Broken: (Ignite, Book 2)

by Fleur Camacho

  And determined to find out why the hell Jezzie tortured Jace so much.

  ❦

  Laura faced the punching bag. She was equipped with slim boxing gloves and headgear. And she still wore the boots she was given. She wasn’t taking those off except to sleep, they were so comfortable.

  Her eyes were fuzzy, she’d been hitting it for an hour, when she wasn’t being attacked by Jace. He spent most of his day training the men, as well as spending time going over plans with Laura and Seaman, but he insisted that she train for combat. So he tried attacking her out of the blue, to help her build up her reaction time.

  “Your most powerful punch is going to come from your leg, through your hips, and shoulder.” He moved Laura’s foot with his own, showing where her foot should be landing. “If you put your foot in the right place, all your energy will move through on your punch.”

  Laura took a deep breath, focusing on the bag and tried again. This time Laura could feel her punch move the bag much further. After a few minutes, she was able to get the feel of it and Jace changed her punch to an upward strike position.

  “How are your men doing? Are they getting any information from their contacts?”

  Jace rolled his eyes, and held the punching bag so she could hit it again. “They’re getting there. They still have a lot to learn, but they’re almost there. So far, Seaman is getting the furthest.”

  “And Unland?”

  Jace shrugged. “He just mostly grumbles in the cafeteria. I think he hates it here. But he’s still the best at stealth.”

  Laura hit the bag and jerked her arm back, hitting it again.

  Jace felt the hit reverberate through his body. “Good.”

  She stopped, facing him. “And the bomb squad?”

  Jace’s face hardened. “I’m not that concerned about them. I do only enough so Jezzie, or Kean, don’t get suspicious. I will not need them.”

  ❦

  “Jace, you’re wanted in Jezzie’s office, now.” Kean’s face peered through the door.

  Jace sat up. “Now is not a good time. She’s sleeping.”

  Kean sneered at him. “Tell that to Jezzie. She said she needs you. Now.” He put his fingers up in a mock salute. “Sir.” And then he walked away.

  Jace studied Laura; she looked so peaceful. They’d worked hard all day and Jace felt bad waking her.

  Kean’s head appeared at the door again. “She said now, soldier.”

  “What’s so important that you had to summon me in the middle of the night?” Jace stood over Jezzie’s desk. Seaman was sitting in one of the chairs and Kean followed Jace in. “Laura’s still sleep—”

  Jezzie rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what it’s doing. That’s your responsibility. I’ve decided that we need to attack within forty-eight hours.”

  Jace held very still.

  “It’s time to give you the destination.”

  “If she’s my responsibility, then why’d you bring her here? You dragged her into this, not me.”

  Jezzie stared at Jace coolly. “I did what I had to do. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

  “You never know. You could’ve asked first. Maybe I’d surprise you.”

  Kean snorted. “Right.”

  Jace gave him a predatory smile. “Well, we’ll never know will we?”

  Jezzie sneered at him. “We all know what your main concern is right now. You could care less about what the rest of the Legions are doing, even your own.”

  Jace studied her. “You’re right, Jezzie.”

  An evil grin slithered up her face. “That’s why I have her here, to keep you focused on what’s important. At least I’m willing—”

  “I think that you’re just jealous that I found someone I wanted to be with. That I was willing to put everything aside to be with.”

  Her face grew red and she grit her teeth. “Can we quit talking about the cockroach and discuss business?”

  Jace leaned forward, placing his hands on her desk. “Why now, Jezzie? What’s the rush?”

  “That’s no concern of yours. The location is the Idaho National Laboratory.” She leaned back in her chair, waiting for his reaction.

  He began pacing. “So you want my men to extract the blueprints.”

  She sat up. “You’re not going to argue with me about the location?”

  He stopped pacing. “I already figured that would be your primary target. Seaman and I have been planning on how best to approach the men guarding the base.”

  She glared at Seaman and he threw his hands up. “I didn’t tell him anything.”

