Jude knew he shouldn’t ask again. He’d been hinting at meeting up with Octavia for months. She always deflected his offers, and had a reason for them not to meet. But he wanted it. He needed to meet her. If she was as extraordinary as he thought she was, then he’d be lost to this incredible woman. He wanted to be. She was the only woman he’d been fantasizing about in what felt like forever.

That was part of the reason he hadn’t pushed it. Was he ready for this? Life in the bunker was dangerous and unstable. Should he bring in someone he cared about? But Octavia’s life was anything but safe. As good as she claimed to be, it was only a matter of time before the State finally cornered her. And when they did, she’d be dead.

He cleared his throat. “What do you think?”

“It’s not safe.”

“Nothing is safe in this world,” said Jude. “You’ve done so much for us. I’d like to repay that.”

“Are you asking me on a date?”

Jude blinked. Was he? He wasn’t sure what he was asking her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to know everything about her. “It could be a date. Would you like it to be?”

“I... well, maybe I’m not available.”

It was the first time she’d used that excuse. “Are you with someone?”

“No. I mean, I’m just saying, I could be. You shouldn’t assume anything.”

Jude frowned and scratched a hand through his short dark hair. “I’m not assuming anything. I want to help you. You’re out there on your own. You never talk about anybody else. I figured you might appreciate a helping hand.”

“I don’t.” The words were abrupt.

“Maybe we’re the ones who need the help.” Jude kept his tone level. He could already sense she was withdrawing. She did it every time he got close and started prodding, trying to bring her nearer. Tried to get her closer to him and let down those barriers she kept so firmly in place.

“You do okay,” said Octavia.

“Not tonight we didn’t,” said Jude. “I’d have lost a brother if it weren’t for you. I owe you big time.”

“You owe me nothing,” said Octavia. “Your friendship repays me a hundred times over.”

Friendship. Jude grimaced. She was more than a friend. “That’s good to know. It wouldn’t be so bad if friends met now and again. I’d like that. Wouldn’t you?”

“Haven’t you got more important things to worry about?”

“You mean Tobias?” Jude shook his head even though she couldn’t see him. “He’s in good hands. When he gets back, Sophia will sort him out.”

“I actually meant the weird signals. The State are up to something.”

In the panic to get the squad safe, he’d forgotten why Octavia had reached out to him. Jude forced his frustrations away. He would meet with her. He would not stop pushing until she agreed to it.

“What do you think it is?” He plugged back into the channel they’d been listening to. “The sounds have gone.”

“This happens sometimes,” said Octavia. “They channel hop like I do. It makes it harder to listen in and get a complete message.”

“Have you any idea what they’re talking about or signaling?”

“Not a clue,” said Octavia. “I’ve got a question for you, though. Why do you keep mentioning Dinnorms?”

“That’s what I was going to tell you,” said Jude. “We found out who the State really are.”

“I know little about Dinnorms,” said Octavia, her words coming out slowly. “Aren’t they a dragon of some kind?”

“That’s right,” said Jude. “If you come here, I can share much more with you about them.”

“Jude, I don’t know. I mean, maybe.”

“Say yes. We can arrange a meet-up. We’ll pick a safe space if you don’t want to come to the bunker.” He’d beg if he had to, but he wanted her here, with him.

The comms room door opened. Heath, his older brother and unofficial leader of the squad, stood in the doorway. “Danni wants you in the briefing room in five minutes. She wants to know what happened.”

Jude cursed quietly under his breath. “I’ll be there.”

Heath nodded. His green eyes narrowed. “Is everything okay with you?”

“Everything is great.” His finger touched his earbud. It would be once Octavia was here.

“Tobias will be fine if you’re concerned about him. I’ve spoken to Solomon. They’ll be here in two hours.”

“I’m not worried about Tobias,” said Jude. “The guy survived being buried under a ten story building for three days. He can survive a little chewing by a baby Dinnorm.”

“He’s a tough one,” said Heath. “Are you coming now?”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” Jude hadn’t finished with Octavia.

Heath took another look around the room. “I’ll see you in there.”

Jude turned back to his screen. His lips pressed together. He could see by the tiny red light in the right-hand corner of his screen that Octavia had gone off-line. She was hiding from him.

He kicked away from his desk and stood before running his hand across his face. He needed to get his thoughts together before facing the others. He wasn’t in the mood for being teased about Octavia this evening.

