then, a big belly laugh. “I would pay money to see you tell Zack that.”
“Zack doesn’t scare me. I pushed a watermelon through a ten-centimetre hole with only gas and air. He does not know the meaning of the word pain.” Nate winced at her description but continued to laugh at her, pleased she was here with him. He had an awful feeling things were about to get ugly.
Nate sobered and tilted her chin up to him with the tip of his finger. “Nobody should scare you, mi amor. I will hunt down and hurt anyone who scares you or Noah, and that’s a promise.” He knew he shouldn’t say such violent things, but the heat in her eyes told him she found it sexy, and he couldn’t resist that look.
Nate feathered a kiss across her mouth, his hands gripping her ass. He lifted her onto the counter and stepped between her legs. He wondered if he would ever be bored of touching her and making slow, sweet love to her. and decided he definitely wouldn’t get bored of that.
Her just being here now was making a shitty situation so much better. He kissed his way across her face and down her neck. He loved the way she tilted her head and the soft little noises she made.
Nate ran his hands over the soft skin of her thighs and she clenched her legs around his waist and crossed them behind his ass. His hands where on her rib cage, under the hoodie and he couldn’t help but flick his thumbs over her nipples, causing a loud whimper to escape her.
“God, Nate, I can’t get enough of you,” she cried as he tweaked her nipples and he thought he would explode when she involuntarily pumped her hips against him, her body telling him what she wanted.
“What do you want?” he asked in a gruff voice.
“You. I want you,” she said in a sexy as fuck, husky voice. It nearly undid him. Reaching between them, he slipped his hand into her pajama shorts and found her center. He was overjoyed to find her hot and soaking for him.
“Fuck, you’re soaked for me,” he ground out. He freed himself from his jeans, pushing the shorts to one side and lined his rock hard erection up with her core.
“I want you, Skye–so fucking much. I don’t want anything between us. I’m clean, but I can get something if you want.”
“No, I want to feel you and I’m clean, too.” As she finished her last word, he pushed into her, hard and fast. The feeling of her tight heat gripping him, with nothing in-between, was the most amazing feeling ever.
It made him lose control as he pounded into her harder than ever. He should slow down and go easier on her. He did, but she gripped him and pulled his head to hers.
“Harder, Nate. Fuck me harder.” Those words coming from her sweet mouth drove him over the edge, and in no time at all, they were both crying out as their climaxes hit them. Nate buried his head in her neck as he came down form the most intense climax of his life.
“Sorry, mi cielo.”
“Why are you sorry? That was amazing. Can we do it again?” He could feel the smile against his cheek. God, she was something. How did he get so lucky?
“You really are perfect, you know,” he eased out of her and she whimpered. “Stay here. I’ll get a cloth for you.” He jogged to the toilet and grabbed a wash cloth from the cupboard, soaking it in warm water.
He returned to Skye, who was still sprawled on his kitchen counter. He felt his gut tighten at the perfectly wonderful sight she made. Crossing to her, he helped her clean up. Just as she was hopping down, his phone rang.
Snatching it up he saw Zack’s name flash across the screen.
“Yes,” He answered.
“You need to come in. Sly’s unit is missing. I need to brief you all.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up and his gut sank. Sly was in trouble. He turned to Skye, who was standing next to him, and he could tell by the distraught expression on her face that she’d heard.
“I need to go.”
“Of course you do. Let me get you some coffee to take with you. That stuff Zack makes is like poison.” He pulled her to him by her arm and held her as she hugged him tight. He could tell she was upset, but like the trooper she was, she wasn’t showing it. He seemed to fall more in love with her every second.
He pulled away, and she went to grab a travel mug from his cupboard. He raced to his room and geared up for a battle–his favourite weapons all going into a bag or in holsters on his person. He texted Ambrose, who was outside, and asked him to come meet him downstairs in five minutes. He needed to give him the heads up. The Lockwoods could use this distraction to make a move on Noah, and he wasn’t risking them.
Moving back into the kitchen, with his bag thrown over his shoulder, he saw Skye had set his mug on the side and had wrapped up a load of brownies for him. It gave him a nice feeling going off to work with coffee and homemade brownies.
This wasn’t just another job, though. This was personal. He dropped a kiss on her upturned lips and walked with her to the door. “Lock up, and don’t go out today. Only let in Ambrose or
one of the team. I will call you when I know something.” Skye nodded and kissed him, again, quickly.