  She scowled, touching her computer.

  Jace continued his pacing. “I will bring a small crew, no more than four men. We will go in quietly and do no harm to any of the men guarding the base—”

  “Why don’t we just kill all the men guarding the base?” Kean interrupted.

  Seaman sat forward. “If we kill the men, then they’ll expect an attack. They’ll only bring in more men to guard the place. They may even move their material or put the whole place on lockdown.”

  “Who cares? We’ll just blast through all that. Right, Jezzie?”

  She didn’t look up from her computer, but shrugged. “Sure, the human cost doesn’t matter.”

  Seaman stood up now. “It’s not about the humans. It’s about access to the right place in the building.”

  Kean faced him. “We don’t need access to any place in the building. We just go in with the whole unit. We kill, we place the bombs, we get out. BOOM. Bombs go off. We pull out the marshmallows while we watch everyone’s face melt off.”

  The room was silent and Jace sat down. “If we just blow up the building, then all we’ll have is a burning building. They have safety measures in place to keep the uranium from reacting. Or is that the only objective? To blow up a building? If that’s the objective, I’m sure we could find locations in Boise that would affect a lot more people then blowing up something in the middle of the desert. Or New York, for that matter.”

  Kean glowered.

  Jezzie touched her screen again and it made a beeping noise. “Since you’re already so prepared, I want your men to go in tomorrow and be ready to blow up the building in seventy-two hours. We’re waiting for some of the materials to arrive from Afghanistan so that it looks like the terrorists there are responsible for the attack.” She grinned and looked off into space. “This is going to be beautiful. Won’t it?” She looked at Jace and her face grew soft. “Kinda like old times.”

  “Maybe for you, I was on the other side, remember?”

  “Yes, I remember. And now, you’re on my side.” Her face grew hard. “Don’t forget.” She stood up. “We’re still preparing the humans for the other parts of our mission and they seem to be unreasonably slow in this part of the world.” She looked at Kean. “Kean, do you think you can manage to have them ready by then?”

  Kean nodded curtly, “Yes, ma’am.”

  “They’d better be.”

  Kean looked at Jace. “Why don’t you and Seaman go over your final plans. I’ll follow up with my men to go over our final orders.” He looked to Jezzie for support. “Right?”

  She nodded. “Sure. Now let me finish my work.”

  ❦

  Laura was drowning. She struggled, trying to swim towards the surface but she couldn’t move her hands or feet. She wiggled, trying to force herself to the surface. Her lungs burned, they were going to explode if she didn’t reach the surface soon. She tried to scream but her voice was muffled by the water.

  “Shhh…” A voice appeared out of the darkness. “Don’t want to alert any of Jace’s men.”

  Laura’s eyes shot open. Kean was on top of her, his hand tight against her mouth and nose. “Jace!” She tried to call out, to gasp in some air but his hand was sealed tight. She clawed at his eyes, face and chest but it had no effect on him; he just snickered.

  She pulled at his hands but he was too strong. Her lungs burned like a flame in her chest; she
desperately needed air. She knew she was going to pass out soon if she didn’t. Jace taught her something. What was it? Her mind was in a fog. Finally, she remembered.

  She yanked down on his thumb as hard as she could. She heard it pop and then it was off. She gasped for air.

  He stared at his hand in shock. She yanked her hips forward, buckling against him, and he fell forward.

  “Damn you.” He shifted his weight again and Laura shifted the opposite of him, so that he overcorrected. He hit the wall and Laura rolled out from under him.

  “Ouch.” He shook his hand. Laura scrambled for dominance and crawled on top of him. He laughed again.

  “What are you laughing at?” She pinned his arms down and tried to position her hips over him. A second later, she was staring up at him, with him positioned on top of her.

  “The thought that you think you can beat me.”