Rolling his shoulders, Jude headed out along the gray corridor. It was the main route leading off to the rest of the bunker. It included a canteen, gym, weapons and training room, numerous corridors full of living quarters, the finds room where they stored and analyzed the fragments of dragon bones and eggs they collected, and the briefing room.

When he entered the room, Danni Hannigan was already standing at the head of the table. Dressed in a fitted black jumpsuit and matching eyepatch, she was ever the professional. Heath was already there, along with Kade Ember and Honor Davenport, his significant other and equal brainiac for all things cipher and systems-hacking related.

Jude nodded at everyone as he took a seat.

“We have a problem with our potential new bunker site,” said Danni. “What happened?” She looked at Jude.

“I think the Dinnorms used it as a breeding site. When the hatchlings emerged, they must have been trapped underground. Tobias and his team going in disturbed them.”

“We’re seeing more of these giant egg pods in our investigations of new sites,” said Danni. “Any theories as to why?”

“The Dinnorms are being less careful now we know what they are,” said Heath. “Before, they were hiding their hatching sites from us. Now there’s no reason for them to. When they had us believing they were human, they had to keep up the pretense. If any of the squads found those Dinnorm pods, it would have made us suspicious.”

“We were already suspicious.” Kade pushed his messy dark hair off his face. “They weren’t that careful at concealing the hatching sites.”

Jude nodded. “We do have records of those pods, but not large ones. They could be accelerating infant development, so they become lethal at a younger age.”

“We need to be cautious before moving forward with using this site as a permanent base. Dinnorms might return and leave more pods.”

“We can post a team there,” said Jude. “They can scout the area for a couple of weeks. It would show us if there’s any more interest from the State.”

“It would be a shame to pass up that site. It’s a good location,” said Kade.

“It is,” said Honor. “The thick stone walls make it a perfect site to avoid detection. We can test those new 4D scanning probes we’ve been working on without being noticed.”

“We need somewhere to expand into,” said Heath. “We’re outgrowing this space.”

“There are other bunkers to explore,” said Danni. “We leave this one for now. But I agree with Jude. We’ll post a small team there. They can do further exploration of the site and monitor any movement from the State.

“I’ll arrange that,” said Heath.

“Any update on how Tobias is doing?” asked Danni.

“He was unconscious. He should be here soon,” said Heath.

“Tobias will hate staying here while he recovers,” said Kade.

“Sophia will insist he rests after this,” said Danni. “As will I. If he refuses, I’ll take him off active duty.”

“He needs it,” said Jude. “The guy hasn’t had a break in over three months.”

“Some of us haven’t had a break in six months,” muttered Kade.

“Only because you don’t let your team take on more responsibility,” said Jude. Kade was a true workaholic. He thrived under the pressure.

“I will when I know they’re properly trained.”

“They’re trained,” said Jude. “I’ve seen Katie and Harry in action. They know their way around codes.”

“There’s more to it than that.”

Honor rested a hand on Kade’s shoulder. “We all need some down time.” She leaned over and whispered in his ear.

Jude watched as Kade smiled and nudged Honor with his shoulder. He wanted that, as well. Someone to share confidences with and give him a reason to keep on going. Jude knew who he wanted that someone to be.

Danni raised a hand. “I’ll speak to Tobias once he’s stable and make sure he’s aware that he needs to rest. If any of us get too burned out, we put the whole operation at risk. He will understand.”

“While we’re here,” said Jude, “Octavia’s discovered something of interest when scanning the State comms channels.”

“How are things between you and Octavia?” Honor smiled at him. “Is it official yet?”

Jude narrowed his eyes. “She’s a professional.”

Honor’s smile broadened. “She is good at what she does.”

“What has she discovered?” asked Danni.

“Octavia’s accessed a hidden channel the State are using,” said Jude. “The language they’re talking in isn’t human.”

“Dinnorm?” Heath sat forward in his seat.

“That’s what I wondered,” said Jude. “Mind if I bring up the recording?”

“Go ahead,” said Danni.

Jude accessed his computer using the remote interface built into the briefing room. He opened a file and hit play. The garbled sounds he’d heard earlier filled the room.

“Could it be coded messages?” asked Heath.

“It’s not code.” Kade’s eyes were bright with interest. “At least, nothing I’ve ever heard before.”

