***
He climbed back down the stairs into the safe house, having safely ditched the SUV in a public parking lot a few blocks away. Jared had made sure it didn’t have any security cameras in it that could be used to track him. Either way, they would have to lie low for a bit.
“How’s he doing?” he asked as soon as Nadia looked up at him. She was seated at Justin’s side as he lay on the couch, a glass of water in her hand.
“Still extremely groggy and out of it, but he is awake now,” she said in a rather clinical manner. “Don’t expect him to make much sense though. That’ll probably take another hour at this rate. Which is remarkably quickly,” she said. “He must have had a lot in him to take down someone his size.”
“The bag was half-empty,” he said. “A normal tranq dart contains perhaps ten or twenty drops. He’s probably got ten times that in him.”
Jared dropped to one knee next to his friend. Justin’s eyes were open, but the pupils were unfocused, unseeing as his head lolled back and forth.
“Has he been able to drink any water yet?”
Nadia shook her head. “No. I’ve dribbled a few drops into his mouth here and there, but that’s about it. I’m scared if I do much more he’ll choke on it.”
His lips compressed into a flat line, but he was forced to agree. “We just have to wait it out then.”
“Unfortunately,” she said, turning to face him.
He looked up, meeting her green eyes unflinchingly. “Thank you,” he said solemnly.
“You’re welcome,” she said.
They paused awkwardly.
Then suddenly she was in his arms, her head pressed against his chest as he held her tight to him. He inhaled, the faint scent of her hair reaching his nostrils. He couldn’t identify what it was, and frankly, he didn’t try—women’s shampoos were too complicated for him these days. But whatever it was, it was delightful to his senses.
“You really held your cool tonight,” he said, stepping back a moment later, though his hands were still on her shoulders. He couldn’t be intimate with Justin there, but that didn’t mean he wanted to let go of her either.
“Thank you,” she said, looking appreciative, and not embarrassed, of his compliment.
“Most people would have cracked, or perhaps even broken down. But not you. You kept it together. Are you sure you aren’t part shifter?” he teased.
She smiled. “I don’t think so, but if I am, my parents never got the chance to tell me otherwise.”
He cursed himself. Idiot. She doesn’t know any more about her past than you do.
The mood had sombered beyond his repair, but Jared was saved by the ding from his laptop.
“Sorry,” he said apologetically, moving past her and to the desk where the computer sat.
To his surprise, Nadia didn’t stay with Justin. Instead, she came and leaned against him, her arm hooked around his neck, digging her fingers into his far shoulder as she used him to keep her upright.
He almost put an arm around her waist and brought her in close out of habit, but he stopped himself. Now was not the time to be giving in to any physical urges he had with this woman. There were more pressing things that needed his attention.
Inside his mind his bear growled at him, letting him know how unhappy it was with that decision.
What is it with you and her?
He sent the question in as simple of terms as he could. The communication between a shifter and its animal was a delicate thing, to say the least. Emotional response was really all they had, so he tried to phrase the question with an image of Nadia and the feeling of curiosity.
Immediately his mind was flooded with images of him and her in various life situations together, vivid images that slapped him mentally as they scrolled by at breakneck speed.
Then, just as quickly, it was all gone, and his bear gave him what felt like a very distinct sniff of disdain, and then quieted itself.
Oh.
OH.
The laptop dinged again, bringing him back to reality.
“Who is it?” she asked, and he forced himself not to jump.
“It’s…” he trailed off as he focused on the screen, reading the messages.
“It’s everyone,” he said, sitting back in surprise. “Everyone else is reporting in safe now.”
His fingers raced across the keyboard as he let everyone know that Justin was safe, using his call sign of Charlie, instead of his real name.
“Who’s Charlie? And Bravo? What are the Howlers?” Nadia asked, reading over his shoulder.
“My team,” he said. “Those are code words so that outsiders won’t know who we’re referring to.”
“Oh, so that’s Charlie then?” she asked, pointing at Justin.
He nodded.
“Do I get to learn his real name?”
Once you tell me everything, and I decide if my bear is right to trust you, or if you’re playing us both.
“Justin,” the weak croak came from the couch. “My name is Justin. Right?”
The confusion at the end of the sentence, indicating just how out of it he was, angered Jared to the core. It made his heart ache for his friend as well, though he knew he would be okay.
I hope.
“Shhh,” Nadia said, moving back to his side as Jared watched, bringing the water cup to his lips and letting a few more drops slide in.
Justin nodded roughly and pushed the hand away gently before falling back into sleep.
Nadia stood up after a moment and looked over at him. He looked right back.
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
He wondered if she noticed the slight hiccup in her voice when she said “we,” as if she had meant to say “you” and the word had just sort of slipped out in place of it. Either way, he didn’t comment on it.
“Track down the remaining Extremis teams. Eliminate them. Then we go after J.”
Nadia frowned. “After who?”
“Mr. J,” he explained. “The leader of the Agency as far as we can tell. A very, very dangerous person. We’ve only encountered him a few times, but he’s not human himself, though we aren’t sure what he is. But until he’s dealt with, this won’t be over.”
Nadia sat in the chair and looked thoughtful. “Can you beat him?” she asked.
Jared shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve never really had a clear shot at him. He’s either surprised us, or had enough men around to delay us before we could get to him.”
She nodded, then fought back a yawn.
He glanced at the time.
“Let’s get some sleep,” he suggested. “You take the bed, I’ll take the floor.”
“Ridiculous,” she said, stretching her arms out above her head in a way that forced her back to arch, emphasizing her chest to him as the material of her T-shirt stretched tight across her breasts.
Focus, dammit. You’re about to go to bed, you can make it!
The thing was, he didn’t want to make it. He wanted Nadia to invite him into the bed, so that he could share it with her. Except if she did, he would have to refuse right now, which might give her the wrong impression. Which he definitely did not want to do. He wanted her to know that he was interested in the idea of joining her. Except, he didn’t want to act on it, but he did want her to know he would, if the circumstances were different. It was just that he wouldn’t tonight.
My head hurts just thinking about this.
“Night,” he said, walking over to the switch on the wall and killing the lights before she could argue some more about who was sleeping where. He took one last look at Justin, but the big shifter was still passed out cold on the couch.
Nadia gave him one last, lingering look as she climbed into bed, but she didn’t say anything more to him.
Jared swallowed hard, and lay back on the pillow he had snatched from the far end of the couch Justin occupied. He hoped sleep came quickly to him, so that in the morning he could try and sort everything out, both in regard to what the Underground would do next, and with him and Nadia.
Maybe after knowing her for a full twenty-four hours, I can make a rational decision.
Maybe.