  Fury rose in her. She was tired of being the weak one. She buckled her hips, trying to shake him off her, but he was prepared now. He yanked the pillow out and her head fell back, then he put it over her face. The last thing she saw was his sneer as he pushed the pillow on her face. “Tell my brother I said hello.”

  Laura couldn’t breathe. She tried to yank the pillow off, bucked against him and even tried scratching his arms, but the pillow didn’t budge. She flailed her hands, punching the side of his face and he grabbed one of her wrists. She beat him with the other, but he yanked on the one in his hand, dislocating her wrist.

  Tears sprung to her face but she didn’t stop. He yanked again and her elbow popped. Shock stung her and she stopped, trying to breathe through the cotton and feathers. It wasn’t working. She gave up hitting him and so he dropped her arm to the bed. Her lungs burned.

  Where is Jace?

  She wiggled again, trying one last time and he pressed down harder. She felt sleepy and closed her eyes. Her world was dreamy and Allie appeared before her.

  “Allie.”

  Laura reached for her. “Allie. I’ve been wanting to see you again. Last time was so… amazing.”

  Air hit Laura’s face and she gulped it in. Her lungs burned and her chest was light. The room flooded with light and Laura blinked against it. “Allie?”

  There was a strangling noise and Laura looked around. She put her hand up, blocking the light. Feathers floated around her; she reached forward and caught one. A roar of noise made her jerk up.

  The other bed was flipped on its side and there was a bubbling noise behind it. A stream of blood ran down the floor from behind the bed. Laura stood up, noticing the coolness of the cave floor.

  “Jace?” Panic overtook her and she ran around the bed. Unland lay perched on top of Kean, a knife in his hands. A flap of skin in Kean’s neck gurgled and the muscle jerked. Laura looked away, noticing for the first time the blood on the knife in Unland’s hand. “Unland.” She backed away. “You did this?”

  She felt like a cold bucket of water was poured over her; she started to shake. Unland grabbed the sheet and put it over Kean’s body. Kean’s eyes focused on Laura right before the blanket covered him and a final exhale of air escaped through the gash in his neck.

  Laura stood, shivering, at the sheet which was bleeding red. There was a ringing, ringing. What was ringing? She looked up. Was it the lights?

  “Laura, Laura.” Unland’s mouth was moving and he was touching her. She jerked back. “Don’t—don’t touch me.”

  Unland held his hands up and Laura stared at the knife. “You did this?”

  “Let me take you to Jace.” His words finally sunk in. “Jace can help you.”

  She nodded, trying to control the shivering but it ran down her spine in spasms. He grabbed her blanket and put it around her and she let him steer her out of the room.

  “What happened?” Jace grabbed her and steered her towards his chair. He swirled, staring at Unland. “What did you do?”

  “I heard something and so I went in your room.”

  Jace had Unland against the wall. “If you touched her, I’ll kill you right here and now.”

  Unland pushed against Jace. “I didn’t touch—”

  “It’s okay, Jace.” Laura’s throat felt raw and her chest hurt.

  Jace was in his face. “If you dared touch a hair on her head…”

  “Jace, stop. He saved me.”

  Jace dropped Unland. “He did what?”

  “He saved me. From Kean.”

  Jace studied the blood on Unland’s clothes and knuckles. “He did?”

  Laura nodded. “Kean tried to kill me.”

  Laura pulled the blanket close; she was beginning to warm up now. A torrent of pain shot up her arm and she doubled over, cradling her arm. Tears ran down her face and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Laura, what’s wrong?” Jace pried her hand off her broken elbow and she whimpered. He closed his hand over hers and warmth traveled from her fingers to her elbow.

  She sighed in relief. “Wow, that feels so much better.”

  He scowled. “You shouldn’t need to be healed so much. Jezzie guaranteed your protection.”

  She looked at Jace. “Where were you?”