Honor’s head was tilted, her eyes closed. “This is a language.”

“How can you be sure?” asked Danni.

Kade and Honor exchanged an amused glance.

“We know you’re both geniuses,” said Jude. “Tell us mere idiots what you’re picking up?”

“It’s a pattern,” said Honor. “Code is symbols or sounds that relate to a word or letter. But this has the cadence of speech. It’s not like your old style dot dot dot or dash dash dash in morse code. And it’s not a cipher.”

“Are we hearing Dinnorm language for the first time?” asked Heath. “When I studied cryptozoology, Dinnorms were already moving into the category of myth. None had been seen alive for over a hundred years. There are no recordings of their language.”

“Is it similar to dragon language?” asked Danni. “Do you think a dragon hybrid could decipher it?”

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard,” said Heath. “I doubt a dragon hybrid would have either.”

“Put the word around,” said Danni. “Let’s see if we’ve got any language experts among the dragon hybrids.”

“We’ll take a look, as well.” Kade glanced at Honor, and she nodded. “It could be we can fit together some of the language patterns using a program I’m testing.”

“Is there anything you’re ever not testing?” Heath grinned at his brother.

“I like to keep busy.”

“Octavia wants to help,” said Jude. “I suggested she come here. We could do with her skills in figuring this out.”

“If she’s agreeable,” said Danni. “However, meet her away from this base. I understand she has helped us in the past, but we don’t know a lot about Octavia. We need to make sure she can be trusted.”

“She can.” Jude bristled at the insinuation. “She’s never let us down.”

“Even so, I insist on caution,” said Danni. “Meet her off-site and assess her level of threat before bringing her here. We cannot put this base at any risk.”

Jude grudgingly nodded. Even though he trusted Octavia with his life, it made sense for Danni to be cautious.

“It is about time we meet the elusive Octavia,” said Heath.

“Especially since Jude is so sweet on her.” Honor smiled at him.

Jude’s teeth clenched. “She’s excellent at what she does. If we can get her to come here, she’ll be an asset.”

Heath raised his eyebrows. “I imagine in more ways than one.”

Jude ignored the comment. “I need to get her here first. She’s not keen on the idea.”

“From what I know of Octavia, she has spent the last two years on her own,” said Honor. “Coming into a place with over four thousand people will be a shock to the system. I understand her reluctance.”

Jude knew it was more than that. She was reluctant to meet him. Did she have a problem with him? “I’ll ask again. It will be easier if we’re working side by side.”

“It would.” Kade flashed him a smile. “We’ll get to work on listening to this Dinnorm language. We can join forces when Octavia arrives.”

“Keep me up to date on your progress,” said Danni.

The debrief ended, and Jude stood. He’d endure all the teasing he had to, so long as he could get Octavia here. He just needed to figure out how the hell he would do that. What would convince his honey-voiced mystery woman to meet?

***

SCRAPING HER SPOON in the bottom of the cold tin of beans, Octavia savored the last small mouthful of juice. She only ate once a day. The food barely impacted on her constant hunger, but she had to keep a check on her appetite. It wasn’t easy finding food when the world was out to get you.

She hadn’t seen herself in a full-length mirror for over a year, but could see from the way her bones jutted through her flesh that she was in need of a few weeks of stuffing herself. Octavia had never been tiny. She’d always been the larger girl in her group of friends. Even when she’d joined MI5 and had gone through rigorous physical training, her curves had remained. Not that it mattered whether or not she had curves anymore. As soon as anyone saw the damage on her face, that was all they would look at. She could have a centerfold figure and no one would notice.

Licking her spoon clean, she set it on the side, the empty tin she added to the small pile in the corner. She kept any metal she could get her hands on. It was always useful to use for repairs on the van or the comms equipment. Octavia was handy with a soldering iron and could reshape almost any piece of metal to fit her needs.

She sat back in her seat. She liked to call it her DJ Hotspot. She smiled to herself as she lined up the next track from her favorite rock band. Never in a million years had she imagined herself doing this. She loved music, but it had always been a hobby. She’d always known she wanted to do something that helped others. What could be better than joining the largest agency in the country and helping to foil terrorism plots?

Octavia had loved the work and excelled in every area—intelligence gathering, comms hacking, detecting patterns and codes in language, and being adept at posing as an ally in forums and chat rooms. Then the State had appeared overnight, destroying the hierarchy and the values Octavia held dear.