He stopped on the other side of the door and listened to her lock up. Satisfied, he went downstairs and briefed Ambrose, who had, incidentally, already been briefed by Jack.
At 4:30 am, he was on the road, headed for Fortis, with no idea that by the evening, his world would be rocked to its core.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nate walked through the door at Fortis and automatically turned to the reception desk. He had gotten used to Celeste and Samson greeting him. She seemed like a nice girl. A bit quirky, but nice. Samson was big brute of dog. However, a softer animal he had not met, although, he was fiercely protective of Celeste. He didn’t seem to like Zin much, either, come to think of it.
He walked into the back and found Zack in his office, a rolled up blanket on the edge of the sofa, indicating Zack was sleeping here again. Zack was on the phone, but beckoned Nate through the door.
He took a seat opposite him and blatantly listened as Zack told, whomever he was talking to, that he would rip his head off and shit down his neck if he didn’t call him back. Nice. Zack hung up and swiped his hand down his face.
His eyes were blood shot and he had suitcases under his eyes, but his shirt was pristine and perfectly pressed, just like the man. His eyes came to Nate.
“Before you start, I know that you are probably pissed, and believe me, I know I’m going to get it in the neck from everyone else, but this was highly classified. Only Jack and I knew about this, outside of the team, going in. The reason will become clear when I explain it all in a moment. Before I do that, I need to talk to Lucy and Dane in private. This is going to hit her hard. She thinks I don’t know shit, but I know about her and Sly and the feelings they have for each other.”
“Furthermore, what I have to tell them will rock them badly. I won’t say more right now, but I need to know I have my team behind me on this.”
“Jesus, Zack. That is, and never will be, in question. I’m just disappointed you felt the need to hide shit from us. If you feel it was the right thing, then fine. You’re the boss and I trust you.” Nate watched as Zack visibly relaxed, his shoulders slumping a little. It surprised Nate to see Zack was worried about the repercussions of this. He followed Zack as he went into the conference room to wait for the team to arrive.
Will was already there, and a few minutes later, Daniel and Zin walked in. Both seemed tense and wired. The thought of one of their own in danger not sitting well with either of them. Drew followed a few minutes later, then Dane, Lucy, and–what the hell? Lizzie?
What was she doing here? Nate didn’t get chance to ask because Zack stood and ushered the three of them into his office. Leaving the others to only guess what was happening. Was Zack worried that Lucy would go off the deep end? Had he brought Lizzie in to comfort her? That didn’t sound like Zack, or Lucy, to be honest.
Nate got up and went to chat with Daniel and the others. He couldn’t shake this feeling of impending doom and he didn’t like it one bit.
~~~
Zack led a confused looking trio into his office and shut the door. He knew he had to do this quickly, like ripping off a plaster. He sat behind his desk and looked at Lucy and Lizzie and then at Dane. They had no idea he was about to shatter everything they thought they knew.
“This morning, at around 3:30 am, I had a call from Nate. Noah had had a dream,” he felt the room go tense. Everyone knew about Noah’s dreams. “Noah dreamt that Sly,” he heard Lucy’s slight intake of breath and saw Lizzie and Dane both reach for her hand, “And a friend had been taken by The Divine Watchers.”
He stopped to let that sink in for a second before continuing, “He described a hospital-type place and said the people had Welsh accents. He believed it to be in the UK. I can confirm that Sly and his team were, indeed, on a highly classified mission in the UK to extract someone from a facility known to be owned by Pure Living. They are currently classed as missing.”
“What the fuck? How did you know about this mission?” Dane demanded.
“Because of our involvement with The Watchers, Jack and I were asked to assist with intel.” Dane nodded as if this made sense. “As you know, I couldn’t tell you all because it could have compromised the mission.”
“So, who was the target?” Lucy asked. Her face a mask of composure. Zack took a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing this might be the last he made before Dane rammed his teeth down his throat.
“Let me start by saying that Jack had intel that one of the facilities in Gloucester was manufacturing embryos with special gifts. He received this after you made contact with Pure Living about the fertility side of the operation. The Intel is sketchy, and we were unsure of the validity of it.” He kept watching Dane to gauge how he was taking this.
“They received video from inside one of the labs. It shows a young woman being drugged and then her eggs are harvested. The video later shows the woman’s body being dumped. The body was recovered, and a post mortem confirms the egg harvesting procedure took place.”