  Jace stepped back. “I… I was talking to Seaman and Jezzie. And Kean. Jezzie finally decided to give me the location and we were…” He swallowed hard. “We were debating. Kean argued that we should just blow it up and I had to try to convince them that stealth was necessary. That we should wait for the explosives to give us… And then he suggested that I go over the plans with Seaman. We just finished and Seaman went to his room.” His face was pale. “And I didn’t want to wake you. You were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.”

  Laura stared at the hologram computer. She reached forward, trying to turn it on. “He tried to kill me while you were planning. Thankfully, Unland saved me.”

  Jace looked at Unland. “Thank you. You will be rewarded.”

  Unland stood up straight. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  Jace nodded dismissively at him. Laura kept pushing the bottom right-hand corner of the monitor, where the power button usually was. “Jace, I called to you. And I saw Allie and I thought… I thought I was a goner.”

  Jace sat down, pulling her into his lap, and forced her to allow him to tuck her into his arms. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ll never leave you again. I’ll never leave you, ever.”

  But Laura wouldn’t calm down. She sat forward, tracing the monitor, trying to turn the damn thing on. Unland stood silently, watching the exchange.

  “How do you turn this freaking thing on? What kind of magic is this?” Suddenly, she was exhausted and she slumped in the chair, leaning her head onto her arm. “I’ll never get this place.”

  Unland stepped forward and reached his hand forward. Jace eyed him, a clear warning on his face. Unland ignored it and ran his fingers through Laura’s hair. She sat up, surprised. He didn’t move back but stood his ground. When she didn’t say anything, he reached for it again, running his fingers through it softly, letting the light shine through it.

  Laura stared at him silently, with Jace watching sternly behind her. Then Unland turned around and offered his feathers to Laura.

  Her mouth dropped open, as did Jace’s. She looked at Jace, questioning, and he nodded. She felt his grey feathers, they slithered through her hands. They were soft, almost as soft as ash. When she was finished, Unland turned back towards them, nodded at Jace, and was gone.

  Laura looked at Jace; he was staring at her in awe. “I don’t know what you did to him but I’m not surprised.”

  “Why is that?”

  He leaned towards her. “You seem to entrance everyone everywhere you go. Unless they’re trying to kill you.” His face darkened. “But that’s mostly my fault. They’re all mad at me.”

  “Why is that?”

  “We’re in enemy territory. I’ve killed many of their family members. That’s not getting me any popularity points.”

  “Oh.”

  He leaned forward. �
�I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.” Then he kissed her gently. “I’d kill Kean if I didn’t know that Unland had already done it.”

  “It’s okay,” she whispered.

  His eyes blazed. “It’s not okay. I’m supposed to protect you.”

  She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. “You’ll have to bring me with you now. You can’t leave me here alone.”

  Jace frowned and sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

  They sat like that in silence, Jace stewing and Laura just happy to be alive and in his arms. She traced his fingers, up his arm, and his neck. Then she traced his lips, cheek, and nose. He closed his eyes, beginning to calm down, and she kissed his eyelids. He tilted his head down, and she brushed her lips against his. He responded, cupping her cheeks, and opened his mouth, kissing her. Not a soft or sweet one, but deep and passionate. She couldn’t breathe. His fingers tangled in her silky hair while his tongue tasted hers, feeling her, knowing her. She felt a jolt of electricity as heat travelled down her face and into her belly. She scooted closer and he stood up, pulling her with him, and he sat her on the desk facing him. She opened her legs and he stood between them. She reached up, the kiss deepening, and fingered the top of his shirt. Then she put her hands underneath it and traced her fingers over his chest. He shivered and groaned, pulling back.

  She leaned in and kissed him again, feeling a need so strong, it was overpowering. “What, Jace?”

  He shook his head, putting some distance between them.

  She leaned forward. “Jace, please.”

  He pulled her to him and she wrapped her legs around him. He faced her, his eyes dark and full of need. “We can’t.”

  “I want to.”

  He nuzzled her nose and laughed, deep and gutteral. “You have no idea how badly I want you right now.”

  “Then, why not?”

  “Because I can’t.”