And now, thanks to Jude, she knew who they really were. Well, she knew the basics. She’d considered running a search on them, but the State must be on high alert for anyone searching for any mention of Dinnorms. They’d gone to great lengths to hide their identity.

As the song continued, Octavia tuned into the State channel she’d been scanning. The strange language was back. It made no sense to her. She knew it must be important. Why hide something if it wasn’t?

She’d tried different combinations to figure out what they were talking about, but nothing made sense. If you didn’t know the rudimentary basics of the language or code you were trying to break, you had zero chance of success.

She knew she needed help. Jude was offering her that help.

Octavia sighed. She stood and stretched her arms over her head. She missed the days when she had the freedom to exercise. She used to love to run and would go for a couple of hours on the weekends. She called it her thinking space. It was a time to meditate and put the world in order. Now, she was lucky if she made it ten paces from the van. She knew her muscles were weak from lack of exercise and a poor diet, but she had to keep herself safe. Her van was the safest place she knew.

Octavia moved frequently, only ever at night. The van was painted matte black, and she rarely used the headlights so she wouldn’t reveal herself. Not only that, but the use of multi point-to-point links, coupled with an early warning system if anyone was tracing her comms signal, meant it was easy for her to be on the road and away from danger before she was tracked down.

This all came with a downside. It meant regular sleep was a distant memory. Octavia slept in one-hour blocks, never able to relax for fear someone would track her in her sleep. Her warning system gave her a good hour’s head start if anyone detected her. But the van was slow. She could never travel far or fast in the darkness for fear of smashing into something.

She wanted Jude’s help. Damn, she needed it. And she needed his kindness. He was so good to talk to. He was always patient and listened. She’d never met a guy who asked so many questions and still wanted to know more. Most of the heroes she’d dated were so full of their own self-importance that they barely remembered to ask her name before launching into some over-the-top tale of how they saved the world.

Octavia smirked to herself. She was most likely the same. To survive and thrive in that business, especially as a woman, you had to be on the top of your game. You had to know you were the best of the best and shout about it. Sometimes, that made your ego bigger than it needed to be. She didn’t have any concerns about that now.

Her fingers traced the scars on her cheek. She was lucky to be alive. She should be grateful for what she still had. The attack on the terrorist cell she’d been monitoring had come as a complete surprise. She’d lost contact with her headquarters within an hour of the State taking control.

Unbeknownst to her, the State were launching a worldwide assault. Their bombs slammed into the terrorist cell, killing everyone there and almost taking her with them.

When she’d woken up, she’d been pinned to the ground under a slab of concrete, almost blind from the dried blood in her eyes.

It had taken three hours of scream-inducing agony to pry herself out from under the concrete. She’d had a broken ankle, a dislocated collarbone, and deep lacerations across one side of her face where sharp metal had slashed her flesh.

The collarbone and the ankle she could handle, but there was little she could do about her face. Octavia had kept the wound clean, grown her hair long, and decided never to look in a mirror again.

She couldn’t go to Jude. She was damaged. She was a freak. He would pity her. She didn’t want that from him. She loved hearing his deep, calm voice on the comms channel when he fed information through to the squads on the ground. He was always there. They could always depend on him. She wanted that from him too.

This was for the best. Being on her own was what she was used to.

Her fingers brushed the fading picture sitting next to her computer screen. It was the only one she had of her parents. They had to be dead by now. She’d tried reaching them so many times without success. She’d managed to get some pictures of their home, what was left of it. It was a pile of ash after the bombs hit.

Her hand went to the frayed fabric clipped around her wrist. It was possibly the ugliest bracelet imaginable, but it was her favorite. It had been her dog’s collar. Max had been the best dog in the world. She’d had to leave him with her parents when she’d gone on a mission for three months. To have a reminder of him, she’d taken his old collar and replaced it with a new one. This was all she had left of him.

Pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes, Octavia realized the song was fading. She lined up another and hit play.

“Get a grip.” She jammed her earbuds in and spent the next half hour focused on the babble sent through by the State. She needed to figure this out.

Sighing, she pulled out an earbud. She was exhausted, and it was nonsense. She was missing a crucial link.

Octavia’s hand shook as she opened a secure message link to Jude. She needed to get over herself and stop hiding. There was someone who could help her find that missing link, if she’d let him. She typed two words: let’s meet.