“Sorry, I don’t understand why I am here?” Lizzie said, looking confused. She was an attractive woman, and Zack wondered if she knew her pencil dicked husband was a serial cheat. Not his problem.
“You are here because the name of the person feeding Eidolon info is Megan Bennett.” He watched as all their faces went slack with shock. Lizzie looked like she had seen a ghost, Lucy looked ready to puke, and Dane well he looked ready to kill someone.
Dane jumped up and came at Zack across the desk. Lucy, who was impressively fast, shoved herself between them.
“No, Dane. Now is not the time. We need to get to Sly.” She made no mention of her sister, who they all thought dead, or disappeared for good. Interesting, thought Zack absently.
“She’s right, Dane. Sit down, please.” Lizzie asked quietly. “How do we know it’s her?”
Zack could see the cautious excitement on Lizzie’s face as she asked the question.
Dane sat down, but his demeanour did not change. He was beyond pissed and Zack didn’t blame him. He would have reacted the same way.
“We don’t know for sure, which is another reason I didn’t tell you, but we did get a picture of her from when she made the drop of the USB. It is not a great picture, and we couldn’t find prints or DNA.”
“Do you have the picture?” Lizzie asked, again.
Zack nodded, “Yes.” He opened his draw and laid the picture in front of them all. Lizzie gasped, and an intense pain passed over Dane’s face. Lucy barely looked at it.
“My god, she looks just like you, Lucy, only she has mum’s curly hair.” Lucy didn’t respond and averted her eyes.
“When do we get Sly back?’ she asked instead.
“Let’s go back out to the team and I will brief everyone and we can form a plan,” Zack answered. Glad to have everything out in the open.
~~~
Nate was floored by the news of Megan Bennett being an informant on the Watchers. Dane, Lucy, and Lizzie all looked shell-shocked. But it was Lucy who had shocked him the most. Everyone was used to her sunny, jokey disposition. That person was not the Lucy sat before him. She had shut down completely.
She had not engaged in any discussion about Megan Bennett and had only been interested in forming a plan to rescue Sly.
When Daniel had mentioned Megan being vulnerable, and maybe being caught in the crossfire of any rescue, she had shrugged her shoulders like it didn’t matter. Nate had never seen her like this and he could tell by the worried looks Dane and Lizzie kept giving her that they hadn’t either.
They decided, since Lucy’s cover was still in place, that she would carry on trying to get a lock on the manufactured baby lab. She had objected, angrily–she was all set to go in guns blazing, but even in her anger and despair, sense had won out and she’d seen that it was the best bet for the mission.
Zack promised she would be kept in the loop about all the l
eads on Sly and his team. She would, also, be involved in the rescue if Zack thought she was safe to do so. Nate highly doubted she would be.
Jack and his team would work closely with Fortis, and Jack was sending his best analyst over to work with Will. The others had all been given differing assignments of intel gathering.
They were all still aware of the danger to Noah and he was still a priority. Ambrose would continue with that job in the day and Nate would be there at night. Liam had been pulled back to Eidolon. Dane and Daniel would work to try to locate Felicity. She had to be a fountain of information. Zin was tracking Usov. Drew was going to work alongside Lucy, brave boy that he was.
He was on the hunt for Hugo, the bastard. He was going to spend today chasing up his contacts and see if anyone had seen him. Nate, reluctantly, shared his brownies with everyone, and seeing Lucy stood on her own over by the laptops went over to her.
He didn’t say anything, just pulled her into a hug and kissed her head. He decided against mentioning her long lost sister and instead said, “We’ll get him back, sweetheart.” She nodded and sniffed, but quickly pulled herself together.
“Get off me, big guy. I don’t want Skye kicking my ass for touching her man.” She chuckled then, and Nate could tell it was forced, but went along with it.
“Yeah, she is mean, jealous,” he laughed, “And apparently not scared of Zack, either.”
“I knew I liked her,” Lucy said before making excuses and getting the hell out of there.
Nate sat at the desk in the now empty conference room and called Skye. He wanted to hear her voice. It was after eight now, so he knew she would be up. He spent a few minutes explaining the situation to her and then letting her know how today would go.
He hung up a few minutes later, and despite the dire situation, he had a smile on his face. He was sitting and smiling when Ava came in, armed with another box of reference books.
